CNN Debate: Is the Drug War a Failure? Ethan Nadelmann vs. Former Drug Czar Bennett

[Whiterhin018]

he made a good point about overdoses in that prohibition in and of itself contributes to the rise in overdoses, particularly with heroin, due to no regulation on purity, thus all batches of said drug are variable.

[FlatEarthFighter]

Bill Bennett is a complete retard

[coconutbreath123]

you had me till you started hating on wake n bakes

[Peroy23]

Nadelmann had a slam dunk against Bennett and he fucked it up regarding kids having more access if marijuana is legal. Drug dealers don't ask for I.D. And licenses for selling marijuana will not be easy to get. And they aren't going to risk losing that license by selling to someone who is underage.

[fudgedogbannana]

What idiot would start using drugs just because they'd been legalized, If they legalize heroin today how long will it be til I start using it? Never, I would still never use it, same as everyone else. Not legalizing marijuana is one thing, hemp is another, why is hemp that couldn't get a fly high still illegal? corporate lobbyists keep hemp illegal and government enforces corporate orders, that burns me and robs us all of a great product.

[22knowa]

First of all, the Drug Czar cant even take part in any legalization measures. Your a Hippo crate. I remember you on the ferry to Bald Head island NC.There allot of money on that Island and you cant even get there with out a boat so you can drive around in your golf carts with a cocktail in the cup holder. Give me a break you look like you have crack open a few bottles.

[CarpingInTheUK]

When are your government going to admit the truth? Land of the free my arse!!! USA we are laughing at you everytime your government opens it stupid mouth !! LOL

[KripDrip]

were u laughing from? I dont see any other countries making marijuana legal?

[ssuuppeerrbbooyy]

I would ask the drug czar if he would to ban alcohol since that would reduce the number of alcohol related deaths? What!? U wouldnt? Interesting...

[goonie50]

This guy in New Orleans was convicted 4x's of "possession" of marijuana and was sentenced to life in prison...The 38 yr old dude rape this 11 year old twice and was sentence to 2 years 10 suspended

[scruffyfromki3]

THE WAR ON DRUGS IS A FAILURE WE HAVE MORE DRUGS AND MORE ELLEGAL GUNS LEGALIZE DRUGS FREE THE PEOPLE OF OUT GOVERMENT TREATING US LIKE KIDS

[dbaile2]

we are laughing....XD...guess the gov. thinks we are stupid or something..

[keyfromEY]

that 87 percent of those who were arrested were on drugs. yep thats because they were arrested for those drugs

[mitchyd89]

@keyfromEY Another interesting fact is that those drug tests only test for PAST use NOT intoxication. They test for drug metabolites that are made after the liver breaks down the drugs. Saying someone is "ON" cannabis because they fail a urine test is like giving someone a urine test for alcohol 24 hours after they stopped drinking and then giving them a DUI because they are drunk. The metabolites do not cause any intoxication. THC metabolites stay in the body for 30 days but they aren't stoned.

[TheKreamDream]

the argument more ppl would use if it were legal is anyone going to go start doing heroin or meth just because its legal i dont think so if u want to reduce the number of ppl using u have to educate ppl with the facts about drugs

[jonpo123]

lol i just thought it was funny when bill said "its a poll, its a poll!" when he was just using a poll for his argument like 5 minutes earlier.

[ste666fan]

FUCK THIS SHIT , as late Bill Hicks said : "I loved when Bush came out and said, "We are losing the war against drugs." You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it. "

[Choclu7]

asking someone in the DEA if cannabis should be illegal is pointless, its like asking a tree cutter what he thinks on the forests being gone in 20 years.

[emdaddy19]

Let's face it folks. The war on drugs is a complete failure! It doesn't help the problem, it makes it worse. It overcrowds our prisons, puts non-violent criminals in jail, costs tax payers billions of dollars, and causes more violent crime, and creates a black market for drug. Look at alcohol prohibition, it didn't work! If the government legalized drugs like marijuana, the government could regulate and taxed it, they would be rich! We need to end the drug war now!

