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2009 UN World Drug report
The 2009 United Nations World Drug report, released earlier this year, notes that 2009 marks "the end of the first century of drug control (it all started in Shanghai in 1909)", and that the illicit drug market worldwide has now become a $320 billion-per-year industry. As drug-related violence in Mexico appears to continue unabated, and crackdowns in Afghanistan are being made against its massive opium crops, new efforts are also being made worldwide in methods of enforcement and treatment of recovering addicts. Collected here are a handful of recent images from the rough world of illegal drugs across the globe. (37 photos total)
Heroin addict Ganamgul complains that his body is in pain going through withdrawal on the second day of the detox program, after 17 years of addiction, at the Kabul Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center September 28, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Since the center opened in May 2009 it has rehabilitated over 400 addicts in its 100 bed facility with temporary funding from International Organization of Migration (IOM) and help from the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). The program lasts for 45 days combining both detox and rehabilitation. The center houses the 2 leading organizations that offer detox programs, Wadan and Nejat. A US Department of State report 2009 states that there are an estimated two million drug users in the country with at least 50-60,000 drug addicts in Kabul alone. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
A heroin addict holds a used syringe in his mouth after shooting up in an abandoned lot in San Juan, Friday, July 31, 2009. Some of the South American heroin trafficked through Puerto Rico en route to the United States is sold locally, which has led to an island-wide epidemic, according to health and law enforcement officials. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) #
Colombian navy soldiers lay out packages of seized cocaine in Golfo de Uraba August 20, 2009. At least 3.4 tons of cocaine were confiscated and three people were arrested, one of them injured by Colombian navy troops, during a raid in Punta Arenas, Golfo de Uraba, on the border with Panama, authorities said. (REUTERS/Navy Press) #
A mannequin dressed as a stereotypical drug smuggler is displayed at the drug museum inside the Secretary of Defense headquarters in Mexico City, Thursday Aug. 6, 2009. The museum is used by the Mexican army to teach soldiers the ways drug smugglers operate and live. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) #
In a picture taken on July 3, 2009, a Thai drug addict patient walks out from a herbal steaming room at the Thamkrabok Monastery in Phraputthabat, around 140 km north of Bangkok, Thailand. Growing numbers of desperate drug and alcohol abusers - from Thailand and around the world - are visiting the extreme detox and rehab centre at Thamkrabok Monastery after failing to find other effective conventional treatments. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images) #
Sarab village resident and opium addict Islam Beg talks about his living conditions after having an early morning smoke in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan on July 13, 2009. "I don't have a life. I don't have anything. It's finished. Everything was spent on opium," he said. In dozens of mountain hamlets in this remote corner of Afghanistan, opium addiction has become so entrenched that whole families - from toddlers to old men - are addicts. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) #
Mexican soldiers prepare to burn packets of marijuana during an operation near a clandestine methamphetamine drug laboratory in Tamazula, Mexico, Monday, Aug 10, 2009. According to federal law enforcement authorities, the lab had the capacity to produce about one ton of methamphetamine, or crystal meth, each week. (AP Photo/Miguel Tovar) #
Alleged drug trafficker Juan Daniel Carranco Salazar looks on as he is presented to the media in Mexico City, Monday, Aug, 10, 2009. Carranco and other suspects were detained during an operation in Cancun, Mexico. Salazar was arrested along with two associates in Cancun Monday, and soldiers seized six pistols and a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine from the suspects. He was ordered held pending investigation.(AP Photo) #
A recovering drug user reads a book in the dormitory of the women's branch of "The City Without Drugs" rehabilitation centre in the Ural city of Alapayevsk, some 180 km (112 miles) of Yekaterinburg, Russia on August 29, 2009. The center was opened in 1999 to cure drug addicts who have voluntarily decided to fight narcotic dependency. An average medical course, mostly based on psychological treatment, stipulates a one-year confinement. (REUTERS/Konstantin Salomatin) #
A US Marine dog handler attached to Fox Company 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines takes a break from patrolling beside a field of marijuana during day three of Operation Germinate into the restive Bhuji Bhast Pass in Farah Province, southern Afghanistan, on October 9, 2009. (DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images) #
A law enforcement official talks to unidentified people during a round-up in Columbia, S.C. on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. Federal and local agents charged more than 100 people with federal drug, weapon and immigration violations in what they are calling a vast conspiracy in South Carolina. (AP Photo/The State, Erik Campos) #
Police officers from the district of Ar Gul, swing away with long sticks to eradicate a patch of illegally grown opium poppies in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan on July 16, 2009. Two years ago, opium - the raw ingredient used to make heroin - was grown on nearly half a million acres in Afghanistan, the largest illegal narcotics crop ever produced by a modern nation. A government crackdown on poppy cultivation has spelled economic disaster for many communities throughout the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) #
A recovering drug addict stands in a doorway at the CDLDA rehab center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. Mexico's burgeoning drug trade has fed a growing drug abuse problem, particularly in border cities where gangs have a heavy presence. Scores of rehabilitation centers have opened their doors in recent years but after gunmen stormed into a rehab center in Ciudad Juarez last week, federal authorities are investigating if some of these clinics are also being used as recruiting and training centers by drug cartels. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias) #
The body of an unidentified man hangs from his neck under a bridge on the old Rosarito highway as authorities stand by in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009. Authorities found the dead man beaten, naked and castrated, and have not identified him but believe he is Rogelio Sanchez, a Baja California state government official who went missing this week. No suspects were named. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias) #
A policeman puts his hand in a bag containing dozens of spent bullet casings that he helped collect from the Morro dos Macacos slum after a shootout between drug gangs, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 17, 2009. A police helicopter was shot down by the gangs when it tried to intervene in the battle, leaving two policemen killed and two injured in the crash. (REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes) #
A recovered heroin addict raises his hands as he and others participate in a praying session at the "Outcry in the Barrio" ministry in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on September 9, 2009. The ministry helps drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes to transform their lives through praying to reach detoxification. Drug gangs have targeted rehab centers in the past, accusing them of protecting dealers from rival groups. (REUTERS/Tomas Bravo) #
More links and information
U.N. World Drug Report - The Skimmer, TIME Magazine
UN World Drug Report 2009 - Official release
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
It looks like DRUGS are winning the drug war.
legalize drugs, but support drug addicts
Posted by Bastian Fromherz October 21, 09 08:47 PM
Right on
It's ironic that one of the most effective, clinically-proven treatments to break addicts' motivation to continue using is(was): psychedelics. This was shown in the 1950's and early 1960's, before psychedelics were promoted and abused by Timothy Leary et al.
Why do psychedelics succeed where so many other methods fail? Because the (professionally, medically supervised) "trip" helps give the user the insight regarding how badly they are hurting other people, as well as themselves. This is the genuine epiphany they need to completely break their motivation to use.
Even Bill W., who took a clinically-supervised trip, promoted supervised psychedelic techniques to help the worst alcoholics kick - but unfortunately, by then Leary and his followers had already poisoned the well, so the board of AA withdrew its support for Bill W.'s proposal.
Legalize drug use if you want, but complete education for potential users and viable economic alternatives for raw materials farmers also have to be part of the solution to this tragic reality.
