Should Democrats use "War on Drugs" as political issue?

[kentuck]

To piggyback a thread by "fujiyama" but to take it in a different direction.

The incident with the police at the high school in SC is indeed a clear indication that the "war on drugs' has gone too far. It is now on TV for all to see. The children are lying on the floor, guns are drawn on the kids, drug-sniffing dogs are smelling all the bags for drugs, and no drugs were found.

In the context with the conversations about the various threads over the last couple of days about how can the Democrats win the South, is this the issue? I think it might be. It is an issue about freedom. It is an issue about justice. It is an issue about our very liberty and rights guaranteed by our Constitution.

As non-violent drug offenders are locked away in our prison, and as taxpayers pay huge sums to build more and more prisons, perhaps it is time to take a new look at these ill-conceived laws? And maybe we should start right in the state of SC?

We should ask for the support of the students and the young people of SC to help us in our efforts to overturn the fascist drug policies of this nation. Understanding the political nature of the drug "problem' and the present misgivings about drug usage amongst many American voters, we do not ask that it be legalized, but that it be decriminalized. We should no longer make criminals out of young people that smoke a joint of marijuana. We do not encourage its use but we do indeed discourage going to prison for using it.

It is my opinion that this would be an issue that the passionate South would grasp in a New York second. It would have as much emotional appeal or moreso than the abortion or gun issue. This is the deeper meaning in many of the "rebel" flags people might see in the South. Many southerners are indeed "rebels". They do not like authority figures telling them what to drink or what to smoke. It is a part of the independent nature of southerners.

But the issue has to be presented in the right way. We are not proponents of drug use. We are against police going into our schools and pointing guns at our kids. We are not against putting violent people in jail. But we think there are too many non-violent drug users in jail and it is wasting too many tax dollars. If there is a drug problem, it is a medical one, not a criminal one. I hope one of the Democratic candidates will pick up this issue in the SC primary. I think it could be a winner for our Party in the South and possibly the entire nation.

[Catholic Sensation]

1. Decriminalize all drugs, or just pot?

Because if anyone thinks that decriminalizing crack, blow, heroine, lsd, or any hardcore drugs is a good idea, I will have to think before I give them my vote. The problem with drugs as I see it, is that the money goes to violent murderous scumbags in countries like Colombia, Bolivia, and Afghanistan. It is documented that the Taliban regime made money off of the heroine trade. If we decriminalize it, potentially more people will be buying drugs from suppliers who give money to the now dead Pablo Escobar and regimes like Mullah Omar's.

That said, someone going to jail for selling bongs is totally idiotic, as is sending anyone to jail for a dime bag. I don't have any problems with marijuana being decriminalized, as long as it is entirely marijuana and isn't laced with shit to get people hooked on harder/more expensive stuff.

Decriminalize pot, keep the hardcore drugs that are much more dangerous criminalized is my opinion.

[kentuck]

2. Decriminalize marijuana...

Users of the other drugs may need medical help. I would not be opposed to jail sentences for dealing those drugs. I think we do have to make a distinction - others may see it as a compromise - but the perfect cannot be the enemy of the good...

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. Do you have a source for your contention that the Taliban made money.....

off of Heroin? It is my understanding that they closed down the Opium production that was rampant during and immediately after the conflict with the Soviets. Production that is once again RAMPANT now that the U.S. is in charge. Curious, huh? The only reason anyone is violent in the drug trade is because of the huge sums of money involved. People who trade in illicit drugs are not by definition violent. Any more than people who trade in Oil are inherently imperialistic. Oops....stuck my foot in that one, didnt i? I say, decriminalize ALL mind altering substances and then REGULATE, REGULATE REGULATE! Humans have been searching for ways to get high since time immemorial. Humans LIKE TO GET BUZZED! trying to stop them from doing it is like trying to herd kittens. Make getting a buzz safe, legal and available to those that have a predilection for the activity and tax them for it. The Danish seem to have a modicum of success with that philosophy. Oh ...Wait....they are a progressive, liberal, democratic socialist state with cradle to grave health care and rational lawmakers. SORRY!!!!!! FOOT STUCK AGAIN!!!

