Note: All opinions are those of Pat Schwind only, & not those of anyone else at Impact Mortgage Network.
Denver Police Commander (Retired) Tony Ryan, was originally scheduled for 3-11, but due to a death in the family, had to reschedule for 4-1. Tony was the first Police Commander on the scene of the Columbine High School Massacre. He represents LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of current & former cops, prosecutors, attorneys & judges, who advocate the total termination of The War on Drugs, which is an Anti-American, Anti-Freedom Fiasco!!
We waste $74 Billion, (that’s Billion with a “B”), every year on the evil Drug War! Worse yet, we destroy countless lives & wreck families, in the name of “protecting the children”. Folks, the real threat to the “American Family” & “Traditional Marriage” isn’t the “gay agenda”, (if there is such a thing); It’s all the right wing nut job politicians, who press for draconian drug laws. Stupid “cow-billies” drive around in big pick up trucks, with bumper stickers advocating “Freedom this …” & “Freedom that…”, & then the ignorant crackers vote for control freaks like “JD”, Russel Pearce & their GOP god squad goons, who “crow” about ‘law & order’, but don’t really believe in freedom & justice at all!
Tony is also a spokesperson for the Libertarian party. He said that "you
really can't regulate illegal activity." In 2008 there were ~14 million arrests by law enforcement in the U.S. Drug crimes were ~ 1.7 million of those. 89% of these 1.7 million arrests were for possession of Marijuana; most for small amounts. The resources devoted to that effort, & the subsequent expense to incarcerate & prosecute the people involved, is a crime in itself.
Before 1914, Heroin could be bought from a drug store, & we had no "drug problem" in America, although we had 1.3% of the population addicted to drugs, because we treated the issue as a medical problem, not a criminal problem. In 1965 there were ~ 4 million illegal drug users in our nation. But by 2007, despite the "War on Drugs", escalated by Richard Nixon & Ronnie Reagan, there were 112 million illegal drug users! "Getting Tough on Drugs" does not create less demand for drugs!! Go figure.
The quality (potency) & availability of all drugs, especially "hard drugs", has grown steadily with the prosecution of the War on Drugs. It's far easier today for kids younger than 18 to buy illegal drugs, than to buy alcohol or cigarettes. Because of the War on Drugs. Our drug policy in the US should be "Harm Reduction", not incarceration.
In July of 2007, the US Conference of Mayors concluded that "...the Drug War has failed. We need a new drug policy. We have 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's convicts...." Their conclusion: LEGALIZE DRUGS. In Holland where Marijuana is effectively legal & readily available, in 2007, 28% of High School Sophomores had tried Marijuana, compared with 41% in the US. Obviously prohibition doesn't work.
Europe locks up less than 100 people per 100,000 population, annually. In America, it's 726! 40% of those inmates are in the system for Marijuana possession; again, most often for very small amounts. In many states, simply giving a "joint" to a friend can constitute "distribution", a felony, & ruin your life, in terms of your ability to get a decent job, hold political office, or even vote!
LEAP advocates total legalization of all drugs, which would accomplish:
1) 1.7 million less arrests each year in America.
2) $74 Billion saved each year.
3) The government could tax consumption of drugs, like it now does alcohol & tobacco, to generate revenue.
4) The quality & potency of drugs could be guaranteed, which would
5) End "over doses" literally overnight.
Furthermore, LEAP advocates the government not only legalize all drugs, but be directly involved in the production & distribution of all drugs. The distribution of free maintenance doses of any drug to adults requesting them would accomplish the following:
1) Remove the profit motive for selling any drugs.
2) No individual would therefore have an incentive to sell drugs.
3) Criminal activity to obtain money to buy drugs would vanish, which would cause property theft to drop drastically.
4) Criminal association by drug users, to plan crime would vanish.
5) Disease spread by "sharing needles" would vanish.
6) Drug users would be able to stabilize their addiction.
7) Dealer vs. Dealer "turf wars", & the associated gun violence would vanish.
8) No cops would get killed prosecuting an insane drug war.
9) No people would be killed by the cops vs. dealers or dealer vs. dealer gun violence.
10) No dealers would be soliciting more users, since the profit motive had disappeared.
11) America would have greater "hope for the future", because of all the positive results from the above consequences.
Why don't we as a nation see the benefits of ending the insane War on Drugs? Tony thinks it's simply the lobbying arms of the "Big Three":
1) Police Unions;
2) Correction officers Unions;
3) "Big Pharma"
The War on Drugs is a "guaranteed jogs program" for the cops & prison guards. And if people used Marijuana as medicine, they'd need a lot less of the stuff "pushed on us" by the giant pharmaceutical companies. It's that simple!! For instance, "Marinol", the so-called Marijuana substitute contains only 1 canibinoid. Marijuana contains over 60!. Pot's very cheap, but a prescription of Marinol can cost $2,500 a month. And it doesn't work!!
I personally think it's a little more complicated than that, & told Tony so. I said that as long as the "Right Wing god squad calls the shots in much of America, especially the Greater Confederacy, there's no way drugs will ever be legalized. Because to the god squad, it's not a matter of what's right for America, it comes down to punishing people who don't believe what they do."
Believers don't want people to do anything they consider "wrong", even if it's of no harm to the user/participant, or others. Simply because their strong religious convictionds don't allow them to see what's really "good". It's more about "control". And the god squad loves prisons to control folks.
And once in the system, you're usually a felon, & then you usually can't vote. It's just another manifestation of the racist "Southern Strategy", used by the Slave state politicians, after LBJ signed the Civil Rights & Voting Rights Acts of 1964 & '65. It's just "religion in action", it's evil, it suppresses good people everywhere, & it works.
The real answer is not just promoting the benefits of ending the drug war, but to point out, in no uncertain terms, the evils of "strong religious convictions", "religion in action", & anti-freedom god squad goons. A great thinker once said, "when real fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in the flag & carrying a cross".
Folks, it's already here, in the form of Right Wing, racist, mostly GOP politicians & operatives. It just manifests itself in evils like the War on Drugs, persecution of Gay folks, the "glass ceiling" for women & their wages, targeting immigrants, & most activities of the "T-Baggers".
If you want to really fight evil, stop voting for fascist pigs like Russell Pearce, JD Hayworth, Trent Franks, Sarah Palin, the remnants of the Bush Crime family, & most GOP candidates. When some one says they're "pro-family", they're often a NAZI. Freedom is the farthest thing from their minds!
Have a nice day!