#188 siil said: "if drugs were legalized, we'd have wayyyyyyyyyyyy more drug addicts..."
I think you are probably mistaken, my friend. Take for example the Netherlands:
"In the Netherlands 9.7% of young adults (aged 15–24) consume soft drugs once a month, comparable to the level in Italy (10.9%) and Germany (9.9%) and less than in the UK (15.8%) and Spain (16.4%), but higher than in, for example, Sweden (3%), Finland or Greece. Dutch rates of drug use are lower than U.S. rates in every category. The monthly prevalence of drugs other than cannabis among young people (15-24) was 4% in 2004, that was above the average (3%) of 15 compared countries in EU. However, seemingly few transcend to becoming problem drug users (0.3%), well below the average (0.52%) of the same compared countries. The reported number of deaths linked to the use of drugs in the Netherlands, as a proportion of the entire population, is lower than the EU average. The Dutch government is able to support approximately 90% of help-seeking addicts with detoxification programs. Treatment demand is rising. Criminal investigations into more serious forms of organized crime mainly involve drugs (72%). Most of these are investigations of hard drug crime (specifically cocaine and synthetic drugs) although the number of soft drug cases is rising and currently accounts for 69% of criminal investigations." --Wikipedia
Availability of drugs IS NOT THE PROBLEM. Most high school students say that its easier for them to get marijuana than beer. By your logic, this means we should have schools and schools full of addicts -- BUT WE DON'T. Can you explain that?
The reason drugs have become an "epidemic" is because of things like the War on Drugs. Making it illegal raises the price, which creates underground markets and is very tempting to the poor underclass who see it as an easy (and glamorous) way to make large amounts of cash.
If we legalized it... its becomes commonplace, and safer,.. and less glamorous. The poor would no longer be tempted to do it (atleast for monetary reasons) .. so much of the gangs and violence would fade away.
Its funny we spend billions and billions of dollars fighting a war you can not win. But we dont have the money to go after real criminals. There is like a ten year backlog of unopened rape kits in LA because they dont have the money or manpower to do them in a timely fashon.
Its funny a vast majority of abused drugs are naturally occurring yet are illegal. A vast majority of prescriptions drugs are man made synthetic versions of the illegal ones. LOL Marijuana bad. But go ahead and use this new pill called Sativex, which is nothing more that synthetic THC. Darvacet, Percacet, Morphine, These are all derivatives of opiates from the poppy plant. There is TOO MUCH MONEY to be made by keeping drugs illegal. We keep Judges Lawyers Cops Prisons Wardens etc etc in jobs by keeping them illegal. Do you know that the vast majority of Prisons in the US are run by PRIVATE companies. Why is that? Because of the HUGE money to be made by keeping people behind bars.
Marijuana is Great - not just as a 'Drug (medicine)' but for all it's industrial uses. Opium is fun - addicts are the problem not the drugs. People need to get control over their lives. "Traffic" said it best: 'Addicts take care of themselves.'
Simple, let adults make adult decisions. Put laws in place that will ensure that those who cross the line will pay for their actions. Tax it, educate and regulate. Remember, where the head goes the ass will follow.
As for the gateway drug being marijuana, as heard in NA meetings, bet you that 100% of those who started with grass probably had smoked cigarettes and drank before hand. Both of those are as harmful as most hard drugs over time and take the same toll on both the user and their loved ones. Speaking from experience, I always found it easier to score a pack of smokes and a liter of booze then it was to get a bag of dope. Only difference is that fat cats are getting rich from killing thousands with nicotine and alcohol. Drugs will just take away from their pockets. I completely agree with Jason and his stats on the Netherlands.
And yes, the drugs are winning the war and has been on top since its inception back in the 80s. After all, it only became a war when it started to creep into white middle class neighborhoods.
@Doug October 22, 09 11:22 AM - You are a bad man. Lay off the sauce and try some pot, then you won't be so violent. While most will agree that the VIOLENT (violent is the keyword) offenders of the drug trade should be properly punished (and not their families, you righteous prick), drugs (especially those used as medicines for all of recorded history, like cannabis) are not to be compared to pedophiles and rapists. Apples are apples and a spade is a spade.
No. 145, a mister doug. Well Doug, looks like your little nephew timmy was caught selling some dimebags of reefer. I'm afraid you have to be executed now for being related to that little abomination. This is all thanks to you opening up the worlds eyes and helping them classify murderers and pedophiles and drug dealers all as equally evil. Help is beyond them, and help is beyond you. Now that everyone whose lives are somehow intermingled in the nefarious drug world is fair game to be executed, it will be a lot easier to police the world seeing how everyone is dead. Thank you doug for making me realize how awesome the war on drugs is, someday may we all live in world were the governments and all the laws they impose are perfect. non-conformity with the regime equals enemy, which equals death. All hail the coming of doug's new super fascism era!
I was using drugs for a long time, and have some great photos, unfortunately they wouldn't be useful here as they are of wasted 'white' people. The one gripe I have is about the complete dis/misinformation provided starting from an early age at school about drugs (what fallacies they explete) and continuing on after that in the media and politics. Question? everything!, and if you don't have the time or the inclination to do so at least teach the kids around you to do that, cops, laws, politicians, priests or what have you, will never be able to help as they are intrinsically opposite and unknowledgeable to this particular problem, which doesn't mean they are unwilling, it just means that their methods are not renderable, legalisation would at least make it visible and less stigmatised, though I doubt it will help. Politics have put money into the equation and there isn't much chance of turning back from that unfortunately, I suspect the real solution lies closer to home, lets hope we find it.
What to do? I was very disturbed by the pictures seen! I am not sure of any answers to the widespread problems of drugs in the world, but I can say that since it involves literally the entire world, then the only solution can be the international community (the USA can't even contain its own problems with drug abuse).
Why just put pictures on third world?
Why not put pictures on drug addiction in the USA?
The misfortune that has fallen on the third world called drug trafficking is due to the millions of consumers in the USA.
If USA really would like to fight drug trafficking, had been completed long ago.
What Mexico needs to do is become a transit country for drugs and let her run around federal highways. Remove that problem, and only fight the local market. Only in the USA is so keen to combat drug traffickers.
The gallery is good, but there it is unbiased and distinctly American. You want to see the drug problem as if it were only the developing countries. You know that drug addiction in the first world and its economic power is the culprit.
Greetings from Mexico.
Fu*king addicts causing so much trouble.
Flowers, grown by peasants for their rich landlords.
Latex, sold by rich landlords to richer foreigners.
Drugs, transported over the globe and sold to peasants to ease their lives, and remove any money they may have saved.
Its a shame we have to witness things like this, but obviously the war on drugs is helping massively. These are some powerful photographs!
These photos of the drug culture are sobering... especially the violence..i.e, hanging and castration of a government official, the beheading, random murders, drug rehab, and even worse....sharing opium with a toddler.. tragic! I will say that the drug market needs to be controlled by ending prohibition... as the article states, "drug control started in Shanghai in 1909"...100 years ago...by thinking we can end it by fighting it is delusional.
The only people who complain about drug eradication, seems to be the ones who are hopelessly addicted to them.
