New War on Coke ?..... The real cost of cocaine.......

Legalize it. People will use it anyway. If they die or fuck themselves up, it's their fault. It's time the government stops being Nannies to full grown people.

Funny article filled with so many fallacies it isn't even funny... It is pathetic how people read these articles and don't question them or look at the big picture.

For example, it says (referring to Kate Moss), "When she snorted a line of cocaine, she put land mines in Colombia, she killed people in Colombia, she displaced people in Colombia, she helped finance kidnapping,"

Actually, she didn't do that at all and the author of the article is using post hoc arguments by attacking Kate Moss, for the real problem, which is the war in Columbia. In reality, if Kate Moss did kill people and fund kidnapping, she would most likely be in prison on kidnapping and murder charges.

Also, I find this quote funny, "Drug Addiction in Portugal also show cocaine use among young adults in Spain and Britain has doubled in the last decade." This works against the argument of trying to get people to "just say no". The truth is, a lot of people obviously don't, and the proof is that the use has doubled even after a half century "War on Drugs" started by the Nixon Administration.

As long as these "drug wars" continue, there will probably be hot wars between the drug clans. I figure the best solution would be to put drugs on a capitalist market and let companies compete by selling these "illegal" drugs; thus, bringing the drugs out of the black market, and finally putting an end to an otherwise unstoppable drug trade.

"bringing the drugs out of the black market, and finally putting an end to an otherwise unstoppable drug trade.[/QUOTE]
That would be just too sensible, it will NEVER happen. Too many people have their own agendas for that.

That would be just too sensible, it will NEVER happen. Too many people have their own agendas for that.[/QUOTE]

And it is always the people who buy it (like the evangelical meth head, Rush) who are for the criminalization of drugs and want to lock drug users up forever, over their freedom of consciousness.

Hypocrites I say! I think if those type of people get caught with drugs they should have to serve more time on principle alone! Well, not really because I believe in absolute freedom, but truthfully, they do need to be humiliated in someway or another.

I hate hypocrites, a lot.

I love coke, way better than pepsi

me too, but the bubbles always tickle my nose

i love both pepsi and coke!

How naive.

Coke isn't something people can't live without. If you buy it, you are creating a market for all the death and misery which goes with it.

It's like with child pornography, the people who buy it are just as guilty as the dirty old man sticking his cock up a 3 year old's ass.

Cocaine isn't a drug which could be legalised, since it's so addictive that it's addicted users destroy whatever they touch. This is known.

Cannabis however is a different story........ but even then, the government would have to issue licenses to users, since only a % of people are able to handle consuming it.

hmm this should be interesting, going to read...

i think it will be very good move to legalise it but in known weights... let's say 1 gram per person per day....

Alcohol and tobacco are legal.

More problems there than all illicit substances combined IMHO.

2c

Time to legalize and tax.
Then maybe those countries like Columbia would have a stronger economy and put an end to some of the violence.
Oh....
and I love to make bottle rockets out of Coke and Mento's.

"legalize it" isn't the answer to everything.

Cocaine is not as simple to let loose on a population as tobacco.

one word

alcohol

again

one word

alcohol

fuck that

legalize it, let the addicts die off or get help and let the casual user have their legal drug

I have been an addict before, I know what it took to get there, I had a choice the entire time, instead of dealing with the root problem that fed my addiction, I chose to do more drugs...I have no sympathy for when I was like that, and I have no sympathy for those that are like that now

that goes for alcohol, tabacco and drugs

only the strong survive

Not really, I can probably write a book on why the War on Drugs is a stupid idea. Yes, you're right you don't "need" coke, but you don't need tobacco, alcohol, meat, ect... stupid argument filled with logical fallacies.

And speaking of market and death and misery... tobacco, the food corporations (65% of Americans overweight), alcohol; they all have a part in killing people. Example: 450,000 people a year die from smoking related deaths, and alcohol kills around 80,000 people anually. Technically, I think cocaine is a "soft" drug as is heroin. This is because it doesn't do much damage over time with responsibile use, unlike cigarettes which are addictive and have been proven to cause cancer. Heroin on the other hand has been researched as safe to use when used responsibly and not mixed with other drugs.

The best thing about your argument is comparing cocaine use to raping a child... can you say false analogy?

