Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer

I have worked in prisons all my life. Prison does not deter people from selling or using drugs.
Any drug death is a tragedy, but prohibition never works, it only makes the problems associated with the drug worse. Education and understanding can help minimize the harmful effects of drugs but the sad truth is that where there is profit to be made, people will find a way to sell illegal drugs and the problems will multiply and fester.
Alcohol and tobacco are socially acceptable drugs. Media tends to glamorize wine and scotch whiskey, as well as cigars.
Nobody is out there lobbying for a return to alcohol prohibition or prohibition of tobacco, but a teenage alcohol death is just as tragic as a teenage heroin death and tobacco is harder to quit than pot, but our society glorifies alcohol use and tolerates tobacco addiction.
There are tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths each year attributable in one way or another to alcohol and tobacco, but as drugs, alcohol and tobacco are taken for granted in our country.
Keeping drugs illegal feeds money to criminals and keeps drug use so secret, that often families and communities don't know what they are really up against, as in the case in this story here.
For me the question is, “if other drugs were legalized, would they cause as much harm or more than current alcohol and tobacco problems, and would the harm that they cause be greater than the harm caused by keeping them illegal?

My heart goes out to the family. I'm an 42 year old alcoholic who has been sober for 8 months. I had to stop after I nearly lost everything including my life. I have to turn myself in in june to serve 45 days in jail. This will definitely affect my whole life more than it has been affected. Addiction is such a selfish disease that takes over 'everything and everybody'. I am barely begining to understand this disease. As much as I wanted to stop I just couldn't get myself to do so. Unfortunately, the few that stop are the ones that have hit some sort of 'rock-bottom' and have lived to experience it. Although I grew up in a very religious environment and clearly understood that "drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God" this was not enough for me. Even though I have a wonderful wife and beautiful kids, this was not enough.... I am now struggling with dealing with ALL my stress, issues, problems in a sober state of mind which I have never really done before and is not easy (a hangover was easier to deal with). I am battling a self-hate & depression. I now give thanks to God and my family for not giving up on me and being there to support me through this ordeal. I also want to thank AA for all the support I get there. Educating the young ones on the dangers of addiction is vital/important, take them to hospitals and clinics who treat the severly sick so that they will be shocked from the consequences. Also, those who are addicted should be in clinics not jails. Don't put a band-aid on a wound that requires stiches.

Drugs are all around us. You can't watch tv anymore without being hit with a perscription medication comercial that tells you to take somthing u don't need! This country needs to rethink how it deals with drugs. Quick!

President Obama: THE “MORAL” ISSUE RE POT

It is “immoral” not to decriminalize it.

For clarity, I will be 75 next month. For my generation, and growing up in El Dorado, Kansas, beer was our drug of choice.

We all bought into the propaganda that it would make you “crazy”—I don’t recall of any fellow student that smoked pot.

By the time my children came along—I don’t know of any of their friends that didn’t smoke pot.

Clarence Darrow averred that “Laws should be like clothes–tailored to fit the people who wear them.” The majority of Americans support the decriminalization of marijuana.

But that is not the only reason it is “immoral” not to decriminalize pot. The issue is the damage caused both to persons and to the larger society by continuing to make it unlawful:

1) We could cut our prison population almost in half, and at a savings of tens of billions of dollars annually to the taxpayer—who is being “punished”, here, the pot smoker or the taxpayer?
2) The personal damage caused to persons, and to the larger society by locking up pot smokers, is incalculable. By not decriminalizing pot we daily turn non-violent persons into violent career criminals!
3) By not re-classifying pot (with the stroke of a pen), and placing it in the same category with alcohol and tobacco—we are losing tens of billions of dollars in tax revenue.
4) This past week Harvard professor Jeffrey Miron calculated that the savings in arrest, conviction, and incarceration—combined with the revenue from taxation could infuse almost $80 billion annually into our economy.

And while it is true, that this sum, alone, cannot turn our economy around (as suggested in the virtual town hall meeting 3-26-09)—it is hardly insubstantial, and is it not “immoral”, given the above and the gravity of the task at hand, to dismiss it out of hand?

Jim Green—former Chief Probation Officer, district courts , Topeka, Kansas—Parole Officer, U.S. Bureau of Prisons (20 years experience in our criminal justice system—retired) http://www.Inclusivism.org

Let’s look at the two extremes before deciding this. Think wildly for a moment. Unconventionally. What would happen if the government offered totally free drugs to users? We could take bids from Mexico and Afghanistan and get the cheapest price, then give them away or sell them at cost to people who are stupid enough to trash their life. We’d take 100% of the profit out of illegal drug sales so there’d be no more profits to fight over.

See "The drug war: When to stop digging?" at http://moneyedpoliticians.net/2009/03/18/the-drug-war/

An no, I'm not necessarily suggesting free, but we must take the profit out.

In no way do the advocates of drug legalization advocate increased drug use. It is quite the opposite. We must curb the drug use first by preventing our children access to these substances. The only way to curb access is to control distribution. Drug dealers do not care who purchases their drugs. There is certainly nobody checking IDs.

A whole society which does advocate drugs has been created by the War on Drugs itself. Our mission is currently self defeating. Gangs roam our inner cities and innocent lives are lost on a daily basis. Children have easy access to inexpensive illicit drugs. We cannot win in this manner.

Legalizition will immediately eliminate most drug related crime and violence. The addicts will no longer be on a perpetual search for their fix. It is now readily available to them. Before, their whole life was driven by their ability to find another fix. Will it be available or not? Will it be safe or not? How long will they suffer before they find their crutch?

We say give them their crutch and many will learn to walk on their own again. End this war and you will destroy the society that is causing your children to even be exposed to drugs in the first place. The addicts will be reduced on the front end because new users will be greatly reduced. Educate America's children rather than threaten their freedom in a society created not by them, but by or legal system itself.

Continuing prohibitionist policies only means that we have no faith in the American people to control theirselves. Personally, I think this attitude is ridiculous. End the war and put our faith back in the American people. They will get the job done where our legal system has failed miserably.

Best Regards,
Dexter Gilbert

prohibition never works. even Abe Lincoln was staunchly against it.

I feel sorry about any parents that have to lose their child, especially lethal drugs like heroin crack and so on. I believe that lethal drugs should never be legalized. I feel that marijuana should be legalized with the way that the economy is because it is a huge cash crop even more than corn. The government could use part of the profit to put more emphasis on getting these dealers who sell lethal drugs to children and teenagers off the streets. I don't smoke pot but know people that do and they are the most relaxed people that I have ever met, they don't fight they don't steal stuff like steaks and baby formula and most of all it isn't nearly as addicting as heroin, meth and coke.

I've worked in prisons for over 30 years and have watched the impact of criminalizing substance use has had on our society. I can say that the death of Natalie Ciappa from an overdose of heroin is simply one of many tens of thousands such deaths since America's politically expedient but systemically short-sighted war on drugs that followed the end of prohibition. Instead of containing and minimizing drug use among Americans, criminalizing illicit drug use to control supply and demand has simply fanned what was a non-signicant issue at the turn of the 20th century into a highly profitable semi-global and violent pandemic, just as it did with alcohol during prohibition. As it's currently being implemented, the War on Drugs is not winnable. The real solutions have to be systemic, and involve taking the profit out of the illicit drug marketplace by legalizing then controlling the manufacture of certain substances, educating potential substance abusers, treating those who wish it (maybe even some who don't), and augmenting punishments for otherwise illegal behavior that are related to illicit drug use, just as we do alcohol. Anything less than a systemic four-pronged approach will simlply be playing around the margins of this ridiculous state of affairs. Until then, we can anticipate many more deaths just like Ms. Ciappa's. As long as lawmakers make no substantive changes in fighting this war, then we should simply accept these deaths as a casualty of a war we apparently are willing to keep fighting in the way we're fighting it, and quit complaining about them.

Today on CNN, they are discussing legalizing all drugs. I think that is a trip down an 'un-winnable road'. Many individuals who support cannabis legalization, do not support legalization of all drugs. I believe it is spin, being used to spin the cannabis hemp issue into a harder to defend category.

Cannabis hemp is a plant, which can stands on it's own. The inclusion of cannabis in the war on drugs is what has led to the prison problems of today. Talking about legalizing all drugs, is a distraction.

Respected voices of reason from our past, have been omitted from America history today. It's no wonder they ignore the voices of reason today. They are allowed to omit the voices of reason from yesterday. It's an "Assault on Reason".

"Prohibition... goes beyond the bound 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

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this." – Albert Einstein quote on Hemp

"The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." – Carl Sagan, renown scientist, astronomer, astrochemist, author and TV host

what's heroin and whats (over-dosed) is it when u have 2 much??

We didn't "skip a generation in education" – programs like D.A.R.E. just don't work.

Legalizing anything is the same as culturally accepting it's OK, and like alcohol, once you do it, it's nearly impossible to turn back. I don't know about you but the last thing I want are more people on the roads driving cars while drunk AND high. There is enough of those people on the road today...you back legalizing pot, you chould be charged with accessory to murder each time a person is killed by a pot smoking, drunk

Ironic that this story is under the heading "AM Fix."

Thats what happens when government taxes legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol to the point it is cheaper to get something better and worthwhile....

marxism never works except on paper.

My daughter is 19; she has lost 3 schoolmates to heroin in the last two years. She told me that one of her 1st boyfriendswhen she was 16 took her over the border to Mexico to get a drink (we live in the San Diego area). He left 'to go to the bathroom' and disappeared. She walked back across the border alone and found him passed out in her car, the needle still hanging out of his arm. She knows that many other kids in our affluent suburb also use heroin but don't inject. The 1960's heroin stereotype of the urban low-income drug user is gone; these are high-school students. Anyone who thinks that America in any way is adequately securing the health and welfare of its citizens vis a vis drugs, or that we are winning the war against drugs, is woefully uninformed. So many more people die from drugs than from terrorism – but where are we spending the billions? Paranoia and racism govern our allocation of budget, not reality. Otherwise we'd drop Iraq, Afghanistan, and Homeland Security like a rock, and start actually eradicating the drug cartels that murder our children, friends, and countrymen every day.

it will probably take a few more deaths and misfortunes before anything is really done

My oldest daughter is a Heroin addict. I tried for 8 yrs. Rehab 3 times, out patient programs and detox. I now live alone. My daughter does not know where I live and does not have my phone number.
There is just to much of it in the States.

joel

I find it sorry that we spend so much money (billions) on prosecuting, fining and imprisoning these addicted users but when it actually comes to solving these types of problems we spend a fraction for selfawareness and tretment type programs. I like to see more of it but i"m not holding my breath.
Really we should just legalize everything to weed out our society and then just then we will see who the good parents on the block and the ones who shouldn't be parents because they are too scared to talk with their children about consequences of AB-using drugs.
Sad story for sure though

As a former drug addict who was hooked on getting wasted (pills, pot, narcotics, pyschedelic drugs) to ease the pain of life for over 13 years – the thought of a heroin high as cheap as a 6 pack of beer is both enticing and terrifying. I simply can't use again (even once) or I will lose everything, so I pray and know that God will protect me from this scourge.

and I stay FAR away from the culture of people and former friends that are using.

As a parent with a 13 year old who comes from a family with a history of addiction – it is beyond terrifying to consider that the $20 I give my son to go to the mall could potentially go not to the movies and a t-shirt, but rather to ultimately finance the Mexican drug cartels thru the purchase of 3 bags of 70%!! pure Mexican heroin. We have to educate our children and the schools on this incredible danger.

It seems if our government ( government past i mean) has not evolved into a more conscious body that we need for todays changed time. I am 20 years old and I could tell you more about prescription and illegal drugs than most senators and government officials.

I personally believe that education is the seed that will help alleviate this problem of "war on drugs" (more like war on citizens!). As a young person, i was never really educated in a classroom setting on theses types of issues. Learning to do SOHCAHTOA was i reckon. I learned how to and not how to do some of these drugs with my friends and around the neighborhood.

I am tired of seeing Native Americans holding all of the number one spots of highest drugs use, alcohol use, diabetes. And we probably have the lowest total whole number as a ethnicity. I had to say a little something about this issue since Native Americans are only mentioned when is comes to these facts.

It is sad to hear about this girl dying from heroine. If it isn't green, it isn't clean. It is time for government present to see that change that needs to be made immediately rather than keeping up with the same failing policies. And if Obama doesn't recognize the calling from his fellow citizens, is he and the rest of them really keeping OUR best interest in mind?...

I agree with most of the comments regarding legalization of all drugs. The fact is that it's easier for our kids to obtain heroin than it is for them to get beer or cigarettes. Right now, control is in the hands of the cartels than manufacture and distribute, and they have no compunction to sell to our children. This will only end when the economic incentive is removed, and the sale of all drugs is regulated the way alcohol and cigarettes are regulated. Legalize the subtances, tax them, control the sale and make penalties for criminal behavior under the influence sufficent to deter such behavoir. Unfortunately, Americans tend to view this issue through an emotional (and religious) lens. Those people who support prohibition are not looking rationally at the problem. As a parent, I don't want my kids anywhere near these drugs, but as things are, they are more likely to be exposed at school where I have no visibility. If the cartels were shut down from legalization and drugs were sold through regulated distribution channels, I would be much more assured that my kids were not able to buy. As far as adults go, what someone puts into their own body is their business alone. From a societal perspective, taxation from the sales could be used to provide treatment and education which is a far better approach than incarceration.

DRUGS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, DRUG LAWS KILL PEOPLE.

The drug dealing, distributing and producing vermin are killing one another to control the obscene amounts of money that surround the use of "illegal drugs" used extensively throughout the United States.

After 100 YEARS, it is fairly safe to conclude the WAR ON DRUGS is a failure that has not in any way shape or form reduced or eliminated drug use in the United States, a new approach must therefore be necessary.

My humble suggestion. Legalize all drugs immediately. Why you ask?

1) Simple.... rediculous numbers of people around the world are being killed and injured by drug cartels and terrorist organizations.

2) In banning drug use, the United States has created a lucrative funding source to cartels, gangs and terrorists.

3) These products, and they are products; are in high demand and always will be. The prohibition era proved that prohibiting something so widely desired, can't work. The violence seen during that era is the same that is building in this era.

No, it is time to legalize drugs. Time to control them. Time to tax them, just as tobacco and alcohol is taxed today.

Take the revenue currently going to drug cartels and terrorists and drive it into regulation, education, rehabilitation and prevention, just like is done with tobacco and alcohol.

Take the money you save maintianing the "Anti-Drug Police State" and reduce the deficit.

Use the jail space currently wasted on "drug-offenders" and use it to jail the real criminals who live on Wall Street and in the Boardrooms of America.

Make all drugs legal and strike a blow against gangs and terrorists.

It is time to turn drug use from a drain on public resources, into an industry creates good jobs and which pays for the damage which it creates.

WAKE UP !

Do what you're doing and you'll get what you're getting. Time for an intelligent, rational choice America.

For everyone arguing and stating that "hemp" and "marijuana" is just a plant that grows from the ground, that can "stand on it's own" to quote an above poster; do you not realize where "heroin" comes from? The opium poppy is just as much of a plant as marijuana is.

The real reason so many overdoses happen isn't due to the "purity" of the drug, but due to mis-education and the complete and total lack of harm reduction information and techniques. Perhaps if she knew the interactions between heroin and anything else she was taking, along with how much can be TOO much when you're opiate intolerant (meaning someone who hasn't done copious amounts of opiates over a period of time,) she might be still be alive today. She might not.

The point is, there is a responsibility to the public to get information and harm reduction techniques/literature made public and actually talked about to our youth, lower/middle/upper class, basically anyone and everyone, instead of hiding behind some stigmatized view that these drugs are "terrible and the devil's work!!!" Inform and Educate; people are always going to make their own choices, but at least when they do so they'll have a better idea about what they're doing.

-josh

Marah, heroin is an opiate, meaning it comes from the poppy plant. It is a "downer", meaning it makes your body systems like breathing, heart rate, etc. go slower. If you take too much it interferes with your body to the point where you stop breathing and die. The problem is that when you get heroin on the street, like most people do because its illegal to get anywhere else, you never know how strong it is. If you use it, your body may be used to a certain amount, bit when you get more it could be much stronger than you are used to and can cause you to overdose when you use it. When that happens, you can easily die.

Heroin is dumb. Actually all illegal drugs are dumb, some legal ones are too.

I can't take these articles seriously with such sensationalist headlines. A single bag of heroin might be cheaper than a six pack of beer, but a single bag of heroin is not enough to get an addict high. Comparing a six pack of beer and a single bag of heroin is like comparing 6 ambien with 1 vicodin. They are not comparable in any way, but fear brings in ratings and ratings bring in ad revenues. When ad revenues are all that matter, real journalism takes a back seat to trash like this.

Yknow what? If we legalized theft, rape, and murder we could lower crime!! Legalize it, regulate it, and tax it!! Put the money into anti-violent crime education.

That seems like a completely ludicrous comment, doesn't it? Let's try something a little closer:

If we legalized prostitution, we could lower crime!! Legalize it, regulate it, and tax it!!! Put the money into STD education & treatment.

So goes the argument with drugs. Like either of the above examples (the letter of which is actually being pursued), legalization does not keep people from being victimized. It exposes the law abiding to greater risks, and it amounts to a silent consent of these practices.

Irony for those saying marijuana isn't a "gateway" drug....most of the "legalize it" chatter started with marijuana, and has since expanded to all drugs.

We can't keep booze and cigarettes out of the hands of kids. What's the reaction going to be when another Natalie can get HEROIN by having an older friend or sibling pick it up from 7-Eleven or Wal*Mart??

Naive dreamers! If you legalize drugs, there will be always a question of price. If you make it $50, then bad guys will sell for $30, and if you make it $5, tomorrow 25% will not come to work. And only naive people may suggest that all criminals immediately go to college. They always find some ways to gain illegally, unless we throw away all criminal and other codes and make it all legal.

Heroin addiction in Suffolk County (NY) is rampant. No one would ever suspect that their child is partaking of this drug, but heed my words ... get your proverbial head out of the sand ... there are a huge number of kids doing heroin!

One of the most frustrating tasks is getting clinical help, unless you have a great insurance plan or a lot of money. Don't let anyone fool you, there IS a stigma attached to anyone who is labeled as a heroin user, and unfortunately to the parents as well, but if you're in that position just ignore it ... getting help for your child is more important than what others think of you! (Mather Hospital, Port Jefferson, has a very good Outpatient program).

Meetings are great for those people who have willpower and are willing to make a commitment, but sadly heroin addicts are more likely to fail and start using again.

Trying to get rid of the dealers is almost impossible as the police want the big fish to fry – they are not interested in the small time dealers. Although for us parents, the small fish are the ones who are killing our children. No matter how big they are in the scheme of things, ALL dealers should be punished!

Finally, the most important thing to remember ... heroin users are liars! They will convince you nothing is wrong, that you're crazy for suggesting that they may be using drugs. Follow your gut instinct/intuition buying a drug testing kit is easy they are available at most pharmacies. The pharmacist is a great start, share with him/her what you think is going on, they will help you pick out the right kit.

Knowledge is power!

I think Harold Archibald's comment is dead on... which is why I just want to copy and paste it for some of you who might have missed this person's intelligence"

I have worked in prisons all my life. Prison does not deter people from selling or using drugs.
Any drug death is a tragedy, but prohibition never works, it only makes the problems associated with the drug worse. Education and understanding can help minimize the harmful effects of drugs but the sad truth is that where there is profit to be made, people will find a way to sell illegal drugs and the problems will multiply and fester.
Alcohol and tobacco are socially acceptable drugs. Media tends to glamorize wine and scotch whiskey, as well as cigars.
Nobody is out there lobbying for a return to alcohol prohibition or prohibition of tobacco, but a teenage alcohol death is just as tragic as a teenage heroin death and tobacco is harder to quit than pot, but our society glorifies alcohol use and tolerates tobacco addiction.
There are tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths each year attributable in one way or another to alcohol and tobacco, but as drugs, alcohol and tobacco are taken for granted in our country.
Keeping drugs illegal feeds money to criminals and keeps drug use so secret, that often families and communities don’t know what they are really up against, as in the case in this story here.
For me the question is, “if other drugs were legalized, would they cause as much harm or more than current alcohol and tobacco problems, and would the harm that they cause be greater than the harm caused by keeping them illegal?

When people bought legal heroin on the streets in the early 1900's no one died. People didn't start dying from heroin until it became illegal. Why? When you buy from the black market you don't know what you are getting, you don't know the purity or what other substances it is mixed with. This is another reason why prohibition fails!

I don't really agree with the whole thought process of legalizing drugs for sale by the government. Where would we get them from in the short term? Other countries black markets. I'd like to ask the Mexican population how they would feel about their drug cartels getting a fresh influx of capitol? A bailout for the drug lords, wonderful. That is also presuming that other countries must follow suit and do so quickly or we risk destabilizing their governments and becoming even more of a black sheep in the global community.

Maybe some day we will have to expect people to be accountable, stop holding everyone's hands and helping them destroy themselves. Handing out more welfare sure helped that problem...

The United State's "War On Drugs" is now decades old and an utter failure. Drugs are cheaper and more plentiful than ever in our recent history. Drug overdoses seem to be rising and we are spending billions of dollars on this farce.

Something on the order of 80 percent of people in jail and prison are there at least partially because of drug charges. Mexican drug gangs are rising in power and danger.

It is time to decriminalize drugs, make them available legally to addicts and use a fraction of the enormous amounts of money we spend trying to prevent drugs from getting into the country on rehabilitaion programs.

Drugs are not a criminal justice issue, they are a healthcare and social issue.

The former DEA agent was given pass by the host on his false claims that "virtually all the studies show that legalization would significally increase drug use. Zogby did a 2007 where it asked over a 1,000 likely voters if they would use hard drugs if they were legal. 99% answered NO. Then the host, misquoted a fact on Alaska's pot laws. So neither side could prove their points on the effects of legalization.

This girl featured in the story who died from a heroin overdose, would most likely be alive if she buy the drug legally and had some quality control of the product. Who knows what that fatal dose was cut with? And what responsibilty does she bear for willingly taking the drug?

Message to marah – since you have internet access, google heroin or overdose to get your answers

Why are illegal drugs cheaper? Because alcohol's taxed to death like everything else.

Marijuana deaths this (and the last) millennium: ZERO

I wish they would legalize pot too, so potheads can stop talking about it. Funny, every article on any drug and they start spouting how great pot is.

I've known several potheads and they all seem to have some permanent damage to me.

I fully endorse the view to legalises"drugs" and thereby take away the violence,monetary reward and crime that goes with the drug trade.
I fully endorse the need to continually educate young minds in the horrors of drug/alcohol and tobacco both at home and at school.This education and basic ethics need to be a regular item in all levels of study.

My 25 year old brother passed away from a heroin overdose 1 month ago today. Addiction is a disease. Whether the drug is legal or not, people will still have this disease. It's not a matter of legality, it's a matter of supporting our youth so they never begin (even if it is a forced support). For those that are using, it is also a matter of support, education, and understanding. Whether we want to help or not, or it is a moral issue for us, we need to always remember that people are people, whether they are using or not, they are still human and should be treated humanely with care and compassion.

To freeb.
Obviously you are unfamiliar with drugs and their effects. People who smoke pot are less likely to leave the comforts of their surroundings to go out and buy more beer or leave a bar. Ii'd be willing to wager that there are many more *stoned* people driving than there are drunk. Driving stoned is considereably less dangerous than driving drunk. I know, I used to do it all the time many years ago. Now driving while on LSD....thats a different story altogether.

I lost my daughter to Herion 2 years ago. She was in and out of jail. The state doesn't care about these lost souls. I use to call her probation officer and tell him where she was getting high, he didn't care. My heart goes out to the parents because you try to look for answers, but you never find them. If the US was doing their jobs at the border we would have less drugs. My daughter took pictures of the limos that would pull into the projects and drop off the dope. Don't kid yourself, where there is big money there is somone out there crooked and getting their share. You think the police would notice a white, blonde going into the projects.....

It's just perfectly fine ,"culturally acceptable", for people to visit a relative, have a few drinks on Easter Sunday and then drive home????? But I cant smoke a harmless marijuana cigarette in my home. A land of hypocrites. It's truly puzzling. What the eff is immoral about smoking pot? Please someone tell me. Better yet, the people making these rules should give up drinking until they can come up with a logical reason why I can drink a poison that can kill me but cant smoke a harmless joint. People need to get a grip! What are we going to do next start hunting witches again. S@#t ! I need a drink where's my Johnny Walker.

In the last thirty years tobacco smokers have gone from being 56% of the population to only 20% this was acomplished by education,taxes and peer preasure. not one person was arrested and jailed. Prohibition dosn"t work

This whole thing with making drugs legal is an asinine idea. Making the drugs legal would mean telling children that they are acceptable. To think that would put the illegal drug makers out of business is pure stupidity also. It will still be more expensive for the legal versions of the drug were the FDA approve a version that would more then likely have to be prescribed by a doctor. There is no way the stuff would be over the counter. These type of statements are generally made by people who have IQ's not much larger then their shoe sizes. To compare it to Alcohol is also a ridiculous comparison. Yes you can die from drinking, but generally most people are not going to die from 1 or 2 drinks. People and children as seen in this article can die from just 1 or 2 doses of heroin. But you say the legal version won't be as potent. And I go back to the legal version will end up being more expensive making even more demand for illegal versions to be sold. I would say that at least half of the population drinks alcohol at one time or another. Is that what you want to happen with these type of drugs?? Do you think it will be OK for 50% or more of the population to start dabbling in heroin? . A highly addicting drug like heroin? Alcohol is addicting, but no where nearly as addicting as heroin. It's just a shame that stupid people like this are allowed to vote!

I am not in favor of legalization of all drugs. You cannot make a drug that can kill with one use...legal. You just cannot. But...you can make marijuana legal and use a % of the proceeds from that to fund education and rehabilitation of harder drug users. The anti-cigarette campaigns are working...imagine LARGE budget advertising campaigns against harder drugs at ZERO non-voluntary expense to the citizens of America.

Heck you can even give the pot smokers credit..."This message brought to you by pot smokers...don't kill yourselves America...avoid cocaine, heroin, etc."

the government cannot control EVERY aspect of a persons life. If someone wants to get high, they will find a way to do it. Legalizing it wont eliminate drug use, or even encourage it, it will simply take the money and the power away from the people who profit from it being illegal. the users arent the problem, its the sellers. Make it legal, remove the power and money, watch crime fall dramatically.

I don't agree with the leglaization of narcotics...

HOWEVER. This country needs to legalize marijuana, and tolerate psychedleic drugs. This will free up immense resources and funds for eliminating or detering cocaine, meth, and heorine use.

It is the narcotic drugs in this ocuntry that cause the bulk of our problems. EWliminate meth, cocaine, heorie, and even prescription drug abuse and this country will be in a lto bettershape.

On the other hand, keep using valueable resources and money to prosecute pot users and psychedelics which have a very small overall effects of society and the other drugs which are much much much more dangerous will thrive and increase in useage causing more problems

This ocuntry and its citizens can make a choice. It can choose to attack the real problems or it can treat all of these substances as equal and continue to spiral down the drain while it fials to really deter any useage at all.

your choice people, its a give and take thing, and it is clearly a common sense thing

My 22 year old son hung himself because of the effects of alcohol and drugs. He obviously felt he couldn't get away from them without tragic measures. I would give or do anything to have my son back. The pain of losing a child/ loved one is more than anyone should have to bear. Its an endless pain, with anxiety, self doubt, guilt attached.
My younger son had a classmate o.d. on heroin. He says its all over. We're in N.Babylon NY. And like the heading says, YES, it is cheaper than beer and easier to get! God help our children. The state or county can't , won't do anything unless the person is arrested. I begged for help for him , He's tworked, but had no insurance. Something needs to be done NOW! Before we lose another.
JR

I have very mixed emotions on this subject. I am a wife of a recovering drug addict. This path to recovery has been a very long and painful experience, for all parties involved. I dont neccesarily support the "legalization" of drugs, But i also do not oppose it. I have tried to weigh the pro's and con's of the matter, and it is really a 50/50 chance on the good or the bad. Either way you roll the dice, lives will still be lost and those that arent lost will be shattered due to the onset of the drugs. People will still do what is necessary to find their "FIX" regardless of wether or not they are buying it illegally or legally, it is the "hold" that the drug has on them, not the drug itself. They become dependant on it. So if your hungry, do you eat, of course. It will be the same as if they were still illegal, people will still spend their entire paychecks, people will steal from their loved ones if need be, the "HOLD' of the drug on the person will still be there, legal or not.

John you are missing the point. The Mexicans get are money now because they are the ones making the drugs!!!!! If pot were legal here, then we would make it HERE, sell it HERE and buy it HERE. Then you wouldnt have Mexicans killing 100 Mexican police officers at a time trying to get it across the border. Put your beer and cigarette down and start making some sense!

Its no different then growing tobacco in North Carolina and selling it in a store. What is so baffling about that?

Prohibition obviously fails, but the govt's brand of treatment and prevention also fails because they lie and exaggerate about everything, heaven forbid they admit that some drugs are relatively harmless. I can't advocate anybody doing heroin, but illegalizing it clearly isn't stopping anyone, might as well allow ourselves to examine the problem under the light of day...

Regarding the post by David and his comment...

'This will only end when the economic incentive is removed'

The title of the article is 'Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer'. You are witnessing the inaccuracy of your theory. If its still profitable to sell these drugs for such a low price, regulation will do nothing.

A generation didn't receive the proper education to avoid dope? Cocka-mammie-B.S.! The basics of knowing right from wrong, respecting your own temple (aka-body) and common sense (there has to be some out there some where). For to hide away from others and partake, in an activity that one's conscience fights over is suggestive that this "generation" understands the expenditures that they face in regards to their actions. We do not need to make victims out of those who in their sickness destroy their life and anyone’s around them. Making a generation out to be victims because somehow the system failed them is first class B.S. We can legalize, freely distribute and cut the profits of the drug business in America however there will be another more horrific introduction come along that involves the element of euphoria one craves in to in order to rebel social demands of the current day. When you make the elements more difficult for an addict or dealer to maneuver through in order to exist (just like rain water) it will flow to the lowest point. To legalize any substance so deadly is enabling the user to become our victim. It's mom and pops responsibility to teach their children values, respect for themselves and how to protect their bodies. The solution starts at home not in a den of lawmakers!

http://www.learn2cope.org

For families who need support

I know obese people who can't stop eating!
I know drunks who can't stop drinking!
I know addicts who can't stop using!
I know loudmouths who can't stop bragging!

I also know that I have had many opportunities to do any of the things listed above, but didn't, don't know why, just didn't.

What I don't like is someone shooting off their mouths about what I should or shouldn't do. You cannot legislate morality. These people, many of them actual lawmakers, really need to just keep an eye on themselves, worry about their children, and quit making stupid laws that cost the American taxpayers a fortune.

We now put people in prison for even thinking bad thoughts! I don't use drugs, but if I did, what business is it of theirs!

If you make marijuana legal, the price will most certainly drop from the increase in competition. That wil make it available and at a very inexpensive cost. Use will undoubtedly increase.

Also,. attempting to tax it wil only result in non-legal and nontaxed means of acquiring it. (likley the same / similar illegal means as now). Thus the same problems are not eliminated as some previous comments have predicted would happen.

Be real here, drug sellers will just push different drugs to make their profit if they need to.

Also don't underestimated the effects of its use. It is still a drug and look at how our youth abuse alcohol. Do you think somehow that Marijuana would be any different? Maybe its not worse than alcohol I don't know, but its really irrelevant. Bottom line is that more youth and probably adults would get addicted to drugs. Ddrug related violance may shift and slightly decrease, but in the end more people use drugs and all of the costs asociated with dealing with lives left behind is immeasurable.

Forget all this moral discussion... look at practicality:

Its harder for a 16 year old to get a pack of cigarettes than it is to get any illegal drug.... Why? Cigarettes are sold above-board and controlled... there's no black market.

If all illicit drugs were suddenly made legal - THEIR AVAILABILITY WOULD NOT INCREASE AS THEY ARE ALREADY "READILY AVAILABLE" - The only way drugs could be MORE available than they are now is to have door-to-door salesmen. So... what's the further harm caused by legalizing them? None, I say.... Within 10 minutes of where I'm sitting right now, I can get any illegal drug you can name... just like I can get any brand of beer you can name..... I just have to go to a different place to do it. Everyone (even non-drug users like me) seems to know where that is... its THAT ubiquitous.

We are accomplishing NOTHING with the so-called War on Drugs..

Re: Eric – April 13th, 2009 10:38 am ET

When people bought legal heroin on the streets in the early 1900’s no one died.

-----------

That is nuts. People died from heroin and opium overdose all the time back then. Not sure where you're getting your romanticized version of drug history, but it is very, very wrong.

The lesson learned from Prohibition was that the sale of alcohol could not be stopped and the profits only created a class of highly organized criminals who terrorized society for decades. By continuing to criminalize "hard" drugs we are making the same awful mistake. By stigmatizing the users of these drugs we shut the door on those unfortunate enough to become addicted. These people need help, not incarceration. The same percentage of people will become addicted to drugs in any society irregardless of legality and the "War On Drugs" can never, ever be successful.

Whether we are talking about The Christian Womens' Temperance Leagues of the late 1880's or the modern so called "Moral Majority", the solution to this problem starts with the rejection of the right wing political forces that dis-inform and frighten people into creating a society of criminals for the profit of a few politicians and the law enforcement class.

Let's take the money out of the hands of criminals, prosecutors, lying politicians & evangelists as well as the incarceration industry and put it into the hands of educators, rehab clinics and the public tax coffers where it belongs. Let's regulate the content and quality of these dangerous drugs to greatly reduce tragic deaths of those who are trapped in addiction before they are given a chance to quit.

I highly applaud Jim Green and many other intelligent & compassionate law enforcement workers who see first hand the destruction of the current model and have the courage to speak up from within this greedy, corrupt and dangerously failed system.

I don't think one dose bags are extremely common outside of the northeast. Since that is where the heroin arrives and is most pure, it's easy to turn it into a small bag. From what I've been told, bags in NYC area are 2 to 3 x's as big as where I live and I know NJ has the purest heroin in the country. When the Heroin goes from NYC to Rochester to Buffalo, it gets less pure b/c of the cut. By the time it gets to these other cities, you can't make a $5 bag b/c it wouldn't do anything for an addict (which makes up the customers). I hate when media makes it seem as though there is a heroin epidemic outside of the lower class community that is selling the drug. Our media had tried to do this several years ago in a newspaper article. I don't live in Long Island or Manhattan so I would have no clue what the cross section of users would be in that area. I would imagine in those areas it may be easy to obtain heroin no matter where you are. When you have a smaller city though, heroin tends to be sold in bad neighborhoods where you won't see most middle/rich class kids venture. There will always be the random kid from the suburbs that knows someone and gets access. Usually no one will sell to you unless they know you b/c you could always be a narc. Also w/ drug awareness taught in schools, those who have never tried heroin or known someone who has, think it is a drug that will create some heavy mild altering state. Alcohol is still the main drug we need to worry about. There are only 1-2 million heroin addicts in this country and as long as the drug is around, there will always be. I don't think we'll ever see a huge addict number, even if the drug is legalized. It's just a sensational media topic that is blown out of proportion.

People listen to me. Yes drugs are around, yes most kids will do drugs at somepoint, but honestly most people dont educate thier kids well enough to understand how bad most drugs are. Talks dont really do crap. Show them with pictures, and what they could end up being. Hugs not drugs! and legalizing drugs will make it worse and probation will make gang and drug life worse.

I can say that being raised in a home with my father being a "functional addict" if there is such a thing was an experience and has taught me that I did not want to take that road myself.
However I do think that the legillization of drugs will lower the crime rate and assist in being able to control the access our children have to them. Not to mention the profit we (tax payers) would get.
People, these drugs have been around forever and legal or illegal people will get them and they will not stop doing them unless they choose, no matter what education, rehab, or prision sentence they may get, it is a personal choice.
I think that the gvernment does not have enough programs available for people that do want to get off of drugs, and some people can not do it alone. The way society looks at addicts is horrible, if we has a whole look at the assistance that we can provide and stop looking down on people then we can improve as a whole.

Also I know it was mentioned above that we should just legilize all crime and then the crime rate will go down, that is insaine.
I think that prostitution is the oldest profession in the world and many other countries have legalized it and it does make the rape, assault and other crimes reduce significantly. This also goes back to the fact that we are free and we should be able to do what we feel necessary to provide for ourselves or our families. Prostitution happens every day and as with illegal drugs should be taxed and they should be able to set up brothels and have medical treatment for the employees to reduce the spread of disease.

I understand the beliefs (moral and religious) that some people may have, but we all need to realize until we as the people have the control of the distribution of these things we will never get away from the deaths and crimes associated with them.

LIFE IS A GATEWAY TO DRUGS!

MARIJUANA IS THE GATEWAY TO BACON DOUBLE CHEESEBURGERS AND HOT FUDGE SUNDAES.

I'M STARVING!!!!!!!!!

It does my heart good to see this much rational, open support for amending our nation's drug policy. The war on drug ABUSE is a fantastic idea – let's truly educate our children & do everything we can to explain that drug abuse is extremely deadly, and that drug use is not at all "safe."

That said, the war on drugs is so many multiple times more reprehensible than the other war people rally against as being unjustified. The War on Drugs is the elephant in the room – if re-tailoring the laws in our country gave the nation a $80 billion a year profit *AND* put the drug cartels out of business.... umm.... isn't that WINNING the war on drugs???

When I was in high school in, in Carroll County, Maryland from 1993-1997–We lost many classmates due to heroin overdoses, which led to a parent's group putting out the film "Heroin Kills". I believe they show the film in classrooms in this country and others.

My point is, this is nothing new....

Kids are going to get the drugs at any means. So it's up to the parents to PAY ATTENTION and educate yourselves so that you can notice any changes in your kids behavior.

And that's all you can really do....

uuuuuummmmmmm Josh, Poppy has to be processed to be turned into heroin. Marijuana is not processed.

There's too much money being made in prohibition of drugs. All the war on drugs did was a create large government bureaucracy that employs people. Probably 40% of that bureaucracy pushes paper and do non-enforcement activities like manage people and go to meetings with themselves.

Legalizing this herion, will not stop the deaths, in fact it will increase it. I have worked in rehab for 21 years, they are targeting younger and younger people. But, like I said making it legal will not work, we will have morgues full rather than prisons.

We are in kind of a dilemma here: Prohibition and the "War on Drugs" do not work. Legalizing heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, etc., probably is not a great choice, either. The war on drugs simply makes the drug traffic more profitable for the corrupt and more expensive for society as a whole. Spending $30,000 per year to keep a typical drug offender locked up (that figure is typical in California) makes no sense ... the same $30,000 could be spent to pay for four years of high school. One year of medium security prison equals four years of high school.
Legalizing has its own tremendous consequences. Look at the problems on the highway, in the home and in the workplace from legal alcohol. 20,000 dead per year on the roads. Billions of lost workdays. Untold marriages destroyed. If we legalize more substances like the heroin in this news story, or cocaine in another, basically multiply the societal problems by three.
There is some merit to the notion of legalize, control distribution channels, and tax sufficiently to provide treatment options. Space here is too limited to really tear into the details. This is an issue that takes real consideration.

The poster earlier pointed out that just ONE bag of this cheap heroin ain't enough for an addict is speaking the truth – but is missing the point.

$5 bags of heroin are a marketing tool used by dealers to get people to try the product, like it, then to want more. Haven't you ever been to a dealer who gets you a cheap or free "Taste" to get deeper into your pockets, to get you hooked, and to make you do whatever it takes (lie, cheat, steal) to get the more expensive stuff?

Retailers do the same thing to entice us to buy their products. They have the $9.98 coffee pot on the end of the isle to get us interested in that wonderful $28.99 coffee pot that is just down the aisle from the CHEAPO one.

These dealers and the drug cartels are brilliant marketing and distribution machines. And it will take education and persistance to keep our kids and schools informed of their methods.

This girl would likely be alive if it was legal, monitored for quality, taxed and regulated.

Making drugs legal just means the illegal ones will be cheaper. Legalizing is not the answer, but rehab and education is. Since we're all so heavily affected by the media and movies, let those in charge of our information flow start producing media that has powerful anti-drug messages. The comment about giving away drugs for free and thereby eliminating the drug cartels is atrocious. Now our tax dollars would be going to pay for people's selfish addictions. What a concept. We're a very addicted culture. If not drugs, alcohol or tobacco, we're addicted to food, sex, you name it. What we need is an addiction to helping those in need. Selfishness ruins all of us.

Keeping drugs illegal has provided a multi-dollar source of revenue for criminal organizations. The mafia, the street gangs, the biker gangs, terrorists; they have all profited tremendously from the drug trade. They have been able to buy more and better weapons than the police . They have the money to bribe officials and undermine the legal system.

Has the drug war rid our streets of drugs? Have we eliminated the drug addict from our society? Has the war on drugs made anything better at all?

The war on drugs is a hideous failure. Countries like Mexico and Columbia are suffering terribly because of our drug policies.

It is time we dealt with the drug problem in an intelligent and rational manner. We need to stop approaching it with emotion and a puritanical notion that drugs can somehow be eliminated. They cannot be eliminated. It's too basic to human nature.

I'll tell you what will end the drug war.

Sooner or later technology is going to allow people to make some incredibly strong drug out of toothpaste, tylenol or similar substance. There will be no choice no but to deal with the drug issue rationally rather than with the puritanical hysteria that currently dictates our drug policy.

I was born and raised in The Netherlands which has one of the most liberal drug laws in the world, but also serious anti-drug campaigns. Just to give you a data point: when I grew up in the 70s in Holland, I was never offered drugs, never used them, and none of my friends used them. Simply because like smoking, we all knew it was bad for us. Point being: culturally it was unaccepted to be a dope head. Same with binge drinking (never did that even though drinking age is 16). FYI, I came to the States and was offered drugs (of course I declined - drugs kill) and saw more drunk college students than I ever saw in Europe.

where can i find some

thanks for pointing out that heroin is cheaper than beer. in this economy, you have to watch every penny!

some words of warning to all those greedy beer companies and bars out there: "you can be replaced!"

bravo AM"fix", bravo!

Heroin is to dangerous to be legalized .
Users are victims ,not criminals. They need treatment,not punishment.
Leaders of drug cartels should get the death penalty for killing people ,they are terrorists and we should aggressively go after them.

Criminalize, police, prosecute, and incarcerate.

Or legalize, regulate, tax, and educate.

Which makes more sense?

1. Educate Children
2. Pay attention to your Guts and your children's behavior
3. Get involved w/your childs activities and friends
4. Know who YOUR kid is hanging out with
5. DO NOT legalize drugs (That's Crazy!)

realistically, only your child has the power to STOP what goes into their Nose, Mouth and veins. But YOU have the power to educate and drive into their minds what are the best things for them. Don't make it sound like a speach make it sound good like the dealer's do, remind them that you love them, show them everything they have and could lose. Remind them that a REAL friend would not have you do anything that makes you feel shame, disgust or become addicted to control from the people that have always made sure you had: Clothes, Food and Shelter and have trusted all your life...right?

Interesting discussion. Two years ago, it was oxycontin. Legal, controlled and taxed. Minors will still not be able to purchase heroin OTC, even if it is legalized – so where will they get it? The article is about teen use of street heroin – this discussion has turned to legalization of all drugs. Legalizing drugs will not stop teens illegally purchasing heroin, it will just open another door for them to get the drug.

Morphine is legal – for certain uses. People still buy heroin instead – because it is NOT taxed. Get a scrip for Opana from your doctor (4X stronger than morphine – and try to buy it without insurance. Get ready to pay $1000's! Legalized heroin would be the same – very expensive, unless if you buy unregulated, untaxed street heroin. Legalization will not work, either to keep our kids from illegal drugs, rid us of the gangs and cartels nor raise tax revenues. Drug cartels are not stupid. They are probably also pro-legalization, have patents ready to file, and will still have a large street market.

For you pro-legalization peolpe. Please explain why you think legalizing drugs will stop illegal drug sales. We have illegal cigarettes, illegal daily numbers, illegal alcohol. the fact that these items can be purchased legally does not eliminare the black market.

Anyone who wants to legalize heroin is an idiot. 10% of people who use alcohol will become addicted and damage their lives and the lives of everyone who cares about them. 90% of people who use heroin will become addicted and damage their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

The war on drugs is a joke, the priorities of US drug laws have been twisted into a perverse battle of blame and punishment that wreaks of hypocritical decomposition.
There are billionaires who have made their billions trafficking in drugs coming across US boarders, and Wash. DC continues to pump billions of dollars($8billion) into Columbia, Peru...that was suppose to stop the drug trade. The reason nothing is fixed is because the US government doesn't want it fixed, I could fix the problem today. Try talking to your federal representative about this subject, and you will receive a form letter response. I know this because I've contacted my representatives (House&Senate) and it's like talking to a block of coal.

this whole thread looks like an argument in congress.... it ultimately has nothing to do with the original issue....

legalize drugs like alcohol and tobacco??? great idea!!!! still have to be 18 or 21 to buy them??? perfect plan!!!!!

guess who still gets them from the pushers??? TEENS / YOUNG PEOPLE

guess why??? because mommy and daddy continue to funnel obscene amounts of gifts and money at their little darlings to buy their love

cut off the cash flow to the kids and many of the issues affecting young people will be significantly reduced...

parents have somehow been bamboozled by this notion that children deserve privacy and autonomy.... i say hell no!! you should know and control EVERY aspect of your kid's life until the day he/she leaves the home.

this artificial 'fear' that overbearance will alienate a kid and cause them to hate 'you' is a complete farce. smother a child with true love and they are yours for life.

with all respect to the parents of this girl..... i do not believe for one moment that they had a clue about her life outside of the kitchen and family room.... that's where it has to start... and that's a battle that middle/average america does not really want to fight.... so i guess we just chock up the losses (of young people) to collateral damage??

oh well?????

it's tragic, it really is, and I feel for the family of anyone who dies from an overdose. But let's be honest, this is just natural selection working its course.

David (And others who support legalizing drugs)

what happens when people start getting high ( & drunk) and get behind wheels ? you got a remote-controlled universal break that will stop that car hurtling down the intersection where you and me are just sitting in our cars ?

I suggest enacting death penalty for drug traffickers .. if I had my way I would shoot these scumbags in their essentials right in the middle of the townsquare. That should put a quick stop to the nonsense.

It's sad that so many idiots have attempted to use this tragedy as an excuse to further their own moronic "legalize pot" agenda.

In 2004 I watched the body of a 16 yr old being pulled from a car behind my apartment complex. He had overdosed on heroin, and his friends had left him in the car and fled. It drilled home a point: every time I turned on the tv, there was an anti-pot add... pot makes you lazy, pot makes you uncool ect. But no adds about how HEROIN KILLS YOU!. And I wonder, if by lying to kids about how harmfull weed is (its not) that we lost our credibility. When kids are told the two are just as harmfull, and they find marijuana is about as bad as beer, then they assume heroin isnt as bad.
Can we finally rethink the drug war? Quit going after pot, many of us with good jobs choose pot instead of alcohol on the weekend. Put that effort into heroin, meth, crack, the things that ruin you for life. Legalize the weed, and re-focus on what matters. Because one more add about how my dog wont like me if I smoke weed, is one less add informing kids that HEROIN KILLS.

I have a 22 year old daughter who is now living in a re-hab house for heroin and crack addictions. She has an 11month old son who lives with us, and every time I look at him I am reminded of what drugs do to families. Her life with drugs began at 17 years of age and her drug of choice was crack, after much re-hab, counseling etc.. I was feeing that maybe she had won the fight. Then when she got pregnant, she was happier than I had seen her in a long while, and she told us all how she was going to do whatever she had to do to be a good mother. I believed her. Then when the baby was around 3 months old she started to change, becoming argumentative again, not coming home until all hours, I had become the baby's care taker every evening. Then the stealing started, from her 12 year old brother all his electronics, and money from all of us, and the rages. I confronted her about using again, and she denied it, so don't believe everything. Then the final straw she went crazy at home one night, it was the first time I was ever afraid of her. Long story short, the one thing she had always said she would never do was to put a needle in herself, well, she had, and by the time she decided to go to detox she was up to 10 bags of heroin a day. She is a good person, a sweet daughter, who has an addiction. I pray daily that she finds the strength to fight each day, and I thank God that she is still here to try and fight. As a parent, this is the worse thing, you have to keep the faith.

I maintain that we should eradicate drug crops wherever we find them. If we have to pay the particular government for eradication then so be it. Capital punishment for any and all drug dealers, no matter their age. Get tough and eradicate drugs. Bomb Afghanistan’s and Columbia’s drugs out of existence!!! Take the tough approach or suffer the consequences!

Paul,
I just wanted to say how brave it is of you to be facing your issues head-on. I can imagine how overwhelming this time must be for you. I hope you continue to find all the support you need and that you stay focussed on the positive direction your life is heading. God bless!

Where are you all buying your beer at?? I can get a 12pk of beek for less than $10....but I don't think this is something CNN should be advertising...

Most of the world's heroin derives from opium that is grown in Afghanistan. Since the U.S. has been at war with and in Afghanistan the production of Opium has INCREASED 90%. The Taliban had all but arradicated it from thier country and then the U.S. invasion and the growing begins again. So much for the war on drugs.

amen to those who posted comments indicating the abuses committed under the rubric of "The Rule Of Law" by police and others in the "Justice" system. The police answer to noone and it is impossible for those without tremendous recources to find remediation for offences committed by authorities. All school children should be appraised of the situation – that powerful world-class drug gangs seek their addiction (and really, their death), and the police hide massive civil rights atrocities behind those shiny badges and pressed uniforms. And in the cases of the drug gangs and penal systems, billions of dollars at stake will negate any and all attempts at reform.

A major issue here, if you leave out the Morality and the Politics and the emotional stuff around people who have been hurt by any drug, is the objective cost benefit analysis. In terms of the human condition many responsible people these days are saying that we will generally hurt ourselves as a people less in aggregate by legalizing Pot, period. As a mental health professional for the last thirty years I believe that making a change in our interface with this issue is a positive step and would probably be better than out current policy.

Matthew: You are right, one bag of heroin isn't enough to get an addict high, but... it is enough to get a child addicted. This is so stupid! Would our society seriously consider legalizing heroin? If so then I am moving to an island somewhere. I can't stomach the thought of my children ingesting, in any manner, that drug, or any other drug, but HEROIN???? Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs out there. My husband left 2 children behind for me to be a single mom to. He was a heroin addict. He said over and over – you just don't understand, I can't quit, I will die. Well... he ended up killing himself because he couldn't stand himself anymore. I have prayed that God will wipe all drugs out. People on heroin, and yes it might be cheap, will steal anything from anyone to support their habit. Most can't work because of their habit. Wow, legalize heroin, what a sickening thought.

To those that thing this level of availability ($5 bags, etc) is restricted to big cities and the notheast - BUNK!

I live in a large city now and my wife is from a one-horse-town in Ohio.... There is NO difference in what you can get where.

Drugs are everywhere as it is and they are ILLEGAL! Moral of the story - ILLEGAL isn't working.

Bert from the Netherlands has it right.... Legalize everything, educate everyone and after a while you won't have near the problem you have now. Yes, there will always be addiction, but addiction is the smaller of the current problems.... ORGANIZED CRIME is the big one, by far, and this will disappear OVERNIGHT with legalization!

[...] And I just saw on CNN that heroin cost less than a six-pack of beer. YAY! Off to the [...]

I don't understand why these weak people need ANY type of drug!! Be it alcohol, pot, tobacco, etc.... Why can't people just learn to cope with life? Its ridiculous that ANYONE feels so weak that they choose to mask their lives rather than face them and deal with them. These parents of drug addicts probably drink and/or smoke themselves which is NEVER a good example for kids. Teach your kids to work through their problems, not mask them with substances.
Drugs of any type are just plain STUPID. Stand up, be a man/woman and deal with your life – you put yourself in your own situations so learn to deal with them yourselves without needing drugs (or the goverment) to "bail" you out. They're all just a bunch of loosers..........................

One of the reasons kids do not believe adults about heroin is we have lied to them about pot and they know it. When most of our "drug education" is built around the base of this lie, there really is no way to get kid's attention and belief. I am 64 years old, and I say the best way to get a handle on the drugs that are truly dangerous is to uncriminalize the one that is not. The hypocrisy of adults telling kids about the bad effects of pot and then going off to have a drink of alcohol, just invalidates the whole message.

I was a heroin addict since 1968...and I haven't shot any drugs since April 15, 2000. I went to prison 6 times all as a result of stealing to support my habit. This last time, I made up my mind! I was in a therapeutic community the whole 4 years I was locked up and this contributed towards my freedom from addiction. I attended N.A. when I got out & this, too, contributed towards my recovery. People along the way...all the pain thru the years, all those people talking about how bad I looked (the cheeks of my butt didn't even meet! That's how thin I had gotten!)...the love of my Mother, the torches other recovering addicts held up for me...plus, I had just gotten older & wiser...call it a revelation, touched by an angel, whatever you want, you HAVE to have a Made Up Mind to get there! I don't know the answer but I do know the war on drugs is a flop. If there is no demand, there will be no supply. We, as a nation, love an altered reality so what's wrong w/ us?? Figure that out & the drug problem will disappear.

As a member of the vanguard of the "Boomer" generation, aged 62, a retired nurse AND a Mom of grown kids, I see many sides to this problem. I know addiction much much better than I had ever wanted to-no not my kids, but my husband who has been sober 26 yrs. thanks to God & AA. Alcohol was his drug-of-choce & I KNOW all the pain & misery that goes along with it! However, I also grew up in a town mob-run & we knew where the drugs were, but like in the "Godfather", they wouldn't sell to kids. It was heroin & marijuana at that time. But we saw junkies even on the streets ( mostly alleyways) & it really didn't look appealing. Maybe that's one of the major reasons kids are doing drugs we wouldn't have dreamed of doing. Maybe their lives are so empty it fills a need. We had something they didn't: SECURITY. We had a network of parents, families, neighbors, teachers, religious leaders, etc. who all tried to set examples for us & even if we did have the typical teen angst & the acting out that inevitably comes with being a teen, we felt wanted, loved & the generation that millions died for to give us the best this country has to offer.

