IssuesMatch: Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against them

IssuesMatch

Drugs are immoral: enforce laws against them

POSITIONS

Strongly Support means you believe: The Drug War is winnable if we invest enough resources. We should do whatever we have to do: More police, more border patrols, more intervention abroad, more prison terms, more prisons.
Support means you believe: Drug use is immoral and drugs poison our youth and our society. We should fight the Drug War using all reasonable means - Just Say No!
Oppose means you believe: We should have regulated decriminalization. Medical marijuana might be legalized, for example, as might clean hypodermic needles. Our drug policy should be reformed, with less criminal penalties and more drug abuse clinics.
Strongly Oppose means you believe: The Drug War should be ended. It has failed, condemning a 'Lost Generation' of blacks and Hispanics to prison and criminal records. End it now like we ended alcohol Prohibition, and organized crime and drug-related crime will decrease like it did when Prohibition ended.

This question is looking for your views on the War on Drugs. However you answer the above question would be similar to your response to these statements:

Support and win the War on Drugs
Marijuana is a gateway drug to cocaine & narcotics
Permanently ban medicinal marijuana
Use the Army and/or the Coast Guard to stop drugs at our borders
Just Say No!

BACKGROUND

War on Drugs

President Bush initiated the ‘War on Drugs’ in the late 1980s. The Office of National Drug Control Policy, directed by Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, sets federal policy. The 1999 drug policy includes: Expanding drug prevention and drug treatment; Establishing ‘drug courts’ and fighting drug legalization; Focusing on cocaine, heroin, and met amphetamine; Increasing border shielding. 60% of federal prison inmates are drug offenders, as are 22% of state prisoners. 20% of all felony convictions are for drug trafficking; another 12% are for drug possession. About 270,000 people are incarcerated on drug charges, up from 48,000 at the start of the ‘Drug War.’ Direct federal spending on the ‘Drug War’ is currently $17 billion per year.

Reducing the Demand

Methods of reducing drug demand include: random drug testing; increased incarceration of users; and drug education. Since 1986, the courts have upheld random drug testing for federal employees; high school students; job applicants; transportation employees; motorists; and others. The current stated federal goal is a ‘Drug-Free Workplace.'

Reducing the Supply

Methods of reducing drug supply include: increased border patrols; increased enforcement against drug traffickers at home; and pressuring Latin American countries to do the same abroad. Federal ‘counterdrug interdiction’ currently focuses on five ‘High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas’: Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Houston, and the Southwest border with Mexico.

Reducing the Effects

Methods of reducing drugs’ effects on society include: legalization; drug abuse treatment; and needle exchange programs. At congressional hearings on ‘The Pros and Cons of Drug Legalization, Decriminalization, and Harm Reduction’ in June 1999, the federal government reiterated its opposition to legalization, medical marijuana, and needle exchanges, and emphasized that the War on Drugs is an unending effort.
Drug offenders who serve jail time or traditional probation have a recidivism rate of 45%. Of those who completed ‘drug courts’ monitored treatment programs, the rate was 4%

Amendment XVIII and XXI to the US Constitution

18) ...the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors... is hereby prohibited. (1919)
21) The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.... (1933)

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