Pubdate: Wed, 24 Nov 2010
Source: Garden Island (Lihue, HI)
Copyright: 2010 John Zwiebel
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/Fyr3Cplk
Website: http://kauaiworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/964
Author: John Zwiebel
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n970/a03.html
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n959/a07.html

A CASE FOR DECRIMINALIZATION

Concerning the "War on Drugs" ... Ms. Makuaole, seems to have missed 
Mr. Tamm's point, perhaps because of headline choice.

Ms. Makuaole, people make bad choices in their lives. Expecting the 
government to protect people from themselves only gives the 
government more power.

Mr. Tamm was mistaken when he said the "War on Drugs" started because 
of the Hippies. That war has been going on practically forever and 
its purpose has never been to stop drug use. One example is the Opium 
Wars between Britain and China around 1840. Britain basically forced 
China to continue importing opium.

There are many groups in the U.S., including within the government 
itself, which do not want to "win" the war on drugs. Indeed, the 
Oliver North used proceeds from selling crack cocaine in the slums of 
L.A. to finance the Iran-Contra affair during the Reagan administration.

Also, there are many stories about judges who get kick-backs from 
private prisons for sentencing children to jail for drug use. The war 
on drugs has corrupted our government.

Sending your children to jail for years is no way to help them. If 
you think they'll hate you because you don't approve of their drug 
use, they will despise you for putting them in jail, and then they 
will be lost forever. Unless someone comes up with a better idea, I 
support de-criminalization.

John Zwiebel, Kalaheo
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom