Like a turd in thr punchbowl (disclaimer: long read ahead)

[jfs]

Gentlemen, how do we feel about governmental drug control policies in Thailand and elsewhere?

Are they good ideas, bad ideas or just quagmires?

In the not so distant past, Thailand employed death squads to aggressively combat "the scourge", and even though Wikipedia suggests a modicum of success noted in terms of stemming the tide of drug use in schools... as a policy it was abandoned. Like a turd in the puchbowl, it was whisked away.

In the Philippines, Duterte's drug sniffing death squads have popular support among inhabitants of the PHL. But, once carnage reaches a tipping point, people will hopefully sour on this approach. IMHO, Duterte is a turd in the punchbowl...and should be whisked away.

In Indonesia, Jokowi sees aspects of Duterte's no holds barred approach he likes, and has recently implemented a shoot to kill policy for suspected drug traffickers bold enought to resist arrest. Will he go full bore death squad? Does he have turd potential?

In America, we've got a "drug war" started under the Nixon administration, that gave rise to the Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA is a huge turd extruded upon the American public via the orifice of Uncle Sam, and has managed to squander 50.6 Billion USD from 1972 to 2014. DEA's only positive metric, is a yearly need for larger amounts of funding. Whisk away... couldn't this obscene amount of money be used more productively?

The International Drug Policy Consortium published an article titled " Thailand amends drug law to reduce penalties and ensure more proportionate sentancing"...where they describe changes to the law enacted in January 2017, motivated primarily by the need of the government to curb the increasing Thai prison population.

Is this the first baby step by the Thai government to a more rational drug control policy? Or will it continue ineffective drug control policies, while drug cartels get wealthier?

PS: yes...know I screwed the pooch on the title. Should read "Like a turd in the punchbowl" Found no way to edit the title after submitting.

[joe552]

Sorry, I don't own a punch bowl so can't comment. But your were right, it was a long read for this site.

[jfs]

You're correct on both counts. Not only is it long, but Punch bowls are tangible items...punchbowls exist only in my mind !!!

This post may have been partially unencumbered by thought!!

[frequent]

Gentlemen, how do we feel about governmental drug control policies in Thailand and elsewhere?

In every country they're simply ridiculous. Drugs are a medical issue, not a criminal one. We learned from Prohibition in America that all it does is provide opportunities for organised crime to become entrenched. Legalise the lot and regulate the supply in the same way as the current legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco

[joe552]

I totally agree - legalise it and control it like tobacco and alcohol.

Here in Ireland, there was a bill introduced to Parliament last year to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana. It's currently stalled in the Parliament and no-one seems to know when or if it will progress.

[jfs]

Ironcically, the misfit government of North Korea doesn't seem to care about marijuana use.

Most governments engage in 'theater' to lull the masses into thinking they're Johnny-on-the-spot, taking bold and decisive action in battling "the scourge"...absolutely absurd.

Not advocating for little Kim...he's a scourge in his own right!

[FarangRuMak]

I totally agree - legalise it and control it like tobacco and alcohol.

Here in Ireland, there was a bill introduced to Parliament last year to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana. It's currently stalled in the Parliament and no-one seems to know when or if it will progress.

Chomsky does a very interesting critique on why the difficult and expensive AND more harmful tobacco crop is licensed by the state whereas the east-to-grow and less harmful marijuana crop is banned in the USA.
It's available to view on Utube.