The War on Drugs has gone way too far

[fujiyama]

I don't know who else saw that raid on SC school (there was a video on CNN earlier today), but it really was disgusting. The cops just came out of nowhere with loaded guns and treated the students all as suspects. I could understand the reaction if there was a rumor that a kid had brough a gun to school, but all that for drugs?! It was apparently done because the principal was worried about drugs at the school.

I really am wondering what the hell is happening to this nation. Granted the war on drugs has been going on like this for about two decades, and we should have all seen the patriot act coming, even without 9/11. After all now the patriot act is used to "fight drugs" as well...

I don't understand how ordinary Americans actually believe this BS about the "war on drugs" and I wonder if they even question the resuts of having spent billions on this. It's been a disaster.

[Syrinx]

1. a free preview of the coming total lockdown

[lolly]

2. Patriot Act PART of drug war

My understanding was that most of the provisions of the Patriot Act had been introduced before 9/11 as tools in the never-ending "War on Drugs" but had never gotten out of committee--too extreme.

So, with 9/11, they just found another never-ending war to justify their police state. That's why everything was ready so fast--it was all already formulated.

[mike_c]

3. war on drugs, war on terra, war on poor brown people....

Ever notice how many U.S. policies are structured around the same central meme?

[wuushew]

4. Perhaps the coming demographic shift will improve the situation

or more likely the U.S. will continue its path towards a fascist South African style society.

[leftyandproud]

5. this is why I love the libertarians...

They NEVER compromise on this issue.

END the drug war...period.
Not even Kucinich is advocating this..

[rasputin1952]

6. I have calmed down since I posted about this in LBN...

But I still must ask, "Where is the outrage"?

I want to see outrage from the people in SC. I want to see the School Board answering questions. I want to see the Principal booted out by Monday. The Police Chief, The judge, (if there was one), that issued the warrant, and the officers that actually went into the school with guns drawn should all be held accountable.

These were children that were traumatized, and every HS kid in America will know about this before the weekend is over. What was the rationale of this invasion? Nothing was found, kids were traumatized, cops were made to look like Gestapo agents, NOTHING of any good came from this.

Is this what we want to show our children what education is like? Not too long ago, it was law enforcement that escorted a little girl into a school in AR so she could get an education. Now we have law enforcment handcuffing children in the same institution that we depend on to teach them about the Constitution?

Then we have our idiot prince president and his assinine Atty Gen that produced a situation where this type of invasion is not only allowed, but actually glorified! If we, as a nation, do not stop these people and rise up to ensure that our children are safe from such intrusions, we are no longer human, we truly have become little more than animals.

I feel like I am a parent to every one of those children, I would defend them as I do my own. This is what the war on drugs and the patriot act have brought us to, and I will not go silently into the night. I hope all of you will not either.

:kick:

[kentuck]

7. This is the issue for SC and for the South...

It is an issue that would ring all over the South if the Democrats wished to connect with southern voters. And it is all about the failed war on drugs. This is what it has come to. Our tax dollars are spent to put non-violent drug users in prison for years at a time when we should look at this as a medical problem. Otherwise, it's time to get off the back of the American people and the kids in our schools. If the school has a problem with a student, call him to the principal's office and take care of it. If that doesn't work, call his parents. But don't call in the jack-booted thugs!

[fujiyama]

12. What scares me most

is that I don't believe the people down there are outraged. The way I saw it, those handcuffed were African Americans. It was extremely disturbing, and my jaw literally dropped as I watched the footage.

I really have to wonder how any parent in their right mind can keep quiet about this. What pissed me off the most was that there was this idiot lawyer on CNN defending this! Even Miles O'Brian seemed to be pretty taken back with the footage.

It really is a shame that no politician can talk about the fact that the war on drugs has been a failure. The reason is, I believe, because all the candidates are so worried about winning conservative southern votes, that they've lost a real realization of how truly screwed up this nation is.

[kentuck]

15. Because people need a leader...

I honestly believe the South would get behind a candidate that brought this issue to light.

[fujiyama]

17. I sure hope you're right

BTW I love your quote!

[Terwilliger]

8. ask the Dems

frankly, the more serious opposition to the WoD is right-of-center...Dems want treatment over criminality, but they're not willing to commit themselves to ending the prohibition like they know they need to

[sleipnir]

9. Legalize

Get over it, legalize, collect taxes, grow plants, fuck the gov. It's only a matter of time, prohibition didn't work with alcohol, won't work with drugs. Fucking hate the war on drugs, how about a War on Poverty in Central American Caused by American Business Practices.????

[kentuck]

10. "Decriminalize"

It's a much more politically palatable position and why shouldn't we use it for political purposes since it is the right thing to do?

[Terwilliger]

11. decriminalization does not reform the distribution

the drug must be legal, available, and regulated...decrim doesn't wipe away the big-business that is the black market

[kentuck]

16. I see your point terwilliger but...

I think it is politically viable to get it decriminalized but our nation is not yet ready to make it "legal". At least the competition should bring the price down - even on the black market. :)

[jonoboy]

13. I just saw this in Australia

Honestly ,I couldnt believe the Principal and the board saying they were happy to do this raid and will continue.

I'm sure i could see the fear on the children lying on the floor even though the video is not clear.

It just reeks of the the climate being created by the present Washington administration's tactics.

[ninkasi]

14. So much for progress.

My middle child is 39. When he was a junior in high school, I got a call at work from the assistant pricipal, to let me know that there had been a random check with drug-sniffing dogs, and the K-9 had "alerted" to my son's car.

My first question was, did you find any drugs? He admitted that they hadn't found anything. I then asked what, if any action was being taken. He said that since they didn't find anything, there was no action they could take. They had, however, found an empty prescription bottle, for antibiotics my son was taking. He even admitted that the bottle was probably the cause for the alert, but thought I'd like to keep an eye on things.

He seemed disappointed that I didn't get hysterical about the whole thing, and kept trying to stress the importance of keeping drugs out of schools, etc. My own reaction was a great let-down to him. I wondered later what might have happened if this had been the child of some overly hypercritical parent, who could have shipped an innocent kid off to drug counseling, based on the same scenerio.

This country needs to get some priorities straight. We spend too much time and money obsessing about the wrong things, and creating problems where none existed before. What happened to these kids was inexcusable.

[Rex]

18. The war on drugs has NOT been going on like this for 2 decades

we've never seen anything like this...I saw the video of the cops waving their guns at scared children huttled up against the school walls. It made me ill. This is something new, and extremely disturbing.

[fujiyama]

19. You're right...

This nation has reached a new low. Random drug tests were one thing but this...I can't help but believe this was nothing less than conditioning students for the police state that is emerging.

Welcome to the New America!

[kentuck]

21. This is how far the "drug war" has progressed...

That was the excuse they used to go into that high school. It is an excuse for violating all sorts of Constitutional rights...for example, no-knock warrants.

[Angelus]

20. This is just awful...

why in the hell would the police go into a school with loaded guns drawn? What are they trying to prove? Like a high school student is going to be toting around an ak-47. They didn't need their weapons drawn. Parents, leaders, and others should be outraged at this. I know I am. This New America is making me sick. We are entering an era of Nazi Germany or Communist Russia. Buckle your seat belts. :puke: :mad:

[Mike Niendorff]

22. Two questions that immediately spring to mind:

(1) When these police officers applied for their jobs, did they envision themselves bursting into a high school -- armed with guns and attack dogs -- and terrorizing 13-year-old children?

(2) When our founding fathers pledged their lives to one another in order to give birth to this new nation called "America", was this the kind of 'America' they envisioned?


MDN