My best advice to you is to take a Critical Thinking class at a local community college, and they maybe you can stand up and debate me on issues. Until then, I suggest you research the topic, use facts, and stop using false analogies.

"destroy whatever they touch. This is known." Who knows this? They destroy everything they touch? I know people who do cocaine, and I have shaken their hand yet I'm still here. Do they make things explode or something? Do they stop society from functioning? How do they destroy things?

Research it, learn about it, and then talk about it when you're ready. Check out "Ethan Nadelmann" on youtube or google. He is a very intelligent man and speaks with rational thought. He is very realistic and knows what is going on.

PS: I don't use cocaine, but I think I should be able to if I wanted. I don't need the government to hold my hand and tell me what and what not to do; on the other hand, people like you do need to be babysitted by the government, and that is one reason why drugs are illegal.

i have to call you out on this one

I was a coke addict for a long whlie, almost a 2 ounce a week habit

the only thing I destroyed was myself, I never once involved my friends or family in my coke addiction unless they wanted to partake and party, even then my addiction was my addiction

I also have known a few coke addicts through time, and most of the time the only person they mess up is themselves

you might be referring to meth...meth users are crazy because their brain changes. they literally can turn pyschotic, and in turn destroy everything around them...coke is nothing like that

I have even know crack addicts that lived normal healthy lives, they just like to smoke crack 4-5 times a day, like an alcoholic like to have 4-5 drinks a day

I agree Jace, I think with any drug it is the user that is destroyed. Yes, it is sad, but prohibiting it isn't going to solve the problem. In 1988 Congress said America would be drug from by 1995. It is over 10 years later and drug use has exploded. I think it is time to start harm reduction and education on drug use, and stop telling people to "just say no" because they obviously don't listen. Drugs are a fact of life that needs to be dealt with and they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

As I mentioned, Nixon made the War on Drugs over 40 years ago, yet America is the #1 buyer of drugs on the planet. Does it work? You decide.

PS: Good to see you solved your drug problems.

Alcohol is already legal and cocaine is not. Are you saying that cocaine should be legalized just because alcohol is?

Think McFly, think

i think all drugs should be legalized, yes

and not just because alcohol is, but because of many many reasons

Well said

Well let's hope you don't write a book about it. It would be the most expensive toilet paper anyone ever wasted money on since they bought anything by Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky or Robert Fisk. Most amusing was your interpretation of my statement 'destroy everything they touch' as being literal. Lol, are you on coke or something?

Anyway, funny insults aside.

Firstly, cocaine should not be made legal just because other dangerous substances are legal.

Secondly, if people want to fuck up their own bodies then fine, but the thing with coke is that it doesn't just hurt the one taking it, it hurts everyone around them (don't take this literally ). Only a small amount, taken as a habit, is enough to render a parent or employee useless. The local homeless people where I live tend to have either a problem with booze or coke or both, but what is apparent is that the younger ones are the ones who got hooked on coke. With the alcoholics, at least they lasted longer before they fucked their lives up.
I've worked for several companies which have been run into the ground because of bosses or employees being hooked on coke. I've worked for several companies which have been run by alcoholics but which have still managed to trade, and have never worked for one which has been destroyed by smoking tobacco or weed.

Thirdly, even if it was legal then it would still be smuggled. Since the government would raise a tax on it, it would be expensive enough to make smuggling attractive. In my country (the UK), cigarettes are taxed to the point that currently a pack of twenty costs over $10. Every third cigarette sold in this country is bootleg, the profits of which go to fund amongst other things, people smuggling, terrorism and other delightful ventures.

So, what's the answer? There isn't one. There will always be weak minded people who want to shove things up their nose (I was one of them once) - it's human nature to get high. In my country, there are already too many idiots who drink 12 pints of lager in a row then start a fight. Let's not compound the problem by adding coke to the mix.

I think part of the answer comes with fighting the production and use of the drug, and an education of the population about the global effect of that bit of powder they are snorting. Also it wouldn't hurt for people to be let into the secret that it doesn't really make them look cool and it doesn't make them interesting.

For the minority of people who coke doesn't affect *too* adversely, it sucks that it is illegal. But they have to realise that they live in a society and they are not the only person on earth. Rules are almost always there for a good reason, in Western societies.