[bread_and_roses]

20. Unfortunately it is criminalization

that puts the money in the hands of thugs. And from what I read, there is no past tense about the Taliban making money from drugs. The world wide drug trade is in the billions. Too much money for criminalization to be an effective deterrent.

[Robin Hood]

21. You don't make any sense.

It's the criminalization of drugs that creates the profits. De-criminalize it and there are no profits to be made. This war on drugs actually creates mobsters like Pablo and the like. This is what happened during prohibition, the exact same thing.

I have been waiting for a democratic candidate with the balls to really go after this issue. You see, the war on drugs is not a war on drugs but rather a war on liberals, since the majority of recreational drug users are liberal. By sending good people to jail for getting high, they also lose their right to vote.

how many votes have we lost because of the war on drugs?

[Don_G]

3. Not At This Time

The thing to do would be to emphasize that the Patriot Act has been misused by the current "Thugs" in power to wage war on school kids and strip joints instead of finding Osama Bin Lost or Saddam.

Emphasize the misuse of absolute power, the wholesale thievery thats been going on and the costs of War and the South will follow.

Decriminalize the casual use of drugs after the elections to free up badly needed revenue for Health Care and Edcuation after the elections.

[kentuck]

4. I think Patriot Act should be used in conjunction with war on drugs

But the Patriot Act does not personally connect to the people whose child was lying on the floor with a gun pointed at him like the "war on drugs" connects. It is passion and emotion that creates a strong political issue. Although the Patriot Act is a terrible piece of legislation, it does not carry the passion of the war on drugs. Sometimes we have to take a chance. If we think we are going to lose the South anyway, what have we got to lose?

[Don_G]

6. Freedom Connects To The Southern Attitude

Where is the freedom when any jack-booted group of cops can conduct a raid on an entire high school and get away with it? Orders from Asskrap?

[1songbird]

5. I don't think we should tackle that at this time.

Personally I think the candidate that will win the South will have a strong plan for tackling trade imbalances and outsourcing in manufacturing. Look at what's happening in NC. If Dean or another candidate could come up with something really clever to address the loss of jobs in the textile industry he may very well pull an upset in NC.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kentuck]

11. Repubs seldom win on "real" issues like you are talking about..

They will attack gay rights, abortion, support gun rights, pro-school vouchers, etc. Are those the type of "real, viable" issues you are talking about. I think you are dreaming. By the way, I hope the economy grows like your "conservative" guess, but I doubt it. There is too much debt and deficit, just like under Reagan, it will always collapse the economy under its own weight. It is just a matter of time. Perhaps Jr will stretch it thru the election? Perhaps not?

[newyawker99]

14. Hi CDiddy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[kentuck]

9. Think about it....

You will talk about trade, losing jobs, imports, etc and the Repubs will talk about abortion and guns? Now honestly, which one do you think will connect with the people? Perhaps if the unemploymen rate hits 10%, it might have an impact?.

My point is that we need an issue that will have the same type of connectibility as those issues of the right. In my opinion, it can be the "war on drugs" but only if it is connected to this incident in SC and perhaps in conjunction with the Patriot Act, but not free-standing by itself. It has to be connected to something that the voters are passionate about...it is connected to the jackboots that went in against those kids in that high school. That is an issue that the Democrats can compete with in South Carolina and in the rest of the South. It is about our basic freedom. They can see that - no matter what kind of flag they have.

