Ok, the crap is no good for you.

Why the double standard?

I think the "war on drugs" is a lost cause, however, I also don't agree with legaization either. I think the whole "war" concept needs to be let go.

I think:

- the money spent in executing this war domestically is better spent on education of drugs to dissuade use. I'll wager that will be far cheaper, and in the long view have greater success then sting operations and knocking down doors. The current habitual drug users, addicts, junkies, etc, are lost causes. The best we can do is work to dissuade future generations.

- many of the lesser drug related charges that result in prison time should be reduced to paying a stringent fee, or if the fee cannot be paid, by compulsory community service for a length of time to work off that fee. Our prison system are overloaded, and ill wager cost too much money to operate. Also, our prison systems create people that can be more dangerous coming out then they were going in. No need to exacerbate any of these problems with lesser offences.

The reality is simply put there are many Americans whose cup of coffee is cocaine or Meth or Crack.People will always demand drugs you really can do nothing about this completely the best you can do is have effect campaigns that discourage drug use and try to get the ones addicted sober.Throughout history there have been problems with drug abuse.

Until you solve the addiction problem (or maybe the better term is deal with not solve) you will never win a "war on drugs" because the demand for them is so high(no pun intended) that no matter what LE tactic you try you will never stop the flow you may slow it but never stop it.In fact the LE efforts most likely only serve to make the sale of drugs more profitable for the suppliers not less.

On top of this what of all the companies that sell all the LE gear used in the WAD(War On Drugs)? These companies make millions on WAD.The WAD ignores the root cause of the problem completely.

Stopping the war means admitting that strategy failed. This is unpalatable. Keeping the prohibition going means many billions in the bank for the cartels. This has been palatable for many years because that's exactly what we've allowed to happen whilst overtly saying that it is unpalatable.

The question is whether we should change that outcome.

He's not the first senior ex police officer who has said something like this. I don't think the prohibition works and I do think we need to change tack on how the problem is tackled.

The obvious option is to go to legalization with controls and taxes as we do with the legal recreational drugs. This will not solve the problem of addiction but better serves the economy because the government gets a bigger piece of the action.

The question then is having potentially destroyed the cartels illegal revenue stream, whether they choose to go legal with a lesser revenue or look towards other activities to fill the gap.

I think it is fanciful to expect the big drug cartels will simply shut up shop and sit stewing in their jacuzzis..

I doubt that very much and many already have other enterprises(illegal) out side of drugs.To have all the things they have requires an income of some kind.

The thing with legalization is that it still leaves a black market for example in the US and many other nations you have the untaxed sale of tobacco products and alcohol.Of course in the case of drugs they still would be able to fully produce.

Another tidbit to consider is that in the regions where some of these drugs are grown a growing operation might employ 400 or 500 people that might not have a job otherwise.Not sure if several thousand Afghans running around that used to either grow opium or smuggle it to Iran is a good thing.What ill they do with their spare time and desperation? Something wonderful I am sure.Maybe start a bakery.

Drugs will always be a problem I think.

I don't doubt that being the businessmen that they are they won't be sitting idle whilst the government takes a big piece of their pie. They will be baking another pie to extract money that's outside the mainstream.

As to the primary producers they'll either end up being contracted by the new distribution owners or end up at the end of a gun shouting Allah u ackbah! So not much difference from now I suspect.

Religion is the opiate of the masses... or so my former employer assures me:stare: