decline reported in Afghan poppy crop

[Pekka]

'I was so poor I had to sell my kid to sex trades for 1 dollar', makes about as much sense as they have little money and that's the only thing they can do.

How much money goes into fighting drug lords? And how much money goes into fixing up druggies, how much money goes for crimes because addicts need the money to buy the next fix, how much money goes to imprisoning these people and dealers, how much money goes into keeping up the task forces that track these people and take them down, how much people die as a direct result of overdosing, how many dies from conflicts in power struggle or just owing money to someone, how much money do the lords and all those get and what do they do with that money, they sure don't pay taxes, but they sure support other criminal areas like illegal weapons trade etc.

So what if someone is poor, don't mean nothing. Burn all the fields and show mercy to farmers. How much money in all that is saved when those fields are destroyed? A little portion of that money could be given to the farmers and poor and make them grow something else, don't matter let them grow rocks. It's not like the buyers pay a lot of money to farmers. THey keep alive. It's somewhere else where the money is made.

Burn the fields. ****'em up. Anything else is counter productive and just plain stupid.

[germanos]

Originally posted by Ned


?

I was listening to BBC report about the corruption of South America by the cocaine trade. The reporter's conclusion was that the only way to stop the decline of civilization and the ever-growing power of the criminal/revolutionary elements was to legalize cocaine and heroin.

I agree.

I think the lesson we should take from trying to illegalize drugs is the same lesson we learned from illegalizing alcohol: All it does is breed crime while glamorizing its consumption.

Who are you and what have you done to Ned

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You don't find, for example, the laws of Iran problematic?

Of course I do. That doesn't make me opposed to morality, any more than anyone else is. Some people just pretend to be.

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Do you know how many people are itching to get some medical marijuana here? They're beating down the doctor's doors. All you do when you legalize it, and have doctors selling it is legitimize it.

First, what evidence do you have that these people are new users?

Second, what's wrong with more people smoking it if a doctor is led to believe it can help the patient?

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
I would suspect, that in 1900 drug distribution was a little bit more difficult than today.

Not at all. Coca-Cola up until the end of the 19th century contained a large dose of cocaine. Other drugs like opium and its derivatives were sold everywhere and massively bought. In fact one of the reason opiates were banned was because the pharmaceutical lobby wanted to replace them with their own patent-protected drugs.

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
If you tolerate illegal cultivation, money is gonna flow to warlords, Taliban, and the culture of lawlessness there will be encouraged.

It's also going to flow into the peasants' hands.

Ergo, a decline is a GOOD thing, and SOME govt measures make sense. How hard to crack down given the economic and political realities is another thing.

Indeed, cracking down would be no more succesfull there than it has been anywhere else - next to impossible.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris


Not at all. Coca-Cola up until the end of the 19th century contained a large dose of cocaine. Other drugs like opium and its derivatives were sold everywhere and massively bought. In fact one of the reason opiates were banned was because the pharmaceutical lobby wanted to replace them with their own patent-protected drugs.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

[Kidlicious]

I'm glad we have so many supporters of drugs. Now put down those bongs and grow up. Have some kids and get real.

[lord of the mark]

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Oncle Boris

It's also going to flow into the peasants' hands.

I would suggest that this is not a worthwhile tradeoff.

Indeed, cracking down would be no more succesfull there than it has been anywhere else - next to impossible.

Oh, they dont have to eliminate it. They just have to get it down to proportions comparable to other countries.

Boris, were you here some months ago, when the successful presidential election took place in Afghanistan? The naysayers response then was, well, you've had the election, but its STILL a failure cause of the growth in poppy cultivation. Afghanistans growing ability to regain control of its own territory seems to me to be a good thing, regardless of where you stand on drug wars.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Kidicious
I'm glad we have so many supporters of drugs. Now put down those bongs and grow up. Have some kids and get real.

bongs? that's a marijuana reference... I thought we were talking about DRUGS?

because marijuana isn't a drug

[Ramo]

The problem isn't the poppy cultivation, it's the warlords who control it. And are able to exploit the peasants who farm poppy that much more easily because it is illegal.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Ramo
The problem isn't the poppy cultivation

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Sava
because marijuana isn't a drug

It is when you are using a bong that size son.

[Pekka]

'this is your brains on drugs' *TSHHHHHH TSHHHHHHHHHH*

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Ramo
The problem isn't the poppy cultivation, it's the warlords who control it. And are able to exploit the peasants who farm poppy that much more easily because it is illegal.

because it is illegal - you think Karzai could legalize it? Aside from the reaction in the US, what would Russias reaction be? Or Europes? The Islamic worlds? Karzai CANT legalize. The only alternative to it funding warlords is to reduce it somehow.

to all the people who think legalizing is a real geopolitical option to Karzai, id like to know what YOU"RE smoking