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RainDog

(28,784 posts)
4. Not at the federal level, still
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 05:06 PM
Dec 2013

You and I both know politics isn't just about doing what people want, or even doing the right thing. Obama doesn't favor legalization, but he does favor decriminalization.

But drug policy is part of a huge federal bureaucracy, that reaches across more than one such bureaucracy, and any changes have to fight against this entrenched status quo. Within these agencies, defense contractors feed at the trough, legislators bring home the bacon for their districts... money is allocated for the new, militarized U.S. police force...

The U.S. is the biggest impediment to changing world drug policies, iow, because it's such a cash cow to certain people.

Nations should be allowed to experiment, as Uraquay is doing. Their president said that if the use of collectives doesn't help to quash the illegal trade, the law will be rescinded.

Why shouldn't other nations be able to enforce different laws to see if that helps their nation deal with the particulars of the illegal drug trade for them?

Anyway, the U.S. looks more and more like a nation that is not able to lead - on drug policy, climate change issues, etc. We have too many whack-a-doodle end timers - both at the polls and in office.

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