They see nothing wrong with getting stoned, committing slow suicide, inhaling toxic substances.
Their arguments are always the same... You die of something, you die one day, even cheeseburgers with grease kill you!
That may full well be true, but you do have to eat to live. Eating has a purpose. Drugs are not necessary to live, so they impose dangers upon you that are totally un-necessary.
Drugs do not hurt just the users, but the families, friends, & people around them. Have seen many broken up families as a result of this!
It is for the good of the drug users that these programs exist. I applaud the eradication efforts. The attitude of "You die one day" is just a straw man argument. Just because you can die of almost anything, does not mean run out there in front of a car & try to kill yourself faster!
I never did understand why drug users want to die faster?
Governments with their "War on Drugs" enable this kind of violence by putting the power and money into the hands of illicit cartels around the world.
Legalizing all drugs worldwide will enable us to allow people more liberty, freedom, and over time abolish many of the problems portrayed in these photos.
Don't believe me? Look at the examples set by the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Mexico (very recently legalizing small quantities of drugs), and more.
Putting an end to this madness needs people and their governments to be open-minded enough to legalize all drugs and regulate them and allow adults to make their own decision for their bodies.
anyone notice that real problems with drugs started after illegalization. It's so obvious yet no one ever suggest being intelligent about drugs instead of being reactionary.
A better way for governments to fight the drug war is to provide descent paying jobs and a good education. A lot of people who do drugs are those whose lives have so little hope. Cannabis is not a dangerous drug for most people. It is more of a medicine. About the same as caffein.
"that has got to be the dumbest thing I ever heard. What about legalizing murder and pedophilia because they too have been around forever, and people will always kill and harm children anyway."
Doug the difference between drug use (including alcohol) and murder, pedophilia or robbery etc. is that the sale of drugs is consensual and the imbibing is an individual act the affects no one but the user. There is no theft of property or bodily harm inflicted by one individual on another. It is only a crime because some people decided that they don't like other people partaking of a particular activity or substance. The greatest harm comes when the nanny staters and busy bodies decide to use the force of law to enforce their morality on others.
Quote by Ella "Come talk to me and my addicted adolescent...addicted to marijuana. Yes, addicted to marijuana. And yes marijuana is a gateway drug because it puts the person's guard down and allows impulsivity (sp?) to call the shots...so a little pot and then a few pills and on it can escalate. People like you don't read medical literature, must have skipped any "addict genes" in your family (and are d*mn lucky for it), and have probably never set foot into a rehab center or a recovery high school. God, people like you are such uniformed fools. Good luck with that Phd...I can see you won't be working with addicts or doing social work."
Ella, there hasn't been a single case in the history of this planet that anyone has actually been addicted to marijuana. You're son isn't addicted to marijuana, there's obviously other problems with him if he smokes so much pot. I know people who smoke a lot of pot, but they aren't addicted. they just really like it. I like orange juice and drink it a lot everyday, but that doesn't mean I'm addicted does it? If they cant get any, they dont smoke any. They don't go through withdrawal. There is no marijuana withdrawal. if there is no withdrawal, there is no addiction. Also, if you've ever smoked pot, you'd know that it doesn't make anyone impulsive. It doesnt make you want to do other drugs, not a gateway drug. the choice to do other drugs is the person who does it. you cant blame pot for people being curious about what else there is out there. if your son is doing pills, you need to be a smart parent and make sure he understands that pot is OKAY because it's completely natural and non habit forming, while pills are NOT natural and completely habit forming. maybe then you'll realize that it isnt the pot thats making him want to do other drugs, it's his adolescent curiousity that EVERYONE has. in conclusion, everything you said is wrong and YOU are indeed an uninformed fool.
It all "starts with a hit of marijuana" someone said...?
What proportion of marijuana users started with a drink of alcohol or tobacco?
Most of them, undoubtedly.
No-one talks about alcohol or tobacco as 'gateway' drugs.
----
The illegality of drugs contributes hugely to the damage they cause.
The pictures merely portray what a futile and unnecessary battle the 'war on drugs' really is.
what i really couldnot take in were those pictures of the whole family destroyed that way,especially of the grandfather offering to the little boy,how can they even do such things,they don't even look like they are humans,we have been given a soul by God,it is His Divine Breath into us that makes us rise above brute animals and others,this body is a trust that God has given us,it doesnot belong to us,it is wrong to suicide,it is an act of cowardice and not one of bravery,it is wrong to do anything that harms our body and we would be questioned about it on the Day of Judgement.what these people seem to be doing seems to be because of their extreme poverty and ignorance,they don't even have a life,now what has the us done after these many years in Afghan soil,Taliban is still active,anyway i was glad to see about the rehabilitation and i pray that more people would be able to lead their lives like men.
"World wide" photos and since there isn´t any picture of the United States i guess.
I'm 50 I've been addiction free for THREE years.I Trying to turn my wasted years into something productive.I attend a community College,and will transfer next fall to a university.I am able to fight addiction my own way,...To provide tools of recovery to others...I have seen 1st hand how a person is controlled by abuse ..I now control my life .I am a frontline soldier on the "War On Drugs" .Does that make me a Jack Ass. I have my own respect.Grow Up world,The 60's are over.
dont worry about it. everybody in the picture will be dead one day anyway. just like you, me and everyone else on this ridiculous chaotic planet. and the thought of being dead for eternity is actually pretty comforting when you live in a garbage world like ours so... yeah. enjoy being dead. oh and yeah, there's obviously no god and if you are stupid, sorry, gullible enough to actually believe in one read the antichrist by nietzsche and you'll understand the true history behind christianity and how it came to be the bastardized religion that it is today. and i mean bastardized literally as it has undergone many many changes over the centuries. read, learn, understand the world for what it is. chaos and death. life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life, etc... and dont forget, no god, no individualized afterlife for you or your loved ones, just... nothing. endless nothing. so when you get all uppity about the government or the cia or the addicts or whatever you're all pent up about, just remember one day the son of a bitch will be DEAD, and that shits for real. no god, no heaven. just the extinguishing of the "individual". and thats the best revenge EVAR! knowing that in what is really a relatively short amount of time who evar you're pissed at will be gone and rendered to non existance for eternity is a pretty good revenge.
Very limited overview of what the whole problem of drugs is about. It is not only about the dealers or the overwhelming violence of the gangs or the poor conditions of the heroin addict.
The other half of the problem, namely the demand, is by far not touched. The shipments must go somewhere where they are really valuable. These places are really not shown in the pictures. Where are the consumers in New York, Berlin, London or Boston? and i don't mean the junkies downtown but the "social" or mild consumers. Those belong also to the chain of events that you want to depict. In my opinion they also play an important role in keeping drug traffic going on.