We managed to give our kids that also, and judged by their successes in life that they have, we made it., too. So, essentiallly this is what is lacking today and is a big part of the drug problem. I have a neighbor who is a State Patrolman with 5 of the greatest kids going-polite, nice kids whom I see outside with their Dad playing ball on their front lawn from time-to-time. And they are involved with all kinds of extra activities after school. So, don't say it can't be done today; it's just harder unfortunately!

Kids are going to do "illegals" whether it is cigs., alcohol, or M.J. which my generation found out really isn't what "Reffer Maddness" would have you blieve it is. I personally resent the lie that movie generated. Teach kids truth! I know many in my generation who smoke/d pot & drink recreationally. They hold down very responsible jobs, volunteer in the community, pay their bills and in general, aren't the heroin, crack, or any other physically addictive drug users that the powers-that-be would have everyone believe pot smokers are. Maybe for some, it is a gateway to more addictive drugs, but for many more it is not any more addictive than the alcohol which I partake occasionally . No one ever overdosed on M.J. And the medical uses are well dovumented.

The ONLY way illegal drugs will be minimized ( we will never completely erradicate them) is if we just don't have a market for them through kids wanting to escape a lousy world. And with wht has just transpired in the last couple of yrs., I don't know how anyone could feel that the United States is the best country in the world-a belief we grew up with!

The message seems to be lost with some of the comments. Make Heroine legal. Would that keep the girl a straight A student and withdrawing from friends and family? Would she be a productive member of society? Would she still be an addict yes. The drugs are cheap so and do not have the stigma of being IV use anymore. You can make it legal like alcohol but will be people be driving into people killing them high on heroine like a drunk driver. When a person develops a higher and higher tolerance over time and needs more and more to get high will they overdose yes. Will people need to get more but can't get them from the legal source because they have reached the legal limit for the month will they need to turn to another source for the high most likely. Will you call your employer and tell them I am sorry I can't come in to work today I am too high on legal drugs today. Will you still want to keep them as an employee? We fire people for using alcohol on the job what about legal pot or heroine. Perhaps we are loosing the message that drugs legal or otherwise can lead to bad results. Legal or not she and others would wind up dead she was not killed by prohibition she overdosed on something she was addicted to and craved so much it killed her. Demand is a problem make it legal will that take away the demand or just make more users?

Marijuiana is a HUGE part of the economy in No. Calif. In Mendocino Co., you don't drive on small public roads for fear of being met with a shotgun - and people find their acreage has been planted with dope without their being aware of it. Legalizing it may take away the financial incentive and make it start to dry up. HOWEVER: what message are we sending? we want to stamp out cigarettes, but we legalize dope at the same time? We need to step back and look at our culture: drug use and abuse is now tightly woven into the American fabric. It's all over every TV show, in our music, our magazines - kids who are 10, 11 think taking drugs is like drinking water. THAT'S where we need to start - and with the thousands of parents who don't think it's a "big deal" when their 14-year old has a beer or comes home stoned. Do some research on brain development and youll learn in a heartbeat JUST how dangerous it is for kids this age to be using these things. Teenagers' brains are still growing - would you watch someone slam your 13-yr old's head repeatedly into a wall - and think that was "amusing"?!

Our family just buried an 18 year old member last week from a heroin overdose. A bright kid who everyone liked. Involved in playing music and hockey.

It seems this country likes to spend money fighIting wars and never winning them. The war on drugs is 40 years old, expensive, family busting and it is getting worse. We need to get smarter and do something different.

I do not know if establishing safe houses for people to come and use drugs of any kind, as was used in Denmark, is the answer, but I do believe it would take the profit from the drug cartels and at least offer help to those looking for it.

The stigma of using drugs needs to be changed so people can go and obtain free/safe use of drugs and needles without prosecution. They would also not have to commit crimes or deal to support their habit and give them a real chance to get clean.

If the above works and the profit is taken away from the drug cartels, they will find something else to make easy big money at our expense, maybe something new to effect our kids. When we know or suspect who they are and I am sure we have many solid ideas of who they are, the World court in the Hage should put them on trial and if guilty put them and all associated with them away for good.

It is too painful to see the effects of heroin. It is either them or our kids. The decision should be easy, once you take politics and money out of the decision.

I agree with the person who says we need to increase our warnings to kids in schools at the youngest of ages. When kids can understand they need to know the risks. Do it now, before it is too late.

Can the corporations compete? I doubt that the government will produce the products as we are a capatilist (ok mixed economy). Therefore it will be the "legal" businessmen" vs. the "illegal" business men. If it can be produced and sold for a lower price than the profit margained and taxed legal mechanism, then guess which product will be purchased? Do you actually think that the illegal producers are going to say aw shoot it's legal now, we're out of business, guess I'll have to produce and distribute something else?

There will always be drug users. Decriminalizing drugs is not a good idea, not the least because the drug trade would remain in the hands of the cartels and armed gangs. On the other hand, legalizing (and taxing) drugs would take most of the drug trade from these criminal organizations. I would begin with marijuana, the drug that does the least harm to individuals. Then, after a period of, say, five years, move on to legalize other, more harmful drugs. A new kind of commercial establishments would have to be created for the legal drug trade, because selling them in, say, regular drugstores would increase the insurance cost for these establishments and create other problems. Users of more dangerous drugs would be required to register as such at local or state health authorities; the same regulations applied for alcohol users in cases such as DUI or absenteism at work should apply to drug users as well. This scheme would require a lot of political courage from any government.

Drugs such as heroin, cocaine and meth finance terrorist armys. Even marijuana from mexico goes in the pockects of terrorists. One solution would be to legalize marijuana. Marijuana is safer then alcohol and has many more uses. Keep the money that is made from it in America. Whenever I see the DEA bust medical marijuana stores in California, I always wonder why they are not going after the drugs that are killing people and financing terrorism. The government spends millions of dollars to arrest people for marijuana and it is a waste. For example, Tommy Chong did 9 months in prison for his son's business selling bongs on the internet. Its costs on average 25,000 to 50,000 a year to house someone in prison not including medical costs and people in prison all are coverage with free medical insurance paid by you. Considering how bankrupt this government is a person would think they might want to find ways to save money and improve the economy. Instead of housing a taxing paying marijuana users or growers in prison which takes away from the economy, legalize marijuana which will add to the economy. The marijuana in these medical stores is home grown and high quality. Legalizing marijuana is good for the economy because people that grow it will have to spend more for the supplies.
As for the family of this poor girl, I think they are idiots for not knowing that the girl was on dope. It does not take hours on the internet to research what heroin is. It would take the average person five minutes, if that, to research heroin on the internet. The mother and father are morons and let this poor girl walk to her death.

You tell kids "don't do drugs" and include marijuana with cocaine and heroin in this statement and it sends a mixed message that teenagers see right through. "Marijuana is innocuous and they are calling it a drug, maybe heroin is just as innocuous?" these teenagers conclude. The drug war in this country is a complete and total failure at the cost of lives like this little girl's.

In China, drug dealers are executed on the spot; They really don't have much of a drug problem.

Ha, you morons! Don't you realize that there's a ton of money in it for our government, when people are addicted to "illegal" drugs? Think about it. The "war on drugs" has funded millions of careers for "special agents" and "managers" and "project managers" and "law enforcement officers". Are you really dumb enough to imagine that the government would ever let go of such a cash cow? You fools! If I had a scam going this long – all in the name of "morality" – in a country that talks big morals and acts very differently (because of the whole "forgiveness" mentality ascribed to the ruling religion) – there's NO WAY I would let go of this money maker.

Airplanes, cars, fancy spy equipment. . . . Are you joking? Make drugs legal? You must be kidding. If you love law enforcement, or just love being employed by a government agency – THIS IS A DREAM JOB!

Anyone who gets killed in the line of duty is a hero. Anyone who gets killed by the drugs is collateral damage. What a great story. . . Do you really think it's just going to go away? If you think the war on drugs will ever end, then it's time to put down whatever it is you're smoking and re-read what I just wrote.

I think convicted drug dealers, especially to teens, should be given the death penalty. There are way too many drug dealers coming from that damn country Mexico into our neighborhoods to deal with this in a lesser way. Why should we have to pour millions of taxpayer dollars to take care of those damn Mexicans who are here illegally to sell drugs?? I say we should execute them!!

The mothers first mistake was to allow her child to attempt quitting one of the most powerful addictive substances by herself.

america you have done this to yourselves....the war on drugs is the war on your own citizens....americans!!! wake up and take charge of your lives,your children and your future..the american dream is only a dream until you make it a reality....are you so incompetent that you must be protected from yourselves...Instill strong values within your lives and others will look to you for inspiration...you wanted to be leaders then take the lead....

If we legalized all drugs, what would the prison-building (and prison-running) lobbyists do?

Unfortunately, building and running prisons is the most profitable industry in our country - with a huge number of lobbysists pushing on their behalf. (And people like to complain about how their tax dollars are spent...)

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=867

Good job, CNN... advertising how cheap drugs are!
You're doin half the job for drug dealers.

Under Ronald Reagan, who began the "war on drugs" in earnest in the 1980s, the price of cocaine fell about 90%. However, the prison industry benefitted nicely.

I agree the with all the past comments..addiction is a tremdously difcult battle to deal with today as it has always been...the abilty to not clearly see thewhole picture of emenent destruction of ones life and the damages of those around you can be so dificult to see till the hard punch hits (bottom)...we need more education and for starters in all areas....drug clounselors need to be upfront and forthright to break the denial with walking the fine line of lossing the clent out the door...theres many issues with this problem from the loss of hope in our current society for all people...we are strugling right now in a new form of change and there will be anixeity and a wanting to excape...we will make it through to a beter world im very sure of it!

I know we're talking about heroin here not marijuana, but, there might be a reason a lot of children don't seem to believe that they will most likely eventually die from heroin if they "try" it.

Here's my argument:

As long as we classify heroin and marijuana together all warnings about heroin are going to be ignored – most children will smoke marijuana by high school and realize that they did not have thoughts of robbery and murder like they were "warned" about if they smoke marijuana. Because of that – fewer children are going to believe heroin is as bad as anyone says until they are already hooked.

It's really simple. Every heard of crying wolf?

Stop lying to people by telling them marijuana will ruin your life, make you less intelligent, rape, kill, steel and go crazy. Maybe people will take it seriously when warned about heroin.

Yes, I do smoke marijuana, never done heroin – but, at least 10 friends and acquaintances of mine since high school have died from heroin overdoses. They did not believe heroin was that addictive until it was too late. Mostly because of the loss of credibility in the governments "warnings" about marijuana.

My best friend from high school is dying. Thanks for giving us some quality protection America! Go f*** yourself!

Pat:

"Also,. attempting to tax it wil only result in non-legal and nontaxed means of acquiring it. (likley the same / similar illegal means as now). Thus the same problems are not eliminated as some previous comments have predicted would happen. "

How many cigarette smokers do you know who grow their own tobacco? Legal monoculture will produce hemp at a cost that no druglord or common citizen can rival.

"Also don’t underestimated the effects of its use. It is still a drug and look at how our youth abuse alcohol. Do you think somehow that Marijuana would be any different? Maybe its not worse than alcohol I don’t know"

Maybe you should do some research before you post on websites. Marijuana has medically proven to be less harmful and addictive than alcohol. The main concern is lung damage due to particulate matter and hot gasses being inhaled. This can be solved by other methods of ingestion. In fact, a chemical compound present in marijuana, Cannibidol, has recently shown signs of attacking cancer cells, and may fight breast and lung cancer.

I went through the Massapequa school system not too long ago, and from the perspective of a former student, rather than a parent or police officer, everything being said is entirely true. I cannot think of a friend I had who did not try an illegal drug at some point, and the stories about classmates I heard through the grapevine were pretty ridiculous. Someone I graduated with and knew pretty well at one point just died of an overdose. So this isn't about "the clash of generations" or anything stupid like that: this is about decent kids getting tricked by those around them into believing illegal drugs will up their coolness factor. It's a terrible thing and needs to be addressed.

It's sad when my 16yr old pot selling neighbor makes more than I do working for a fortune 500 company.

We have better things to do with our money,legalize, regulate and tax all drugs, use the money saved from trying to enforce outdated drug laws ,free up the over crowded prisons, use money saved for treatment centers, ,people are always attracted to something they cannot have,drug use will go up and first ,then level out and decline.

To Mr. Archibald's comment, I want to thank him for a thoughtful, reasonable, articulate discussion of this important issue.

actually "NoWay" you are quite wrong on the prices. most experts estimate that with legalization the drug price will be 1/4 of what it is on the street now, and we could tax for an additional 1/4 which would effectively cut the price in half to those who choose to buy in comparison to what the average is paying now. In addition those that couldn't afford or preferred to cultivate their own, could do so. It would be regulated, and yes it is not a perfect world, there are minors who will collaborate with irresponsible adults to get "hooked up". Stats now show that minors have incredibly easier access to weed, cocaine, heroine, and various prescription medications than they do tobacco or alcohol. The prescription companies are lobbying to keep marijuana illegal as it is a cheap alternative solution for thousands of ailments and conditions, it is 100% natural and comes without the nasty side effects of internal bleeding, and the 100's of others you see in the disclaimers on medications.

Weed is no more a gateway than cigarettes, alcohol, or oxygen for that matter. Education is a much better method of a "free country" to address a problem by prohibiting things that are believed to harm oneself.

Like prohibition of alcohol enabled the Al Capone's, prohibition of drugs enables not just the Mexican cartels, but criminals in our streets, and yes, even the prescription industry!! (which stats show these are the most abused drugs, and yet this industry markets incredibly hard to the public, to the doctors while they gouge the prices to almost unattainable levels assisting in weighing down our health care system.

People keep expecting the "Government" to do something about this problem. Maybe its time the "People" start taking control and confront this problem head on, that is of course provided the "Courts" dont get in the way... Yall know what I'm saying.

Later Dayz

Social attitudes the way they are today, why does this surprise anyone?

Bigger, faster, leaner, prettier, younger – it is not just the social drugs now. Botox is accepted. Smart drinks (five hour energy) are common now. If you are not taking something, THEN something MUST BE wrong with you. Pot is almost timid compared to just about everything else, but do you ever see repeated stories on the dangers of Botox or over the counter supplements? Nope, only the stuff we DO NOT TAX, like heroin. Heroin – one of the biggest drugs to come out of where? Afghanistan. If pot came from there, the story above would be how a young girl stumbled into the dangers of pot (which to this day, no one has ever OD'ed on pot).

Again, this starts at the top. I mean, if governors, senators, and other political officials get away with it all, why should the common person NOT want to dabble in such things?

A governor/senator with a hooker and coke habit is only an advertisement to the common person that it must be ok if that person is doing it.

In the age of trying to be perfect, you would be surprised at how much propping up of one's flaws there is these days. If we as a society was not in the a rush to be "perfect" (Angelina, Octo-mom, Oprah, most 1990s male actors who helped ruin it as well, you get the idea...), we as a society could be doing so much more for ourselves.

But being perfect is "in", which is why a lot of us are left "out". And you thought NOT PAYING YOUR TAXES was the real problem.

Heroin is not fun. There is nothing about heroin that can possibly be recreational. Hard drugs like heroin and crack and methamphetamine are dangerous escapes from a reality that has become too warped for rational minds to deal with.

Now these harder drugs are making their way further into society because it seems to me that more people simply don't know how to handle today's world anymore.

We aren't talking about your 70's spiritual, chill out man stuff. This gets around the middle man and cheats your body into feeling good directly, without any reason other than buying a $10 baggie filled with who-knows-what. Its perverse what our society has come to when kids who should be enjoying themselves naturally have to resort to this to escape.

Drugs are NOT the dissease. Drugs are a symptom of a bigger problem that most of us can't or wont see. Our civillization is hurting and we will be broken if we don't take an honest look at whats happening not later, not at the next election, but NOW.

my name is patrick and i am a recovering alcoholic.. I have many friends who have been or are currently addicted and using herione. It has become not just a "low income drug" but a drug that is cheap and accessible and highly potent to all types of persons.. ... our government has avoided dealing with the addiction problem for so long, now, the price of dope has been driven down and anyone can afford it.. dope dealers need to be locked away for 25 plus years if they are caught....our drug policy needs to ante up and deal with this herion epidemic...

Decriminalization of drugs is not the answer. Full legalization is the answer to the vast majority of our drug problems. Only fully legal products can be regulated, taxed and controlled by any government agency.

Only fully legal drugs will put the drug cartels out of business.

Does anyone actually think Barack Obama cares???

The moral thing is to do is legalize marijuana...

Our government has no morals..................

We have these problems because of the rebellious nature of kids. We also have kids looking for an escape. Parents are too busy chasing the mighty dollar and don't spend the time they should with their children providing them with the love, guidance, and attention they crave.
I don't believe in legalizing drugs, but the logical side says legalize pot and give the kids something. They pressure not to use has to come from within the sub-cultures using the stuff. You can't stop it by saying, "Don't use it". Bring it out into the open and deal with it as a society. By legalizing pot we can tax it and the cartels will take a HUGE hit. Take the money from it and fund education programs. Not like cigarettes where the tax is used for everything but smoking cessation programs. If kids need an escape, they'll find one, but better one that's less likely to result in death until the issues driving the behavior can be addressed.

There are those here advocating legalization of drugs: take away the profit; if the person wants to burn their own brain, let them. Etc. Problem is, people who do drugs hurt others around them. It is a selfish pursuit, but not a personal one. Some one gets high on drugs, climbs into the car, runs a red light and plows into another car or pedestrians in a crosswalk. Let's look at the track record on legalizing immoral behaviour with some for instances: alcohol = DUI's, which can lead to deaths of others; gambling to raise more city taxes = more crime, spending money you don't have while the money never goes to where it was intended (here in Los Angeles, the school system); tobacco = health problems (my dad had emphasema when he died and my mom had lung cancer from smoking); pornographic film industry (another way to up city taxes) = stepping stone to criminal behaviour such as prostitution of children, women etc; prescription drugs = rampant legal and illegal usage that poisons body and environment. Every time ethically wrong/immoral behaviour has been decriminalized, our social fabric has been torn a bit more. It encourages a further pushing of boundaries and a gradual acceptance of wrong behaviour. We don't need to legalize immoral behaviour, we need to change our way of thinking. If we were a people first society (instead of money/success first), we would not have half the problems we have today. Think about it.

If not legalize or decriminalize or a shift to treatment and education then another option is to ramp up law enforcement. More money for prisons, police, courts, prosecuters, burial plots, etc. In A.A. or N.A. they say to the same thing over and over again, expecting different results is insanity. Either way, when is it time going to commit to a stragtegy. Current enforcement efforts are like draining a lake one glass at a time in the rain, though it may keep a lot of people employed. What is the end game anyway?(this definitely is not a game) Is it to end drug use(demand)? Is it to stop trafficking and distribution(supply)? Does anybody even know? CURRENT POLICIES AIN'T WORKING!!!!

Sane Steps

1. Legalize all drugs.
2. Set same age restrictions as alcohol (21) (older friends will always give drug access to younger friends)
3. Drugs made to FDA standards (quality control)
4. Known purity creates known results
5. Decriminalization reduces prison population, reduces expense of law enforcement, criminal trial proceedings, etc, etc.
6. Decriminalization eliminates drug lords overnight.
7. Decriminalization eliminates the functions of most gangs.
8. Drugs are now taxed like any other product. Billions in net gain between this and 5.
9. Current laws dealing with DWI already handle users under the influence.

We need to make smart choices about ending the war on drugs.....it has not worked even a little bit. If anything, there are probably more people using drugs than in the early 1900's when many drugs were legal. Lets see what the Dutch have done and compare our drug numbers with them. I would bet that we have more drug problems, overdoses, addiction than the Dutch. I just hope that Obama will make the change that needs to be made and end that war on drugs.

There is an abundance of evidence that drug need to be legalized and controlled. Regardless of whether or not you legalize drugs, there will always be drug addicts. That is true of anything, alcohol is legal and we still have alcoholics, prescription drugs are legal and we still have people addicted to those. By default America might as well focus on controlling them and making the money that currently drug dealers are making off of them.

Also, to touch on a point about Europe and thei policies. I grew up in Europe and I am an American. The drinking age where I lived with 16. Pot was also legal where I grew up. I have never smoked pot and I was drunk one time as a teenager. I moved to America for College and I have never seen a more drunk and stoned population of youth as I have in America. You take the stigma away and all the restrictions it will be much less of a problem than it is right now.

Get with the times America.

Freedom and responsibility must be balanced or our society will continue to self-destruct!

Let's legalize drugs for adults and make the users fully responsible for the results. Use taxes from drug sales strictly for education, rehab and to compensate those of us that are victimized by drug users.

Go ahead and destroy your life, but stop using the power of government to make the rest of us suffer because of your or other people's bad choices.

For those of you advocating drugs have obviously never used the hardcore drugs like heroin. Pot is one thing but the more hardcore drugs will be just as devastating if legalized as they are today.

1. For those of you who think it will be harder for teens to get drugs are not being honest with themselves. Just as alcohol is illegal for anyone under 21; more hardcore drugs will be just as easy to get.

2. Legalizing pot will not stop people from wanting or trying more hardcore drugs. Even though drinking is illegal for people under 21 teens are still turning to other substances. Both alcohol and pot are considered gateway drugs to their more powerful cousins.

3. In reality the justice system will lose money if drugs are legalized. If anyone doubts this please visit your local courthouse and sit through some proceedings of drug court and total the amount of money collected from court fees and restitution's. Then imagine that nation wide and you will see the actual amount of money the court systems bring in to US coffers.

4. Education is the key and just not education targeted at teens and children. Even adults need to be educated about the effects of drugs on our nation.

5. Many people have overdosed from alcohol or died because of alcohol related accidents but that will be nothing compared to deaths related to legalized heroin or cocaine. They have the power to kill with the first use and are much more addictive. Tobacco companies today modify the nicotine content of cigarettes, wait until they get a hold of heroin or cocaine. You may say that the government will regulate the strength of street drugs but look at how well they control tobacco companies. Legalizing drugs will just create more powerful "drug companies" with more influence on US policy because now they will have a stake in the manufacture and distribution of drugs. What will be the difference between them and the drug cartels of the today.

6. In addition, you will create destabilizing forces in the countries that produce drugs now. Unfortunately the US does not support the kind of environment for some drugs so we will have to still rely on outside markets.

7. Finally, anyone who have never used heroin I suggest you try it before you make any informed decisions. Heroin is much more physically addictive than any other drug out there. What happens you create a nation of heroin addicts who cannot help but use because they are too sick to do anything else. Wake up one morning and realize that you cannot do anything until you have to get your first "gate shot" in the morning. Life takes second place to your addiction. That includes your families, work, health; everything you hold dear will not seem as important. If you think I am being dramatic ask someone you know who is using heroin or crack. If you don't know anyone visit a local drug rehab and talk to a counselor or too. You will notice also that many of the addicts in the rehab are not you common everyday bums, crack heads, or dope fiends but doctors, lawyers, and housewives.

A lot more is at stake. I pray that it is never legalized.

The idea of legalizing all drugs is absolutely ridiculous. Certain drugs such as marijuana should be legalized due to the risk associated. Marijuana does little harm to the user and the user usually does not exhibit aggressive behavior. For marijuana the dangers come from the people who sell it; not all, but some of the marijuana dealers are violent. Anyone who thinks cocaine, heroin, meth, and any other highly manipulated or processed drug should be legal is an idiot. The drug cartels would attack the farmers, hijack shipments, attack the factories that make the drugs legally, and then sell it back to us. Also people who do drugs such as cocaine, heroin, or meth exhibit violent or criminal behaviors. A heroin addict would still steal or kill to get heroin even if it is legal. People who say it should be legalized don't understand the lethality of these drugs and how hard it is to quit. We already have two highly dangerous and addictive drugs that are legal, should we add more to that list? We had these drugs legal at one point and that didn't work, we now have them all illegal and that also isn't working. Picking the least dangerous ones, and making them legal would be the best choice. Marijuana and mushrooms are two drugs that should be legalized. Anyone who has gone mushroom picking and eaten mushrooms understands why they should be legal, education on how to use it and the safest way to use it is what needs to occur. Most other drugs should still be illegal; these drugs are dangerous and making them legal does not decrease the dangers associated with them.

legalize, cut prison population down, pump money into education, treatment, infrastructure.

NOW!

prohibition *is* multifaceted terrorism.

A tragic ending for a beautiful young girl. It appears difficult to support legalization when tragedies like this are occurring all around us.

But it should be obvious by now that the more repression we exert towards eradication, the more valuable these commodities become. More money means more profit and more of the very people we are trying to eliminate. Prohibition appears like quicksand to me.

If we legalized drugs, perhaps we could change the situation from a criminal problem to a medical problem. Having control of these substances would allow for the regulation of the purity of drugs like heroin. Legalizing marijuana now, would go a long way towards removing the bulk of the profits that the gangs realize from illegal drugs. Then we could move on to how best to handle the others...

My sympathy to the family.

I am impressed by the overall thoughtful nature of most of these posts. Almost all seem to have come to the conclusion that the laws must change. Isn't it time for our lawmakers to catch up to the people?

AWESOME! hope all the drug addicts OD. stop wasting my space, breathing my air and consuming MY RESOURCES you miserable excuses for human life. Your corpse isnt even fit for pothole filler or kitty litter.

So shoot up! Snort up! whatever ever it takes to get the heck off my planet. You are useful as worm food and fertilizer. that's it.

This is in response to Harold's comment which he's hinting at making all drugs legal.

It's absolutely absurd, and more or less a complete waste of time to suggest that all drugs be legalized in this country, or any other country for that matter. Can you seriously imagine the dangers that would be added to our society if we could go to the drug store and buy a bag of herion, or cocaine, or PHP?

It may seem like the logical approach to "legalize everything" with the hopes that it will deter some individuals from using, but then again, smoking kills its users, and that doesn't stop people from smoking, why would making it legal to buy a $5 bag from Sinclair stop people from using herion?

This article does not demonstrate the danger of drugs as it does the stupidity of people. First of all how dense do you have to be to not send your daughter, who has just overdosed on heroin to rehab? Anyone with the slightest tinge of common sense knows that any addict unwilling to get help will not admit they are addicted. That's the point of addiction your body will trick you in to believing you need a substance. Any responsible parent wouldn't have sent their child to treatment. Secondly America's drug education program is absolutely absurd. Ask any teenager who has been through D.A.R.E or and similar program about drug use, they say the programs are ineffective. In many cases students will tell you programs such as these made them more likely to explore drug use. The programs often harp on negativity and do not educate. The programs use scare tactics to try and influence children and many do not respond well. Drug education should be honest, rather than a Disney channel special. Information about drugs need to come from someone who students can trust and respect, not from a system that they aren't sure of. And lastly whoever decided it would be a good idea to put known heroin users on a website for the public to see is a TERRORIST. People have the right to live private lives in this country and not be subjected to scrutiny by the powers to be. However tragic a drug related death is we must not forget that it is a persons individual right to chose to do a drug or not. While it may be hard for the deceased's family it was her choice to use drugs, live by the sword, die by the sword. Furthermore and again if her parents had had an ounce of brain cells they would have sent her to treatment and she might not have died. THERE IS NO NEED FOR INTRUSIVE LAWS such as this one. Parents in this country need to get off their fat asses and start raising their children instead of letting TV and a failing education system to do it for them.

Marijuana is a plant. Heroine, meth and ecstacy are drugs which are manufactured by combining certain chemicals. Last year spinach killed more people then marijuana, but has it been banned? Alcohol and tobacco are both legal, yet are to blame for thousands of deaths yearly, yet how many deaths are linked to marijuana? Im pretty sure everyone reading this is intelligent enough to realize that the tobacco and liquer companies would lose billions if marijuana were legalized tomorrow. So it's safe to say that all these ignorant anti marijuanna ads we see on tv are paid for by them..they are in fact the masters of deceptive advertisement.

None of the above comments address the many ethical issues of drug use. Everyone is so set on debating legalization vs. keep drugs illegal that they ignore this important part of the problem. When kids are taught about drugs in school they never learn about how their mindless choice will impact communities in other parts of the world, as well as inner city ghettoes in the US plagued by gang violence. What they buy and put into their bodies does not just effect them selves and their families. Of course if the world ethical impact of drug use in America was taught in our schools, then we would also need to address other ethical issues of our mindless consumerism and no one wants to do that.

I am from Salt Lake City, Everyone knows whats going on, but no one talks about it. Teens – Young Adults justify using prescription meds becouse ( a doctor gave them to me) than with the large mexican population here.... turn to cheeper heroin, its everywhere in our streets, I have been clean since october with no intrest in going back to my old life. We need to put more funding into the Drug Court Systems, they work.....

To Jack:
Your claims are ridiculous. Just because something is made legal does not deem it acceptable to youth. I live in Canada, where, obviously, tobacco products are legal. However, you can rest 100% sure that each pack of cigarettes has some warning ranging from "It can kill your children" to "This is what your heart looks like after smoking cigarettes" with a beautiful picture of a dark black heart. In fact, making drugs appear acceptable is illegal. There aren't TV commercials talking about how cool it is to smoke anymore. I am nineteen years old and I can tell you first hand that the reason people don't use drugs like heroine is NOT because it is illegal. If anything, that is WHY they use drugs. Teenagers and young adults can easily find somewhere to, without fear of being arrested, do illegal things. Young people who use drugs fit, to me, in two classes: Those who were bound do to it, and those who do it because of indirect pressure from their peers.
Also, you stated that "very few people driving upon consumption of 1 to 2 drinks will die, but people might die from 1 to 2 doses of heroine, especially if they drive". OBVIOUSLY the legality of hard drugs like heroine come with HARD illegalities with regards to driving under the influence, being under the influence in public, and maybe most importantly, selling the hard drug (that will be left to the government). The FDA is not going to release a version that you can still drive after taking a dose or two, so people will face the same consequences, maybe even harsher, that people experience when driving under the influence of previously illegal drugs like alcohol.
There are clearly both pros and cons to legalizing and maintaining in their illegal state, hard drugs. However, this has proven to me and many others to be a situation where the pros of legalizing drugs highly overshadows the cons.
Contrary to popular belief, not all people who smoke weed frequently or "potheads" want marijuana to be legal solely for the purpose of walking down the street smoking a joint. No, we (as I may fall into that category) want to see it legalized for the many reasons other people have posted above. Potheads are not the slums of society, some are very successful. When an opportunity to make our government more profitable without taking money from the taxpayers, why not take it?

People who think prohibition just adds to the problem are naive and ignorant and do not take into account that at one time all these drugs like heroin, cocaine and other banned substances were at one time legal and sold to anyone with money to buy and try. This resulted in not only an epidemic of addiction and deaths from Ill suited use but also the formation of what we now know as the DEA and other government agencies who now monitor the introduction of new drugs that can be prescribed for medicinal use to the public. . At some point whole countries were helpless in their efforts to control their drug problems and in this culture we have no one who can honestly say that our with the state of our education efforts and the failure of our media(Cinema,Television) to be responsible in helping to raise a anti-drug culture especially among our teens, that once the door was open for anyone to get high and addicted that it would be the greatest sin against our future one could ever conceive.

if a certain drug is easier to get, the more possible addicts will come into contact with it.

I think people miss the perception about marijuana and all drugs out there. Plain and simple....IT IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU AND YOUR HEALTH!!! GET THIS THROUGH YOUR EVERY WHICH WAY THINKING! Why do people think they have to debate what the benefits are for doing it? THERE ARE NO BENEFITS! THE ONLY BENEFITS YOU GET FROM IT IS ALZHEIMERS AND, OR LUNG CANCER, AND OR BRAIN CANCER, AND OR OTHER RELATED DISEASES TO GO ALONG WITH IT. ALSO, SLEEPING ALL DAY IS ANOTHER DISEASE. LAZINESS IS ANOTHER DISEASE. PULLING BACK FROM SOCIETY IS ANOTHER, BI-POLAR, CHEMICAL IMBALANCES, DEPRESSION, SCIZOPHRENIA. COME ON PEOPLE...WAKE THE HELL UP!! STOP FOOLING YOURSELVES!

If you legalize the marijuana several things would happen. First, the #1 cash crop for drub cartels goes down the toilet. it becomes utterly worthless to them, seeing that you would be able to buy a clean/untampered version at any gas station in a 20 pack. You raise tax money, as now the 'potheads' would now buy it legally and be taxed with it. It could also be regulated better. noone under 18 can smoke grass, etc.

A few other things come to mind. I have never once seen, nor heard of a person that smoked a joint ever robbing a gas-station, pharmacy, bank. I have heard of several people being killed though when they mistakenly walked up on a illegal farm growing the stuff. It would also allow a more open debate on the fears, and actual harms of the stuff, instead of that garbage 'reefer madness' that the government and most religious groups talk about.. We would not see a dramatic move to grass. I think this is the biggest mis-information out htere, just because you make something legal, doesn;t mean people are going to flock to it. Cigarettes are legal, and so is booze, but not everyone smokes or drinks.. That argument is a fallacy.

Any finally, think of the bottom line for people like McDonalds, Wendy's, White Castle.. They'll see exponential growth.

whatever happened to getting drunk and passing out as opposed to overdosing on some nasty street drug. use alcohol not drugs. it may not be cheaper but it's more fun!

"For every one hundred women ages 18 to 44, thirty five had antidepressants prescribed, seventeen had narcotic painkillers prescribed. From the ages 44 to 64 the numbers are 58 and 28, respectively.
For every one hundred men ages 18 to 44, eighteen had antidepressants prescribed and eleven has narcotic pain killers prescribed. From the ages 44 to 64 the numbers are 30 and 23."
-The Happiness Myth

We need to rethink what drugs are considered socially acceptable, and therefore not criminal, when everyone who uses drugs legally or illegally are just looking for the same thing, short term happiness. The same thing that is sought with your morning cup of coffee or cigarette.
I believe that when something is hard to get, it makes someone want it that much more. In wanting whatever feeling it gives you, the user tries to get the best feeling possible because they have been denied it for so long, which would lead to the majority of overdoses.
If drugs were legalized, even in weaker forms, im sure this problem would drop dramatically.
What makes a drugs good or bad is a cultural issue.
I can't explain it better than the book The Happiness Myth (Why what we think is right is wrong) by Jennifer Michael Hecht.
Read it! you won't regret it, and it may just change your ideas.

My heart goes out to this family, this is a sad and terrible story, however I think it points out that kids want to party, and they party with whatever is available. You deny them beer and marijuana, now you introduce something "better" and cheaper that we (the responsible adults) have never even seen and concieved (snortable, smokable, injectable high quality heroin). Is this what we've driven our children to?

I love how everyone quotes saying "I used to drive on marijuana its ok". Everything seems to be fine until something dangerous happens. Like I thought I could drive drunk in college and one nite I stopped in the middle of the intersection at the red light. Thank heavens there was no traffic because I had friends in the car with me.

It is very easy to claim the number of fatalities because of pot are zero, an illegal drug never has accurate stats. The chances of a "pot smoker" wanting to stay home in comfort and not going out to buy more stuff is because the drug is illegal and hence risky to be seen in public. Make it legal and you will see tons of them out there thinking they are sober enough to drive.

Tragic story.

One question... why the HELL would CNN run a story with a headline "Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer". Way to promote a cheap high you idiots.

It's been true forever: There are kids who are survivors, and there are kids who will self-destruct at the earliest opportunity.

We don't have to repeal the drug laws. We just have to stop enforcing them. Let's accelerate this thinning of the herd. Survival of the fittest. At the end of this, only survivors will remain, and the drug dealers will have to get a real job.

The war on drugs has always been a big part of the problem. True, I am hesitant to think about the idea of legalizing hard drugs like heroin, but if they were tightly controlled it would make it much harder for kids to get them. As far as marijuana, it should most certainly be legalized, taxed and sold to adults. I'm not a pothead – I don't buy the stuff- I smoke maybe 2 or 3 times a year if I go to a party where it happens to be available. As such, I can attest it is much less of a problem than alcohol.
Bert makes a great point about the Netherlands. Take the drugs out of the hands of criminals and use tax proceeds for education purposes and many of your problems are solved. Drug addicts are people with deep psychological problems. They need help, not prison.

Well the parents really screwed up, didn't they? Even a half-wit knows you can't just "take yourself off" heroin. They should have put their daughter in rehab.

I've never heard of anyone getting into an accident caused by MARIJUANA! But yet look at the alcohol related accidents! People who smoke marijuana eat and sleep, they don't worry me. My daughter was out on a Saturday in a club and there say 5 police officers, all drinking. When they left she ran outside to see who was driving, sadly they all were!

And our wonderful politicians such as His Majesty, Sheldon Silver wants to redo our drug laws and let many offenders out of jail. That's an absolutely great idea, this way they can resume selling this poison to our kids. He wants to release "non-violent" offenders with convictions as high as Class "B" felonies. All these offenders are "non-violent". Why should they have to be violent? All they have to do is peddle this stuff non-violently. There is too much money involved in this stuff. It's an easy way to make big bucks.

i love the irony of the name "amFIX" to this heroin story.

I hate to admitt this.............. but for a country that can send men to the moon, four decades ago ! how difficult can it be stop this problem
This country has a drug industry both legal and illegal that is out of control, and so I can not see how this can ever be brought under control........ unless of course its in the governments " best intrests"
So who will really reform health care ,and do something about the drug epedimic !

Legalizing drugs will not fix the problem. People abuse prescription drugs (which are legal) just as they abuse illegal ones.

My prayers go out to this family. Parents need to open the lines of communication with their kids and show them stories such as this one so they realize that the risks are real. Those that have loved ones addicted to heroin need to know that withdrawal from heroin can be deadly and that it is best done in a faciliy with medical assistance.

Come on, CNN, you can do better than that. Not ONE of you thought it might be inappropriate to run a story about a girl's death via heroin overdose under the heading "AM Fix?"
It's a sad and powerful story – which deserves more thoughtful placement.

Make pot legal so I can have some right now.

Dear Bill ...

The heroin "sold" in the early 1900's was not 80 – 90% pure

The weed that we smoked back 30 years ago was not hydroponically modified.

Technology changes all things...

Opiates kill .

http://www.learn2cope.org

Americans need to start having a rational and reasoned discussion on better ways to handle our drug consumption. Prohibition has failed and the harm done by its enforcement is FAR worse than what it intended to protect us from. Bring drug distribution and regulation into the sunshine and these criminal empires will collapse overnight just like they did at the end of alcohol prohibition.

It is tragic to hear of this family's loss. It is also clear that law enforcement alone cannot solve this problem.
As many comments here allude to, the "war on drugs" has failed. It has failed to curb either the supply or demand for drugs. Some even say that the "war on drugs" has even made things worse, encouraging a booming black market of unregulated, deadly products.
The only thing the drug was has not failed at is making money. The amount of money spend on drug enforcement is incredible. Our law enforcement agencies are bloated.
Every time I see someone pulled over for a simple traffic stop, there are multiple police cars "on the scene." Every time a young person gets pulled over, you can expect an arbitrary search for drugs with the flimsiest of premises. Why? Because it makes a lot of money. Besides, if the police don't use up all the federal money they got this year, they can't ask for more next year, right?
It seems that the central idea of the "war on drugs" is not to fight the use of drugs, but to make money from it.

A lot of talk about legalizing marijuana – that's good. But this article is about HEROIN. On this page, I have read from Criminal Justice career-types that advocate for the legalization of pot. This is probably a very good idea but has NOTHING to do with heroin.
People say the war on drugs is not working and that we should legalize narcotics and take the profit out of the equation.
What would that accomplish – (and I am not talking about pot)? How are you to legalize heroin? And how is it dispensed? And how much would a private company charge? You're telling me that a little packet that goes on the street for around 5-10 dollars is going to be available to a junkie for that price once it gets legalized. Get real.

Private companies will see the angle and jack up the costs. Once you have a market, you can drive the price. The makers of Oxycontin can attest to that.

Yes – legalize pot. It should not be part of the war on drugs. But the war on drugs in new. It wasn't around 20 years ago. Give it a chance. We cannot allow these narcotics to slip into the mainstream of life – legal or not.

I've got an idea, annex Mexico and Columbia–drug problem solved! No seriously, I lost my best friend to a heroin induced suicide a year after she started using. I don't see legalizing pot bringing her back any time in the next century. I also don't see a non-marijuana user fighting for legalization, so, there's your statistic.

The problem is "lessons not learned" the war on drugs should maintain a constant front aimed at the newest generation and be "psychological". Every other generation in America will be forced to learn over and over the lessons of addictive drugs until society mounts a sustained campaign to keep it's use to a minimum.

Now after the horrors of the 60's heroin is becoming popular again because these parents, like other's, assume their kids know about how dangerous this is. It is poison and should be marketed as such.

Schools, churches, civic groups as well as goverments should be repeating the message drugs are a crap shoot, at best an unnecessary problem you create for yourself, a death sentence at worst, it murders futures and generally waste time better put to making the next step to eventual happiness and self preservation.

That Republican war on drugs is really succeeding. How many more innocent children will we let be murdered of overdoses or gunshot wounds before we start helping drug abusers instead of trying to turn them into criminals just so they can't vote for Democrats.

[...] Heroin cheaper than beer... Ughh, this isn't going to help our war on drugs anytime soon. This used to be an expensive illegal drug, but now it is affordable for too many especially teens. Hopefully, parents will educate their children and make sure they know what signs to look for with drug use and get them treatment early. Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer – amFIX – CNN.com Blogs [...]

Natalie Ciappa is dead because she put a deadly substance in her body. She did so because she managed to acquire that substance. Legalization would increase the frequency of such tragedies.

The ease with which decriminalization advocates ignore the human cost of addiction and make the spurious case for the financial benefits is appalling. If paying tens of billions of dollars is the cost society bears for keeping drug-addled menaces away from my kids, then it's a small price to pay. If you're willing to allow your kid to "experiment" with heroin just as you would let them have a beer in your house, under your supervision, well, I'm afraid no amount of sense can be wasted on you. Drugs and alcohol are not the same in effect or consequence, and equating either their effects or suggesting that if one is legal, then all ought to be, is logically fallacious.

The "legalization" side fails to consider one terrible, real consequence of the implementation of their program: the fact that a great many inexperienced first-time users are going to kill themselves trying drugs after decriminalization. If we as a society can legislate this collective suicide into possibility–and that's what it'll be, and mostly among the young–then we've really come to a sorry pass.

[...] Can't afford beer? Buy heroin instead. One dose of heroin now is cheaper than beer. Which is messed up, IMHO. The price of beer needs to come down. Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer – amFIX – CNN.com Blogs [...]

That's the point.
Keep it illegal and you can change nothing. It is for young people even more attractive to use illegal drugs. Even so I see a problem with legalizing all drugs but what do we win by keeping the users of illegal drugs in the shadow of our society? We can not help them and we can not stop their behavior hurting themselves.
We need to think seriously about solving the drug problem and if one of the solutions is to legalize all drugs then we might have to go this route.

To Anna in the Three Village Distrct:
I lost my son and his girlfriend last May 3rd to heroin overdose. I (and her parents) had no clue they were using. They were both outstanding college students and had just received summer jobs. I was the one to find them on that horrifying Saturday morning. Yes they are the best liars. My life will never be the same. I pray for any addict to get HELP. It is out there..

We don't want to make our Mexican neighbors angry by actually securing our Southern Border. It's so important that the Hotel, Agriculture, Food Service and Construction industry that contribute so generously to political campaigns have a cheap exploitable source of labor. We don't want to interfere with their business interests. Look at all Hilton and Tyson do for America. And if the drug cartels are smart enough to exploit this egregious lapse then its a worthwhile trade off right? I mean what can a few thousand tons of narcotics hurt?
We would never want to anger our Southern neighbors would we?
Aren't the profits for a few powerful interest more important than our national security or the interest of a few American families?
Isn't that why we elect smart people to public office, so they can make careers out of not solving problems?

The question is why do teenagers, kids and college students think they have to try drugs? The argument I have heard again and again and again from these kids are that they want to satisfy a curiosity. If they don't try herion, cocaine, pot whatever, they will always feel like they are missing out on something, even if they don't like it, they need to know what it is like. How could they be so dumb, really. Sound harsh? Harsh is these kids dying. I am 25 and never felt the urge to do drugs, even when most of my high school class used. Everyone, I mean everyone knew they were bad, but for some reason, only a few of us had the sense to relize that bad is bad, not that well its bad but still why not try it. Dumb

War on Drugs. Let's make it a true war! If someone uses drugs, then they are the emeny. The first time they are caught, they must turn over their supplier's and serve one year in a prison camp. The second time they are sent to a prison camp in the middle of the desert. They stay there until the war is over. Anyone caught selling drugs receives the death penalty.
End of War

You know what I like? Scotch drinkers sitting around the bar talking about how bad drugs are

So for the last 30 years and this so called war on drugs by the US government has been a sham.

If it were not this type of story would not even make the list.

The mexican border with the US is still wide open and tons of crap comes into this country and yet there are arguments that the border should not be fenced.

Think again.

Good for Japan. I think they are doing the right thing by kicking out the 2 parentswho lied, falsified official docs, and continued to break the law. The 13 year old girl is lucky that Japan is allowing her to stay,I think that he should be ashamed, as ashamed as the people who sell things to kids that reek havoc on our schools. I call on every reading this to shut down the people selling stink bombs at http://www.dirtyrottenpranks.com they are low lifes.

Legalize all drugs now. The war on drugs is a complete failure that wil never ever be won. Legalize drugs and take the criminal element out of it. Dispense and tax the drugs and control them through government pharmacies. The war on drugs is a complete waste of time and money. Alcohol is by far the most deadly and damaging substance on the earth and accounts for more deaths that any other substance.

My heart goes out to the family of this child. Drugs and alcohol are killing so many people. Everyone, please talk with your children, and better yet anyone that is important to you. This situation can happen to anybody. I blame the media for glamorizing it. We see it all of the time in the tv, reality shows, movies, and what do we do about it? I will tell you....we spend our hard earned money and watch more. We chase it and we love it. I could just cry right now, because it does not have to happen. Again I urge you all to pray for your friends and your families and talk to them about the consequences.

While I give my condolences to the family for their loss, it must be noted that the traditional notion with heroin that it makes you an "instant addict" is not necessarily true. I do not deny that heroin, opium, and synthetic pharmaceutical opiates can be very addictive, I've played with that fire myself, but it's rarely a matter of "instant addiction." The human body must be subjected to the drug numerous times -perhaps in short succession, but numerous times none the less- before it's chemistry changes so that the person becomes physically addicted in that the body needs the drug to function. Many drugs can let you have enough of a good time that you want to do it again as soon as possible. Some such as LSD and MDMA are inherently self-limiting in the way they work, but they are not the majority. The drugs that are not self-limiting such as cocaine, meth, and opiates tend to be the more dangerous ones.

As a young person, I think it is wise for parents to remain current and know what's going on in drug culture hence a quick lesson. Marijuana is considered normal. Pills are where it's at. Ecstasy is not seen as bad, but the real fun is in "pharmies." Pharmaceutical drugs that are easily available in the medicine cabinet that can be sold and traded like anything else. The general symptoms of ecstasy use are a big smile, lots of affection, enlarged pupils, staying awake till 4 or 5 in the morning, and attending raves, though most kids are smart enough not to tell their parents they're going to a rave. Glowsticks, LED finger lights, fuzzy leg warmers, "kandi" bracelets made of colorful plastic and foam beads, and pacifiers are the paraphernalia. Ecstasy generally comes in tablets stamped with simple designs such as letters, numbers, crowns, stars, ladies and occasional cartoon characters. Sometimes ecstasy also comes in powder form in caplets. Pharmie use isn't as easy to pin down. Symptoms are generally those of the individual pharmaceutical. phe pills of course look like regular percocet, klonopen, or whatever else you have. The best defense against pharmie usage is to keep track of your pills. Discard all medication after you no longer need it or if you plan to keep it, count the number of pills left in the bottle and periodically re-check to make sure they're all still there.

Re: Legalization Problems

I have heard three main issues being taken up vis-a-vis legalization.
They are:

1.) Making drugs legal will make them easier for kids to acquire.

2.) Legalizing Drugs like pot will increase fatal accidents, like fatal DUIs, in the U.S.

3.) Drugs are bad.

In response to one: That is not in any way necessarily true. Prohibiting drugs to be sold only from licensed vendors will make it harder, not easier, for them to be acquired first hand. I attend a prestigious University located just outside of Boston, MA (on the red line), and can more easily acquire pot on my campus than cigarettes. Why? Cigarettes are not sold on campus, and are only sold by vendors. I can buy pot from any of the three drug dealers I know of in my dorm, no questions asked. By making drugs legal, and raising the legal age on the most destructive ones to 23 or 24, they will be unable for college students to acquire. These drugs will be much cheaper than illegal imports, as well (smuggling raises prices), and will destroy illegal growth. Again, I can buy coke rather easily, if I desired – I cannot buy liquor on campus.

In response to 2: This idea goes hand in hand with increasing the penalties of all behavior-related offenses for drug use. Significantly.

In response to 3: Then we should stop making them "cool" as a culture. Face it, teenagers are and will always be rebellious. _Increase_ the social stigma against drug addiction, increase education on the mind-boggling stupidity of becoming an addict, and control the distribution. You cannot stop a reasonably sneaky teenager who wants to from trying _any_ street drug. You can set up a social climate where being a regular user is not glamorous. See the comment by Bert from the Netherlands, above.

For those who think that cartels will still sell drugs after they are legalized and regulated let me ask you this:

When was the last time a bootlegger asked you if you wanted to buy a bottle of moonshine?

When was the last time someone was hanging out side the tobacco store offering you some of his homegrown tobacco?

It doesn't happen. When drugs are legalized and regulated, the economies of scale will run illegal distribution out of the market. Period. I'm sure there were a few moonshiners even after prohibition ended, but five years later they were gone.

And for the people who think that suddenly 50% of the population will start using cocaine or heroin if it's legal, let me ask you:

Will you go out and buy heroin if it's legal? Will your spouse? Will your friends, and family? Anyone who wants to do "hard" drugs already are. Prohibition is not stopping ANYONE from using drugs. If you want to do them, you already are. And if you don't (like 80% of the population), then you're not going to suddenly start.

The least we can do is take the money away from street gangs and cartels, regulate the purity to make it safer to use, and redirect our prison and WoD spending to treatment.

Enough with the "think about the children" moral crap.

interesting commentary at the end of this article re legalizing drugs.

my son was found dead twice and revived twice...herion dealers should take their own drug as punishment...jail time will not deter the users or dealers to stop...jail time only gives them new contacts to expand their little businesses....my son means nothing to these dealers, therefore they should use their own drugs as punishment

The choice between prohibition and legalization is not an easy one. There will be winners and losers with both choices; but that means that we have to more honestly look at what has been going on and perhaps admit we need to choose the lesser of two evils.

I used to only be for the legalization of marijuana (which as a non-user I could go on and on about as far as taxes, lack of danger, hemp products, hemp oil being 80-90% more efficient than corn ethanol, etc.), but really, the trick here, as many have pointed out, is the control of the DISTRIBUTION.

As a teenager in PA in late 90s early 00s, pot was everywhere. We definitely had beer at parties, but it was a LOT harder to come by, as were cigarettes. Why? Because we had to find someone of age willing to buy it to us and then distribute it to a minor. I also was a product of DARE, where I learned what every drug was and how to use it, I didn't even know what pot was before 5th grade DARE (but I did know about heroine because an extra pure hit of it had just left my four cousins without a mother). My aunt dying was the only campaign I ever needed to never do a hard drug, although I can easily find them.

What this says to me is legalizing might enable a few more conscience-minded people to try a hard drug, but very few. Legalizing will allow us to more easily monitor where people are getting drugs and what is in them. Laced drugs and different potency are normally what kill people (although people can always go overboard, alcohol as a great example).

Therefore, while I think it is a hard choice to make, we might as well TRY legalization for a few years. I don't know if it would be worse, but at least we wouldn't be trying a policy that we know is failing. Or at least we would know it was time to go back to a policy that was doing a little better.

I loved the point someone made about cigarette usage decreasing with ad campaigns and education. Hiding illegal drugs underground and adding that stigma doesn't help. A stigma of users will always exist, but lets control and mold that stigma to prevent more users, instead of shroud it in mystery.

People will always use. Let's make it harder to take advantage of minors and at least try to make safer for those who make that personal, adult, decision. Clean out the jails, stop making sick people (addicts) criminals, and spend the money on education campaigns and rehab.

Hmmm...you have to wonder how Afghanistan produces over 50% of the worlds poppy and we as americans consume over 80% of the worlds poppy. How is is that all the dope makes it here? Hmmm? The Taliban for the years prior to our illegal invasion, were burning poppy fields, knowing that the illegal ops being conducted (drugs for arms, remember Ollie North, he even mentioned Bin Laden during the Iran Contra hearings) were supporting terrorist-style secret military operations in the middle east. Guns aren't made in Compton, Cocaine doesn't grow in Miami and Heroin is not grown in North America today (The Chinese did introduce it and grow in BC, Canada many years ago). The people that are bringing you these wonderful treats (sarcasim)...are the same people that are arresting you for these treats. The War on Drugs is a multi-billion $$ industry. YES folks...it is a business. Think about Oklahoma...the number one employer in the state is the government, mostly for those employed through the state and federal prison systems. Again...YES...more people in the state of Oklahoma work in prisons then anything else. So...what do you do with their jobs when you stop arresting everyone for non-violent drug use and put them in rehab where they belong? See what I'm saying...

The powers that be want control...if not money, drugs. If not drugs, by keeping folks poor and under-educated. Either way, keeping the masses in check through drugs, money (stealin our 401k) , education (or lack there of) or just plain lying, it seems to be working.

We the people need to stand and fight against the select few (the uber rich) that continue to write new policies and follow old ones so that only their own coffers can be filled, as we the people have to continue reading stories about everyday hardworking people and their families that are continually dragged into the middle of this war...not the war on drugs...but the war wagged by a select few (uber rich) to control the masses for their own greed and power.

There will NEVER be anything done about the prohabition of sttreet drugs. The shadow government in the USA won't allow it. Who cares if children are poisoned by the stuff. The religious zelots and industral interests preside over logic in the USA. I have no doubts that 20 years from now we will still have a war on drugs. The war on drugs started in 1972 by Richard Nixon, he was reacting to the viet nam vets, trying to punish them for they brought back the new habit, loosing the war...

