The Reason Foundation is releasing a feature length film on the Drug War this year. Here's the trailer. Warning: Graphic footage.
This is a really excellent video: tl;dw - Former Police Captain says it's beyond time to end the drug war and start treating our nationwide drug problem as an education and health care issue.
What's the biggest threat to drug dealers? The DEA? The FBI? The local fascist SWAT team who want to show off their gear? Its turn's out, none of the above.
Did you say Texas? http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_...$3.4-million-in-drugs-hidden-in-tanker-truck/
Can we close this thread now? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/08/drug-war_n_3030040.html U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske has shed the term "war on drugs" and has made gestures toward focusing on treatment over incarceration, even while the nation's spending remains tilted toward the latter. But is the war truly ending -- and will its most destructive element, the mass incarceration of millions of Americans, end with it? Although support for marijuana legalization has increased every year over the past decade, the number of people incarcerated in federal prison has only just begun to drop. Support for marijuana legalization jumped from 30 percent to over 50 percent between 2000 and 2013. But the number of people in federal prison for drug crimes actually grew between 2000 and 2010, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons. There were 336,300 people in state and federal jails for drug crimes in 2010.
If the war ever does look like it really might end - and that time is not now - I wonder if all the state and local police with their fancy SWAT/military toys they all bought (with our taxes) to fight the war will end up still fighting it anyway - and I wonder who they will fight against ..... you know they aren't gonna give up those cool military toys and they'll be looking for other wars against the evil citizenry they once swore to protect.
Based on my personal observations, I would say high school students and young, working class people. The cops are in the schools already, working the school-to-prison pipeline, and the NRA will have more cops in schools now. And of course the politicians will keep making more stuff illegal to keep those for-profit prisons in business. Not that I'm bitter.
Considering that most improvements in police armament have come in response to the use of more sophisticated weapons against them, I'd say that your wonder is misplaced. Whether it was Tommy guns in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties, Whitman's rifles against police revolvers & shotguns in the '60s, high-powered automatic weapons & ballistic armor versus police pistols & bullet-resistant vests in North Hollywood in the '90's, law enforcement has usually followed & reacted.
The amazing thing about your posts is that I'm still amazed by the amazing level of asslickery. You watched too many episodes of Kojak as a child, and not enough of BJ and the Bear. If your claim was true, please show me criminals with tanks, anti-aircraft weaponry and drones. (And just because some knucklehead on TheRant claims it doesn't make it true; in fact, that makes it more likely to be false.)
They won't have to look very far. Did a quick search on Law Enforcement for/against gun control and they are mostly against it. They'll need all their toys to keep the formerly responsible citizens in check. If Director (HAIL) Grimes were in charge there would be no discussion!
Focus on your own autofellating fantasies. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...omeland-security-funded-military-weapons.html Despite all this, police are not patrolling in tanks, manning AAC batteries & launching attacks from drones, in NYC. https://www.google.com/search?q=nypd police vehicles&hl=en&rlz=1C1RNPN_enUS410&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ga9kUaaRJ6vE4AOStIGgAw&ved=0CEwQsAQ&biw=910&bih=451 NYPD has more than 8,000 vehicles. Perhaps a half-dozen are military surplus armored vehicles. There are hundreds of hybrids. http://www.policemag.com/channel/vehicles/news/2012/07/03/nypd-picks-ford-p-i-as-new-patrol-car.aspx As for criminals having armored vehicles, we're not Canada or Mexico yet: http://privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com/2007/12/criminals-driving-armored-vehicles.html
The state and local police are WAY too ready for war against citizens. I pass a VA State Police armored personnel carrier looking vehicle with funky radar and surveillance stuff tacked to it, routinely on I-95. There is no need for such a vehicle to even be tested by the Va State Police. They have several in operation. There is absolutely no need for almost any local police force to have a SWAT team, but most do. I begrudgingly admit maybe 3 cities could claim a legitimate need (I wouldn't necessarily agree, but they could honestly make it). I reject your ridiculous claims. To me, it always seems like it is the other way around. But it is always nice to have someone around as an apologist for the jack-booted class
When the WTO meetings happened here in Miami, I was working downtown and it surprised me the amount of cops in riot gear that they got in the place. They had a few tanks and they were harassing people since early in the morning, you know if you looked certain ways they will go after you.
I reject your ridiculous rejection! Jackboots are in short supply among US law enforcement. Forget tanks. This is what Miami needs to keep up with drug traffickers: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/2013411112032382393.html http://www.imcdb.org/i002105.jpg
This might ease the plight of clinics & users alike. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bill-give-marijuana-users-protection-feds-article-1.1315540 'Eighteen states and Washington, D.C. have laws legalizing the use of medical marijuana, while Colorado and Washington state voted in 2012 to legalize it for recreational use."
One of the biggest terrorists in the Drug War, Vivian Wilson, is thankfully being put in her place. She's a terrorist all right, except she relies on emotional appeals instead of violence, but really the terrorist that uses emotion is much more of a danger, as she can harm people anywhere in the country. Yes, she's two, which makes her even more dangerous. Send in the drones.
I've read that post three times and still can't figure out what you're trying to say. Should I go smoke a bowl and try again?
It's a war, and she's fighting against her country. She's a terrorist. She should be eliminated. I read that Chris Christie has said he doesn't think children should be eligible for the state's medical marijuana program, so she's in for a rough 15 years (if she makes it that long), so ha!