
White House Drug Czar Calls for End to 'War on Drugs'  - Alex3917
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124225891527617397.html
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byrneseyeview
_Kerlikowske Says Analogy Is Counterproductive_

So much for that. Maybe the title should be "Calls for end to 'War' on Drugs"
as a way to emphasize that he's talking about spin, not substance.

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blurry
_federal authorities would no longer raid medical-marijuana dispensaries in
the 13 states where voters have made medical marijuana legal._

Sounds substantive to me.

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foulmouthboy
This and the "war on terror" are perfect examples of not creating actionable,
measurable goals for an initiative. The equivalent of this in business
strategy are projects with goals like, "Make the best iPhone App ever" and
"Make the company more social".

How do you know when to stop? How do you know when you're done?

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uninverted
I think it's more of a continuum than that: Let's make the best program ever
Let's make a great calendar Let's make a calendar that makes it easy to share
files Let's make a calendar with ftp

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byrneseyeview
Also, it's interesting that treatment center admissions are in the 200K-300K
range for pot (10% of the population uses), cocaine (2% uses) and heroin (.1%
uses).

The heroin numbers look a little low, though: the number of stories on Erowid
doesn't imply a 20:1 ratio of cokeheads to smack users, especially when you
figure that someone coked-up is more likely to write than someone on heroin.

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erlanger
The heroin number appears to be lower because it's a more addictive drug than
cocaine. Users are less likely to try to quit.

What's more important to consider is that treatment is not always voluntary. A
sentence for a marijuana-related offense frequently requires that the
convicted seek treatment and pay for it out-of-pocket. Treatment rates
influenced by compulsory attendance cannot be trusted as accurate public
health data.

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zacharypinter
I remain skeptical, but this article sounds like generally positive news.

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latortuga
When it comes to large, slow-moving beaurocracies, baby steps are a good
thing. Generally the topics mentioned in the article are good first steps.

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russell
We are in desperate need of clear thinking on this topic. Beyond the people
cost of incarceration of those who should be in treatment programs, there is
the cost to the rest of us of building and operating prisons. In CA we have a
billion dollar prison construction bond. A federal judge plans to grab
billions from the state to reduce prison overcrowding. The prison guards union
is the biggest lobbying/corrupting group in the state.

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lallysingh
Perhaps it's more about de-politization than clearer thinking. Sounds like
some intelligent moves have been made here, but just for political or
financial gain.

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roc
I'm hopeful we get more policies that are results-driven, rather than
ideology-driven.

And while most of this is just talk so far, I'm encouraged that they're going
to begin deferring to State's Rights in at least the case of medical
marijuana.

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seanba
Shouldn't this be on reddit instead? Seems a bit off topic.

From the HN Guidelines:

Off-Topic: Most stories about _politics_ , or crime, or sports, unless they're
evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters,
or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-
topic.

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pg
This is evidence of an interesting new phenomenon. It's a big shift.

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ivankirigin
Indeed. The state of inner city life and relations with Latin America are very
closely tied to drug policy.

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sdurkin
Smart move. Washington ought to remember that the War of the Laws was the
watershed event in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Laws>

The Federal Soviet government insisted upon laws that the satellites found
unacceptable, and so they broke away. While the US has a stronger social norm
of Federal control, the same scenario is possible here as the economy
continues to decline.

"States' Rights" is no longer merely the battle cry of bigots. Its a necessary
part of holding this nation together.

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ShabbyDoo
I wish the graphs of weight seized had been normalized to some sort of dose
unit. That I can't do so with my own knowledge shows how far removed I am from
the issues.

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pj
If you look at the chart, you can kind of see that the percentage of users in
the past 12 months decreases with potency and risk of the drug.

marijuana (10%), cocaine (2.3%), meth (0.5%), and heroin (0.1%)

I'm curious though, why more people use Meth than Heroin, but fewer seek
treatment. 23x more people have used cocaine as have used heroin, yet the same
number seek treatment for marijuana, cocaine and heroin. What is that about I
wonder...

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jrockway
Does this mean that I will be able to buy pseudoephedrine at the drug store
without having to show my Papers? (I imagine pigs will fly first. When has the
government ever repealed a law after noticing that it didn't work?)

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anigbrowl
The end of prohibition is one obvious example.

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anamax
The 55 mph speed limit is arguably another.

However, those are the exceptions. IIRC, we still have a mohair subsidy for
troop clothing even though we don't use it any more.

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anigbrowl
True. If i could write constitution 2.0, I'd include a requirement that all
legislation come with an expiry date.

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hpvic03
I'm curious as to the percentage of Americans that drank alcohol illegally
during the prohibition years.

What percentage level is required for legalization to be a politically sound
move?

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mpk
Well, that's high time.

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pj
This place has no sense of humor! It's funny, I'll up you.

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pj
Take my karma! Laughter must be erradicated forever!

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stcredzero
What works here for puns is something that you can deadpan. The "straight"
interpretation of a double-entendre has to be enough to potentially fool the
average HN reader, but also elicit a double-take.

