Hacker News Reader

http://www.maps.org/research/mmj

https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questio...

War on drugs has way to much history to answer that question on HN. The answers are endless and not satisfactory to anyone that doesn't understand how complex the entire web of politics actually can get.

What we have at the end of the day is a mental health crisis, an opiod crisis, depression and suicide is more prevalent than ever, we are practically number 1 at jailing people in the world, the amount of money collected and spent fighting drugs in this country could have most likely solved the homeless problem, paid for education for generations, kept our infrastructure updated more than it is today, organized crime would probably still be organized but not profitable enough to topple entire sections of the planet (south and Central America as an example), our veterans wouldnt be in as much pain as they are in today, etc etc...(without even accounting for black market profits)

I am not saying the war on drugs is a specific tool to jail minorities because that ruins the entire conversation by pointing at one issue and not looking at anything else. Yes minorities are jailed in alarming numbers for a variety of reasons. But people not in jail are dying everyday because of the drug war via organized crime, street crime (gangs), overdoses, and suicides.

The war on drugs isn't responsible for all of societies problems in America but it sure as hell created most of them.

Well, while looking through the history of LSD, it was banned, since people became more spiritual and harder to control. Not going to wars and being happy with working simple jobs. While it is not the exact case for marihuana, the effects and outcome might be close.

>What has this war on drugs given America?

Mass incarceration, militarized police forces, and a public health crisis

Don't forget asset forfeiture and increased tax rates / deficit spending.

Canada was late to the party. It was already legal for recreational use in 9 U.S. states, including in the capital. 4th & K NW reeks of it.

it's pretending to be legal in those states, whereas in canada, it will actually be legal.

[flagged]

Taking HN threads into flamewar is not allowed here. We ban accounts that do this, so please don't. The effects on the community are destructive and basically always the same.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

It should be noted that the above comment is likely far less trying to incite a flame war, and more likely referencing the alleged reasoning for the 'war on drugs' was to directly marginalise African Americans and 'hippies'.

"The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

— John D. Ehrlichman, former Nixon aide, interview with Dan Baum

This is what i was going for, i should have cited my source

That's just your honest opinion...

"The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

— John D. Ehrlichman, former Nixon aide, interview with Dan Baum

Yup; thats just my opinion.... it also happens to be factual history. Can't HN be less sterile and accept the facts of history and reality; we don't exist in a vacuum.