Iam really shocked by the pics #16 and #17. what do the authorities do about it? I hope some action is taken for the welfare of the young children.
to Mr Wilson
so glad to hear stories of people like you who have been saved from the clutches of that evil menace.you,having gone through the experience must be able to understand the plight of the addicts in a better way,drugs are things that people sort to escape from their worries,they feel temporary relief,which is only an imaginary one,it is an act of cowardice and not so 'cool' as they say,it is a trap of the evil one to take man from remembrance of God and to distract him from what is actually important.the traps of the devil are"like a mirage which the thirsty one takes for water,when he reaches there,he would find noone,but God would have taken into account his deeds"and then everything would be lost,as God says in the Quran.in the west,people seem to be resorting to it to take them away from desparation,in the east,people do this as a result of poverty and ignorance,relieved to know there are people like you who help those in need,keep up the good work,may God be with you.
Wow. Stunning. Reality is just amazing. Humanity at it's finest, most basic, raw moments. The horror. The horror...
For those interested: you should watch the movie "Traffic". It's about the war against drugs. Very, very good movie. Very impressive collection of pictures here, not to forget.
For all those Carry Nation types advocating Nanny State prohibition to protect people from themselves I ask two questions:
The US Constitution is not amended easily, so why is it that the 21st amendment was adopted? What was obvious to people over 80 years ago that is not obvious to you now?
Let me just say this about that. What they arent saying is how much opium growing INCREASED under dubya and dick!. While Im not into the hard stuff, I think that people should be able to put anything into their bodies that they want to. They do anyway whether it be legal/illegal to get it anyway. The war on drugs is lost, it has been since it was first initiated. Let people do what they want. If they legalized this the war would be over and sadly (not at ALL) all those loser DEA agents would be out of jobs and they could catch child molesters,rapists and all the other vermin in this country. If they just legalized marijuna in CA it would remove a big chunk of crime at our border. Make them pay to bring their crops to our country and states. The only crime is the people that make this the way it is and that would be the DEA. EOM.
167: Most sensible comment...Spend 1% of the money used for prohibition on education and use the other 99% on real policing work. Decriminalise all drugs and make sure "addiction" is not stigmatised but people with problems are helped. Have a look at what Iceland does for alcoholism...seems to work pretty well for them. cheers
It is time to legalize drugs and take the profit out of the criminal element. The answer in my opinion is education and quality control so we do not reap the destruction resulting from unsanitary conditions of consumption. Nicotine / Tobacco is on the way out due to education and allowing the people to make an educated free choice. People will do the same thing once they are educated to the negatives of drug addiction and consumption. The war on drugs does not work. We witnessed the failure of alcohol prohibition. We need to learn from our mistakes. Drugs have been around since the beginning of time. Humans are still here.
i smoked pot for many,many years ( used to buy pounds for personal use) and smoked crack for several years (also bought 10,000 speed pills at a time and ounces of cocaine for personal use).
i had a good job and did it well,when the company i worked at downsized and i lost the job i had no problem stopping doing the drugs.
i found i couldn't get another job without drug testing so i never went back.
i'm now doing as well as i ever did ,without the drugs, only now i spend my money on posessions (never was able to save money).
the last time i tried pot (many years ago) all i got was paranoid ,so i decided to just stop doing it.( i do dream about the crack sometimes)
by the way i drank a case of beer daily and it almost cost me my family ,i made the right decision and kept what really mattered.( i now MAYBE drink 2-4 beers a month)
i smoked cigatettes for more than 40 years and only quit because i got pnumonia and i couldn't breathe anyway, the main reason i quit was because of the price hitting $5.00 a pack, i really liked to smoke and would still be doing it if it was cheaper,( i now PUFF on a small cigar about every 3 months because i miss the taste, and i still cough stuff out of my lungs everyday) either way ,I QUIT IT ALL EASILY,it was a conscious decision driven by circumstances beyond my control.
"THEY" say there is a addictive gene in my family and i should be still going like i was (QUACKS)
if i REALLY wanted to still be doing those things i would be and nothing would stop me .
i do believe pot should be decriminalized and taxed the hell out of like cigarettes,,imagine the revinue for our states and cities if that happened, and all other drugs be available by prescription (meaning regulated).
all addicts got where they are by personal decisions,i can't believe someone was standing there with a gun to their head MAKING them do their drug of choice
To Doug (who suggested murdering drug dealers and their families as a cure for drug addiction),
Try reading the work of Dr. Siegal. Humans have an innate desire to alter their consciousness.
The difference between drug use and pedophilia or murder is that there is NO victim in the 'crime' of drug use.
If you want to kill the families of people convicted of crimes, maybe you should leave civilized countries and go live in the bronze age. That sort of barbaric ignorance has no place in the world today.
holy sh*t !
to the guy that thinks all dealers should be shot, does that apply to pharmaceutical reps and executives? to the guy that thinks if drugs are legalized, they will be government made and weaker, why is that? it would be in the governments best interest to provide the purest, least adulterated drugs possible.
of course, if drugs are legalized, there will still be pictures of addicts. there won't be pictures of severed heads and people hanging from bridges, however. and that is the difference. prohibition has led to an increase of drug use due to profitability. dealers wanting to make money, if they make you addicted, more money for them. legalize and regulate. give addicts help in a treatment facility. prison will not make addicts better.
I believe the state and federal governments are the biggest, single, indirect buyer of narcotics via various assistance programs to individuals. Hence freeing up income for drug use that would otherwise necessarily be spent on genuine, basic needs. Just as assistance frees up income for uses other than basic needs. For instance who hasn't been behind someone in the grocery store who pays for their groceries with a government issued credit card (that's what our state uses) then pays for their alcohol and cigarettes with cash while talking on their cell phone and then walks out to the lexus? Often they also seem to have plenty of money for tattoos.
my great uncle was a police officer in mexico. he wouldnt bend to the local drug dealers rules. they came to his home and killed him. yes the forefathers of america both grew and smoked copious amounts of pot. that doesnt mean it should be legalized. they didnt have access to the drugs that are available today. drugs cause crime. they cause murder. they ruin lives. what would be accomplished by legalizing them? nothing. more dope would be smoked. more people would smoke it. more people would be killed.
@ "quit cold turkey" Marijuana and Cocaine have yet to be proven to be physically addictive. However, they can still be psychologically addictive, along with just about anything else you can do on a frequent basis, including drinking alcohol to sex to playing video games. However, I still completely disagree with the comments advocating legalization of all drugs. I have been unfortunately been homeless before and have witnessed how rampant drug use can ruin lives. Drugs like meth and heroin are extremely addictive and even after only a few uses can start to gain a foothold in your mind. Legalization is not the answer.
The images are jarring as usual. They manage to titillate, shock and educate simultaneously.
I didn't have the courage (or the stomach) to look at the blacked-out images except for the one with the blood spatter on the wall. Although some may need this type of no-holds-barred representation to grasp the violence and horror of the drug trade, I think #20(yellow truck with bullet hole and dripping blood) speaks more than a severed head. (Of course I can only imagine because I couldn't look!)
I don't know how the photographers can face such scenes and come out emotionally intact. I could not.
This is horrible, so many crimes and so many people suffering because of the drugs. However I live in Monterrey, Mexico (was born here 25 years ago and have lived here all my life) and I have never seen any drug crime or dead people in the streets like this pictures show but this things happens in some comunities and are very aislated cases. Its not like the narcs are killing people in the streets randomly.
However this images are great but sad.
Absolutely horrific.