[ForkCheck]

How many parents want their kids doing drugs? How many parents KNOW their kids are doing drugs? How many parents have THAT kind of relationship with their children? Perhaps if they did, the kid wouldn't have gotten screwed up with drugs in the first place--or at the very least would not have become so irresponsible with them if they had some strong parental role models.

But yeah, just blame the trees Bill, lock those kids up--then you get to tell yourself you're a good parent.

[ForkCheck]

"You don't hear [this argument] in the rehabiliation ward, you don't hear it in the inner cities..."

No shit, I doubt these same people give a shit about global warming or kittens either--they're a little busy rethinking the structure of their entire lives.

And also, no one recovers from being addicted to drugs by blaming the drug--but by taking responsibility for themselves and their live choices. And the same applies to those in rough inner cities.

[johntiessen]

Look it is as easy as this, you can not stop people from doing something that people stick up their ass to hide

[chil621]

The only way to win the war on drugs in America, is to kill everybody !!!!!

[hurbangrower]

FUCKING IDIOT BILL BENNETT. I'm tired of so-called conservatives like this asshole liar. Drug users/abusers commit so much crime because the price of illegal drugs is so high, its difficult to support an expensive habit without stealing to support such a habit. I'm a fiscal conservative and social moderate. Bill Bennett believes in the status quo. FAILURE. HE'S A FASCIST.

[Blazestalker100]

im crying when i think about prohobition

[vargulf19]

Of course it didn't fail...Or should I say it didn't fail for Drug Dealers (artificially inflated price) and Politicians (who get paid millions even billions to fight it)

[SteelRocker]

how is this a debate? ofcourse its a failure.

[rockinjesse03]

Their is a mile long line between a substance and a substance abuser! Get that through your head! another thing marijuana does not belong in the same roster as crack. cocaine . meth .murder etc so stop comparing! if you are a true prohibitionis you're missing the point i don't see prohibitionist attacking alcohol,tobacco., medications the true killers! you know why cause you were conditioned for the past 73 years to villainize a natural beauty! only the dark con of man would hide the truth!

[davehutchinson67]

Bill Bennett: WRONG!

[CertifiedNigger]

All you ignorants actually believe that legalizing drugs is the solution to these drug problems in our society. Marijuana was decriminalized in Alaska and Oregon in the 1970's and it resulted in INCREASED crime and an increase in accidents, including vehicle deaths and job accidents. It so damaged the society that it was made ILLEGAL again. Similar with China in the 1900's, Opium was legalized there and it resulted in over 50 million addicts, crippling the country.

Drugs should NEVER be legal

[MookstuffisBlazin]

@CertifiedNigger

Wrong on so many levels I dont know where to begin.

Drugs should ALWAYS be legal, because people are going to use them REGARDLESS of legality.

[imnotokeither]

@MookstuffisBlazin thats a ridiculius argument. Marijuana, which is a plant, should be legal because you cant illegalise nature. but hard drugs are extremely bad and have very bad effects on the body, so we should punish the people using them.

And more kids are in drug correction because when they get caught they have the choice between jail and something bad or correction!

[MookstuffisBlazin]

@imnotokeither

Yes, all hard drugs come from nature though too. It is impossible to reduce something which is in high demand regardless of whether it is a good or bad thing. The only real way to combat hard drug use is through honest education about the drug and the effects it has on a user both short and long term. We can expect many people will see the negatives and steer clear, but of course there will be an addict population just like with anything. I don't advocate hard drugs, but freedom

[imnotokeither]

@MookstuffisBlazin Ya but hard drugs are  issued from plants but they are then synthesised and chemically modified. Marijuana is the actual plant you smoke, how can you forbid something that was made by mother nature, it is so ridiculous to me..

[MookstuffisBlazin]

@imnotokeither

I think you are misinterpreting my posts. Please go back and reread all of them.

[SkankinRobots]

@CertifiedNigger smoke some marijuana then come back with an opinion that actually matters. marijuana doesnt make you want to go commit crimes...anybody who has done it knows that.

[lawlmann]

"Daddy Please dont smoke weed and beat and choke mommy on the coach."

Superstitous Drug czar. i bet hes never even tried it...

[LottLottie]

"common ground" segment. LOL. So "Mummy".

