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comment by b_b
b_b  ·  2376 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The US Coast Guard has seized 455,000 lbs of cocaine between Oct 1, 2016 and Sept 11, 2017

Beyond what has already been said, there's another dimension to the "morality" of the war on drugs that hasn't yet been covered. Despite what any well meaning police officer may believe about the moral nature of what he or she is doing, the war on drugs was started for a very explicit reason: to infiltrate the President's enemies (President Nixon, that is, and this isn't speculation or conspiracy theory--it is well documented). There is a longer history than that that extends back to post-prohibition when the G-men all needed jobs suddenly--and that history is mostly about racism. The modern incarnation of the DEA was convened by Richard Nixon because he saw hippies and radical blacks as his natural enemies, and the thing they had in common was a penchant for weed, LSD, and heroin. Thus, the drug war. It was started on a lie, and thus has literally zero moral credence. The premises don't hold, so the conclusions can't either.

Everyone who supports the war on drugs is a stooge in Nixon dirty political game. The DEA is a great example of what is sometimes called "internal lobbying" (to distinguish it from industry lobbying). Once a government department has been created, that department has to spend a bunch of time, effort, and money to ensure that their people still have jobs. Because drugs do affect lots of people negatively, the DEA has done a splendid job ("THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS") of making themselves appear important enough that no Congressperson will vote to kill them. It's effective and pernicious.





user-inactivated  ·  2376 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Thanks for the additional input. I knew most of that. I think I need to defend myself though, now, to you and kleinbl00 and cgod. I know there's some screwed up stuff that goes on and I don't have a strong opinion on the War on Drugs on one way or another (I think citizens rights being trampled on is bad, I think crazy ass drugs like meth and heroin are bad, origins and practices aside, I think the whole issue is too big and nuanced to take a single, solid stance). I just wanted to know why the particular practice I was told about is controversial. Now I know. If I ever talk to the guy again, I'll politely bring up the points provided and ask about his counter points. He striked me as a good guy and I think most honest, good hearted people who pursue careers in law enforcement do so with a desire to do good and I think it's safe to view him in that light.

b_b  ·  2376 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Not trying to be lecturing, just trying to point out that the morality of any particular tactic in the War is irrelevant, because the whole thing immoral and illegitimate.