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Post by tko on Sept 9, 2009 1:48:32 GMT -5
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Post by maddogblues on Sept 9, 2009 8:03:46 GMT -5
At one time such activity was incomprehensible to me. Articles like this one make it comprehensible. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/math.htmlThe bottom line is that the U.S. is a very large consumer of illicit drugs. This figures into the supply and demand scenarios U.S. society defines itself by. "The single largest marketplace for illegal drugs continues to be the United States. Although the market has decreased dramatically since its heyday in the mid-80's, close to thirteen million Americans still think nothing about occasionally buying a gram of cocaine, a few hits of ecstasy or a quarter ounce of weed to party with their friends on the weekends. A hard core group (see the chart) estimated at between 5 and 6 million have more serious drug habits, and may spend $100-$500 dollars a week on purchasing their drugs. These two groups - hard core users and casual users - spend approximately $60 billion dollars a year, according to U.S. government estimates."
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Post by Freedom on Sept 12, 2009 17:38:42 GMT -5
I wonder how many people a year die in the US due to wars, both amongst the drug dealers and law enforcement? Drug-related homicides www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/duc.htmYear Number of homicides Percent drug related 1987 17,963 4.9 % 1988 17,971 5.6 1989 18,954 7.4 1990 20,273 6.7 1991 21,676 6.2 1992 22,716 5.7 1993 23,180 5.5 1994 22,084 5.6 1995 20,232 5.1 1996 16,967 5.0 1997 15,837 5.1 1998 14,276 4.8 1999 13,011 4.5 2000 13,230 4.5 2001 14,061 4.1 2002 14,263 4.7 2003 14,465 4.7 2004 14,210 3.9 2005 14,965 4.0 2006 15,087 5.3 2007 14,831 3.9
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Post by maddogblues on Sept 12, 2009 22:14:03 GMT -5
I wonder how many people a year die in the US due to wars, both amongst the drug dealers and law enforcement? Drug-related homicides www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/duc.htmYear Number of homicides Percent drug related 1987 17,963 4.9 % 1988 17,971 5.6 1989 18,954 7.4 1990 20,273 6.7 1991 21,676 6.2 1992 22,716 5.7 1993 23,180 5.5 1994 22,084 5.6 1995 20,232 5.1 1996 16,967 5.0 1997 15,837 5.1 1998 14,276 4.8 1999 13,011 4.5 2000 13,230 4.5 2001 14,061 4.1 2002 14,263 4.7 2003 14,465 4.7 2004 14,210 3.9 2005 14,965 4.0 2006 15,087 5.3 2007 14,831 3.9 It is of course true that a drug addicts life is undesirable and most people do not start off thinking "I want to be a drug addict." No one really chooses to be a junkie. But it does happen and there are reasons, all of them personal, for it. Criminalization of this reality only makes it worse for the junkie and society. The horrors of this problem can be realistically inverted and the cause for the majority of the troubles will be found when society is pictured looking at itself in the mirror and pointing its finger. Why have we taken the victim and made him a criminal?
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