[ADanB2010]

BlumoonNow pretty much said it all. As long as the federal government tells us what we can and cannot put into our bodies, we are not free. Come on people, its in our national anthem for God's sake! "O'er the land of the free"! The "War on Drugs" is a war on that very freedom.

[Noahthebeast09]

Why spend valuable limited DEA resources on trying to go after marijuana smokers and dealers when we could catch more heroin, cocaine, meth, and crack?

[KripDrip]

because more kids use marijuana than any other illegal drug. It wouldnt make sense.

[InnerSmile72]

The stupid, it burns!!! Well, I guess if you force kids into therapy for pot and brainwash them into thinking it's causing their problems, yeah you're going to have an epidemic of therapy!

[Hokuro15]

Bill Bennett still follows false govt propaganda from the 70's.

I relate these ppl to fools. Just roll over and die bennette.

[xfp21]

"That's a poll. That's a poll. That's a poll"

Typical right-wing argument strategy.

When the opponent is making a perfect argument, the right wing contributor always yells out rude, interruptive, nonsense.

Just shut the fuck up and let him speak!

[whoo689]

Is Bennett basically pushing the reefer madness theory by referring to some bogus study saying 87% of violent criminals in jail are high? What is he trying to imply there? Don't the drug warriors, of all people, KNOW that shit is false? THEY WERE THE ONES WHO FIRST SPREAD THOSE LIES!!!!

[whoo689]

Keep on spewing your bullshit talking points like a good drug warrior, Bill Bennett. You really think no one's gonna notice how big of a PHONY you are?? Drugs cause crime? Lol. ...NO

87% of people arrested for violent crime were stoned? Yeah, right. I'm sure the ONDCP scientists or researchers really twisted the data there to get that conclusion. And even if they were stoned, who cares? How does that prove anything? It just shows that a lot of violent people like to get high.

[whoo689]

@whoo689 Even a big cartel leader in Mexico recently ADMITTED that the illegality of drugs has really helped him out greatly. He praised the drug war. When you have the very people you're trying to fight saying YOUR policies are helping them, something's gotta give. Something's gotta change. Either wake up or fuck up. It's your choice, America.

[whoo689]

Congress needs to step in and retake its authority on this issue. This whole drug war, as far as I know, was never even LEGISLATED as such. It was simply started by the president and executive branch b/c of an executive order from Nixon or some shit, and no Congress has been willing to stand up and say "NO!" If this Congress, this Democratic Congress, truly is 'liberal', it's about damn time they stand up to this war on drugs bullshit. Stop being fucking pansies. Do the right thing.

[Manatizzle89]

the war didn't work then, it isn't working now...legalize it and the violence will lessen

[KripDrip]

the drug war is working. If you think drug use is bad now, look how bad it was decades ago.

[IFlick]

Bet a million Bennett. His life is all but destroyed by a chronic gambling addiction. But he will Fuck you up over a joint.

[Intinator]

the old man's totally bullshit in agreeing a serious national debate on marijuana prohibition.

[AngeloBGC]

This old man is crazy. I live in Spain, and here it´s kind of legal. You can´t smoke on the street but it´s ok if you do it at home. I have many plants on my terrace ... I don´t think there´s a higher % of kids smoking pod here as there are in the U.S.. Go to Holland and you will see that they have ´some drugs legalize but they have less % of drug addictis than the U.S.

[Martial024]

I love Holland. I take a break from the States and head there. They have posters all over the shops showing how they have less users and less teen users than the US, we need to go one step further and stop the war on drugs.

Its a shame how the US has lost its way.

[KripDrip]

theres no "kind of legal". Either its legal or illegal. Which one is it?

[bangbangkittykitty]

I hate it when people say that if we legalize marijuana it will be more available for kids.. Thats not true.

[sunwing28]

No one should be in prison for possessing marijuana.

If marijuana were sold in liquor stores it would probably the least harmful thing in the entire place.

[davehutchinson67]

@sunwing28 Decriminalize it all....I mean really..what's the point....is it less of a cost to society for a crackhead to get his stuff cheap, work, pay his bills and at least make some minimum contribution...or just throw them in prison costing the system over $70,000.00 annually. so...is there really a decision..and it's not like when this individual is in prison they won't have access to their drug...Drugs are there too...I say let em work. Bill Bennett is an ass.

