Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for June 13, 2016

When opportunity knocks, Duke answers.

Is this from the nixon or reagan misadministrations?

No need to look far, there’s a ton of celebrities that spend most of their time living better through chemistry. some of them are good friends of GT.

Good old Duke. When his country needs him, he doesn’t hesitate!

Nobody is in favor of drug ABUSE. But there’s an enormous gap between drug abuse and prohibition. The prohibitionist is too unscientific to notice that the end he achieves is not the one he claimed to be pursuing: More crime, more police corruption, more invasion of privacy….

How has the “war on drugs” fared? How did Prohibition work out in the 20’s? Will banning abortion stop abortions or just safe, legal ones? Did making gambling illegal ever stop it and how much are states now dependent on revenue from it? Does banning end of life solutions prevent people from killing themselves? The age-old laws against prostitution, have they worked out? The religious folks behind all of these quack notions that you can somehow prevent people from getting what they want, what they need is the result of living in a fantasy world. I agree with dwdl21 and the others who say stop locking up drug users and instead provide them with what they need and when they identify themselves, give them the counseling and training they need to deal with life without drugs with the money $$$$$aved; and teach them to be responsible grown-ups and/or heal their pain and underlying emotional issues. Nothing else has worked. And marijuana; legalize it today, everywhere. Prohibition has never worked and never will.

Let’s just go along with the notion that Reagan’s drug war wasn’t a cynical political ploy. Sure, what the hell. Now how about the observation that it’s been an unmitigated disaster that has destroyed lives while enriching the narcs and criminals that profit from it?

It’s worth noting that the “War on Drugs” was begun, and named, by Nixon. Nancy Reagan chose it as “her” issue as First Lady; “Just Say No”. The most high-profile, pun intended, advocate of drug use if not abuse was Dr. Timothy Leary. Hunter Thompson was up there too, pun again intended.Duke is the embodiment of the old axiom that no one is a total waste. You can always serve as a bad example.

Some years ago I saw a documentary about how England handles its drug addiction problem. Addicts can, in essence, declare themselves to be addicts, unwilling or unable to stop using. The requirements are actually quite stringent. They can go to certain qualified, licensed physicians (not all MD’s are qualified) to be “diagnosed” and obtain prescriptions for their drugs. Then they have to visit specific pharmacies (again, not all qualify) to obtain their supplies. This way, they get medical grade drugs rather than rat poison or god-knows-what, and clean needles if needed. Greatly reduces overdoses, STD transmissions, and the attendant crime. It allows them to be “high-functioning” addicts capable of holding a job and supporting themselves as well as paying taxes. That’s not to say that all work, but at least the opportunity exists, and some do. When they decide they are ready to quit – and no one gets clean without deciding for themselves to do so – they are provided with a safe, monitored rehab program to break the addiction and change their lives. It has actually been extremely successful.

The Drug War is a blight on humanity, far worse even than drug abuse per se. It not only creates huge amounts of evil where there was none before, but it PREVENTS adopting a medically oriented, harm-reduction approach. MOST drug war activity is directed at marijuana, a nearly perfectly benign drug, which is positively BENEFICIAL, especially when compared with alcohol and tobacco! If we could eliminate one scourge, drug abuse or prohibition, MUCH more would be gained by eliminating prohibition… Marijuana should be legalized, ASAhumanlyP.

@Jack’s WorldAre you offering that unsubstantiated indictment as a contrast to the approach of her Republican opponent?

Just think of all the judges, lawyers, law makers and prisons it builds

“…For once, we have a chance for some common sense in the white house…”-———————————-Perhaps a chance exists. Too bad there’s not a Republican candidate with any to take advantage of the chance.

and gave local police the opportunity to become totally corrupt because of the forfeiture laws

Ever see the picture of Elvis getting an antidrug credential from Nixon? Elvis was high as a kite. Nixon was probably drunk, or would be after work. Whatever we do, please don’t mention the word “treatment”. Drug use is a sin requiring divinely-ordained punishment. What? You say the Bible doesn’t say anything about drug use? Nonsense!And where are all the Libertarians to tell us that it isn’t government’s business what drugs one takes?Oh, they want republican votes? I get it.