“Prohibition… goes beyond the bound 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

I find those that opose the legaizing street drugs making moranic statements. What difference does it make, the war on drugs will go for another 50 years. The fact that children get poisoned will not change the course of the interests of the shadow government. There is alittle chance that Obama will change things, perhaps in a second term but this issue is off-limits and too politically incorrect to discuse because the USA is run by a shadow government. Do you see anything happening with the borders, healthcare, street drugs? We have talked about these issues for decades.

This article needs to be reprinted and sent home to every parent in every school – I think people have gotten numb to the drug issues and just don't think of heroin as being an issue. People are cluess as to what their "good" kids are doing – totally clueless. Everyone is just too busy to stop and really look.

What we need to worry about is why our young want to be in a drunken stupor. This will eventually destroy the country.

Legalizing heroin are you serious??? After struggling with an oxycotton and heroin addiction I had my eyes opened I have watched 4 close friends die from heroin overdoses legalizing heroin would just make the problem worse from my eyes im a 21 year old who was offered "black" Or heroin in other words as a 10 grader in high school I guess the reason im writing this comment is cause i dont want to see kids make the same mistakes i made they got me no where in life drugs hold you back and get you in debt just to support a habit i didnt need I lost my family and friends i lost a girl who i reallly loved i gave up every thing for one habit thats not worth it kids dont do it to your parents I hurt my parents so badly i will never forgive myself for it Signs of heroin abuse are easy to spot dont be afried to ask your kids or question them . . i have been clean for over a year and a half now and love life im still recovering every day is a new day im thankfull to have i will never let my self go back down that dark and mysterious road i once traveled again SOBAR is the only way to life

I have read all these postings with great interest, having been a former drug user. I was never a heroin user, cocaine was my drug of choice, but I can certainly relate to Allen's comment about the availability of a $5 high being both enticing and terrifying at the same time. I know I could never go back to being a "casual" cocaine user. If I were to do just one line of coke, it would never be enough.

The amount of money I spent on coke over the years just sickens me. The coke was pretty much freely available to me, or so it seemed at the time. I had a great job (emphasis on had), and money was not an issue for me. I was lucky to get out alive, and with my family still intact. I never realized the negative effects coke use was having on me and my friends until it was too late for some of them. Failed marriages, traffic accidents, lost jobs, jail, and death. I was above it all, enjoying the "high". But sooner or later, you either quit or die. I am indeed one of the lucky ones. My family convinced me to quit. Sure, I had a couple relapses, but I knew I had to quit for good or lose it all.

I think the big question in all of this, is what was the "gateway drug" that led to my cocaine use. The gateway for me, was alcohol. I was never a big alcohol user and was scared to death of "pills and powder" but had smoked pot casually for years. Then there was the big push to eradicate pot in the late 70's, and pot became very hard to find. Instead of smoking a joint with friends after work, we would go to the bar, and when you are under the influence of alcohol, even the worst idea doesn't sound so bad. Somebody talked me into trying coke, and the rest is history.

I would like to see marijuana legalized, taxed, and sold in much the same way as alcohol is today, but not in convenience stores. Perhaps just at the liquor store or tobacco shop. We all know what the pluses and negatives would be on this, and the pluses far outweigh the negatives.

On the heroin, coke, etc. side of things, I would prefer to err on the side of caution. Granted, what we are doing now isn't working, but people would still die when they overdose on regulated drugs available at the corner store. I say, decriminalize, educate, and the drugs are only available via a clinic. Maybe not the best course of action, but certainly better than what we have done in the last 50 years. The best thing we would have going for us on this, is the fact that the drug problem would then be out in the open, and we could address it, not to mention the fact that it would remove motivation for the criminal element to continue to promote drug use to our children.

Kate.. so sorry for your loss. Go to learn 2cope support group
out of Brockton Mass.... There are people their that would love to
talk to you.....They too have been there. My son is in jail.. Heroin....
God Bless you...

I have to say that the idea that a mother would find packets of some white substance after her daughter overdosed, and trust her daughter's judgment that she didn't need rehab, is negligence. I don't care whats in the packet. Once my daughter OD's on heroin I am going to make the worst case assumption.

It sounds so tragic, but its also the tragedy of passivity. Their daughter had extreme personality changes while living in their house as a minor, and they just accepted it. Their daughter OD's and they just accept it. Like its the weather.

My father would have sat on me. All my friends would have narced on me. My brother and sister would have spied on me. No one in my family would have let me get away with doing anything at all once I had a near death experience.

I had a heart attack recently, and I can't eat a piece of candy without getting swatted at. At work they eye what I eat. Who are these people and when did they learn to just be victims?

Heroin is made from Opium. 95% of the world's Opium is grown where? Anyone? Class? If you said New Jersey or Idaho that would be incorrect.

We have already lost the drug war. Heroine cheaper than beer and potency and toxcicity uncontrolled. We need to legalize all drugs so we can gain control of the distribution and protect our children.

Legalize marijuana and use the profits to identify and treat the harder drug users. Naturally, marijuana needs not only strict laws on distribution but there also needs to be harsher laws for DUI (and for alcohol).

Marijuana prohibition was the casualty of hemp prohibition sought by the industrialists whose profits were threatened by this cheap source of paper, clothing fiber, animal feed and a thousand other uses. During the second world war, the government lifted the ban and even produced a film, "Hemp for Victory." It is not just a case of marijuana revenues but the re-introduction of hemp as a viable source of products, job creation and greener technologies across many industries.

Let this nation grow up and escape the yolk of foolishness and fear. Treat addiction with compassion and allow personal choice for substances that, after decades of testing, show more good than harm. The current laws have not worked and just placed the ability to purchase with children, while placing profits into the hands of a criminal element. Let other industrialized nations who have stopped this senseless witch-hunt be our guides as they have not suffered any of the problems we so fear but have instead prospered.

If we allow cigarettes and alcohol to remain legal, then certainly marijuana should be just as legal - and controlled.

Read these comments and they will explain a lot. We are riding around on the highways with these nuts who are telling us how good these drugs are and how we should legalize them. The only good it would do is bring the price and profit down for the ones who sell it for a living. It will save no one except the ones who die in the drug wars.

I simply believe that drugs that are more likely to cause acute toxicity should be regulated more heavily than drugs that do not cause acute toxicity. For example, people die from acute alcohol toxicity frequently. They die from acute heroin and cocaine toxicity, too. They die from mushroom toxicity. Many people could kill themselves with $15 worth of vodka, just like you can kill yourself with a "$5-10" bag of heroin (anyone hear about the game called 21 Shots?).

You can't overdose on THC without injecting an emulsion of purified THC into your bloodstream or getting a pulmonary gavage of THC oil. You can;t smoke enough weed to fatally overdose because you would lose consciousness and sleep it off before you could possibly smoke enough to die. The biggest risks with dosing on THC is getting smoke particles in your lungs (cancer risk) and experiencing mild hippocampus disruption (affects your memory). Making "green tea" and "special brownies" eliminates the cancer risk, and enriches your body with natural antioxidants and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

I think alcohol should be regulated more heavily than pot because alcohol is deadlier. You can die from alcohol. Sure, you can do stupid things that get you killed while high, but people do those same stupid things when they're drunk.

Been there done that....in my very eaarly years. I do know one thing...although legal, I believe alcohol is the bigger evil. But since pot is illegal I have to advocate liquor. No, I don't advocate any drugs or alcohol. I am really struggling with what would be the right thing for our children and adults. I know one thing, legalizing pot would not lead to an increase in consumption or new users. Sure there will be some but no one know the dark number that already exsists. I also firmly believe that people who use will use legal or not, so what is the issue? We as adults have to assume responsibility for ourselves an dwhom ever decides to use drugs will have to live and die with that decission. But what effect will legalization have on our country as a whole? It just can't get any worse than what it already is. The money wasted for jails and police actions could be used much better, as in education and rehabilitation. If all elsse fails put all addicts on an island until the've all od'd.

September 18, 2008 – I lost a wonderful 21 year old friend. He was intelligent. He was clean cut. If anyone ever needed help with anything, he was the first to be there. Unfortunately, he died that night of a heroin overdose. I had known him for 3 years. I never knew he did it. A few months later, his best friend overdosed on heroin. He survived. People need to be educated on heroin. They need to know how deadly the drug is. It is not a drug to play with.

Why the mention of "VOTE! Should drugs be legalized in the US?". Shouldn't a question like that be posed on an article more along the lines of Medical Marijuana aiding cancer victims? Just seems like a biased article to bring something up like that. Fair enough I suppose, but really, does something like heroin even have positive effects to even warrant legalization?

What did we think was going to happen? We shove it down our kids throats that drugs are bad before they even know what they are. Kids are curious and do everything else you tell them not to do, what makes drugs off limits? And then later on they learn about Vietnam and the 60's and that drugs fueled a cultural revolution. It's all a double standard. You tell them they're bad one day and good another and then all of the sudden you have drug sniffing dogs in school, random drug tests and it creates distrust between kids and adults. We need a new way to approach this.

In 1914 the first anti-drug law was passed at this time 1.3% of the population was addicted to drugs. In 1970, the start of the "war on Drugs' we had 1.3% of people addicted to drugs. Now close to 40 years later we have 1.3% of people addicted to drugs. All drugs were legal up til 1914 and the world didn't fall apart. Legalizing drugs would not increase usage, pot is legal in the Netherlands and they have half the usage rate that we do here in the states.
In 2001 Portugal decriminalized ALL DRUGS, now it is being hailed as a successful policy, all doomsday scenarios about rampant drug use never came to pass. Decrim/legalization works, prohibition does not. You will not hear about Portugal's success in the media, the DOJ and DEA won't even acknowledge the success of Portugal

I live in what you could call middle-upper class neighborhood of a large city. I live paycheck to paycheck, take no government subsidies, but I work hard at my job. I guarantee the local police are very aware of how easy it is to get cocaine around here. I wouldn't say it's as easy as getting alcohol by any means, but I know several dealers casually from the area, who don't bother flying under the radar. We should legalize drugs, control the quality and tax the hell out of them. Empty the jails. Did we learn nothing from Prohibition, the mobs, etc.?

I think a big part of this teen drug issue is the fact that older individuals try and teach it. I mean, nothing against parents fighting for all of this, but really, what do teenagers tend to do... not listen to their parents and do opposite of what they state. I know deaths are horrific and terrible to families, but there might be a better response from teenagers if other teenagers are telling them not to do it because their friend just died versus parental units and government.

As any single person can attest and has probably done, a teenager likes to push the limits, especially the limits of what their parents tell them. Once drugs are not looked upon as "cool" and so and so is doing it, it won't be nearly as difficult for kids to say no. Look at cigarettes for example, they have been on the decline for years as its not as "cool" so smoke them as they used to be, heck they used to be an american icon where all the movie stars and important people did it.

Good, one less junkie on our hands. She did us all a favor by not using welfare or "taking the ride" in the future.

Prohibition alone almost never works. You need prohibition, education and rehabilitation. Without one of these three legs, the others will fail.

The thought that simply legalizing heroin, meth, pot, whatever will solve everything is horribly naive. Yeah, tobacco and alcohol are legal. How many people died last week from using them? Doesn't mean the harm goes away with the law.

Think the people who control illegal drug traffic to the U.S. will give up billions without a struggle and just let Uncle Sam walk off with the business? Are you outta you mind? Take a look at Mexico...

Our family is going through this with my son right now! It's a huge problem in our communities – 8 of my son's circle of friends in his senior year are now battling heroin addiction. We have missed an entire generation with education on these dangerous drugs. While we were busy focusing on alcohol use, marijuana, and all the other designer drugs, this one has crept in like a thief in the night. My son will battle this addiction for the rest of his life, and we will as a family battle this addiction as well. Not only does it affect our entire family but our community as well. For my son, the gateway here was oxycontin – which can be smoked as my son did – then went to heroin as it's cheaper and easier to get.

Since charges are not brought against those who use in some states (small amounts are not considered important enough since Nixon), only against those who hold larger amounts (expected of selling) on them, ofcourse there will be usage amoung children. illegal drugs are illegal. Usage is therefore illegal. make the arrest. stop making excuses.

I'm wondering if many of the people posting that we should legalize drugs would also say, "yes, I would use heroin, cocaine and marijuana on a regular basis, if it were regulated? And I don't think that using it once a day is harmful." BTW – If you only were to legalize one, the marketing from the drug cartels would just push to another drug so it stands that to "fix" the problem you have to legalize all.

I like Eric M's comments. The real problem is that many people are so equivocal about drug use and all this talk about legalizing it confuses our children and our friends. If all parents would take a harder stance, gradually we could decrease drug use. The challenge is that even the parents who work hard with their kids have to send them out to the world where a few "pushers" make it seem okay and cool. There needs to be a negative social stigma to drugs in this country that suffocates the peers who push. Legalizing drugs won't get us to that point.

Even though this is a sad situation, I could really care less sometimes.
I mean now all of a sudden it is a tragedy because little white kids in the suburbs are taking drugs.
GIVE ME A BREAK
This isn't anything new!!!!! Drugs didn't just get to the subburbs, they have been there!
What really disturbs me is the fact that now all of a sudden this is an outrage.
No one says anything about little black and hispanic kids that are exposed to drugs, it is not an outrage then.
People really have thier priorities mixed up, instead of trying to combat the problem presented to all kids...., people are only worried about suburban white children.......

What needs to happen to get a tv special about black/hispanic kids and drugs.... an overdose..., oh I'm sorry, that has already happened, but unfortuantely no one knew about it becasue of who it was.....

IM OUTRAGED!!

Taliban is in charge in Afghanistan, no opium is produced. Americans come in, take over and opium production through the roof, world is flooded with heroin. Something wrong with this picture?

Marijuana is a gateway drug only because we made it a gateway drug. The fact is the majority of the population that has experimented with drug use started with marijuana. Where do you think they were introduced to the other hard drugs? That’s right their marijuana dealer.

Ever since the “war on drugs” began we have been told all drugs are bad. No one tells kids that marijuana won’t kill you but heroin and meth will. No one tells kids that marijuana is not addictive but you can become addicted to heroin after a single use.

When a teen finally tries marijuana they realize it is no worse than alcohol and that they have been lied to. This makes them much less hesitant to experiment with other drugs.

IF EVERYONE TOLD YOU ALL PERSCRIPTION DRUGS WERE EQUALLY BAD, THEN YOU TRIED AN ASPRIN, WOULDN’T YOU BE MORE LIKELY TO TRY A OXY THE NEXT TIME AROUND???

It is time to legalize marijuana so the attacks on it will stop and they can focus on the drugs that actually ruin people’s lives. They show commercials about how marijuana use will make your dog not like you and your friends will think you are boring.

HEROIN AND METH KILL!! Where are the commercials showing a heroin user selling everything they own to get high? Where are the commercials showing heroin users stealing money from friends and family to get high? Where are the commercials showing a kid overdosing?

Honestly my dog hating me sounds pretty good compared to sticking a needle in my arm and losing everything good in my life.

It is time to legalize marijuana and finally be honest with our children about the seriousness of each drug individually. It’s time to take the gateway out of the gateway drug.

Legalization! License for Murder! No...No...No! We should NOT have any legal "high" people driving on our roadways! It is bad enough with all the loaded drunks on the highways killing people...Wake Up!

"you back legalizing pot, you should be charged with accessory to murder each time a person is killed by a pot smoking, drunk"

hahahahhahahahahahah hah ahah ahhahahaha

Legalization and regulation are probably the best route. BUT it is not that simple. For example, look at the policy on alcohol consumption in Europe vs. United States. The European model doesn't make it an illegal and enticing product which leads to binging here. But if we ever wanted to move to that model we would have a very hard time doing so. It would be like turning on a faucet, you'd have to do it gradually, over time.
For those commenters that say give the big time drugs dealers the death penalty, good idea, but be prepared to keep doing it for the next 10 people who take their place behind them, because so long as there is an enormous profit there will always be someone to sell the drugs.
Also, to those who point out that there are illegal cigarettes, lotteries, etc. take a look at the numbers involved, the $ there is chump change compared to the illegal drug trade. Illegal drugs are more available to kids than alcohol. Period. There is your example.

Has anybody bothered to think that the drug war itself is profitable? Tons of cash (tax $$) are spent everyday on drug enforcement...and politicians and law enforcement don't want to give up that in-flow of dollars...It frustrates me to say this, but the drug war will be with us always..while it does superficially fight drug use (a losing battle, it's akin to criminalizing adultery..as in folks are gonna do it anyway)...the real issue is the money that fuels the drug war (our money, taxpayer money) and all of those who benefit from the drug war...i.e-.if you cut the prison population in half by legalizing pot, then you should only need half the law enforcement, correct?!?!

Last year, 2 of my 3 brothers died of heroin overdoses within 6 weeks of each other. My son has been an addict but, thankfully, was able to come out of it alive and well.
We pointed police to the person who sold the heroin, but nothing was done. He is still out there selling.
How many deaths and heartache will it take for authorities and politicians to stand up and take notice and fight this deadly force?
We, as familys and friends are doing what we can to get the word out, but we can only do so much.
We need help because this is bigger and stronger than anything you can imagine.

It will NEVER happen. We will have the war on drugs for the next 50 years. Kids will still OD, rehab groups will still be full, parents will still turn a blind eye to the problem. I remember the 1960's Dragnet television program doing a series on drug abuse. You'd think people would have matured alittle over the course of 4 decades. Marijuana was enough for me. I have friends who were involved with sniffing solvents. Hard drugs are too strong for casual users and abusers. If my child ODed on heroin I would: move, get a new job, put them and the family in rehab. If I had a choice between my child getting drunk on alcohol and driving and getting stoned and driving I would pick the later in a heartbeat. Alcohol and pot aren't even in the same league. The fact that the laws don't confirm it makes everyone suspicious of the law. Deny a psychic an outlet and it comes back twice as strong. These kids are going through changes, they get frustrated and they want to use and abuse something. They turn on the tube and its erectile dysfunction cured with a pill. Good standards don't you think?

It always seems to take en economic crisis before we see the truth about prohibition and it's failings. Were it not for alchohol prohibition in the 1920's and 30's , Al Capone would have been just another S.Chicago street thug. As it was his empire streached from N. Michigan to Florida where he was smuggling in his wares and an under funded and (at least in Chicago) corrupt police force could not stop him. Who else have we helped enrich in this manner? Pablo Escobar, Manuel Noriega, Pol Pot, the Taliban, and many more sordid figures. Simply put, ending the war on drugs will also aid us in the "War on Terror". Opium production in Afghanistan is at an all time high. Cocaine now comes from Mexico. In order to fix a problem in the dark, you must first drag it into the light so it can be examined, otherwise, you have no idea what you're looking at. Prohibition keeps the problem in the dark.

My heart goes out to her family and friends. If herion was legalized the amount of herion could be standardized so that users would know how much they have and might actually be safer. If they knew they had something that was 70% heroin they would use less than something "stepped on" for profit that might only be 20% heroin. The same with other 'hard' drugs. I don't use any of them but it just makes more sense. People murder and commit crimes everyday to sell these products. And by crimes I mean other than the actual laws broken selling them. It just seems like things would actually be safer if you gave citizens here in the states the FREEDOM to choose how they wanted to spend thier lives. There are going to be users regardless. If there were a legal means of using drugs society could set up programs to help those with problems more openly. Isn't it time to give change a chance?

So I am a 24 year old female engineer born and raised in a rural coastal town in NC that now lives in Raleigh. In high school I remember very specific instances where pot was mentioned in conversations. I remember very specifically the type of kids that did pot. Mostly surfers, but the kids were all types, jocks, poor, rich, black, white. That's the thing with drugs they cross all sorts of boundaries we use to keep ourselves separate from one another. If there was a single defining element to the kids that used pot on a weekly basis or more, was that there was something missing in their lives. This trend continued when I went off to college. I wouldn't say more or less people do it when they go off to college, just that there is more opportunity and perhaps less social judgment so individuals are more open about it. Drinking was much more of a concern to me and my friends' safety than pot ever was. (Haven't heard many comments on lowering the drinking age in this forum.) Still the bottom line was that something was missing in the lives of those using pot/drugs as a way to connect to a larger community.

I think today's modern parent is typically absent in their child's life. Yes kids aged 13-21 act like adults, look like adults, are capable of making good decisions like adults but they aren't. Recently I made that transition and I have to agree the major change I felt was the shedding of selfishness. Substance abuse is a selfish sickness. It is treatable, but it takes growing up quite a bit to overcome fully. This means a healthy dose of parent involvement. Some parents have reasons they haven't gotten involved like two jobs, their own illness, their own selfish self absorption, and denial. Their are solutions to each of these hurdles and money isn't one. It seems like most parents want their kids to like them more than actually parent. I give my mother kuddos for always communicating with me even when I didn't want to talk or felt like she could "never" relate to me. Just knowing there is a parent, someone tied to you that cares more than any friend ever could means the world to a struggling teenager. For every teenager there is a unique solution to reach them, but if you know your child then you know the answer. There are some really good service message commercials out there for drug prevention that focus on reaching to parents not the teenagers themselves. I feel terrible for this family, but I know the parents have regrets not pushing the issue further with their daughter and allowing her to distance herself from her family. Parent's can learn from this situation.

If you are a parent and close with your teenager or college student you should be able to answer the following questions without room for doubt or hesitation.

1. What is their first response to "what do you want for breakfast"?
2. What teacher isn't grading them fairly/giving them a hard time?
3. What did you give them for their birthday last year?
4. If they could take just one friend on a family vacation who would it be? Do you think this person is a good influence? Tell them.
5. Where is their spot at the dinner table/couch?
6. What was their last CD/i-tune they purchased?
7. When was the last time you hugged them (even if they hated it and pulled away)?
8. What was your last phone conversation/text about with them?
9. When was the last time you said you were proud of them/offered to help them with a problem they shared with you?
10. If you gave them $50 for the weekend what would they buy? Ask them to show you the receipt(s).

In response to JACK:
“This whole thing with making drugs legal is an asinine idea. Making the drugs legal would mean telling children that they are acceptable.” Last I checked, alcohol and tobacco products are still illegal to minors. I would suspect the same laws would be in place, if drugs were to be legalized. I would doubt that there are many parents out there encouraging their kids to drink or smoke. You claim legalizing drugs will make them appear “acceptable” to children. What’s the difference between “illegal for minors” and just plain “illegal”? I don’t know about your upbringing, but even though my parents drank, they never positioned it to me or my siblings as “acceptable” for us; it was an “adult” thing, like R-rated movies, strip clubs and roller coasters. Next. “To think that would put the illegal drug makers out of business is pure stupidity also. It will still be more expensive for the legal versions of the drug were the FDA approve a version that would more then likely have to be prescribed by a doctor. There is no way the stuff would be over the counter.” Alcohol and tobacco are both legal. When was the last time you were offered a homemade beer or homegrown cigarette in a back alley? How many underground moonshine distillers have been raided in your neighborhood in the last decade? Exactly. You just disproved your own point. Making drugs available through legal means creates an immediate sense of distrust in illegal distribution channels, which would eventually subside virtually entirely. To think that someone would buy a joint wrapped in a ziplock bag from a guy on the corner when the tried and true federally-backed version is available on the same corner inside a nice air-conditioned quickie mart is pure stupidity. “These type of statements are generally made by people who have IQ’s not much larger then their shoe sizes.” So, you’re short then. “To compare it to Alcohol is also a ridiculous comparison. Yes you can die from drinking, but generally most people are not going to die from 1 or 2 drinks.” Most people aren’t going to die from 1 or 2 encounters with most drugs either. This particular point makes no sense whatsoever. You’re comparing quantity to regularity of use or potency, as if they were the same thing. They’re not. That’s like saying that 1 or 2 beers don’t kill people, but 1 or 2 bottles of vodka will kill almost anyone; therefore, vodka should be illegal. Obviously, the more you do of anything, the worse it is for you, including drinking too much water at one time. “People and children as seen in this article can die from just 1 or 2 doses of heroin. But you say the legal version won’t be as potent. And I go back to the legal version will end up being more expensive making even more demand for illegal versions to be sold.” See the point I made earlier. We aren’t talking about pirated CDs and DVDs here. Sure, why buy the real thing when you can download it for free? Well, even in that scenario, many people choose to buy the real deal for many different reasons. Some prefer better quality. Some prefer to have the cover art. Some just see it as a moral debate. Now, how many people downloading pirated movies do you think would continue with that practice, if you told them that there was a chance that the movie they were downloading could kill them? I think we’d probably see a significant increase in Warner Bros stock, don’t you think? That’s not to say that there wouldn’t still be people willing to take the risk of downloading (there are always some people willing to test their limits), but I would say that the majority of downloading would end almost instantly. Now, take everything I just said about movie piracy and apply it to drugs. Same thing. “I would say that at least half of the population drinks alcohol at one time or another. Is that what you want to happen with these type of drugs?? Do you think it will be OK for 50% or more of the population to start dabbling in heroin? A highly addicting drug like heroin? Alcohol is addicting, but no where nearly as addicting as heroin.” It’s called education. It’s called personal responsibility. It’s called freedom of choice. No one is forcing drugs onto you by simply legalizing them. You can buy legal sex videos of people defecating on each other. I’ve never bought one because it ain’t my bag. I could buy tequilia whenever I want to, but I just don’t touch the stuff. I’ve been in close quarters with lots of drugs over the course of my life, most of which I didn’t do. Will I start doing them all if they are all legalized? Umm, let’s see here, nope. You could legalize bestiality tomorrow, but you won’t find me buying any new pets. Legalization and use are not innately linked, as your comments seem to suggest. At some point, people are responsible for their own actions, legal or not. “It’s just a shame that stupid people like this are allowed to vote!” If “stupid people” in this case is self-referential, then I agree 100%.

Since most of the world's heroin comes from the poppy fields of Afghanistan, we have more than the suppliers and users to blame, we have our own guvment. Sine the invasion of Afghanistan after 911, not a single opium croup has been napalmed. There is no "war" military eradication of these fields taking place. even-though a significant amount of funding for anti U.S. operations come from the opium trade.

Oh yes lets start talking legalization and taxation, That way law enforcement and concentrate on giving people who do not wear there seats belts tickets.

It's a little thing called natural selection.

Really, mom, you didn't think that she would use again after the first time she overdosed? The doctors never told you what to look for? You never educated yourself on your child's problem? You didn't know what those packets were? IT'S THE PARENTS FAULT AND THEY NEED TO TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY.

Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Knives and ropes don't kill people, people kill people. Drugs don't kill people, people kill people.

I do not have the answer. But my question is what is the value of a life? If pot is as easy to get as cigarettes than teens will pay someone over 21 a couple extra bucks to get them a joint, just like they do with beer. What of the deaths that increase because of the inhibition that occurs when teens take drugs? What of the car accidents that take the lives of innocent bystanders, that take parents away from children? People do stupid things when they take drugs, I certainly did in my youth, and I am well aware that I am lucky to be alive, all I ever did is pot and I put myself in some dangerous places because of it.
If we determine that for every million dollars we make/save we can allow a death than I guess we might as well take the money and walk, personally the life of my wife and kids is worth more than 80 billion.

How is it possible the mother didnt know what the little packets were?? All parents should be REQUIRED to watch "intervention" on A & E. Highly terrifying yet educational.

