Distortion 10: Current drug policy protects American youth.
Untrue. Current drug policy harms America's young people in many ways.
a) Drug policy fails to keep drugs away from children. More than half of high school students in the US graduate having tried an illegal drug. It is common for high schools in the USA and many middle schools to have multiple drug dealers operating in the school, and nearly 90% of young people say it is easy or fairly easy to buy illegal drugs.
[Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy: Budget Summary (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1992), pp. 212-214; Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy: 2000 Annual Report (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 2000), p. 97, figure 4-2; Johnston, L., Bachman, J. & O'Malley, P., Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug use, 1975-2000, Volume 1: Secondary School Students (Bethesda, MD: NIDA, 2001), p. 341, Table 9-6.]
b) American youth are not provided with adequate information to prevent drug abuse. The most common drug education program - DARE - has been shown to be ineffective and counterproductive, encouraging drug use among certain populations, yet it continues to receive large amounts of federal funding.
[Source: Lynam, Donald R., Milich, Richard, et al., "Project DARE: No Effects at 10-Year Follow-Up", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, August 1999), Vol. 67, No. 4, 590-593 ("Our results are consistent in documenting the absence of beneficial effects associated with the DARE program. This was true whether the outcome consisted of actual drug use or merely attitudes toward drug use.... Thus, consistent with the earlier Clayton et al. (1996) study, there appear to be no reliable short-term, long-term, early adolescent, or young adult positive outcomes associated with receiving the DARE intervention."); see also Ennett, S.T., et al., "How Effective Is Drug Abuse Resistance Education? A Meta-Analysis of Project DARE Outcome Evaluations," American Journal of Public Health, 84: 1394-1401 (1994); and Rosenbaum, Dennis, Assessing the Effects of School-based Drug Education: A Six Year Multilevel Analysis of Project DARE, Abstract (April 6, 199.]
this your opinion gamma, i actually see the effectiveness in schools and around communities first hand. my younger sister is part of a drug-free program, and there are many other kids her age involved with these meetings. perhaps the "war on drugs" is not working for the older crowd, whom have been addicted for years, but there is basically no hope for them. i would know, my older sister is divorced from a drug addict that was an engineer. the idiot gave up his wife, son, nice house, nice cars, just so he could buy drugs. guess what? he started on "just marijuana" as well. knowledge about knowing what the drug is capable of, is stronger than "peer pressure" IMHO.
The Gateway Theory is false. Please reference #15 and 16. Number 26 is particularly interesting as well. There are many studies that show the war on drugs is having little to no effect on the amount of users, young and old. I'll see if I can dig up a link for you. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/marijuan.pdf
ive seen these effects for myself. of course there are going to plenty of weed enthusiasts that are going to claim it is not a gateway drug, but in reality, it is. perhaps not to EVERYONE, but to a hefty amount, yes.
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obviously there will be cases, that's inevitable. but to basically approve of drugs as a whole would be a great drop in moral for our nation. why dont we concentrate on legalizing prostitution instead?
Not quite sure where you are going with this one. Prostitution does not pose the problems the war on drugs do. Definitely not sure where you're going with the moral angle. Are you saying it's moral to have sex with a prostitute
having sex with a prostitute is about as morally correct as giving drugs to kids.
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alcohol is not as addictive as marijuana or any other drug. the problem with marijuana is that it gets to a poin that it no longer feeds your needs, so you go look elsewhere. there is a reason why tobacco smokers cannot give up the cigarrette so easily. now think of that, but one-hundred times worse, and just about EVERYONE in the nation doing this. some country you have lined up for us.
Actually marijuana is less addictive than alchohol. Alchoholics can develop physical and mental dependency while marijuana users only develop mental dependency. Please see numbers 4, 20-22 in the same link as above for more comparisons to other substances including alcohol. Of couse no one has ever died from a direct result of using marijuana unlike alchohol among other substances.
i dont buy into marijuana being less dependent. alcohol is a depressant, unlike marijuana, therefore leading to the "wanting more" effect.
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you are right, we cant. so you want to ENCOURAGE people to use drugs, and expect that to help? because that's what legalizing drugs would boil down to. i could imagine my college and the amount of drop outs that would be a result of such an act.... you know what, maybe we should legalize it
It does not encourage people to use, but merely decriminalizes it. An example would be alchohol awareness in schools. Alcohol is legal but people not of the legal age are educated about the dangers of it.
ok but once again we enter the realms of the gateway drug theory. even though you dont believe it, and i do, it is clear that users of marijuana are more likely to use other drugs, then for anyone off the street to start off with heroin as their first drug. it just doesnt happen. alcohol on the other hand, does not lead to other consumption problems.
Whether you agree or disagree with the legalization of Drugs are a HUGE segment of most countries economy, legal or not, and will continue to be. Whos hands do you want that money in?
like i stated to gamma, the gains wouldnt be as signifact as you think. this is not oil; marijuana could be growned anywhere. abundancy = drop in price.
Let's stick to the facts rather than personal opinion when discussing this topic.
i refuse to believe in "facts" that are thrown out by a biased website. it's like pro and anti abortion websites, there is no objectiveness.
Another link documenting that the Govt's attempts to curb drug use are not working. 1 in 3 had tried marijuana in 1983 while 1 in 2 had tried marijuana in oct 2005.
Distortion 10: Current drug policy protects American youth.
Untrue. Current drug policy harms America's young people in many ways.
a) Drug policy fails to keep drugs away from children. More than half of high school students in the US graduate having tried an illegal drug. It is common for high schools in the USA and many middle schools to have multiple drug dealers operating in the school, and nearly 90% of young people say it is easy or fairly easy to buy illegal drugs.
[Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy: Budget Summary (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1992), pp. 212-214; Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy: 2000 Annual Report (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 2000), p. 97, figure 4-2; Johnston, L., Bachman, J. & O'Malley, P., Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug use, 1975-2000, Volume 1: Secondary School Students (Bethesda, MD: NIDA, 2001), p. 341, Table 9-6.]
b) American youth are not provided with adequate information to prevent drug abuse. The most common drug education program - DARE - has been shown to be ineffective and counterproductive, encouraging drug use among certain populations, yet it continues to receive large amounts of federal funding.
[Source: Lynam, Donald R., Milich, Richard, et al., "Project DARE: No Effects at 10-Year Follow-Up", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, August 1999), Vol. 67, No. 4, 590-593 ("Our results are consistent in documenting the absence of beneficial effects associated with the DARE program. This was true whether the outcome consisted of actual drug use or merely attitudes toward drug use.... Thus, consistent with the earlier Clayton et al. (1996) study, there appear to be no reliable short-term, long-term, early adolescent, or young adult positive outcomes associated with receiving the DARE intervention."); see also Ennett, S.T., et al., "How Effective Is Drug Abuse Resistance Education? A Meta-Analysis of Project DARE Outcome Evaluations," American Journal of Public Health, 84: 1394-1401 (1994); and Rosenbaum, Dennis, Assessing the Effects of School-based Drug Education: A Six Year Multilevel Analysis of Project DARE, Abstract (April 6, 199.]
Some more info about our "utes"
so your solution to all of this is allowing for them to consume MORE drugs????????? and making it ALRIGHT?!?!?!?!??
Another link documenting that the Govt's attempts to curb drug use are not working. 1 in 3 had tried marijuana in 1983 while 1 in 2 had tried marijuana in oct 2005.
Hmm those numbers seem to be increasing...
my point once again. imagine those SAME kids, but being able to buy drugs legally.... wow.
Smoke, there is no point of debating this issue if you are going to value your personal opinion over countless experts and studies performed by multiple organizations.
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i refuse to believe in "facts" that are thrown out by a biased website. it's like pro and anti abortion websites, there is no objectiveness.
These "biased" agencies you talk about are made up of Government appointed and indpendent organizations. All the references are included ranging anywhere from the World Health Organization to boards our Government has appointed. The bottom line is that you are speaking from opinion rather than fact. I have yet to see you support your arguments with a single documented source.
Another link documenting that the Govt's attempts to curb drug use are not working. 1 in 3 had tried marijuana in 1983 while 1 in 2 had tried marijuana in oct 2005.
Hmm those numbers seem to be increasing...
my point once again. imagine those SAME kids, but being able to buy drugs legally.... wow.
