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During a drug bust
The Globe has more.
shots fired
From the Globe article:
It was a drug bust. They allegedly sell heroine out of the vehicle.
Heroin
Unless you mean Wonder Woman or River Tam, in which case I'd change my hardline stance against the ice cream truck menaces of East Boston.
end the war on drugs
Had this young man been drinking beer instead of taking an illegal drug, the police likely would have peacefully arrested him or maybe just handed him a citation. Instead, the police came close to conducting an extrajudicial killing.
t's time to end the senseless 'war on drugs'.
AMEN
Far too many lives have been, and are, being ruined due to the profit motives. Take away the illegality, you take away the chance for obscene wads of cash. Take megabucks out of the equation, you take away most of the violence.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
yes
the war on drugs is too costly, with far too many casulaties. programs like DARE that brainwash kids are part of the poor effort too. I wish they'd end it & let the police & courts focus on violent offenders.
school zones are being
school zones are being debated today because right now, people are charged with a more serious crime even if the intent to distribute or the purchase of drugs was not to a child.
I hope they change the zone.
also, schools are closed for the summer
so it makes no sense to charge anyone with a 'school zone'-related offense right now.
It makes sense beause this
It makes sense beause this leach on society may get a harsher penealty. Why don't you liberals stop talking about legalizing heroin and be thankful that the people tasked with protecting us didn't get hurt in this incident. Even if you don't beileve that drugs lead to violence at least admit that addicts steal to buy drugs. I hope your GPS's get stolen out of your Jetta by some crack head trying to score.
You are wrong. It is not a
You are wrong. It is not a Jetta, it is a Suburban Outback.
Liberals Legalizing Heroin?
Um. No. Pot and E, on the other hand have been rated as far less dangerous to society than many legal drugs. Read this article on an expert rating of drug danger by law enforcement and health professionals.
You can talk about ending a stupid waste of money aimed at drugs that are safer than those which are currently legal without claiming that it would endanger all society if any are legal, or lying about which drugs rational people argue should be legalized.
Oh, and did it occur to you that addicts steal to buy drugs because 1) there aren't enough treatment beds, 2) they learn how to do it in jail for pot offenses and 3)illegality makes drugs expensive and uncontrolled?
The Lancet - mean harm rating by independent experts
'Harm' rating is medical harm to the individual who ingests the substance.
that's harm to those who
that's harm to those who ingest the substance, not harm to the public.
alcohol is in the top 5, and that's legal.
Just because you went to
Just because you went to some liberal school and still smoke pot, does not mean you know what you are talking about. This article was about cops arresting a heroin abuser; by your chart, the most harmful drug. Take your liberal agenda to the hemp fest!
Quote from Comment
For Your Reference, here is the comment that I was responding to:
Could it possibly be said that the cops that are out there chasing pot users and "ecstatics" and their supply chain mean that fewer cops are out there to go after heroin issues? That said cops may be getting their arses shot off over a relatively benign drug (pot, e) made less benign by the money that follows prohibition?
But I'm just a public health professional, so I guess that disqualifies me from commenting on matters of public health, evidence-based research and policy, etc.
Tell us again, Swirly Girl,
Tell us again, Swirly Girl, what you resume is. I do not believe you have graced us with your credentials yet today.
Just because
Just because you wing-nut tough guys like to wear your wives' dresses in private and diddle your neighbors kids is no justification for taking your anger out on commenters here and swirrly's accomplishment in academic studies. You seem to have trouble reading what people are posting and blast-off on some left-right tangential issue. Wheww, go home and the beat dog.
Don't Ask, Don't Smell
Actual Quote from Resident Vitriolic Coward:
Then, later on ...
Lesson for Anon: if you don't want your nose rubbed in something, don't ask for it.
The person arrested was not
The person arrested was not some poor drug addicted soul. He was involved in a heroin distribution investigation and was charged with possessing a large amount of heroin. He was a drug dealer. Also, i have seen numerous times, on this site and others, that people are sent to prison for marijuana related offenses. Not true. If you are sent to jail for a marijuana related offense, it is because your record is lengthy and violent and/or you have repeatedly violated your terms of probation. NO ONE in Suffolk County is sent to county jail or state prison for possessing less than 52 pounds (trafficking weight) of marijuana. And Ron, you should read the news stories a little better. He was not killed by the police. He was well enough to be arraigned in court today.
Fact Remains
If you take the profit motive out of the equation, most of the violence goes with it. Yeah, there'll still be a few sick fucks willing to shoot you over a sawbuck, but most of the assholes are assholes because there are huge gains to be had. Illegality = Major Profit (if you're willing to take the risks and defend your turf.)
And there are plenty of folks in jail for marijuana possession, first offense, and they weren't holding a trunkload of shit. Yes, Massachusetts has relatively benign laws. That doesn't mean the entire country does. And it's the Feds who are driving this war, not the states.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
I am surprised
That nobody has pointed out that the first assertion is less certain than we might like, given recent events.
Not to make light of an unfortunate situation, mind you. Just to point out that legalization might reduce drug war casualties, but would not eliminate them.
As usual, the devil is in the details
I'm for puppies and against the senseless war on drugs. But when we talk about legalizing drugs we usually mean legalizing drugs for adults. What about people who sell drugs to teens or teens who sell drugs? Should it be a citation to sell heroin to a teenager or for a teenager to buy or sell heroin? Wasn't this a teenage drug dealer?
But all that is too much to fit on the bumpersticker.
("Extrajudicial killing"? Wow! Another great bumpersticker analysis.(Count me in favor of a sensible war against ridiculous exaggeration.))
Sales to minors
We already have two fairly successful drug-control regimes in place, one for tobacco and one for alcohol. Both regimes work reasonably well, though not perfectly, and they do not lead to violence and killings and to lots of people wasting their lives away in prisons.
It is illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under 18, or to sell alcohol to anyone under 21 (though I think it should be lowered to 18). Similarly it can be illegal to sell any other drug to minors.