[10FootballGuy45]

Bill = OWNED.

fucking just toke it up and shut up and you'll see that when you smoke weed you'll be too lazy to commit crimes!

[g0sty]

Thats right. The people that are soppose to keep us away from danger, want to make drugs safer and more accesible to your children. While lie'ing to the masses with constant balogne facts, about how dagerous marijunana is. Canabis has bein used by humans far longer then alchohol. If Canabis was regulated , Black market would be diminished. The goverment knows this, But however a small % of people profit off drugs bein Illegal, and a much more satisfying rate then Legalizing.

[rich2rock]

These guys have more of a problem with money and give what they got it for, than people that use drugs. Geeze

[rich2rock]

"your only source of news?" Oh no.

[hallandoat]

That was a great debate for someone like me who is really torn over this issue. I have never seen Dr Bennett debate anyone, he seems way to nice for that. It made me laugh when Nadelmann was mean to him. They were both pretty sharp though.

[shabadoody]

ur a fat old loser who dont know shit. pot does not effect u ive been smoking pot since 14 and im 18 now and it hasnt changed my life one bit!

[texasallamerican08]

tell him man! ive been smokin the exact same time 15-19 and im havent changed a bit, get lifted!

[420Dropdead]

bottom line is, marijuana should be legal and underage drinking should be more watched over.

[ProtectoroftheTruth]

grats scrub 87% of criminals were on drugs correlation does not equal causation ever think drugs weren't the reason what about all the theft happening at the corporate level abused drug look at prescription drugs these scrubs who support the war on drugs have the biggest fail minds ever... lets get a drug free America... what a dumb statement this world will never be drug free and I don't know why anyone would want it to be.

[JimB667]

the ONDCP is so full of shit. How such a well known program can get away with spewing so many lies as it does is baffling.

[PacoTaco96]

the guy on the left side thats pro drug war got destroyed in this arguement

[avyion13]

paco: anyone who is on that side usually is.

[BlumoonNow]

Drugs are legal; the laws against them are illegal. It's called LIBERTY. YOU ARE NOT FREE IF SOMEONE CAN TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN OR CANNOT CONSUME.

[BlumoonNow]

I have a great quote from Abraham Lincoln on the unconstitutionality of prohibitions... but for some strange reason youtube will not allow it to be posted as a comment. It's on my page if you're curious. Bottom line; this drug war is the number one conspiracy within the U.S. Little by little, your freedom is being eroded. It's a psychological ploy; authority's been redirected from the individual to the government. Dangerous prescident.

[baker308]

I couldn't agree more!!!

[RedDaVincy]

@BlumoonNow Yes you can, space man.

[jbcvabeach82]

the point that the fat guy made about eighty percent of all criminals were tested positive for "drugs", I would like to know WHAT drugs?? I doubt a majority of them were marijuana... ?

[XanatharEye]

I bet most were marijuana and that tells us that prohibition makes a criminal out of a regular person.

[jbcvabeach82]

i agree... time to legalize. Stop wasting my money

[TheVengeance]

i was 17 when i started college. it was a fuckin hassle looking for a 21 year old to go to the gas station to buy beer that's twice as expensive as in a grocery store.

if i wanted to buy some weed all i had to do was go to one of the many dealers on campus and simply buy. in fact, i'm glad that i'm a pothead and not an alcoholic

[Commonsenseification]

I am an optimism by nature but when it comes to any Republican, I have become a total pessimist, I am not sure how an intelligent person can argue consistently against all logic and common sense then look in the mirror?

How can a group of people be collectively be for war all the time? Always against helping the poor in there own country?

Yet, in the of Jesus and all the nonsense, they keep getting elected time and again, while fucking the country up the ass in all directions, Strange!!

[evolsteveve]

I choose what goes into my body, nobody else has any say in the matter because I don't give them that right.

[blog4change]

I never had any problem buying alcohol as a teenager. The main difference between that and buying pot, is that when you get someone to buy alcohol for you they don't offer you cocaine, ecstacy, or meth.