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. " ~ Ben Franklin
I think this quote is especially important when talking about the war on drugs because it is an accurate description of what has happened in America. Government propaganda or what have you scared people into thinking drugs were dangerous and needed to be outlawed. In essence they passed laws to protect ourselves from ourselves, as was done with prohibition. We should have listened to FDR when he said "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."
That fear of drugs led us to give up our liberty to make our own decisions. Yes, doing drugs can lead to awful things, but it is no different than alcohol and tobacco addiction. We gave up our liberty for protection and we gained neither. Instead we have rampant organized crime that infests itself in every city in the US and even in the most rural places in the country. This has led to "gangsters" in the major cities which preys on the poor and helpless while at the same time becoming a driving force behind pop culture. In that aspect alone we have already lost the war on drugs, by declaring it in the first place. Now look at the practical side. SO much money is spent on incarcarating ANYONE who is involved with drugs even users who do not have a problem at all. SO much money is spent fighting this war on every border, in every city, and even in different countries. Also there is only one way to really win a war on drugs. That is through control. 100 years ago, cigarettes were a lot more potent but nowadays are not even close to the potency they once were, while illegal drugs have gone up in potency. Cigarettes now are looked on with disdain by most people and that is not so with drugs. The government was able to control the tobacco and alcohol trade and now they have manageable problems. I think its safe to say the war on drugs is not manageable. They argue that as long as there is a black market available, such as kids under 18 cannot buy drugs, that cartels will continue to make money and that we cannot win the price war anyways. Last I checked there is no organized crime out there supplying booze to underage kids. I'm sure they can get some from friends or liberal family members. So that argument is shot. And as for the price war, I'm sure people will take buying drugs legally to going to jail and paying fines that they cannot afford. Eventually no matter what the cartels did, they would eventually become obsolete. Not to mention that perhaps a hundred years from now, with government control, those drugs would only be a shadow of the potency they are nowadays. Like someone said before, there is no one checking ID's for kids buying drugs either. To legalize these drugs allows the government to step in and make rules, but you can't make rules on something that is illegal. This is just a small fraction of the reasons why the war on drugs has failed so far and why it is inevitable that it will fail permanently. Aside from all the facts and figures which go both ways, I think we should all take a cue from the founding fathers as they were some of the smartest men in the world at that time and are the reason this country has become as successful as it is. Don't give up liberty because you are scared. The unintended consequences WILL far outweigh the risks. Not to mention, when you tell people what to do with themselves, they tend to rebel, especially in a free thinking country such as ours.

My brother has been addicted to heroin for 6 years, and his only hope was to go on the methadone clinic, and its the best that i have seen him. there is absolutely nothing you can for someone who is addicted to heroin. He has been in countless rehab, sober houses, and even jail. Everytime he relapsed we thought 'this is his rock bottom, and it cant get any worse' and it did get worse everytime. He has overdosed twice, and been seconds away from death....yet that still has not scared him enough.

My suggestion for anyone who has a friend or family member who is addicted to heroin:
DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF. Parents tend to blame themselves for their childs problems. It is not your fault. It does not matter what type of family they had, or how they have grown up, everyone makes their own choices.
Do not trust anything that comes out of their mouths. I have never seen anything like it, but they have the ability to lie so well that you really believe 'this time is different'.
Take action. If you are the Parent or guarding, then you can go to the court house and have the state put them in a demanded rehab facility for 30 days. After they have completed the program, and they can hopefully talk to you, then demand them to a sober house for at least 6 months.
Tough love. Sometimes letting go, is the best thing you can do. If you are always their for them to talk to, and come to whenever they need something, and they are just using you to get high...then you are an enabler. Letting them go, and allowing them to 'safely' hit rock bottom will be the best thing for them. it hurts like hell, but its the only way they grow up.
Talking when they are sober. When they are sober, they want to talk about what its like to do drugs, and what its like to get sober, because its literally the only thing they have in their life. Let them talk, and dont get upset.
Finally, if they are well beyond the point of help, get a hold of a intervention program, and look into the methadone clinic.

Darwin says we should give them all the heroin they want and see what happens.

[...] cheaper than six-pack of beer Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer [...]

DARE is a fool's dream: using peer pressure and shaming to make kids immune to, um, future peer pressure and shaming? It makes you determined to smoke at least one joint someday just to snap your fingers in the smug teachers' faces. Worst is if you are actually fooled and then wake up next year to 'oh, THAT'S how peer pressure works!'

How about we make guns illegal. All this talk about how harmful drugs are is BS! How many cops and other people died this past week alone from crazy jerks running around with guns. Maybe if they were smoking a joint they wouldnt be running around shooting people with guns. WHO ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT??? A guy smoking a joint or some nut hoarding guns in his room. I'm moving to Amsterdam. We have SERIOUS problems in this country and ITS NOT POT. And everyone who comments on pot as a problem needs to actually try it and then comment. But its just so easy to blame pot.

Of course I expect a lot of MAKE IT LEGAL arguments on CNN. Liberals flock to this site. So go ahead make it legal, then when I get in a car accident from a guy who bought it from the government, I can sue the government and get rich. Darwin is awesome, if you're dumb enough to do drugs and die, the gene pool is cleaner. But when the government has no morales and taxes a substance that will do it... So maybe we can make some tax money and lower prison populations. Were do we limit the users at, because I don't want to see a doctor, lawyer, police officer or other professional that uses. I guess we could just put drug users on unemployment. I also don't want higher medical payments because we now "have" to help all these people. Major cities have what 50% of ER visits by drug users. Oh and then cops will have to test for everything when you are pulled over impaired, great. You think legalizing it will make things safer, but now we see that places that have tried it (like Amsterdam) have had to cut back, because it attracts too many "bad apples".

I am a 22 year old who is 7 months sober from heroin. Some history, I began drinking, smoking pot, at 16, i was a good kid, i was involved in the marching band , chorus, plays, i got staright A's, I was involved in community service clubs, chess clubs, i play sports and everything. I never took opiates but got my wisdom teeth pulled and took vicodin. I was in college, and immediately i was buying pills where i could get them. To me, both our social society and college point to a partying lifestlye. This is in effect through the movies we watch, the tv we stare into, and the computers we waste our time staring at, music we listen to. There is no spirituality in the way of things today. I have read the bible and it was to no avail. i couldnt get sober. I went to rehab after rehab but the obsession was too strong. I then found Alcoholics Anonymous, it has helped alot. I would recommend anyone with a problem or parents of children addicted to give them tough love and kick them out but give them the option of a LONG TERM treatment home. This is the most important as the trickyt thing is not getting sober it is staying sober, that requires a definite preasonality change. Drugs will alwatys be there, i dont think they should be legalizeda, i think the individual invovled needs to look deep in ihimself and come to the conclusion that experience in the past of their life has shown drugs arent the remedy for todays problems. If anyone needs help or adivice with this issue feel free to email me.

Thanks to the 'just say no' program, the government lost credibility with anyone who ever smoked a joint, ate some mushrooms, or dropped ecstasy. That lost credibility costs lives when people doubt the case against heroin, coke, and meth. More Americans die as a result of the drug war every year, than died on 9/11. It's time to overhaul the nation's drug policy.

The Obama administration is too intelligent and too capable, to cling to the failed 20th century drug dogma. We need to push them, and hold them accountable.

You can't legislate drug use. We have spent trillions of dollars on that kind of complete & utter stupidity that is driven by government fraud
& special interests as much as the drug cartels. PARENTS need to
educated & they need to be parents. We also need to spend all the
tax dollars we are spending on the "war on drugs", on our children's
health & education.But then if we did that, Dick Chaney's stock in 80
some privet prisons wouldn't do to well. He needs those prisons full.

Did you all not get the memo? Heroin is addictive AND kills little girls. I'm pretty sure I sent it to all of you. Try to live your lives well and structure lives for your children that don't cause them to be filled with grief, rage, and sorrow that only strong drink and hard drugs can drown? Didn't get that one? Sorry, I'll check my list, but, like, nobody ELSE told you that either?

thank you all for intelligent discourse on this topic. I volunteer for habitat for humanity, the humane society and own a successful small business. I care about our country, our enviornment and our children. My own daughter just recieved a full academic Scholarship to a State University.
I am also a regular Marijuana smoker and convicted felon for Marijuana possesion.Lets stop this madness and bring our laws into the 21st century.

[...] Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer – amFIX – CNN.com Blogs. [...]

To those saying "just stop" and everything will take care of itself-

After food, water and sex you can bet your last dollar that most normal humans need to alter their thought process- if even temporarily. This is an indisputable fact. The people that don't need this have been taught to not need it. This isn't natural. You are the weird ones and a small minority at that.

And for those whom have lost a loved one- Well there's always the legal system. Go after those agencies, who IMHO are grossly overpaid based on their past performance. The DEA, ONDCP, State police, local police, SWAT teams and any other enforcement agency involved and sue them. That's right- your paying their paychecks, overtime, and Miami Vice lives- they owe you. THEY FAILED YOU. They let your kid get addicted, they let you down. SUE THEM INTO DOING BETTER!

Your sad sob stories, half of which are internet lies to make your point by trying to get people emotional about your problem, fall on deaf ears if no money is involved.

Go to any NA meeting, Alcohol is a DRUG!

Prison doesnt deter anyone because its a country club. Make crime pay and it will make a difference. Enforce the death penalty, and streamline the court system so it isnt more costly to prosecute.

Not all drugs should be legalized. Some should, like marjuana, but it still wouldnt change anything as far as the harder drugs go. People would still use them.To this I say take off the warning lables and let natural selection take its course. Every school kid in the US above the age of four knows drugs are bad for you. Thats all you can do.

The real story is that 90% of all Heroin is grown in Afganastan while our goverment watches. Just saw a report that the U.S. goverment is giving Afgani farmers one last year to grow poppies then they have to switch to wheat. Hope the users from the projects get a one year hiatis from prosecution for possession.

"This is today’s heroin addict. This is what they look like. They look like everybody’s kids.” How come everyone gets upset when a white suburban kids dies of a drug overdose when it happens all the time in minority communities.? I guess Richard Pryor was right when he said it becomes a drug epidemic when it happens to white kids.

Why is everyone so "sorry' she passed away? You are? Really?
I feel sorry for the parents. That they raised such a weak kid. But the fact that she's gone?
Good. Weed out the weak ones... pun intended.

Drugs are a means of natural selection.
With the exception of someone being killed by a drunk driver, drug overdose is really a victim-less crime.
They, statistically speaking, don't take anyone out with them, and if they overdose and drop out of the gene pool, all the better for the pool.

Stop coddling the weakest humans. Stop lowering the standard to accomodate the weakest link. Some people need to go. And if we'd take the safety off society, you'd find that the ones that need to go, often do.
We protect too many losers already from hurting themselves.

Kids today ( unlike those of us from the '60s and 70's) sadly move onto heroin addiction at a much higher rate due to the advent of oxycontin. The over prescribed oxycontin has sadly presented an open door to the addiction to opiates.

They grab an oxcontin one night....maybe a second...and soon are so dop sick they will stick a needle of heroin in their arm just to stop withdrawals.
No one wants to be addicted....

Learn to Cope
http://www.learn2cope.org

Well said. There are many questions that need to be answered. The first is what is the american need to be high all the time? Second why are drugs illegal, in the first place my body my choice except of course when the person in question is driving or the sort. Third if selling drugs is illegal why is using it just a misdemenor when the user is the main cause of gangs, mafia and even the fall of countries thru the purchase of drugs. Still other things are very wrong in the U.S. like how can a mother and father not know thier kid is on drugs. Like President Obama said turn off the TV's and start talking. And last but not least when did we hand over the country to the twenty something crowd. This thing that young people think they own the world is causing young stupid people to lead other young stupid people. Fathers and mothers take back being cool with being intelligent not wreckless. Remember it is the older folk that make things happen.

Why are people up in arms when SOS Clinton says we are partly to blame for the violence in Mexico... here's the proof!!

Decriminalizing and Legalizing aren't the same thing. At the very least, marijuana should be decriminalized. No more jail time for small amounts for personal use, only a monetary fine.

Legalization is a stickier subject. I and many, many others believe that the actual health risks of pot are minimal, and at worst harmful to the smoker in the long run. You don't overdose smoking weed. On the other hand, drugs like crack, cocaine, heroin can outright kill you. Legalizing the "harder drugs" is something that I cannot wholly agree wtih, but legalization of marijuana is something that actually posses benefits.

Firstly, the government wouldn't be able to keep their shelves stocked. They could sell it for whatever they wanted and tax to hell out of it. People would buy it because it's easy and legal. If this were to occur, rules would have to be made to secure their business so to speak. Make selling drugs even more punishible than it is now. Severely so, so that anyone wo wants to deal will suffer the consequences. Also, continue to maintain a DUI stance on driving high. DUI's aren't cheap. In addition, make it an "In home" activity. Not in bars, outside, parks, etc. For God's sake, let the peaceful adult smokers enjoy themselves in the privacy of their own home.

Marijuana should be treated Exactly the Same as tobacco and alchol. Legalize it and try and limit it being used by Adults Only.
Hemp should be legal and manufactures should be allowed to make products from it, such as rope.

All other narcotic drugs should remain illegal.

Acccording to Harvard Univ. (Mass.): treating alcholics with Kudzu and St. John's Wort can sometimes help to control their addiction to alchol.

Our country needs to wake up. The war on drugs is joke. Addicts are sick people who need help not jail. I have a friend who has been in jail for 2 years for a non-voilent drug offence. In order for him to get out he has to take a drug test. Why lock up offenders for drug crimes and then make them pass a drug test to get out of prison. Is it just me or something wrong with our criminal justice system?? I feel sorry for parents whose children become addicted however there are many young people who are addicted to legal drugs. Peace Robin

legalize it, regulate it, behind the counter, dose it, and tax it heavily. make it 21+ . my state uses a portion of lottery taxes for gambling addiction, same could be used here with treatment. prohibition does not work, ever.

This is very scary! My son is 2 1/2 now, and it is scary to know this is going on with kids as young as 13! I can't imagine how hard it is on the family of this poor girl to have to bury their daughter. it must be especially hard on them knowing it was due to illegal drugs. I pray that one day our country and our world will be rid of drugs. However, I know it is impossible because we have become a world so dependent on drugs. I wish my family and I could live in a bubble away from the terrors of the real world!

April 13th, 2009 2:22 pm ET

Why is everyone so “sorry’ she passed away? You are? Really?
I feel sorry for the parents. That they raised such a weak kid. But the fact that she’s gone?
Good. Weed out the weak ones… pun intended.

Drugs are a means of natural selection.
With the exception of someone being killed by a drunk driver, drug overdose is really a victim-less crime.
They, statistically speaking, don’t take anyone out with them, and if they overdose and drop out of the gene pool, all the better for the pool.

Stop coddling the weakest humans. Stop lowering the standard to accomodate the weakest link. Some people need to go. And if we’d take the safety off society, you’d find that the ones that need to go, often do.
We protect too many losers already from hurting themselves.

So, no one ROBS or KILLS for drugs or money to buy drugs??? DUH!!!

They might as well legalize all drugs, and then bolster education, rehab, and therapy facilties, parents are already doing it, and drugs are still illegal, imagin having a population based on facts, education and information and rehab instead of PRISONS, PRISONS, and more PRISONS and prohibtion which HAS NOT WORKED AT ALL!

I have yet to hear a good arguement why street drugs shouldn't be legalized and controlled. I too could care less if suburban kids get poisoned. Besides it makes no difference. There is no democracy, there is only greed.

I suggest all you haters visit a detox clinic or a 12 step meeting, and see the faces before you say something as stupid as "good another junkie dead".

To anyone hooked on any drug including alcohol – help is available, and you can stop for good and live the life of your dreams. Myself and millions of others have done so through the process of recovery. All you have to be is willing. The phone numbers are in the telephone book. Dial them, don't file them!

I have used heroin many times and I don't suggest trying it, Mainly because it is so addictive. It makes you feel very good and euphoric and once your brain has a taste of that, It will say anything, Do anything to rationalize using it.
As far as Marijuana, It should have been legalized decades ago.!!
I have also used pot for several years and I have never known it to cause any kind of permanent damage to the brain, Not to mention Marijuana has a medical use that just keeps being ignored. Meanwhile, the sick and dying people out there who could have a real chance of not suffering if pot was made legal, medical marijuana.! Drinking alcohol is a thousand times worse that pot could ever be.
President Obama promised to stop federal government raids of medical marijuana outlets in states where the voters, voted to legalize medical marijuana.
He actually did it.!!!! Thank you Mr Obama.

the comments are probably more interesting than the article itself. each one has a particular theme that people seem to resonate with, yet our elected officials who are supposed to be representing our interests continue to ignore this theme. maybe this problem can be tackled from a different angle; rather than electing government officials who do not listen from the major parties, try third party or independents. Third party and independent candidates have more incentive do a good job than our current officials–career politicians who's reputation within congress assures that no matter what they do no stains will stick. the lack of any serious competition for government seats will continue to yield poor results for us citizens who in all reality, should be running the show. it is time to stop choosing between the "lesser of two evils" which will only yield evil, and make some serious choices about who we allow to run our lives. Several third-party candidates have called for the decriminalization of drugs consistently for the past 12 years. it is time to give them a shot, and prove to us that there is at least one politician who can put his money where his mouth is.

First off....NO! to herion legalization. But think that if caught with possession without distribution or sale...then should not be a crime. Decriminalization of possession.

Marijuana and Hemp are two different things. Hemp has minimal THC and is not psychoactive. Marijuana has Psychoactive properties, but due to prohibition it was left unstudied. After the current Medical MJ state laws changing they are finding that 90% of the so called "facts" are actually dis-information. Most MJ propaganda is wrong and unproven.

Research and read places like MPP (marijuana policy project) or Norml for Factual scientific studies and truth before beleiving things like DARE.

We as the people need to use our heads. Don't punish the addict, Punish the death dealer. Marijuana IMO should be decriminalized, Medical Marijuana Legalized BY OUR Govt. Our doctors should decide best course of treatment and state law should supercede Federal. But this is not the case anymore.

We have LOST the war on drugs. We have 1000's of lives ruined from it. Things need a change.

Just my 2 cents worth. And to the first reply on this from the prison Guard. AMEN to what you wrote!!!!!

I do not think pot or drugs should be legalized. I think we should have MUCH HARDER sentences for people SELLING the drugs instead of slapping them on the wrist. I have personally be affected by parents who had substance abuse problems. I also have a cousin with substance abuse problems. I have had two different families/children dropped at my door because their parents were on drugs. I am not a legal foster parent. I am just a person who they knew would take care of their children while they went on a "drug vacation from life". It cost me a fortune to clothe, house, feed the children but I did the right thing. The kids had only the clothes they were wearing because their parents were evicted again!! The government wouldn't help me with their care but paid the parents all kinds of money that was used for drugs. The parents I delt will had govenment assistance for child care, food cards (which they sold for cash) welfare checks(they spent on drugs and not rent, free medial(the parents didn't use for their kids because they were to high to care), housing assistance...YES YOUR TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK SUPPORTING THE ADDICTS AND NOT THEIR CHILDREN and not the people taking care of their children. Even though financially I qualified for a food card....I couldn't receive one to help feed these four kids because I had a 401K even though these kids were not mine. I had to go to food pantries to cover some of our costs because I couldn't afford them and children's services didn't care since the kids were "already in a safe place". Their parents chose drugs over their children. My family and their children paid the price for their addictions. I am not sorry I did the right thing but I am angry at the govenment for paying for their habits and not helping me clean up the mess. I want the people who sold the drugs held accountable for my financial loss and the childrens personal loss. Legalizing drugs won't make it less of a problem, it just gives the government more money because they will tax the sale of drugs. Drug addicts will go and do go toward a life of crime to continue to support their addiction. Our country is a mess. We are paying for the addicts. There should be a limit to how long a person can get welfare just like their is a limit to unemployment. People that get assistance should have to take drug test randomly to get their checks. Stop supporting the addicts. Don't legalize drugs.....get tougher on crimes!!! Legalizing drugs to keep people out of prison is like saying "let's legaling theft to lower our prison costs and overcrowding". If it is wrong, it IS wrong!!!

I would ask Mrs Ciappa, pray tell who is "they"? Because NO ONE coerced her straight-A, cheerleader daughter into taking heroin! A goreous girl like that is going to garner A LOT of male attention–and most of it ill-intentioned. The DEA man says teenagers are going to be attracted to it becuase they think it is not as dangers, well, a lot of psychological factors are going to enter here, MR BRILLIANT DEA MAN. Both the DEA agent and the parents talk as if "free will" on Natalie's part NEVER EXISTED! We will never get anywhere as long as we have parents and law-enforcement officers with such clouded thinking.

The argument that legalizing drugs amounts to the same thing as legalizing other crimes like murder and rape is idiotic in the extreme. Drug use, unlike those other crimes, is victimless. The argument that drugs destroy lives can be made for alcohol, gambling, shopping, and even religion. Should we prohibit those things? Whatever happened to personal freedom and personal responsibility? Legalization of drugs is NOT the same thing as condoning their use. If you don't want your kids doing drugs, spend time with them. We should not have to rely on the government to do our parenting for us. And as far as adults are concerned, what someone chooses to put into their body, no matter how stupid, should be their decision alone. The laws should only address what happens when someone who is intoxicated harms someone else. So get off your high moral horse. The cost of the violence created by prohibition, and that fact that it's easier for our kids to get hard drugs than cigarettes, is argument enough to warrant legalization.

The problem with past education, is that it was mostly based on a lie. I went years ago in such education course through college. It was absed on all sort of lie, half truth, on Marijuana, crack, heroin and cockain. Once the kids in the class did uncover the lie opn marijuana they did not believe the truth on ehroine either. 3 of them died subsequently (admitely 1 of AIDS only 2 OD'd) and 1 spent years in prison after the police checked why a kid opf poor suburbs had got a red ferrari (yeah dumb drug dealer).

Education works ONLY if you tell truth and only truth, and don't try to cover your own bias with Lies. Educator might not like marijuana, but telling lies on it in an attempt to give their own distate to the kids, will lead to the kids not believing the whole.

And anyway there will ALWAYS be a small eprcentage which will do drug to try it out, or because their life is in the crapper. In as much , what is better ? Prohibition with all its sucesses (*SNOOOORT*) or drug distriubuted by the governement which can control quality, cleaness, and advise the drug user ?

Same with all other abstinence education anyway. That don't really work.

Just because you make something legal does not mean you are writing off the ones who use the substance. Personally I would rather see these substances legalized so that the taxes generated can be used for education and treatment. Plus the substance can be produced under guidelines and regulations that would make the chances of over doses much lower. Prohibition didn't work with alcohol and I believe our stance on the drug problem (it's not a war) has been counter productive for decades. After all, this is a personal choice that will be made whether the substance is legal or not.

We'll never control it. We can't even control it in the prisons, and that's the most controlled environment on the planet. It all boils down to being able to control people and you can't. They have to be able to control themselves. Even being raised right doesn't make you impervious. It truly is a scourge upon America. Nowhere on the planet do you see the drug problems you do in the US.

Yes we skipped a generation of education. If you snort it you are very unlikely to overdose. If it were leagle this would not have happend.

This is not about black and white. This is about or friends and families....I think it is sad, and yes this has gone on for years for many cultures. Hell I am a black man.

The question is how can we stop this senseless destruction? If I am correct, I don't think anyone here wants to see this happen to any one. Are we really that cruel to say that we should legalize this stuff and put legal support behind it saying it is ok to shoot up?

Mom's and Dad's would you feel any more safe or comforted that cocaine, heroin, or (whatever) was legal, and that you 15 year old can now go to the store or local vending machine with or without you knowing? Do you mean to tell me you can show someone how to use that crap responsibly? The bottom line is that this stuff is harmful and it kills. I don't have to tell you that. Where do we draw the line and say this is wrong. Why not legalize everything...don't stop at drugs.

From the many posts that I see, we are mostly all caring individuals with the exception of a few.... I know we can do something about this if we starting caring about more than ourselves.

Not only is it cheaper than a six-pack, but if you're under 21, it's easier to buy than a six-pack.

[...] [...]

I live in California and we are drug free. Everyone in High School signs an abstinance form

Kirk – Los Angeles

Pluto wrote: "Darwin says we should give them all the heroin they want and see what happens."

I agree with Darwin.

all the fear here: "I dont want it legal, there will be potheads on the road" or "all drug people should be shot". WHY? Um, there are 31 million potheads in this country. Government data shows they actually drive safer under the influence.. the DEA shelved that report when it didnt fit the drugs are evil approach. And why should someone should be shot over weed? I have never been unemployed , and I have smoked pot a decade. I am an artist, and it helps the guitar playing. It also helps me meditate, and I find it spiritual. It helps me look within, and find ways to improve my life. All the funny 'loser pot user' stereotypes just dont seem to hold true.. my pothead friends are graphic designers, sound mixers, shoot and mix film, areas where an artistic eye is needed. The only people that fear pot are the ones with no idea.
I fear drunk angry testosterone pumped men, but not potheads.

I have lost two friends to heroin overdose in less than six months. One of them died a week ago today. It's still surreal...I still want to call or text him. However, I can do that all I want and I'll never get an answer. He's never coming back, and that is what's so heart wrenching. It makes me sick, and angry, to watch such a bright light of a life be snuffed out because of heroin use. His death was preventable.

My friends were like Natalie...good students, had a lot going for them. I think about their deaths and say "It's so stupid! It's such a careless way to die." The drug problems are starting to rear their ugly heads in North Texas. It's taken so many young lives here.

If you're reading this article, and you think a family member, a friend or even an acquaintance is having trouble with drugs, please try to help them. So many of these young addicts feel like they have no where to go, their families will be angry with them and that no one will care enough to help. Prove them wrong.

Kirk from Los Angeles said:

"I live in California and we are drug free. Everyone in High School signs an abstinance form"

You ought to be a comedian. My own kids went through high school and watched about a dozen of their friends die from drugs. In every case, the drug was alcohol. Yeah, their schools had the same "abstinence" programs, too.

As for being drug-free, obviously you haven't noticed all the places selling booze and cigarettes. Just FYI, your teen friends are about 50 times as likely to wind up dying from the effects of booze or cigarettes than from any illegal drug.

And, also FYI, the biggest single cause of drug epidemics among US children is hysterical, misguided anti-drug campaigns. You can read about lots of examples in Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm

I would always say to my husband, "Once an addict, always an addict". He overdosed several times and was brought back saying he would never do that to his family and friends again. I truly believed he meant it in his heart, but the addiction to heroin is just too strong. There were countless rehab attempts, and many close friends that also died. He started using when he was 13 yrs old, and I was told by one of his close friends later that he described being "in love" with heroin. When we first got together, he wasn't using and I was extremely naive to what our future would be. He did try to quit, even one time for 4 years, but he couldn't stay away from it, the lifestyle, people he had grown up with.

One day when I came home from work with our 2 1/2 year old son, we found him lifeless on our kitchen floor and this time he was gone. That will be 17 years ago the end of this month. I learned through much therapy not to blame myself and in fact, the same friend mentioned above had told me I had given him every opportunity to change his life with a home, child, job, etc., but the drug was just too powerful. He made that choice, not me.

It doesnt matter that heroin is cheaper than beer, considering that its actually harder for kids to get beer than it is to get heroin.

No, drugs should not be legalized.
Murder happens every day, should there be no punishment for murderers? Should we just make it legal because people do it anyway?