Coke isn't weed - it shouldn't be legalized.

Exactlly.. maybe someone should tell that author that when ever he fills up his SUV he's supporting terrorism and dictatorships in the middle east.

He's probably also supporting child labor when he goes shopping in the local mall.

Well according to my own political views, I'd like to see drugs legalized. I'm all for personal responsibility and the survival of the fittest. But coke, heroin and crack are too dangerous and people are too stupid.

What he said.

i love coke!

In a world where people are rational I would say legalize it, however the world is full of idiots. Now while i have no problem with idiots killing themselves their coke habit affects other people and is in general a bad thing for society. However give people a lethal injection if they commit a crime and have drugs in their system and I will be for legalization again.

Imagine if the drugs weed and cocaine were legal, forget about the effects the of the drugs and all that... what would legalising it do to society... the government knows it can't stop the use or trafficing of the drug, however they very well do know it funds the poor when times are bad, what if there was no drugs to sell, think of the true crime going on... you can pray all you want itll never be legal

True that.

It would be interesting if we could test the theory that legalization would solve some/ most of the drug problems. But how do you test it without great risk?

reagan administration made that narco terrorist shit up so they could start messing about with central america

Come on Everyone, Let's all sing along

"All we are saying, is give Weed a chance"

cocaine rocks....

A bad parent is a bad parent; they can do coke, heroin, meth, but in the end they are just a bad parent. Making drugs illegal won't solve that problem in any major way, as we have seen a drug increase over the 40 years of the "War on Drugs".

Coke can fuck you up if you do it every day, so I agree it can fuck you up in the long run. Clean heroin/opiates on the other hand have been proven to not have long term negative effects.

Well, welcome to America, rendering an employee useless isn't really a big deal since he/she can get fired. And besides, life isn't all about work, so some people who use cocaine, don't really care because they are stuck in a working class system where they have a hard time advancing.Also, saying people are obligated to work or are useless is a pretty ignorant statement, because I think people should be able to do what they wish, as long as they don't interfere with other people's freedom.

Cocaine never hurt me, so it obviously doesn't hurt everyone.

So it is ok to "fuck up your life", just so as long as it takes long?

Possibly, but not absolute. That is your opinion, we don't know if it would be smuggled until we tried legalizing it and set the prices.

We tried one solution (War on Drugs). But because the War on Drugs has been a complete failure for 40 years with drug use increasing, that doesn't mean there is no solution. There possibly might be a solution to helping addicts. One solution can be harm reduction, which would help addicts "recover" from their obscene drug use without putting them in the slammer - where they have access to drugs also in some cases.

Everyone who snorts coke is not weak minded, only to you they are weak minded.

We don't know if it will compound the problem. Right now, coke is fairly easy to get anywhere in the United States, so we would have probably seen some major effect if your statement was the case.

I'm not sure how many adults use hard drugs to look cool, but I'd imagine people use drugs to feel euphoric, not impressing their friends.

If you're talking on a nation wide scale, the minority would probably be people affected by cocaine.

Yes, I'm not the only person on Earth, but I only have one life on Earth, so I should be able to do what I want to my body while I am still alive, because I only get one chance.

What can be done is legalize cocaine/heroin, and if people break the law because of drugs or any other reason; treat that as a criminal matter. Don't make just possessing or using the drug a criminal offense. Most drug users aren't violent criminals.

Cocaine was made illegal because the police in the South thought the blacks were using it and gaining super human strength and would rape the white women. This caused a moral panic and the next thing you know, cocaine is illegal. Cocaine is illegal because of racist reasons, you can research that yourself. And during this craze, the guns used by officers were upgraded in calibur because they thought their old lower calibur pistols wouldn't be able to kill the coke crazed negro.

Overall, my stance is that I have one life on Earth and I should be able to enjoy it as I wish to enjoy it. I say make drugs legal; and if people get stupid because of the drugs, use the criminal justice system. As for the people who just use psychoactive substances for recreation, let them enjoy.