No, what this shows, is that our current policies and BILLIONS OF DOLLARS are not curbing drug use. People will always do drugs and by keeping them a black market commodity we have no contol over them or the people who benefit from it.
besides, your point of the DARE program and others not being effective is beyond ridiculous. yes, so 80% of students have tried A DRUG. big whoop, so how does that translate to making drugs legal, and being a step in the right direction for us? HOW!?!? it doesnt, all it's doing is showing that we need new strategies for schools.
and FYI, you say that it's best for the governments of drug lord nations to obtain the money, well guess what. MOST OF THE LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS DO!!!!!!! why dont you think they wont go after the drug lords? they already have their dibs on the pot! you obviously do not understand the workings of our corrupt nations, being arab and all, so please, dont comment.
ive seen these effects for myself. of course there are going to plenty of weed enthusiasts that are going to claim it is not a gateway drug, but in reality, it is. perhaps not to EVERYONE, but to a hefty amount, yes.
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ok but once again we enter the realms of the gateway drug theory. even though you dont believe it, and i do, it is clear that users of marijuana are more likely to use other drugs, then for anyone off the street to start off with heroin as their first drug. it just doesnt happen. alcohol on the other hand, does not lead to other consumption problems.
These statements are simply false. In fact the whole Marijuana Gateway Drug Theory is fundamentally flawed. While studying (and disproving) this theory they found that nicotine and alcohol use in minors occured the majority of the time prior to trying marijuana. If the Gateway Drug Theory wasn't disproven the gateway drug would be nicotine or alcohol and NOT marijuana.
No, what this shows, is that our current policies and BILLIONS OF DOLLARS are not curbing drug use.
people are allowed to try ANYTHING they want. WE as a nation only have the responsibility of letting them know what they should do, in contrast to what they shouldnt do. what they end up doing, is their own business. the DARE program is doing it's job: teaching the consequences of doing drugs. but it all boils down to the decision of the person.
ok look jl, if you're all for doing drugs and legalizing marijuana.
then you go ahead and stuff your kids with all the drugs/weed you want. if you are SOOOOO sure that marijuana wont lead to other effects, then do it. ENCOURAGE your child to take marijuana from strangers. FEED THEM YOUR KNOWLEDGE, and your numbers, saying that he/she is FOR SURE not going to fall victim to other drugs. oh, but tell them to keep away from alcohol and tobacco we wouldnt them getting dirty with these evil products
besides, your point of the DARE program and others not being effective is beyond ridiculous. yes, so 80% of students have tried A DRUG. big whoop, so how does that translate to making drugs legal, and being a step in the right direction for us? HOW!?!? it doesnt, all it's doing is showing that we need new strategies for schools.
We spend billions of dollars to achieve what??? What are the results of all that money spent? The current tactics being used simply are not working and the FACTS (ie; statistics from multiple studies) back that statement up. Please read item 26 again http://www.drugwarfacts.org/marijuan.pdf
Our government has long resorted to scare tactics instead of facts. The panel our own government setup to study this is are the ones urging them to tell the truth and lower/repeal our current marijuana laws. Here's an idea, maybe the Government should educate the public, including our education system, with the facts instead of propaganda.
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and FYI, you say that it's best for the governments of drug lord nations to obtain the money, well guess what. MOST OF THE LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS DO!!!!!!! why dont you think they wont go after the drug lords? they already have their dibs on the pot! you obviously do not understand the workings of our corrupt nations, being arab and all, so please, dont comment.
Who said anything about foreign governments??? If I can dig up another link I will, but our goverment was paying farmers in California to NOT grow marijuana. You know, creating more jobs for our fellow americans. A ton of farmers have been priced out of their regular crops and in order to keep their farms are resorting to growing marijuana instead. Interesting subject actually.
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you obviously do not understand the workings of our corrupt nations, being arab and all, so please, dont comment.
This is one of the most fucking ignorant statements I've heard in a long time. I'm not Arab, a mix of just about everything else, but not arab. If you'd like to verify that statement please check the photo gallery at the top of the off topic section. And just for the record, even if I was Arab, in no way shape or form would that invalidate anything of the facts I've mentioned.
I'm also fully versed in the drug trade so please don't try that angle with me. I can't believe you played the race card
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we wouldnt them getting dirty with these evil products 