I am from Venezuela and the government from Hugo Chavez dont even allow the newspapers to show these pictures.
Photo #16 is probably the worst of all.
"Grandpa and Grandchild smoking dope"
That's the source of the problem: the culture of smoking opium as if it were a friendly cup of coffee.
Now what does legalization have to do with this?
@246: technically speaking this is not "because of the drugs". How could it be? However, it would be on the mark to say that this is a direct consequence of the drug laws. There is no cosmic rule saying that these drugs can't be sold legally, when in fact they have been sold as such years ago and the drug alcohol is also sold legally most places.
Just as the USA experienced from 1920-1933 during their Alcohol Prohibition violence, death and destruction follow in the wake oif unjust drug laws that ignore the economic incentives that always result in black markets under criminal control.
We should consider taking the power back, put the products back on the shelf and off the streets. We would get much better control over them and eliminate these war-like conditions.
Are you - or anybody else - really willing to take a bullet, or have your kids do the same, just because SOMEONE (oh, you know who you are) is hell-bent on stopping some other, peaceful guy from smoking a joint?
We need a legal, regulated market under public control. We need to "legalize" so to speak. We have to - for the children!
Our war on drugs directly supports drug cartels, gangs, and the subsequent murder of thousands. Making addicts criminals is also a crime, they need help, not another reason to hide. When alcohol was illegal, gangs also took advantage and killed many and so it was again made legal.
While I don't like the idea of government regulated heroin and cocaine, I MUCH prefer it to the sometimes tainted and deadly drugs off the streets that often come at the expense of someones LIFE.
Keeping drugs illegal is out and out MURDER.
In developed countries people use/sell drugs just for the fun of it. In countries like Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and on, people use/sell drugs as a way of surviving.
And if the cartels or drug dealers cannot make money selling drugs, they will kidnap, kill, steal and rob all as they have always done, because they need MONEY and its THAT hard to make MONEY honestly in these countries.
If you legalize drugs by here, bandits will have another criminal way of get your money, so do not justify YOUR ADDICTION to OUR DISGRACE, rich ones.
Some of you know nothing about drugs, drug use, addiction or legalization of drugs. Why must people spew ignorance about things they know nothing about?
People already use drugs. Drugs being illegal doesn't discourage use. Thus, make drugs legal. You will take away the black market, purity issues, massive prison overcrowding a plethora of other societal ills caused by this foolish war on drugs, even though it is an innate want to alter our consciousness as human beings. It is not your duty to impose your views on drug users. If someone wants to smoke crack, let them, it doesn't effect you.
It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on your personal innate freedoms, always remember that.
In the words of Ben Elton, Legalize the Lot!. A harminimisation approach to drugs is the only way we can move forward. Take the legal heroin supplied to patients in Switzerland since 1994, the heroin program was brought about in response to the public gatherings of drug users in public places such as the famous Needle Park in the 1980s and 1990s. It has been credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts.
More than 1000 users, who have tried and failed extensive detox programs, visit one of the centers twice a day to receive a medically prescribed dose of heroin under the supervision of a nurse or Doctor Patients also receive counseling from psychiatrists and social workers.
When I look at the illegal production of Opium in Afghanistan and hear stories about farmers having very few options of growing crops with a similar value, I often think about the legal production of Opium in countries like India, Australia, UK, France and Turkey for medical use. With countless numbers of Pharmaceutical companies involved in refining opium for Medical use surely the International Narcotics Control Board could come to an agreement with the Afghan government as to the purchase of this product, as is the case in India where farmers receive almost US$30 per kilo, depending on the quality and quantity tendered. India is no longer one of the leading illegal suppliers of Opiates thanks to this controlled acquirement. With bordering countries to Afghanistan (Iran &Tadjikistan/Russia) also feeling the squeeze related to the smuggling game and an increase in local consumption of opiates, does it not make sense to take the trade out of the hands of illegal traders and gain some control through the legal outlets.
As for weed, in my opinion decriminalize it. Save the time and money wasted on the prosecution of pot smokers and focus further on the big fish.
We all have a choice, sometimes we make the wrong decision, and for whatever reason end up deeper than we first expected, users of drugs often understand the lifestyle that goes with it, we are not blind to the ugly side of drugs yet we continue to use and sometimes abuse, let us just remember that we are all from the same family and those sinking deeper often need options and help rather than criticism and judgment, drug addiction is a medical issue and should be treated as a medical issue not a war
violent men run the drug cartels now and would still be involved after legislation legitimizes their business. do you think anyone reckless enough to kill a government official and hang them from a public bridge would cease his "competitive" practices. you only remove an avenue of prosecution which aids in removing sociopaths from the general populace. and yes they do get arrested on ocassion.
the drug business is where the madoff's and enron types who have violent personalities do their crimes...
The level of ignorance/apathy towards drugs in these comments is absolutely astounding. A lot of you people need to get out from under your rocks and understand that while YOU might not like, use, or want "drugs" you should research them for yourselves and not just spout off what the government and D.A.R.E. has taught you to believe.
If you think that when/if decriminalization or, god forbid, legalization happens that we will see an increase in drug addiction you are wrong. Look at Amsterdam, since they put in their drug legislation they've seen drug use go DOWN across the board.
The powers that be in this world continue to tell us that drug prohibition is "for the kids"... They've put the drugs on the black market where there are no rules, there are no regulations, and there's no age limit; only money counts. What this effectively does is make drugs the easiest thing for little Timmy to get with his money. You know that a rapist does less time then a nonviolent weed smoker with a few ounces of weed? Does that make sense to you? It shouldn't.
Prohibiting drugs has been tried by many societies over the course of history. Coffee was made illegal in the Ottoman Empire for example. The USA made alcohol illegal in the 1920s. History will attest to the fact that such laws never work, and are instrumental in corrupting and destroying the societies from within. Drug addiction is a medical problem and should not be made a crime. Making drug sale illegal is merely a good way of providing enterprising sociopaths with an easy way to make more money than you do. No society can survive this sort of ill-considered legislation for very long without becoming utterly riddled with criminal syndicates and placing it in danger of civil unrest. If people want drugs, they will get them, and they won't care how many law enforcement officials have to be paid off to see their supply gets through.
I can see the legalisation and/or regulation of marijuana working, and doubtless the tax benefits would be of incredible value (providing they were properly and efficiently spent, and that's a topic for another day!).
What I can't see working is the regulation of harder drugs like cocaine and crystal meth. I just don't buy that bringing distribution of these drugs under state control could be of positive advantage. These are, after all, the drugs that carry serious risk not just to the user but also to the general public. Anyone remember the video from a few months back of the meth user driving down the street screaming obscenities and firing a .357 randomly out of the window?
As comment 255 points out, I really can't imagine the Colombian drug cartels packing up shop, realising the errors of their ways and getting a 9 to 5 job in the city. These people are pre-disposed to sociopathy and are only going to concentrate their efforts in the next available arena of ill-gotten gain.
The truth is that drugs exist, and so long as they do there will be pain, suffering and despair among many, enjoyment and enlightenment among a select, responsible few. Let's not forget that any of us who have ever smoked or drank alcohol are drug users, even if societal conscience has made those acceptable for some reason. We simply cannot and will not "win" this nebulous conflict because it's inherent in our genetic makeup to seek pleasure in all it's forms, and nobody would want to live in a world without pleasure, even if it were free from the chaos caused by drug addiction.
