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Originally Posted by verklingen
good god some people are never happy about anything. did any of you ever in your wildest dreams consider that THE ACTING HEAD OF US DRUG CONTROL POLICY would ever say anything along lines such as these? small though the step is for practical purposes it's evel knievel leaping across the grand canyon in terms of what's gone on in our past. really now, some perspective is warranted. the guy's hardly been in office a week and he's already stirring the pot more than it's ever been stirred my entire life.
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There's a good reason some people aren't jumping for joy over this news...because it WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING. It's not a small step, it's not even a shuffling of the feet. All this guy wants to do is change the name of the "war on drugs" to something else, all the same problems will still be there. It's nothing more than verbal and psychological sleight-of-hand. Sure, some people would prefer treatment over jail time, but when "treatment" is just as bad (or worse in some cases) than jail, what's the difference? It's just more smoke and mirrors to shut-up the legalization lobby.
The REAL problem isn't that the laws need to be changed...before that can happen they need to change the definitions. Currently all drug use is considered abuse, and by that same token, if you use drugs, you are an addict. That needs to change, especially among pot smokers. The vast majority of poeple smoke pot because they enjoy it, not because they are slaves to an addiction, or have no self control. Forcing people into treatment for pot offences is basically the government ignoring that fact, and saying "we don't care if it's something you like, we're going to make you stop."
"Treatment" is for hard-core addicts and people that genuinely need help, not the guys and gals who like to unwind with a joint at the end of the day.