Fighting for justice is hard- do it anyway.
Protecting our children is hard- don't give up.
There are bad people in this world that are willing to hurt our children, to take advantage of them and profit from them.
Our children must be our number one priority, when our civilization crumbles so low that it's ok for our children to be used and abused and anything goes then there will nothing left.

I do believe that the number of good people are more numerous than the bad, don't give up!

If we give them all the heroin they want then the next thing they will be stealing from you to support their habit or even worse kill. So I would agree with you if wwe could also ship them to a deserted island.

The "War on Drugs" was never truly fought. Legalizing drugs is a cop-out that would lead to disasterous effects.

Want to fight a "real" war on drugs... here's how:

Start taking border security seriously. As long as you have a border in which literally millions of people can just walk across illegally (with a backpack full of drugs), you'll never be able to reduce the supply.

Stop putting drug users in prison, put them in rehab instead. Take the money you save from putting all those people in prison, and use that to fund more rehab facilities.

D.A.R.E. doesn't work, but overall education does. Change the ways schools are funded. Instead of funding by county, make them statewide. Take education $ and distribute it evenly to all areas based on the number of students. End the practice of the rich neighborhoods getting good schools, while low income areas get the crumbling buildings and ridiculously large class sizes.

Seriously tackle poverty issues. Poverty feeds people into gangs. Poverty and lack of education are greater predictors of crime and addiction than any other causes. Get serious about rebuilding inner city neighborhoods, and bringing businesses (and jobs) back to the inner cities. Statistics and history have proven time and again that if given access to quality education and a job, people will turn away from crime and drug use.

Stop concentrating low income housing into specific areas, require that all neighborhoods have housing of several different economic levels mixed together. A property is more likely to be kept up, if it is surrounded by other kept up properties. But concentrating low income housing into the worst areas of town, just continues to feed the never ending downward cycle.

Expand public transportation. If someone can't afford a car, they can only work if bus service extends to where the jobs are, or if they are within walking distance. As jobs move farther and farther from low income areas, it becomes increasinly harder for those who want to work their way out, to get a decent job.

I could go on, but perhaps you get the point. Drug use is a symptom of larger problems. You can't decrease drug use without first addressing the causes. It has nothing to do with whether it is legal or illegal. Most people who use drugs do it to escape what they believe to be a worse situation (regardless of how much money they make).

"Illegal" drugs are illegal for a very good reason. Keep them illegal, and start fixing the reasons people resort to using the drugs in the first place. Making them legal would only make matters worse.

China had the same problem during the Opium Wars. How did they fix the problem? They legalized opium, put those who were addicted into rehab and shot the drug dealers. The decrease in use and criminality declined rapidly.

Granted there are many addicts all over the world but in the USA we have won the prize as the biggest drug consuming nation on earth. Lucky us!

My old man use to say "legalize it, tax it and arrest the dealers" Then put anyone stupid enough to import or deal drugs in jail for life..

However, in this country if you try bringing legalization up you are considered a drug wacko, a communist and a moral degenerate. Go figure!

The “War on Dugs” is a joke. We are locking people for using, selling and importing drugs in a never ending cycle that costs us money and manpower. We are employing thousands of well intended people to arrest, prosecute and jail them. We send billions of dollars to the very countries that are shipping the stuff to us in hope that they do the right thing and ironically we are making Billionaires out of the worst possible scum.

And you wonder why Judy & Johnny are so screwed up? Get Real!

We don't need more dead kids, drug crazed addicts, gun fights and murders, roberies or assaults and billions upon billions of so called money to fight the War On Drugs.

Smoking weed is fun....and not as dangerous as alcohol. Plus you can put it in brownies.

So much for winning the war on drugs. And we spend so damn much money trying to prove the illusion that we can win.

Ok, I'm sorry but knowing people who have had problems with hard drugs (meth & heroin) drugs– NO they shouldn't be legal. I know people who have destroyed their lives from using drugs. And now they have pretty much no chance at a future. Making this legal only makes it easier to get addicted to these VERY addictive drugs.

And for all you people who think marijuana is harmless- I used to think that too. Until I fell in love with a guy who turned into a complete pothead. I watched him destroy what he called the best thing he ever had because he had no motivation, spend all his money on weed, risk his job and make poor decisions. A person who was once intelligent, sweet and motivated turned into a lazy, poor, jerk who smoked pot all the time. It became the most important thing to him.

So DO NOT tell me that marijuana is harmless. Yes, many people smoke it socially and lead normal lives. But it has the potential to be harmful as well.

[...] leave a comment » Today CNN announced on their web site that heroin is cheaper than a six pack of beer. [...]

No one wants to see a child strung out. But if you're of age, it's all up to you. What you do with your own body is no one's business but your own.

These alcohol-guzzling parents that get all upset when their kids do heroin really make me laugh. They're all addicted too, but they won't even acknowledge it.

People will do what they will do. Suck it up.

Marijuana use harms noone. My body, my choice. As Thomas Jefferson said " some of my best days have been spent smoking hemp, enjoying the view" . Plus , Im surrounded by republicans. I need to smoke weed.

Several people here have failed to make the distinction between a personal choice and depriving others of liberty. Legalizing rape and murder is not remotely similar to legalization of drugs and prostitution. As a person who has lived in places where both are legal, I can say from experience that having it that way is the more intelligent choice. Drug prohibition does not result in it's claimed goal, drug use reduction, as such it should be abandoned because of all the negative forces it creates.

Prostitution a problem? Exactly what is the problem here? Sex is the only thing you can give away, but you can't sell. Properly regulated and controlled, all things strike a balance. You can't ban human nature and human cravings, you'll just drive them underground and it will result will be worst than the original thing you attempted to ban.

As a Marijuana user I think it is harmless to some extension, and it has some benefits on the other hand. If you abuse or use it at improper times, it is not good, but isn't that so with alcohol, and with ANYTHING? It is all about education. But a lot of that was said here already. What I want to add is that if I have the option to buy it legally, EVEN if there would still be illegal offers for half the price, I'd go with the legal one for sure!!! Even if they ID me and if I have to pay more for it. The reason is obvious, I don't want to fuel the crime! You may say that I am doing so now by buying illegal, and that is true, but ultimately who is doing this is who give us no other option because they decide to define it as illegal: the government.
Then one may say: but you have the option, just don't use it. And then, I should be forbid of using something I enjoy and that do not lead me to do anything wrong (hurt people, rob, etc), just because it is said so? So, to whoever raise this argument, do you know that sugar is not good for you? A lot of people (health professionals) would defend this point. What do you think if the government make it illegal? Does it make sense for you? Well, it gives a high, it is addictive to some degree, some would say it is not healthy. But using it or not should be your decision, right? You should know what is not good in it, or if it is just when abusing it, etc, and then decide right? Education, education, education.
Same is valid for all drugs. making them illegal does not make people use it less. People are using it and getting bad labels for that, and dying. If they are legal they can be better educated, not be labeled as criminals, make better choices with more information and support.
This would not be sending the message that we support drug use. It would say that whoever uses it is not criminal, but the education side would say it can be dangerous and that you should not do it. If you abuse, you may need treatment, it is like a sickness and no one likes being sick.
Someone said above that if we think of legalizing drugs, this would be the same as legalizing rape, prostitution, etc. Well I think that if something hurts others (like rape, killing, robbing, etc), it is a crime. If not, it is not a crime. Using drugs shouldn't be a crime. And by the way, nor should prostitution. These things should be regulated, and that's all.

For three of my four years in high school I did heroin. Every once in a blue moon my friends and I would buy crack to go with the heroin. I snorted heroin due to small veins and I am so thankful that is all I did. Had I started out by shooting it, I would defintely not be the college graduate I am today. I feel so bad for the parents of this girl and parents of any child who's life is lost. Don't blame yourself though, teenagers are going to do what they want, one way or another. My parents were ultra-strict and I still found ways around their rule to do what I wanted. Looking back I see how dangerous these drugs were, but I dont regret anything I have done... it has made me who I am today. That being said I feel that we shouldn't legalize heroin. Pot, yes. Heroin and Coke, No. Many people feel marijiuana is a gateway drug but I knew plenty of kids growing up who smoked pot and never moved on. I think if you taxed the hell out of it and quit putting teenagers and adults in jail who sold/distributed/ used it then we would be making money on something that half the population has tried. We are wasting money on prosecuting and conatining people who are doing a drug that is on the level with alcohol. People die in alcohol related incidents unfortunatley but people also die from peanuts. I am sick of people saying that drugs are immoral. Perhaps to you, but why spend tons of money fighting pot when we could make money taxing it.

I am a 36 year old recovering addict. It amazes me when I see young faces in meetings. I am hopeful for them all, but unfourtunalty they don't stick around long onough and go back out. I really wish schools would include the fact that drug addiction is a disease, a fatal one. More needs to be said about this fact. I struggle daily with my disease and pray that my sons will learn from my mistakes in life. Just for today I am hopful.

I drug test my kids every week or so. I purchased the kits from Uritox Medical. It's not about trust it's about saving your childs life. Those of you who want to pretend like it's not around your kids, well lets just say you don't understand or you just want to ture a blind eye. Think of your children and about being a parent and not trying to be there friend.

http://www.uritoxmedicaltesting.com

If you are stupid enough to use heroin or any other substance like that you then you deserve what happens to you. I don't want to hear the excuses as to why people do drugs.

If we want to stop this from coming into our country we need to be willing to go the distance. Burn the damn poppy fields in Afghanistan and shoot all folks involved in growing, producing, transporting and selling the drugs. Destroy anything and everything that has to do with the drug cartels as well. No more political correctness, no more worrying about their "rights", etc. Use whatever amount of force is necessary to end it.

Why does the US have so money drug problems? Canada, a more liberal, socially tolerant, and welfare state, and Mexico, a desperately poor with plenty of drugs (as most drugs transit or originate from there on there way to the) do not have, apparently, the same problems as the US does?

Legalize drugs? I don't think so... in fact, I think the laws should be stiffened only to recognize the real criminals and separate the victims.

If think the death penalty should be doled out to drug dealers involved in any drug related death, and anyone in a position of authority that is involved in dealing narcotics should face the same if not life in prison...

You start putting these dealers to sleep, this problem will go away.. the real problem is the surprising amount of involvement in trafficking via government resources... These people that are in fact in the employ of "we the people" should pay the ultimate for supporting and destroying the fabric of this nation...

Corruption, and cash is what is fueling this disease. Mandatory random drug testing for ALL elected officials along with ALL civil servants "no strings attached" just go and give the sample, no warning.. If caught you lose it all just like these children that are dying every day are giving up... life, love and liberty

Legalization will only "fix" the drug dealers getting rich off addicts – and instead the profits go into the pockets of who knows what government agency to mismanage the funds. There needs to be something done to "fix" the culture of boredom, despair, fear, etc. etc. that drives these kids to experiment with H in the first place. What is so darn awful and unrewarding about your life that you are willing to try something that you have been TOLD can kill you. Our kids are not stupid – there's something more to it than that. Find what it is that triggers the using to start, and fix THAT problem first. Addiction is a disease of the mind, the spirit, as well as the body. It's not something that can be cured simply by diagnosing and dispensing a "cure all". Less stigma on the disease of addiction, more help for people who need it. More help for parents to understand how to help their kids.

How would legalized drugs have saved the girl in the article? If the addiction is so lethal that it drives people to ruin their lives when it's illegal, how will their lives be less ruined if it's legal?

As for the assumption that criminal organizations will just walk away from billions in easy money with the stroke of a legislative pen – come on, you have got to be kidding! This notion is just laughable. The push in the illegal channel will just shift to higher potency, or larger quantities, or the new-drug-of-the-week, with the legal channel only supplying the "recreational" user, or last year's drug of choice. Is there such a thing as a recreational heroin user, given the lethality?

Has the drug war failed? Possibly, probably. But how much worse would the toll have been without it?

If people want a Huxley's "Brave New World", more power to them. When I was 15, my 13 year old POT addicted friend warned me never to try because once you pick up the pipe, you might neve put it down. He was dead 2 years later.

My brother was a social worker who spent a number of years attempting to rehab the worse alcoholics. These were street people who had lost everything. He warned me never to give them money as they would use it for alcohol and drink themselves to death. Needless to say, their 5 year success rate was worse then type IV lung cancer.

Regardless of whether drugs are legalized or not or which ones, the more controled substances you throw out there, the greater the likelyhood of destroying lives. The human being is the most complex machine we know. There are some people who can walk away from Meth, Heroin, and Cocaine. Yet it is alcohol that is their demon. The problem with legalizing more and more is you are accepting that society must take a loss that will be measured in lives. If we condone that the best way to get pleasure out of life is through a chemical even as harmless as Huxley's SOMA then lets just supply the bullets also. Life through chemicals never works.

Forget the Marijuana ads. Kids are jumping to Meth and Heroin faster than the old "gateway" theory would suggest.

However, if you can't get proper education about the stuff try viewing "Requiem for a Dream" directed by Darren Aronofsky. That'll make you stop doing just about any drug.

Prohibition is an excellent method of governance for children, not adults. It's a deep and abiding mystery to me how distaste for it came to be thought of as a 'liberal' viewpoint when one of prohibition's most vocal opponents was the founder of the modern Conservative movement and the personal political mentor to Ronald Reagan.

Tobacco is part of the reason we won the Revolutionary War. Back in Virginia, in the late 1700's, this was our only crop. Today you people demonize smoking tobacco, even though this nation is standing today because of our tobacco exports.

Alcohol is just a synthetic man-made drug that people demanded to use during the 1920s. It's not legal because it's less dangerous. It's legal because people wouldn't have it any other way.

Now we're telling you! We want marijuana legal also! It's a plant with well-documented use dating back hundreds or possibly even thousands of years.

No, just because it's a plant, doesn't mean it's ok. There are many poisonous plants. However marijuana isn't one of them.

Instead of legalizing drugs, we should legalize beatings. Growing up in an asian family, I was scared to death of my dad's belt, wooden sticks, etc. Or do what Indonesia does with drug dealers...they kill them.

[...] (Via) [...]

I have had several relatives and friends who were addicts. Opiates are by far the most insidious and detrimental. You cannot tell if someone is just tired or depressed when they are using opiates. They just become more and more withdrawn. Then they begin disappearing for long periods of time along with things that are valuable and not secured – golf clubs, computers, cameras, jewelry, cash anything.

It gets far worse than that and I have a hundred horror stories. Drugs will politicize families and tear them apart. Usually this divide develops between the 'tough love, rock bottom, ostracize' group vs. the 'support, therapy, hand-holding' group. There are pitfalls to both mindsets and either side may prove to have a more effective strategy. The only way to find out is either through tragedy or elation. But no matter what, there is always pain along the way.

Parents need to take their blinders off and spend time with their children. Whether it is conversation or activity in or outside the home it must be done. There is no other way to discover what state of mind your child is in than spending time with them. And there is no substitute for love and support in the formative years.

The girl next door is like every heroin user? Get real. This is more inflammatory bs aimed to get americans behind the 'war on drugs'. The WOD was masterminded to keep feudal southern land owners increasing desire for revenue streams fueled. That is the only reason... power and cash. I'm Matthew Sobel and I tell it how it is. Shlalom baby.

What disturbs me out of these 300 plus comments is that very few – maybe 3 – discuss education starts at home. Why are these people seeking out drugs to escape? People are making excuses for legalizing these types of drugs or regulation will solve the problem, but really – teaching kids to deal with their problems substance free and recognizing when and why's of reaching for a donut, needle or bottle – will teach them to deal with their problems/stress instead of wishing them away. Child rearing takes work and thought – love isn't enough.

I live in Los Angeles ... i smell reefer on every block of my street. Everyone signs a form saying they will contribute. Shlalom.

The reason why kids try drugs is because they think the drugs are harmless. A teen might go and smoke a joint filled with weed, and see how harmless it really is. When they clearly see that something like weed is considered bad, then they are duped into thinking that heroin and meth are acceptable.

All the U.S. needs to do is make weed legal for all users 21 and over, and regulate just like the alcohol industry. The problem is the alcohol industry is afraid legal weed would hurt their profits, and the higher ups in the alcohol industry have Washington's ear. It's all political nonsense.

NO ONE has ever died from a weed overdose, yet a person can die from too much alcohol, or even too much of the "good" drugs like Tylenol.

freeb> It's obvious by your comment that you are not really familiar at all w. the effects of mj. You can't really equate alcohol w. mj, for one thing. They are two entirely different animals. Alchohol causes impairment whilst driving, whereas mj causes the user to be extremely dilligant at the task at hand. As far as I know, there are no documented instances of stoned people killing others in car accidents.
As for your anti-legalization argument: more people won't be doing it just b/c it's legal. It's quite easy to obtain if one wants it. Some people just prefer not to & will still prefer not to even if it is legal. Ciggies are readily available and legal and I don't smoke.

I feel really bad for the parents of this girl. Let's help addicts instead of throwing them in prisons!

I don't favor the legalization of drugs because I'm rich. I sell my drugs to you stupid americans, I take the money out of your local communities and send it home, and I laugh and choke on my taco when you arrest and send to jail your own citizens. Ha Ha Ha! Viva Zapata!!!

Ironically if heroin were legal like cigarettes or beer, it would be more tightly controlled, harder to get by children, and far more expensive since it would be heavily taxed. As foolish as it is to use it, one has to wonder.

This will go and go and go. They'll never legalize weed, and certainly not heroin. So we're all left to twist in the wind. People squawk about 'educating' the 'kids', they aren't kids and the people that are doing the educating don't have a clue what they're talking about. "Don't do it"! doesn't work, it never has or will. I've been in the middle of this stupid war on drugs for 20 years and it's way worse now. Meth is the only exeption, compared to ten years ago that nightmare really seems dissolved.

If people are stupid enough to use drugs, then no great loss if they take themselves out of the gene pool. Make drug sales a capital crime and get rid of the scum bags, instead of clogging up the prison system. Maybe some people will think this is harsh, but it makes more sense for the general public not to have to put up with the problems associated with the drug problem.

"Richard Rankin April 13th, 2009 1:33 pm ET

Taliban is in charge in Afghanistan, no opium is produced. Americans come in, take over and opium production through the roof, world is flooded with heroin. Something wrong with this picture."

Yes, what's wrong is how uninformed you are. Opium production flourished under the Taliban before 9/11. When we first went in there, we disrupted the production line. Now that the Taliban are regaining their foothold, opium production is on the rise.

Darwinian Theory will take care of the problem. So the US needs to legalize drugs, develop a distribution system and revenue basis from the sale of the products. Use the monies for health care. The drug tax money should be large enough to reduce the average cost of medical support for all non-using Americans. Possibly it could even become free for all non-users.

Here is how it might work. When you go to get health or dental care, everyone would need to pee in the cup. If you test positive, you need to be prepared to pay or go away. If you test negative you would be paid for.

Eventually, the users would diminish through attrition. Sad but better than having junkies shooting up everyone including law abiding people for drugs. The only downside would be to Dunkin Donuts. I can foresee a dramatic reduction in their poppy seed bagels.

For the love of God, we must stop all the chatter and have a national vote:

Do you support the legalization of drugs, if all fatal drugs were regulated and prescribed by a doctor and if cannabis and its derivatives were legalized, regulated, and taxed for sale to persons over the age of 21?

Period. It is SO important that CNN and other major news outlets continue this discussion. The problem will NEVER go away until We the People do the right thing and take control of the issue.
Throwing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year at the problem has been tried for decades. It's time to save those tax dollars, remove the profitable market from the criminal element (who don't care what or to whom they sell), ease the strain on our law enforcement (see http://www.leap.cc ), courts, and prisons, and earn tax revenues from the sale of non-lethal cannabis.
In addition, jobs will be created while we enforce age restrictions through the wildly successful We Card Program.

My 14-year-old daughter and her friends inform me that it's ridiculously easy for them to get illicit drugs at school which, as one friend pointed out yesterday, "... is good because you can't get beer or cigs because you hafta be carded".

This chilled me to the core. These drug pushers on our street corners and in the schoolyard want the MONEY, not I.D. The only way to hinder these sales is to regulate and control these substances.

Regardless of President Obama's PERSONAL feelings on the issue, he should take stock of what the American people want and do as we ask. Forget the special interest groups. Forget the fact that the DEA will have to shift personnel. Let the DEA keep their agents, so long as they commit to cleaning up the residual drug law violators AFTER the U.S. gets some common sense in our drug policy!

It's past time!

As a former high school teacher, I watched some of my brightest students drop out of school because they began using the so-called "harmless" drug marijuana. I believe that decriminalizing marijuana would result in more kids trying it and subsequently losing their desire to succeed in school and pursue their ambitions. Our country needs future leaders who are focused and diligent. I don't care how much revenue could be collected by taxing the marijuana industry. The price of a desensitized mind is not worth it.

Prohibition is counter-productive. it makes the prohibited substance more attractive, especially to teens who want to rebel and prove their adulthood. Regulate, tax and dilute drugs, and make them available in restricted zones until the American population learns to trust itself and each other.

Consciousness altering substances are attractive because altering consciousness is a natural urge among almost all humans around the world.

Taking drug control out of the hands of law enforcement and putting it in the hands of public health officials is the true American way – freedom to choose for oneself. Some will prove to be incapable of dealing with addiction, and they should be forced into rehab through incentives.

Legalizing any drug in the nation would do two things:

First, create more idiots wandering the streets (oh yeah, we need that)

Second, it would deeply cut into the pocketbooks of the elected officials and government agents making themselves rich of these illegal narcotics (the real reason no drug will ever be legalized)

I would rather tend to agree JackB and take the route of the nations of Southeast Asia but make certain that anyone in either political office or an acting fiduciary of any state, federal, or local government caught in the act of; dealing or supporting traffickers be sentenced to death. You can through in the groups that are caught trafficking into that crowd and simply give them all the death sentence... the money saved could be spent on saving good citizens 401k's and homes..

Stiffen the drug laws, require mandatory drug testing for ALL elected officials (Oval Office down to the Clerks in the local courts) along with, ALL Civil Servants and simply segregate the users from the dealers, sentence the users to work camps/farms producing foods and goods for citizens for life, and simply hang the rest... problem solved

I am 19 and I have lived on Long Island almost my whole life. When I was in high school I knew of people doing pot and rumors of people doing cocaine and maybe shrooms. It was unfathomable to think that people would be doing heroine. It is really crazy to think that heroine is so cheap and accessible now. I really hope none of my friends who are still in high school or going to college on Long Island are thinking about trying that stuff.

Decriminalise it. Tax it. Educate the populous using the same "shock" ads we use for AIDS, Smoking and Domestic Violence.

People on smack are sick, are anybody who's ever had an addict in their sharehouse would know. The dealers (pushers, not the dropkick pushing a few bags to fund their own habits) need to be punished, but by vilifying the addicts, all your are doing is pruning the leaves off the very tips of the tree. You have to ring-bark the trunk if you are going to kill it.

And, remember 1920. Prohibition doesn't work.

I think it is time for our population to discuss why certain drugs have flooded our country at bargain prices during certain times in our history. Though demand for drugs does drive supply, there are certain interesting supply "floods" not exactly correlated with demand. We need to figure out who has the power to supply drugs to our country and why/when they are doing it. Why, for instance, was cocaine flooding our nation during the 1980's at very low prices at the same time our government was executing and accelerating the "war on drugs"? Our society is just now grappling with the fallout of that flood of cocaine. Why, for instance, has heroin flooded our streets, while our government/military is conducting war in Afghanistan. Opium production and distribution to the US and Europe have increased dramatically since NATO invaded that country. Though the US government has incredulously made press releases claiming that it is desperately trying to eradicate the poppy growing which was supposedly encouraged under the Taliban government, cheap heroin is flooding our streets. The Taliban almost eradicated the poppy from Afghanistan. We need to ask finally how it is that in the times when government entities are taking massive amounts of public funds to lessen the supply to drugs to the US, the supply actually increases dramatically. Who is profiting and what part do they play in our government(s)?

I live in Nogales, Mexico, I was born here and have lived almost all of my life here, just left town when I went to college and grad school. Nogales is a border town with Nogales, AZ, Google it and you will probably find that this city is and important path for drug distribution to the U.S. Since I was very young I knew people that knew people involved in this crime. I wish I had the answer on how to fix this problem, I don't. But I wanted to share my comment with you because I have my doubts that legalizing drugs will be the answer. These people I believe are in the business because of the danger that it involves. I really don't see them getting prepared for an FDA audit to their facilities to check if their drug is good to use, besides who would write the rules? Drug users? Now that our government has launched a big war against drug dealers I understand that some of them are looking into another business: KIDNAPPING and HUMAN TRAFFICING. The only way youth and kids will stay away of drugs is by keeping them busy within the family circle meaning that parents need to do their job: LOVE THEIR CHILDREN, the only reason a person wants to use drugs is to avoid it's problems, and the only problem that a kid can have is the lack of LOVE in it's life. How to do that? Talk to them! Have a relationship with them, it doesn't matter if you fail you can try it again! LOVE THEM, and tell them constantly that you love them! SAY IT! Don’t just think it. Get involved in her/his life, know whom his/her friends are! DRUGS (WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THEM NEAR) are not the problem; the problem is within the CONSUMER. Why do they use them? What problem do they have, that they want to avoid with the use of drugs? And I am not trying to lecture anyone, but analyze it! Why do people have addictions? Because they feel vulnerable, and why do they feel vulnerable because they do not feel or ever felt loved!

"Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer"

Thanks for reminding me, CNN! ;D

[...] http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/13/heroin-cheaper-than-beer/ [...]

On Feb. 15, 2009, my wife, Ellen and I, lost a son to an accidental heroin overdose.Carl, 27, was a good son. He was active in sports, good in school, a witty sense of humor; very intelligent, and very popular. Following high school, he battled addictions for 8 yrs.

Heroin & other drug use is rampant throughout Small Town America. Oprah just did a second show about our area.

We've started an outreach program in Carl's honor & interest is growing. We have founded the Arms of an Angel Foundation as an outreach to youth & parents about the evils of drugs and drug addiction, with a special emphasis onSmall Town America. We want to develop positive strategies to drug use for parents and youth...things to help them feel good about themselves & to encourage positive peer pressure.

We are reaching out to other families and people who have suffered similar losses & hope to tap their specialties, skills & resources.

We envision using the magnetic power of sports & entertainment celebrities to reach out to youth, to assist with fundraisers, or to donate items for our benefit auctions or to speak to groups with us.

We are doing this so our son Carl's loss will not be in vain, as well as the thousands of other lost loved ones to the ravages of drug addiction. If we save one family from going through what we just went through with the loss of our son, Carl, to accidental heroin overdose, it will be worth it...but we don't want to stop there...we want to help thousands of families in the coming years, nationwide.

Open to suggestions on directions our organization should take and other ways to help. Feel free to e-mail this to any people or media you can think of...

Bless you,

Dave Culbertson

armsofanangel2009@hotmail.com

http://www.ArmsOfAnAngel.org (under construction)

And another thing. Why do my hard earned tax dollars have to be spent on paying for some hype/junkie to get a FREE(free for the junkie) hypodermic needle (rig)?

Clown politicians....quit spending the money that you take from me via taxes to purchase somebody else a new hypodermic needle kit. That damn junkie/hype is just going to use that complementary (complementary for the hype) rig to inject the damned heroin that HELPS TO FUND THE DAMN TALIBAN WHO WANT ME DEAD.........aaaaarrrrgh.