We need to take on a harm reduction approach at this point, because prohibition of drugs doesn't work, period. A better option is to decriminalize it and treat addiction to drugs as a health matter. That "just say no" tag is just useless according to statistics, so harm reduction definitely needs to get a fair chance at helping aleve the addicts problem with drugs.

well said websiex

"For Santos, coca is far from glamorous. His "Shared Responsibilityexternal link" campaign, launched at a high-level drugs meeting in London this week, is aimed at educating cocaine users that if they knew what their drug money was put to use to in Colombia -- funding guerrilla groups, the planting of illegal landmines, deforestation for coca plantations, kidnapping, murder -- they would stop using the drug."


I don't do coke...but i could give a fuck less if a hired thug of the Columbian army steps on a land mine.

best post ever

we have enough idiots doing stupid things while they're clean we don't need them wired up on coke. At least with weed they just sit down and bitch about their girlfriend and when they get drunk they just wanna fight whoever looks at them funny.

Cocaine is what made south america great.

people don´t realize that if we legalize it, the country´s welfare system will go to shit. our tax dollars will be going towards addicts and "helping" these people out.

Drink lots of coffee and leave cocaine in the ground - does the same thing LOL

Holy shit! That's alot of coke !!

LOL what if someone gave you that, would you keep it LOL

i'll admit i haven't read the article yet, but it seems to me that cocaine is becoming more mainstream - references in movies, television shows on mainstream channels, etc. even coca cola's new ads have dropped the extra letters and refer to everything as "coke" - i.e. mycokerewards.com.

coke is becoming "cool" like marijuana was becoming cool a decade ago. what's next, heroin? i think adults should be allowed to make their own decisions about what they put in their body, but if all of media tells children that xyz drug is cool now, who're they going to listen to? it comes back to the parents educating their children. okay, i'm off my soapbox now.

Your tax dollars? Haha... I don't think you understand the issue.

Right now there are tens of thousands of US citizens in prison on marijuana charges alone. It is estimated to cost about $50,000 a year to keep a person in prison. By legalizing drugs we would be saving tax dollars, plus actually helping people recover rather then locking them in a cage over what I think shouldn't be a crime. Also, releasing these people should pose no threat to society since their jail sentence was based on dealing/using drugs. Non-violent offenses.

Also, it wouldn't be all government paying the bills to help the addicts recover. There would be private organizations (hospitals) that would do a majority of the work probably (which the govt would subsidize obviously). Right now, needle exchange is legal in some states and nearly all of these organizations give clean needles for free to protect the user and promote responsible drug use.

And since you bring up wasting tax dollars... did you know there is a bridge in Alaska that cost millions of dollars to build and it is rarely being used? Also, there is this thing called the Iraq War that costs $80 billion a month, so wasting money is what our government is all about in my opinion. Plus those missions to Mars..... whew, such a waste of money. All of that (especially Mars shit) could be used for social programs.

Also, about six months ago I read an article about marijuana prohibition, and it said that the country would save $13,000,000 a year if marijuana were to become legal. This money would come mainly from taxes and lower prison populations.

With 5% of the worlds population, the United States has 25% of the world's prison population. We lock up more of our fellow citizens on drug charges ALONE than Western Europe locks up on ALL charges combined.


Also, Marijuana Prohibition was caused by racism.
The government was saying that the Mexicans were smoking marijuana and luring them into their house to sweet talk the women into having sex with the Mexican. Plus, the government was putting out false information on posters that said marijuana kills and makes you insane, ect. This led to another moral panic against marijuana (just like the cocaine negro one), and a few years later, marijuana was off the charts.

Marijuana might be the safest psychoactive substance known to man, even safer than caffeine and alcohol. This is why there has never been a recorded death caused by overdosing on marijuana, not one. It is believed by researchers that you would have to smoke four ounces instantly to possibly die from marijuana, which basically means it can't kill you on an overdose.

I say the government should stop holding our hands and letting us make our own decisions. Drugs are not going to go away, they were here since the beginning of time and will last until the end of time.

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

Do you have any idea, even remotely, on how long a century is?

A century is 100 years, so a half century is 50 years. Nixon coined the term "War on Drugs" in 1971 (35 years ago), but the US started it's drug war in the late 1800s, so ... I don't get your point of insulting me when I know history.

I think using a half century is valid since it is so close, but you're right, I should've used something like two generations.

And believe me, I'm no fool.