Marijuana is to heroin as jaywalking is to arson...
Lets set it clear. All south and central american drugs are just trying to reach the big and juicy market, the United States. Where are the U.S. photographs? Show us the CBP officer letting the drugs to pass. Show us the policeman charging to allow the dealer to sell the drugs. Show us the millions of drug users who will need it everyday, the drug dealer asking for more, the distributor placing his order to the mexican cartel and then to the Colombians. Do not blame Mexico, Central and South America only... what about the United States?
End Drug Prohibition.
The Billions of Dollars that is spent to eradicate something that cannot be eradicated is ludicrous. If we spent that much on honest drug education(no more lies), addiction treatment programs (no more incarceration except for violent crimes and people that cause harm to others) and purity control (make cocaine and heroin free of toxic chemicals left as by product or to cut and marijuana free of pesticides) then we could have manageable levels of drug use and addiction, and wouldn't be empowering drug lords and shipping so much money overseas to serve those that may wish us harm for all the years we've been tyrannical to them.
The money saved from not having foreign eradication programs, diplomatic costs for foreign access, military operations, foreign policing, domestic policing, (at all levels) judicial action, jailing (outsourced jailing), parolling, welfare, unemployment, health care and the bureaucracies to run these, could give all Americans a tax break.
The tax burden could be further lightened by taxing the aforementioned products, (Marijuana, cocaine and heroin) and the companies that manufacture and distribute them, and then taxing the employees of these newly created jobs in these new thriving industries. Much like the Tobacco and Alcohol model
The population that is diverted from prison can remain a viable part of the workforce without a drug conviction preventing them from ever working again, and further drawing off of public support.
Reduction of Costs and Increasing Revenue are a model that can pay off deficits, (Federal, State and Local) and pay for new programs like Single Payer Health Care, Wellness Programs, and Better Education for the generations that almost had to pay for our foolishness.
So what is the argument FOR the War on Drugs again?
Seems like it's about time for another massive disaster, like the big flood in Noah's time, or a massive fire/earthquake, more famine than we already have, and time for biological weapons...all of these things to wipe we humans off the face of the globe and start over. Maybe 2012 will bring another spiritual leader, like a Jesus Christ, or a Buddah, or some cataclysm to put us back on the path. We've veered off way too far and it's time for spirit to put us back. If not now, when? We are so out of touch with humanity and goodness it will take something deeply spiritual to put us back on track.
How can there not be pictures of thousands and thousands addicts in the US?? #1 worlwide consumer, please be more objective as addiction is also a big issue in your country.
Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.
--- Abraham Lincoln
December 8, 1840
why does this report only show latinos and afganos drug issues? It should also show United States drug problems, they are one of the bigest consumers
The true criminals are those in the US DEA, and the crooked legislators who are Hell-Bent on taking away a mans Free Will and making him a criminal for something that is not a crime.
The current War on Drugs is the root of all this Evil, and there would be virtually no violence if recreational drug use was legalized.
All this blood is on the Politicians in Washington's hands, may God have mercy on their dark souls.
Lots of people here seem to think that The Criminals & Cartels are static, unchanging things and that they'd just start committing other crimes. Try to analyze this a bit further, if you will.
Drugs are a commodity like none other. It's in high demand, it's extremely small, concentrated and fetches an extremely high price for just one tiny, itsy bitsy gram of the stuff. Nothing compares to this in terms of ease, profit and lack of risk.
Furhermore drugs are bought and sold between concensual business partners. Sell someone an ounce of the green stuff and the person will thank you, and you'll thank him for coming into your office (that happens to be located on some street corner).
If anything this lucrative base provides a recruiting ground for young people, it feeds millions into criminal business and finances the guns, cars, and other infrastructure. As you know the Al Queda uses heroin and hash money to finance the very real and evil terrorism they perpetrate.I firmly believe that the drug money finance the entire infrastructure needed to commit other crimes.
Take that money away from them and they'll have a much harder time even getting to the other crimes, and they won't be able to recruit people as easily to a life of crime
sad and shocking
The drug laws "Harrison Act" were created as a way to deal with undesirables etc, Blacks, Mexicans and Chinese. Whites continued
to feed thier monkeys patent meds that contained opium, heroin and
cocain. You could buy it though the Sears catolog. Movies like " Reefer
Madness " was the propaganda the Gov, used to light the fire. We don't
those kind of people raping our white women! The War on Drugs is
akin to killing off kudzu in Miss. Why do you think we have receptors
for these subsances in or brains as do animals.
Time to legalise and legislate drugs.
Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.
--- Abraham Lincoln
December 8, 1840........let me first start by saying that I have never been a drug user that includes alcohol and tobacco so anyone wishing to rebuttal my point i just took away half your pathetic argument :). second lets look at those who do oppose legalization, if you don't see an issue with alcohol and tobacco being legal your a tremendous hypocrite. third please stop with the lies im tired of hearing that cannabis is a gateway drug when there has been medical and scientific studies that have proven otherwise, if you oppose it at least base your argument around things that are true. fourth realize that the American WAR ON DRUGS has nothing to do with keeping the American people safe, why was the cia bringing in cocaine for daneilo blandone during the panama conflict? , the war on drugs in america is about one thing making money, why does the majority of the war on drugs funding go towards local policing to put dealers in jail instead of taking on major distributors, i suggest some of you come down of your high horse and do your homework
The majority of drugs that are coming into the U.S. are from mexico cuba and Afghanistan, maybe if the patrol on the coasts are stronger, we wouldnt have all these imports coming into our country. The government spends a shit load of money on the "war of drugs" how about we try to protect our boarders more strictly. In all honesty who care what those low lifes do in their countries, they can worry about themselves. Also no wonder why we are in debt, it ovb has to do with us spending all this money for the war. See in my point of view, weed is natural and nothing has to be done to it, but coke, herion and all that nonsense has dangerous cemicals added. stop those drugs but leave the weed.
God truely is great
oh wait. Is this the wrong thread?
I'm astonished that there are no pictures from San Francisco ... where drug use is common and accepted. Pelosi's neighbors are not "fighting a war on drugs" -- they have already conceded. It's only a matter of time until California looks like Kabul.
#225-
Don't believe in Reefer Madness propaganda and do not be (as you still most likely are) ignorant to the fact that marijuana is a clean substance (like penicillin, look it up), has NEVER caused cancer (reports show heavy pot smokers are actually LESS likely to get cancer than nonsmokers), and treats an overwhelming amount of illnesses and symptoms from chronic pain to insomnia, has been medically and scientifically proven that no brain damage or loss of white matter intensity is caused by marijuana, no matter how much is consumed; in 5000 years of recorded history, nobody has ever overdosed, as it is physically impossible. Also, marijuana does not cause people to be lazy (proven). Yes, there are lazy people who smoke pot, just as there are lazy people who play lots of video games or eat a lot of food. Anyway, you keep using god and religion in your argument, but the bottom line is that we cannot legislate morality, as that was the intention upon the forming of this country.