Damn fool politicians, taking my money away to buy a rig for some junkie so the hype can buy the junk that goes to buy the guns for the violent radical extremists who want to kill me and my family.

I'm literally surrounded by lunacy.....it's freakin' ZOMBIETIME folks. At least I am aware of this irrational, illogical 'horse-manure'........EEEEEYYYAAAAAA.....hey now.

It's 'the Night of the Living Dead'......ZOMBIETIME. Let's stick needles into our veins so we can all vomit and then pass out. And while we're at it, we can assist murderous terrorists by buying the dope that they're sellin'......WOW, I'm SOOOOOO SMAAAART.

Sheer ZOMBIETIME. Glad I'm not you junkie/hype. You're livin' a bassackwords existence and helping to fund radical elements within our world who are killing the troops who are PROTECTING YOUR SORRY ASS.......duh!

Oblivious zombies....'the Night of the Living Dead'.

Prohibition didn't work; it simply created and financed Organized Crime that still exists today. The War On Drugs is a silly farce that costs taxpayers billions each year. It's no longer a matter whether people morally approved of drugs - kids are dying and creeps are getting wealthy by supplying them with drugs. Not everyone was okay with the repeal of Prohibition, but it was far better than bootleggers gunning down rivals, and shoppers and kids, in the streets. Drugs are here to stay; it's time to accept that and get control over them.

These "for the children" laws annoy me. They are often useless, counter-productive, and amount to shameless attention whoring for grieving parents, as well as grand-standing by those in office making political capital out of unfortunate tragedy.

It's a shame when any young person dies. However, to assuage the heavy shackles of parental guilt through pointless or ill-conceived legislation has become so commonplace and more patently superficial, that I think such endeavors tend to evoke more eyerolls than sympathy - and rightfully so.

Maybe I'm cynical, but do the people supporting what equates to a something of a sex offender-style registry for drug arrests really think that anything is going to change? I have my doubts.

What is the next logical step? I already see where this will end up. We'll start putting the photos and personal information of all convicted drug offenders on probation or enrolled in any rehabilitation program on the Internet. This will allow the "good" parents and the interested public to know who the "lepers" are, as well as where they reside, work, and go to school.

That would be pretty awesome. That'll really show those drug users a thing or two! Let's further marginalize them - pushing them further into their own negative cycle of addiction, by putting them on display - all in the spirit of protecting children, of course.

Let's make their lives even more miserable by making them forever pay for their mistakes and misdeeds. After all, we are a nation tough on crime.

Where will it ever end? Drunk drivers? Tax cheats? Jaywalkers? How about petty thieves? Ooohh, I know, people who blare their car radios in urban areas at 2 AM. Those people are jerks! They, too, deserve public embarrassment.

Give everyone who commits even the slightest offense a Scarlet Letter, viewable through electronic techno-wizardry. This way, we can all sleep a little better at night, warm and secure in our smug self-righteousness.

Increasingly, our legislation is guided by irrationality and emotion, not common sense or appropriate measure. Rather, we have become a nation weak on justice.

Enjoy your police state, Folks! I hope your precious snowflakes enjoy the living hell you're constructing for them, one stupid law at a time.

These "for the children" laws annoy me. They are often useless, counter-productive, and amount to shameless attention whoring for grieving parents, as well as grand-standing by those in office making political capital out of unfortunate tragedy.

It's a shame when any young person dies. However, to assuage the heavy shackles of parental guilt through pointless or ill-conceived legislation has become so commonplace and more patently superficial, that I think such endeavors tend to evoke more eyerolls than sympathy - and rightfully so.

Maybe I'm cynical, but do the people supporting what equates to a something of a sex offender-style registry for drug arrests really think that anything is going to change? I have my doubts.

What is the next logical step? I already see where this will end up. We'll start putting the photos and personal information of all convicted drug offenders on probation or enrolled in any rehabilitation program on the Internet. This will allow the "good" parents and the interested public to know who the "lepers" are, as well as where they reside, work, and go to school.

That would be pretty awesome. That'll really show those drug users a thing or two! Let's further marginalize them - pushing them further into their own negative cycle of addiction, by putting them on display - all in the spirit of protecting children, of course.

Let's make their lives even more miserable by making them forever pay for their mistakes and misdeeds. After all, we are a nation tough on crime.

Where will it ever end? Drunk drivers? Tax cheats? Jaywalkers? How about petty thieves? Ooohh, I know, people who blare their car radios in urban areas at 2 AM. Those people are jerks! They, too, deserve public embarrassment.

Give everyone who commits even the slightest offense a Scarlet Letter, viewable through electronic techno-wizardry. This way, we can all sleep a little better at night, warm and secure in our smug self-righteousness.

Increasingly, our legislation is guided by irrationality and emotion, not common sense or appropriate measure. Rather, we have become a nation weak on justice.

Enjoy your Police State, folks. I hope your precious snowflakes enjoy the living hell you'll surely construct for them, one stupid law at a time.

Take a look at Portugal's efforts to decriminalize drugs and the effect it has had. I'm not going to say what I think about it one way or another – I just think people should observe what has happened in Portugal and allow the empirical evidence to influence their decision instead of logically inconsistent drib-drub.

[...] An unintended downside of the economic recession. Less demand, same supply = cheaper drugs! The prices of hard drugs like heroin and cocaine have been declining for two decades, despite billions of drug war dollars spent to restrict supply. Then there's this headline today on CNN.com: Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer [...]

I applaud peoples effort to make a better life for children. I guess I don't have much pity on those that have the privilege of affluence in our culture. I found that I researched drugs before taking them and knew that heroin was far more dangerous then pot. Some people have been mentioning the prevalence of pain killers on the scene and how they contribute to the addiction cycle. I have friends growing up that were poor and tried solvents to get high. There will always be a substance to abuse. The poor in or society have been dealing with crime and drugs for a long time. I think it is rather telling that affluent folk now have the power to make laws in the name of their dead children. I have always thought that affluence was protection from drug addiction. I mean how many ipods or zunes do you need to make yourself happy in this day and age? Can it be that hard to deal with the pressures of growing up when you are advantaged? I wasn't poor growing up but I did feel the need to try marijuana, I just knew I didn't want to waste my life on the hard stuff. Can we teach the difference between alittle high and addicted? Or is it all of nothing? Seems to me if it is all or nothing you will never win as you make expectations so high that children feel they can't fail. IS drug education like abstinence education, a complete failure?

To Voltaire's Rotting Corpse. It may not be perfect, but it's better than most other places on this earth. Suggest you go find one that's better and move there.

Beer tastes better than Heroin, too. At least we think so. I thought this post would speak a little more about beer, which is why I clicked from out site http://www.thankheavenforbeer.com. I promise that we mention beer quite a bit. By the way, I'm not trying to be a prick, just telling you why I clicked.

Look at all the dopers lined up to say "If only dope were legal this tragedy wouldn't have happened"

Go back to your twinkies pot heads.

The controlled substances we have today are more addictive than alcohol. Why do you need drugs? Have you thought about that? You like funding drug cartels? You have a constitutional right to fund the taleban?

What?

Grow up! Heroine is brutally addictive. If kids get it many will die. Period.
Execute smugglers and dealers. Then you can avoid the prison overcrowding theat seems hurt some peoples feelings. It's too good for them anyway.

Heroin is not that cheap!

To Philo: That's the best you've got. *Yawn*

"Just 'cause we're 'Merican's, that excuses everything. America! F**k, yeah!!!! Love it, or leave it, Baby!!! HEEE-HAWWWW!!!"

Thanks for proving me right, in so few words. Obviously, I must have struck a nerve, if that's the best counter-point you can muster.

All adults have the right to put whatever they want into their own bodies. It is not the government's job to protect adults from themselves. Only the complete legalization of ALL drugs would end the government's denial of the right to own your body and mind. Npt to mention, that ending the War on Drugs would save money and the lives of innocents killed by gangs or even the police.

Dave,

I have never in all my 30 some odd years seen or been offered a black market tobacco cigarette and i am sure if pot were legal i wouldnt be able to find a black market joint for very long. Who would want a bag of home grown stuff when you could get a better quality product prepacked and rolled for you?

This sadly has gradually become an all to common problem. If you suspect your child is using drugs, there are plenty of drug test kits available at most major pharmacies. Buy a drug kit and ask them to take the test, better yet if your kid says no then make them take the test. And if you can't get them to take the test, there is no clearer answer of their drug use.

This is there life, so what if they get upset with you.

After reading dozens of takes from change nothing to legalize everything, it occurred to me that perhaps a more widely backed approach would be to first rank illegal drugs by lethality. Once all agencies involved agree on these rankings, legalization can be approached on a piecemeal basis; first at the least lethality ranking, thus pushing out educational information bow wave from the period of implementation at that ranking. Then, using lessons learned from that process, moving up the ladder in the order of lethality and using the lessons learned from implementation at the previous rung. Evolutionary rather than evolutionary. Sad to read of so many children's lives wasted to the every more powerful cartels distributing ever more powerful and cheaper drugs of all lethality rankings.

I know its only a CNN Blog , but I honestly didn't think there were this much Civic Integrity left in America .

I mistook silence for extinction , my bad.

HEROIN KINGPIN – FIRST DEFENDANT EVER EXTRADITED FROM AFGHANISTAN – SENTENCED IN MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT TO OVER 15 YEARS IN PRISON

MANHATTAN— Baz Mohammad, 51, an Afghan heroin kingpin, and the first defendant ever extradited to the U.S. from Afghanistan, was sentenced this afternoon to 188 months imprisonment for managing an international narcotics-trafficking organization that imported millions of dollars of heroin into the U.S., announced Michael J. Garcia, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Karen P. Tandy, the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Former President George W. Bush previously designated Baz Mohammad as a foreign narcotics kingpin under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, which authorizes the President of the United States to make such designations when he determines that a foreign narcotics trafficker presents a threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the U.S. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, authorized the extradition of Baz Mohammad to the U.S. in October 2005. On July 11, 2006, Baz Mohammad pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court. According to the Indictment, other documents filed in the case, and statements made during Mohammad's guilty plea:

Between 1990 and 2005, Mohammad led an international heroin-trafficking organization responsible for manufacturing and distributing millions of dollars worth of heroin in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The organization then arranged for the heroin to be transported from Afghanistan and Pakistan into the U.S., including to New York City, hidden inside suitcases, clothing, and containers. Once the heroin arrived in the U.S., other members of the organization received and distributed the heroin. These co-conspirators then arranged for millions of dollars in heroin proceeds to be laundered back to Mohammad and other members of the organization, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The organization, closely aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan, provided financial support to the Taliban during the course of the conspiracy. More specifically, between 1994 and 2000, the organization collected heroin proceeds in the U.S. for the Taliban. In exchange for its financial support, the Taliban provided the organization protection for its opium crops, heroin laboratories, drug-transportation routes, and members and associates.

In 1990, Mohammad discussed heroin trafficking with other members of the organization in his Karachi, Pakistan, residence. During the meeting, Mohammad told his co-conspirators that selling heroin in the U.S. was a “jihad” because they were taking the Americans’ money and the heroin was killing them.

This case was the result of the cooperative efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the New York City Police Department (NYPD), working together under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, as well as the Afghanistan Counter Narcotics Police and the Interior Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Mr. Garcia praised the investigative efforts of the DEA, the FBI, ICE, the NYPD, and the Afghan Counter Narcotics Police.

“Baz Mohammad is a narcotics kingpin whose drug organization, operating under the protection of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, made millions of dollars from the sale of heroin in the United States," said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia. “Today's sentencing is a gratifying conclusion to an important prosecution that would not have been possible without unprecedented cooperation between law enforcement authorities in the United States and Afghanistan.”

“The sentencing of Haji Baz Mohammad - the first person ever extradited from Afghanistan to the United States - demonstrates both our nations' resolve to destroy the hold opium lords have on Afghanistan,” said DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy. “This drug kingpin bragged that he waged jihad against Americans by poisoning them with his heroin. His attack was unconventional, and his massive drug profits funded the Taliban and other extremist organizations dedicated to destroying freedom and justice. Today, as Mohammad loses his own freedom, he begins a long, hands-on lesson in the certainty of American justice.”

The prosecution of Baz Mohammad is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics Trafficking Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Boyd M. Johnson III, Amy Finzi, and Jocelyn Strauber are in charge of the prosecution.

[...] store for vids. Mugshots included. Man poses for photo on cliff, tries to get cute, falls to death. In positive recession news, heroin is cheaper than a 6 pack var addthis_pub = 'sm97os'; var addthis_language = 'en';var addthis_options = 'email, favorites, [...]

[...] "Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer" Mikkel Kruse E-mail: FJERNDETTEmikkelkruseolsen@gmail.com Hjemmeside: http://liberalalliance.dk [...]

This strikingly demonstrates what happens when we are not honest about what we tell our children about substance use.
You can't die from an overdose of cannabis. When you put it it the same category as drugs you CAN die from, you are lying to our kids and they will know it. Then they won't believe you when you tell them about the things that CAN kill them and they won't take you seriously.
You can die from heroin, cocaine, cigarettes, alcohol, prescription and over the counter drugs; the statistics are there for anyone to see.
You can not die from an overdose of cannabis.
Do you see the inconsistency here?

For reasons like this, no drug should be legalized. I think it will cause confusion. I know a lot of people who think marijuana should be legal. Let's examine that idea.
Someone gets pulled for being in possession of drugs. The police find out that it's pot. Because it's legal, the police can't do anything about it. They let them go. Marijuana nowadays can be laced with anything. Have you not seen "Training Day"? Imagine if this guys' pot was laced with heroin? The cops just let a bigger case go. Some other kid like Natalie Ciappa could run the risk of an overdose.

Imagine stimulant drugs like cofffee and chocolate being illegal, Millions clamouring for their daily fix. Coffee and chocolate cartels forming across South America, Illegal chocolate factories popping up across the country,Coffee speakeasies in inconspicuous basements and hundreds of thousands imprisioned along with the other drug users. Let’s stop the war and return to common sense laws.

and where does the heroin come from? much of it comes from the Taliban in Afghanistan but Holbrooke claims wiping out the crops used to make heroin was the biggest waste of US money he'd ever seen...so get ready for an increase in supply, more users, more deaths, and soon the price will be cheaper than a six pack of soda

Creeping Sharia blog

Voltaire's Rotting Corpse- I couldn't agree with you more.

I have seen a bunch of letters starting out with "my so and so was 22 when he died. . . dada. . dada. . dada. . . "

What have you done about it? Let me guess- you formed a community group, no doubt requiring dues and a director's board, maybe you even got another useless law passed and that's about it. I'm sure it made everyone feel better at the time.

Did it ever occur to any one of you to ask where the drugs came from and hold them responsible? And I'm not talking about the 17 year old little entrepreneur that sold a twenty bag to your kid. I'm talking about the BIG shipments. I say if you're going to form any kind of group- form a class action lawsuit against these so called "heroes" in our many, many, many enforcement agencies. They are out there spending billions upon billions of your taxpayer dollars and aren't held accountable to anyone. It is our duty to put an end to it however painful it is, as American's.

We don't live in a vacuum people. Statistics are useless because people lie. And the thing you people are looking to control is called "free will". Good luck with that.

Clearly, things aren't working now, so why not try something different? Politics is run on short-term stretches with short term measures. From this come poor results, particularly as those 'in charge' dont understand society issues, as have never experienced themselves.

If pot were legal, kids could admit to using and get help if they needed it.

The taxes generated could be used for mental health and addiction counseling for all people who need these services, saving a whole lot of grief for non and addicts alike.

When I was growing up, pot was easier to get than booze. I personally preferred it to the effects of alcohol, but when it became a problem for me, I didn't dare admit it to my folks. I had ample opportunity to try harder drugs, from the same people who sold me pot and chose not to, beyond the odd sample.

Legal pot would take away the connection to the dealers, no gateway. It could make open dialog between parents and kids possible. Just like booze, some people can handle it, some can't. I don't believe anyone can handle the white powders/chrystals for long. Those should remain illegal.

Better mental health care, funded by taxing legal pot, would go a long way to removing the reasons why people get lost to intoxicants in the first place.

To DaveR, above: very well put! It is our/their choice. We need to be well informed to make the best decision. There are too many lies and misinformation and this is not good, it is not helping.

Now, kids may not be able to decide against peer pressure, you know how teen groups work! Therefore if we can control the drugs distribution it would be helpful.

Abusing anything is bad: light drugs, hard drugs, legal drugs, illegal drugs, food, water, work, time off, anything. Don't abuse, and avoid things that can be addictive and drive to abuse.

[...] [...]

"There are too many lies and misinformation and this is not good, it is not helping. "

Yes, there are. And when the lies and misinformation come from the people in charge it does nothing to promote trust.

"Now, kids may not be able to decide against peer pressure, you know how teen groups work! Therefore if we can control the drugs distribution it would be helpful."

I'm sure peer pressure exists. I won't argue that. But don't replace personal responsibility with excuses. Everyone has choices and the better you and/or them are educated with truths (non-anecdotal, non-emotional) the better chance a person has at making a good choice.

"Abusing anything is bad: light drugs, hard drugs, legal drugs, illegal drugs, food, water, work, time off, anything. Don’t abuse, and avoid things that can be addictive and drive to abuse."

USE IS NOT ABUSE> Learn it. Moderation is the key to life.

What Recovery should be
I use to be an addict and legalizing them is not the real answer, but since what I want isn’t real in this world,
I guess it will happen, the only thing it will do is stop the import of illegal drugs. no one will be on corners selling it. Our people can get back to work, the way the Methadone helps the addict come to terms.
it allows some addicts to see the world not as a victim but as an equal.
That woman wont be beat down for her pocket book, our houses wont be broken into, there wont be a need to steal, rob or kill for drugs.
The doctor will give it or the clinic, but we have to watch the clinics also, as with the methadone clinics they can hurt the purpose instead of help it.
They can make it so difficult to get the drugs. In some states. They want to help, but as with SC, they want to make money of the drugs.
They put the price so high jobs cant even pay for it. The threat of not getting it tends to lead the addict back to the streets. That when the dealer becomes a big part of our lives.
I remember when I didn’t have insurance I hated going to the doctor, and that almost killed me in 1992, because of the way they treat you in the hospital setting, talking loud to shame you.
Know one wants other people to know their business. Another thing, If you staff the clinics with all non users, it wont work, we need some who has been through, to deal with the addict.
Id love to help in our church we have a Celebrate Recovery at Barefoot Church, to try to help out other addicts.
Most of us are addict which makes the suffering addict more comfortable, as they walk in. I love it when that addict walks in in the first place, but I love it even more when the next time they come.
I see the difference in them, washing their hair, cleaning their clothes, actually wanting to come and get involved.
This is what help is suppose to be, kind, peaceful yet strong. We who reach out have to show strength and be powerful in our need to help and stay sober, powerful, bright, in truth and love.
I reach to hug those who might have been the same way as me lonely for love and a life. I use to stand across the street from a church and wish it was me going in.
Wish it was me with nice clothes, shinning bright. Today I’m so glad that someone hugged me.
When I walked into Barefoot strangers hugged me. Clean people that smelled good, and treated me nice, That night when I went home I could still feel those hugs squeezing me, they never acted like I was too dirty to come close too, it was awesome. This is what recovery is suppose to be
Life, love faith, compassion, warmth. We the sober addict are a big part of the still suffering addict. We are here to show them what its like, and if we have to do it over and over again so be it. Recovery should
not a place that you have to be made to come, real sobriety is wanting too for your self.. By: Patricia Robinson-4/13/09-5pm

[...] Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer « ما تشبش يا مسلم لأن جورج يوسف لسه ما شبش (بتشديد ال ش ) [...]

Use your brains people.

@Eric M tried to argue against drug legalization and regulation with the following: "If we legalized prostitution, we could lower crime!! Legalize it, regulate it, and tax it!!! Put the money into STD education & treatment."

Actually, in Nevada (everywhere outside of the country where Las Vegas is) prostitution IS legal. The girls work out of a licensed establishment (with security and supervision immediately available to discourage and stop any potential violence). The John's are required to sign a contract specifying exactly what he and the girl have agreed upon (what activities and for how much money). Condom use and regularly STD checks are mandated by law. Compared to street hookers this is far, far safer (not to mention there is no possibility of an arrest ruining someone's life). The only possible objection is a moral objection. So it is with drugs.

@NoWay argues that the black market will not go away unless we lower prices so much that 25% of the country will get so high each night that they won't be able to go to work the next day.

To that I will say, most people wouldn't touch heroin if it was free (I would bet my life that the number is 90% and it's probably closer to 98%). Heroin is the sky diving of drugs... most people don't want anything to do with it. Cocaine, while less extreme, would also be similarly self-regulating.

Furthermore, responsible people don't become completely irresponsible in the presence of drugs. Currently drug use is represented by the least responsible people in society, because those are the ones most likely to break the law to use the drugs. If the drugs were legalized and regulated, most new users would be far more tolerable than the current crop. There will always be some people who get incredibly addicted because of their personality, but these people already have alcohol, coffee and whatever illegal (and dangerously prepared) things they get their hands on.

Use your brains folks.

[...] [...]

I don't know who is going to make it all the way to the bottom of these comments, but there is just so much stupidity here. We have utter morons telling us that the only people who want to "legalize" drugs have IQs not much larger than their shoe sizes. Then they follow the proclamation with uninformed nonsense and expect it to compete with the ideas of people who have studied this problem and thought carefully about it for years.

First let me tell everyone what "legalized" heroin would be like since heroin is the subject of this article. We don't need to imagine the outcome, since it has already been done in the Netherlands. Look up Netherlands Drug Policy on Google and read the Wikipedia page, or read this:

http://www.dehoop.org/site/en/item_id/17551/pagina/12407/heroin_as_medication.html

"Currently, the Netherlands has a relatively stable number of heroin addicts. During the last decades of the twentieth century, the estimated number of heroin users in the Netherlands increased from 10,000 in 1977 to 20,000 in 1979 and 30,000 in 1983. The current number is estimated to be 25,000. The syringe-using drug users are getting older: their average age is now forty years."

Heroin isn't going to be sold in stores like beer. Ever. It will be carefully parceled out to existing addicts (and a few lunatics who want to pretend like they're an addict) until such a time as the individual is ready to address the addiction and enter state sponsored treatment (paid with taxes levied on other drugs).

Marijuana will be sold readily in stores because it's relatively harmless. Regular use will increase by 50% to 100% but excessive use will increase only marginally (meanwhile treatment will be more readily available). None of this matters because Marijuana is not particularly harmful when used responsibly, and most people are responsible (which is why most users do not get caught today).

LSD would be relatively difficult to obtain (you would have to acquire a personal license proving you have undergone safety training) and avoided by most people. However, it can be relatively safe with proper precautions. The inventor of LSD (who used it many times) lived to be over 100 years old. Most people eventually have a "bad trip" and stop doing this drug.

Ecstasy is a relatively knew drug. It has an extremely low mortality rate, but it may have other pernicious effects in the long term that we aren't yet aware of. This ought to be as difficult to obtain as LSD and come with plenty of warnings. Use at your own risk.

The only *real* tricky drug is cocaine. It's relatively popular, and yet relatively dangerous. Then again, the same can be said of alcohol. Currently cocaine is certainly perceived as extreme, and I don't see any reason why it would remain that way even if legalized. Most people would avoid it because of the extreme nature. The ones who used it could be encouraged to be "responsible" in their use of it (be aware of concentrations and potentially lethal doses, and be aware of the strong possibility of addiction).

[...] Speaking of beer, you should know that heroin is cheaper these days. [CNN] [...]

[...] Katherine's post: The prices of hard drugs like heroin and cocaine have been declining for two decades, despite billions of drug war dollars spent to restrict supply. Then there's this headline today on CNN.com: Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer [...]

[...] Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer By Ronni Berke and Carol Costello Massapequa, New York (CNN) - Doreen and Victor Ciappa thought they got a second [...] [...]

[...] tragic, but it happens on a daily bassis anywhere around the world - someone dies of a heroin overdose. With the family from Massapequa, New York the mother had a chance to get her daughter the help she [...]

Just allow the U.S. Drug Industry to regulate and sell heroin... it will soon be priced out of most peoples reach. Oh? And you feel that wouldn't stop illegal heroin trafficking? You're right, and the same applies to guns.

[...] Other changes in spending were reported in the survey.  For instance, 24% of people reported reducing or canceling a cable or satellite TV subscription, while 28% cut back on spending on alcohol or tobacco.  Hopefully this last one is not just because heroin has become cheaper than a six-pack of beer. [...]

As of today my child was addicted to Oxy 1st for about 15 months . We had private treatment with home detox. Did not work. After doctor prescribed "suboxone" to take the addiction crave, the need for the high won. The Prescription Oxycondin(Synthetic herion) was prescribed to my son after a knee injury.60 pills!!!By a Licensed Dr.!The doctors of New York get prescription kickbacks. Illegal in many states. The Purdue Pharmacuetical Co.failed to let the public know about its opiate base and high addiction rate. Even seniors are suffering the detoxing ,that received Oxy for arthritis pain. The pills are very expensive. We are being Duped and doped and robbed from the Pharmacuetical Co. and Dr's! My son became a full blown Herion addict and we had to get him help that cost 1/3 of our home due to insurances only covering so much. Perdue Pharmacuetical has destroyed lives!! and should pay for all the deaths of teens in Brockton Mass. as well. Hundreds started on Oxycondins. Our generation drank ,smoked pot and had sex and lived to tell .These kids are living in an addiction hell.The government took Vioxx off the market for several heartattacks. what about the over prescribed drug that originally was only for burn victims and chronic cancer patients.??Where are the watchdogs to protect us? How can we take a class action suit against Purdue when we live in shame of addiction? HELP US PLEASE!!!.

My 28 year old son died from a heroin overdose a year ago. He had a good job, engaged to be married, had a sponsor in AA, and volunteered in his community. When are we going to provide help for those with addictions? Even with private insurance, it is costly. There were 5 arrests connected with his death. The "dealers" were a Mexican cartel.

Raising the cigarette sales tax in New york State has resulted in a widening heroin epidemic. Many users that could not afford to pay 8 bucks for a pack of cigarettes are saving 5 bucks by spending three bucks for a bag of heroin. Cautious users are snorting heroin rather than shooting it into their veins, they have the misconception that it will not lead to addiction. The good news is that it has caused countless tobacco addicts to break their habit. But unfortunately they have replaced it with a new one. Cigarette manufacturers that once feared competition from marijuana growers now have added competition from heroin dealers who sell their product for only three bucks a bag. Authorities are discussing lowering the cigarette sales tax in order to curb heroin addiction. But no action has yet been taken.

Just say no; tax, don't tax; legalize, don't legalize; make new laws; enforce old laws; promote knowledge, understanding etc etc etc – yadayadayada. You are not getting to the heart of the problem: WHY people abuse whatever substance is within their reach. And the WHY is going to be different for each person. Laws only serve to point out the abuse / sin of a person. It can not take away the reason – the WHY. You can not legislate the heart and mind of man. You must deal with each person and instance individually. That takes time, dedication, compassion, which most people today shove off onto some govt run program.

i'm sorry but where i live herion is not cheaper than a six pack of beer