[1songbird]

18. Attacking the "war of drugs" would be a gutsy move.

For the life of me I can't understand why people are more concerned about abortion, gay rights, and these other issues. This is like living in some alternate universe. Maybe we do need an issue like legalizing marijuana to stir the emotions but it will be tricky. The repugs will try and twist the issue and once again make it a moral question. They've been doing this for decades now. They have tons of think tanks that work on nothing but this. I believe that more and more Americans in the upper middle class are becoming concerned about jobs. The 126,000 jobs created last month were mostly service sector low income jobs. Many engineers and technicians are getting laid off and most have not found jobs because manufacturing is leaving and it is not coming back. People are concerned about this. This is a segment of Dubya's base that is ripe for the picking.

[kentuck]

19. Perhaps their intentions were well-intended in the beginning ??

But look what has happened in that classroom in SC? Look how far our country has gone in this crazy pursuit of drugs? We need to change these laws and we need to change this "war on drugs". It is destroying the very fabric of our nation. Along with the Patriot Act, we have lost more than we will ever know. If a person has a drug problem, he needs medical care, not prison. That is our message.

[1songbird]

25. I just saw the actual SC footage tonight

on our local news station. I had heard about it, but one needs to actually see what happened to fully appreciate how horrific this was. I'm going to change my position on using this as an issue based on what I saw. The cops were so far out of line it was not even funny. Those kids were terrified! Maybe this situation is the tipping point that forces us to address the so-called "war on drugs".
I can see a campaign ad with those cops and children on the floor crouched in fear and a slogan that says:

"The War on Drugs or the War on our Children."
Vote (Dean or Clark) and restore sanity so that our kids are never innocent victims again.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Not campaign material.

Personally, I think the war on drugs is idiotic, and the only positive effect has been the economic impact on small towns where new prisons have been built.

But, if someone were to campaign on it, another solution has to be proposed-- can't just say decriminalize or be vague about treatment plans. This just brings up too many bags of worms.

[kentuck]

12. The "war on drugs" is the "war on the children" in SC....

The war on drugs was the excuse for them to go in with their dogs and guns and put those kids on the floor. That is the issue. If that does not concern any thinking American, we are indeed lost. The war on drugs is the conduit to emphasize and show where we have gone with this idiotic fascist program.

[homelandpunk]

24. I'm glad I have not seen that...just reading about it makes me feel

violent.
I think the dems should use this, the way the fascists used Randy Weaver. Even though no one was killed, boots in the face is visceral and immediate. USE IT.

[Angelus]

10. It's sad to see...

drug dealers are in prison for life and murderers get out in just a few years. Does anyone else see something wrong with that? IMHO, murdering is FAR worse than selling dope on the streets.

That's not the thing that irks me. It's the fact that this "War On Drugs" is becoming an action movie/tv show to the media. I've seen it on all tv networks today. It makes me sick to see innocent kids on the floor, with guns pointed at their heads, as if they are murderers. What kind of message is that sending to our children?

[Kamika]

15. i dont think so

There are several democrats (like I) that think the war on drugs was a good idea.

Also the repubs will spin it and say the democrats are pro any drug.. like heroin etc

[bread_and_roses]

22. I am genuinely interested

in what you think is good about it? It has not stopped the drug trade, not stopped drug use, has been used as a tool of racial oppression, has been a rational for attacks on civil liberties unprecedented till the Patriot Act, has increased the # incarcerated to a rate disgraceful in the civilized world and fueled a "prison-industrial complex" that beggars states to the detriment of schools, health care, etc. As another poster pointed out, humans like to play with their consciousness and have done so from forever. What positive has come out of the drug war in your view?

[kentuck]

23. I think the SC primary would be a good testing ground for this issue...

I would bet that this would be an issue that would take hold - as explained in the context above - not as a stand alone issue. It is directly related to our rights that are being destroyed. It would be interesting to see how people would react to it after what has happened in SC at the high school. It is a very important issue.

[RuB]

16. No. National Defence and the fairness of the tax structure.

[kentuck]

17. What about making the issue in SC high an issue without mentioning drugs

Even though it was entirely about raiding for "drugs"? Anyone think this is worthy of a campaign to mention? Or is it just a lot of talk about nothing?