P.S.: Everything I've said in this has been proven, and if you want to check for yourself before you reply and speak blindly of the topic, check out www.mpp.org
the saddest thing about the war on drugs is that they government has used the fear mongering to pass laws that violate our rights under the constitution, although the "patriot" act came out of the wake of 911, its funny because it seems the government doesn't study history. if memory serves me correctly didn't the prohibition just create strong organized crime networks that the government couldn't do any damage to until the late 80's. government bailouts, ear marks, violation of privacy and freedom, hypocrisy by those in power, does any of these points run any parallels to the American revolution? but hey what do i know im just a university grad who works a min wage job because we outsourced so many jobs for decades for higher profits. im so proud to be an American......
I would legalize all drugs in US (except the chemical formulas like ecstasy) Disband the DEA. Results? No demand no crime. No money for Taliban...I could go on and on. The billions that go every year to DEA should be used for prevention and education. If someone wants to get high he/she would have to be registered thus authorities could have some control on rehabilitation.
The problem is that no politician in US have the balls to even mention such a measure.
Oh well, the loosing "War on Drugs" will go forever.
By the way, for the record I'm not user at all. I don't even drink.
Alcohol which is legal results in thousands of deaths every year in car accidents, plus not to mention the fact of battered spouses, kids and brawls.
America is blind and politicians have no guts to face the truth.
Peter Bullert, why would you legalise all drugs except ecstasy (MDMA) ? That makes no sense what so ever. As far as harm to society and the user goes, ecstasy recently featured behind nearly ALL of the other drugs, both legal and otherwise. The only reason ecstasy can be harmful is due to its illegality, criminals substitute MDMA for other dangerous substances like methamphetamine. I would make drugs that do not promote violence or addiction regulated and taxed the way alcohol is. Drugs with a high possiblity for addiction would be prescription only, with the view that prescriptions should be tapered down to remove addiction.
Sadly not to be confuse as an addict... drugs had been since the beginig of man kind, so who ever thinks or wonders if we ever going to win this war, i am deeply sorry to tell you that we are not going to win this war!, i guess is a fact, is a full pledge market, and as long as there is demand some1 is got to supply it!, i was thinking as opend minded as i could get, but legalize it, do the same darn thing as the government did with alcohol, think about it go back to the 1920s.... check your history how many blood baths there were when alcohol became illegal, still every body was using them! even city mayors, or high profile people. ill garante it would save lives, maybe not the addicts unless they get to rehab, and dont be so quick to judge my words, but legal or not, the would be always drug users!
Why only pics of Afganistán and México?
I went last october to a festival in Austin and everyone but my friends were smokin pot. We are from México and we were shocked because the easy way to carry out and make your cig in front of everybody in the festival!!!
If my country has the gangs problem is because of US addicts that sponsor them.
If we all agree that prohibition caused organized crime back in the early part of the 20th century, why would anyone think that keeping drugs illegal now doesn't do the same? It's not the drugs that causes the murders, it's the money. Drug use will never be stopped by punishment; human beings are born risk-takers. You can reduce the impact of addicts on the rest of society, by removing the criminality of their using. In my mind, it is a contradiction to keep opium and pot illegal while tobacco and alcohol are legal and promoted.
The _Prohibition_ of drugs harms far more lives than the drugs themselves. The governments know this - but the war on drugs provides a useful scapegoat for them to divert attention away from their own continual grasping for power and money at the expense of your freedom.
before the big drug war started because of predjudice against any non white people caused everyones addictions to be illegal. before there were drugs in every over the counter drug store had all these illegal drugs and never a problem. its like any other addiction and its caused by govt mind control and psychological fear put into everyone. ive smoked pot since the 60s and have had pure coke from colombia where there are no side effects and anyone can stop anytime they want. smoked the opium in laos and it wasnt as strong as my vicodans which are prescribed by doctors. if u want to see a real addiction go to a casino. we all have addictions of some kind and the legal drugs like alcohol and pills and tobacco are more lethal. at 56 years old i am still healthy slim and muscular and in perfect shape. no tobacco and small amounts of alcohol occasionally. and pot everyday for awhile then none for awhile. all these drugs should be legalized and taxed by govts that need money for their bankrupt countries. if u want to quit and have any addiction problem go to an aa or na or gamblers anonymous or overeaters anonymous or overspenders anonymous debtors anonymous emotional anonymous etc etc etc.
Merci le gouvernement Canadien pour le libre-échange avec le Mexique!
Tanks Canada government for free-exchange with Mexicans!
God help us all.
#188 "people have found their way of extinction.."
It's not always a bad thing. We don't have a natural predator so we might as well kill ourselves :)
Awesome photos btw. I would never have thought Afghanistan and Pakistan were that big on drugs...
Jason said:
"The only people who complain about drug eradication, seems to be the ones who are hopelessly addicted to them.
They see nothing wrong with getting stoned, committing slow suicide, inhaling toxic substances.
Their arguments are always the same... You die of something, you die one day, even cheeseburgers with grease kill you!
That may full well be true, but you do have to eat to live. Eating has a purpose. Drugs are not necessary to live, so they impose dangers upon you that are totally un-necessary."
Well, jason, how about this: in nazi germany, the only people who complained about book burnings were the people who liked those books. And reading isn't necessary to stay alive anyway, so what's the problem?
How about religion? That isn't necessary to stay alive either. How many people have been hurt and killed because of religion? Why don't we just make it illegal too? Chairman Mao called religion "the opiate of the masses" and made it illegal.
But WE WANT FREEDOM. Freedom to read, eat, smoke and believe what we want. You say "only drug users/addicts don't want drugs destroyed". I say "only weak minded people need to believe in religion."
How about I don't try to illegalize what YOU like, and you keep your hands off of what I like?
Some day this war's gonna end.
---"The only people who complain about drug eradication, seems to be the ones who are hopelessly addicted to them."---
Nice "guilt by association" witch-hunt argument there. I guess thats what you resort to when the facts arent on your side but completely against you and your position. I am not hopelessly addicted to anything, and part of the reason people "complain about drug eradication" is because you havent "eradicated" those drugs at all (an impossible and silly goal), you've merely locked up millions of Americans for a nonviolent personal choice and created an incredibly violent and lucrative black market. Meanwhile those drugs you sought to "eradicate" proliferated in supply, got far cheaper, far more potent, and far more available on the street. Way to go.
Anyone actually still repeating the ludicrous "gateway drug" argument against marijuana needs their head examined. Most bikers start out by driving a car...does driving a car therefore lead to owning a motorcycle? No. The fact is that the vast majority of people who smoke marijuana never go on to become hard drug addicts.
And for those who say they are actually somehow more disturbed by the images of addicts using drugs than they are by images of human beings mutilated, beaten, disfigured, castrated, tortured, beheaded, and/or shot...all I can say is that your warped sense of morality and humanity speaks volumes about what sort of ignorant and demented thinking is behind the brutal, corrupt, and senseless policy of prohibition. You would honestly rather see someone's butchered body left in the street than see a person who is addicted to something? In all seriousness, what is the matter with you?
espectacular mente soprendente , como la sociedad acaba consigo mismo dia tras dia ...
Drugs aren't the problem. People are the problem. Just the same as people who want to illegalize guns, well, guns don't kill people, people kill people. I personally enjoy marijuana and a select few other drugs, I am not addicted yet i like to do them regularly on the weekends. However, people like me who can control themselves do not have the problems they show in the pictures and try to make the public believe. I just graduated from high school with a 4.0 gpa and am currently a student at Purdue University. Drugs don't have to ruin your life. I don't hurt my family, I don't hurt my friends, and the most hurt i do to myself is the same hurt that any person who smokes cigarettes or drinks alcohol does. People who want to do drugs will do them and the governement can't do a damn thing about it. Spend our money elsewhere dealing with things that people don't choose to happen to them, like rape and murder. People who do drugs, choose to do drugs, if they want to stop, then we can help them. But it's their choice. You can't stop it, this war will never end.
lol "At least 3.4 tons of cocaine were confiscated and three people were arrested" 3.4 TONS!! and only 3 arrested. how were these 3 people moving the 3.4 tons of coke?
Drugs are not the problem. The self-destructive behavior is. Teaching people to love themselves in any aspect, is quiet cheaper than fighting a war drug. It's obvious that "illegal drugs", as well as The War Industry, gives many more jobs. Heavy drugs are a serious business, and for all the unscrupulous people who sell them, well... just jail them. But, what about if I wanna have a 3 meter tall cannabis plant in my backyard, just to smoke it myself, or to make some recipes? I'm an adult. I think I can handle it pretty well. Besides, it's my problem... isn't it? So... why people and law insist to put cocaine drug dealers at the same level of a cannabis grower? I think it's ignorance, or fear... or both.
hey 243 "my great uncle was a police officer in mexico. he wouldnt bend to the local drug dealers rules. they came to his home and killed him. yes the forefathers of america both grew and smoked copious amounts of pot. that doesnt mean it should be legalized. they didnt have access to the drugs that are available today. drugs cause crime. they cause murder. they ruin lives. what would be accomplished by legalizing them? nothing. more dope would be smoked. more people would smoke it. more people would be killed."
yes its tragic that your uncle was killed and what not but did you ever consider that if there was no war on drugs there would be no dealers to do it? black market trade and huge profits breed violence and corruption if drugs were available in stores there wouldnt be turf wars or executions over them because there would no illicit market. it would save us around 5 billion dollars each year with all the weapons, propagnada, jails sentances(each guy in jail for a joint costs the tax payers 140 grand a year) and surveillance for the drug war gone. in the constitution and declaration of independance we are given the write to privacy, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we have the 21st ammendment for a reason. the drug war takes away our privacy with surveillance into our homes, phones, and blood stream, it takes away our lives with a black market gang war, it takes away our liberty with jail sentences and no choice, and it takes away our happiness with incarceration of family, and denying us our write to do what we will with our own bodies. our forefathers would be appalled at the laws we are forced to live under the taxes we pay for a war that we do not support they would be up in arms over this and sence our nations intellect, values, and credibility have steadilly declined sence there era i believe we should honor there views not classify them as archaic, radical, or unfit. All drugs available today are simply synthetic and more potent varieties of the ones from there day were it not for this war most of them would likelly never have been synthesized at all. drugs do not cause crime the black market trade in them causes violent crime while its resulting price increase causes the robbery and prostitution associated with them. the fact that years of propaganda have caused a sick viewof addiction as well addiction is a chronic obssessive compulsive mental disease that needs to be treated and studied not shunned, arrested, and hidden there would be less drug addicts if so many werent scared to get treatment due to the ridicule, cruellty, and stigma they will recieve due to a society brain washed by just say no. They only ruin lives due to the excessive price and unwillingness to get help both caused by the so called war. the money spent on the war should be used for treatment programs, harm reduction programs, and education about the REAL dangers of drugs instead of a long lost crusade agianst the independantlly minded. a lot would be accomplished by legalizing them. more economic profit, better education on there dangers, no more hiding in shame, more people able to be employed, less new users, a better understanding of addiction, less violence, no more cartels, no more turf wars over the corner, freeing up law enforcement for important tasks, keeping adolescents who made one mistake out of jail, harm reduction through eduction, break throughs in medicine too tabou to research before, and many other good things. stop fighting a war on drugs and fight one on crime instead THEY ARE NOT THE SAME
Simply shocking, some of these photos really make you stop and think. Grandparents feeding their grand children opiates, just setting their kids up for disaster. However some of them live in such crappy countries that they don't have a purpose for living any how. Such a sad world we live in.
If drugs were legal, the gangs would have nothing to sell. They wouldn't have to fight for territory. If drugs were legal, people who were addicted could go to rehab without fear of being arrested for trying to get help.
If drugs were regulated we wouldn't see kids using. We wouldn't see people dying from tainted drugs.
If drugs were taxed, we could afford to have everyone on a health care plan that paid for itself, and provided care to those who need it.
-------------
But of course, my argument is one in a sea of countless reactionary, fear-based outcries rooted in misinformation, misunderstanding, and lack of education. It disgusts me to read some of these things, knowing that people actually feel the way they do about these problems. They act like killing more people and cracking down harder is going to make it all better. It's not. Look at what the REAL cause of the problem is. What causes the violence and despair. Once you do that you see it isn't the drugs. It's the people who are waging this "war".
Disagree with me if you want. I know the truth that is behind all this, and no matter how loud I say it, or how many times it's said the fools, fearful, and deaf will simply ignore reason.
Mexico, especially Ciudad Juarez, is becoming land of no one. The police can't do anything against Los Carteles. I believe that military force should be used to eradicate those bastards.
Drugs don't kill people - people kill people!
More often than not people kill, murder and steal to get the resources for obtaining more drugs!!! By legalizing them the hope is that people will not have to go such extremes to "serve" their addictions.
What is sad to me is seeing people under the influence and also the long term effect of it. It is so sad to see a fit human-being becoming the slave of their addictions - the very addictions killing their bodies and minds so that they are eventually better off dead than suffering alive... It is so sad - imagine if they could lives filled with love, have families...
The drug epidemic is growing and more than ever people need help! I am in recovery and have been sober for a year and a half. I went to Sober Living by the Sea in Newport Beach California and learned how to live again. They gave me a life again. If anyone needs help please go and get it! http://www.soberliving.com
I agree w/ earlier comments. Legalize the substances and use the money from it to support treatment and education. The profit and violence promulgated by trying to end drug problems and addiction via law enforcement is far outweighing any good being accomplished.
Now, I don't want to see a companies being able to sell the stuff like Soda w/ commercials and general promotion, but simple possession has to stop being a crime and we have to take the insane profits out of narcotics. No one is willing to work for $5 an hour at some crap job when they can make 2000 a day or more selling drugs. And then once you have been caught, you have a record that persists long after your punishment is done and then can't even get that $5 an hour job and then the authorities are amazed that these individuals are recidivist. Everyone has to eat and when you render them ineligible for legitimate work what else are they expected to do. One is almost forced into a criminal existence as they are not allowed to move back into normal society anyways.