Where's the real "gateway"? Is it the drug itself, or how it's purchased? Something to think about.

[blog4change]

Big surprise, about the same percentage of people arrested for pot also test positive for pot on post-arrest UA's. Duh.

How could legalizing pot make it more "widely available"? It's already easier for kids to buy pot than it is for them to buy alcohol or cigarettes. Let's get the tobacco companies into the cannabis business and sell it the same way we do cigarettes. To adults w/ valid identification.

[surgewakefield]

I don't believe in "evil" per se, but if it had a face, this guy Bill Bennett would be it.

[surgewakefield]

"87% of the people TESTED who were arrested for crime were on drugs." We'll no shit sherlock!! First of all you are talking about the people who were TESTED, which means they probably had a cause to test them in the first place and secondly, by any chance would those "crimes" have been related to your stupid drug laws in the first place? This guy is a shining example of an ignorant greedy douche bag who can't see past his own illogical circular arguments.

[surgewakefield]

"If you want more people in prison... then legalize drugs". WTF? Does this guy even hear what he's saying? How the hell will you have more people in prison if they're not arrested for things like non-violent drugs use? The idiocy is astounding.

[CertifiedNigger]

@surgewakefield That's because most people being tried for crimes are in prison because they committed a crime WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS.

This isn't what the pro-legal camp wants you to know. It's the basic fact that drugs CAUSE people to become violent and/or irrational, increasing their tendency to commit illegal acts, such as assault, property crime, and theft.

[scandall2012]

awsome debate, thanks for posting i missed it when it aired

[ddenkhaus]

wow that was a good debate, Ethan really knows his facts.

[EnhancementSmoker]

legalize

[EnhancementSmoker]

old fucks like Bill just need to die already...

[Joysquigglesparkles]

Worse than a failure, it's a CRAZY, DEADLY JOKE!

[thccorp]

None of us are saying that legalisation is perfect, We are saying it is far better than the current policy. let Americans do what they want as long as it hurts no one, no victim, no crime.

[mabney12]

the person commits a crime....the drugs and alcky are just an excuse to go through with the crime

[joshd321]

grrr that Bennett really is a slime ball of the worst kind. He's like an asshole parent telling everyone what they can and can't do, f*ck that asshole. I wish that other guy could have done a better job slamming his bullshit fallacies a lot better than he did.

[Runningonempty09]

Making it more available to kids,come on Bill. You can't stop them getting It RIGHT NOW! It doesn't matter if its legal or not. The law ruins lives,leave a smoker alone and he /she will live peacefully. You can't just trash a persons life because they have choosen the use cannabis,its wrong! Your laws dont support helping someone that is already down,you put a boot to there neck and keep them down! You add insult to injury! Stop the insanity! Have some compassion for gods sake!

[sidihale]

Ethan Nadelmann is a fucking moron and a failure and needs to be removed from the head of any Marijuana Policy Reform boards.

[sidihale]

He's missing the point. EVERY COUNTRY THAT HAS LEGALIZED OR DECRIMINALIZED MARIJUANA HAVE SEEN A GOD DAMN DECREASE IN USAGE. Period. End of fucking story. Stop trying to argue circles around the dumbass old dude and hit him in the nutz.

[joeystockdale]

Bennett is disingenuous! His war against people profits him and his military/prison industrial complex.

[vlady8me]

Gambling is far more destructive than cannabis. Bill Bennett's life is testament to that.

[revco68]

Oooooo - Thats good...

[srussian]

Why didn't they post the poll?

They got too much personal tension going on there, Ethan didn't even bring down the ludicrous point that legalizing would increase violence. It's the cartel mentality that makes violence erupt on our streets, the high price that makes some junkies commit crimes to get fixes.

Plus, the drug war brings in money for the CIA. Google it if you don't know by know about government involvment.

[dredgrave666]

If you are going to use the argument that drugs are bad for society, you cannot gloss over the fact that alcohol does far more "societal" damage than drug use. Roughly 10 times more people in America die from alcohol consumption than from drug use. So, by that logic, if you are against drug legalization but in favor of alcohol remaining legal, you are a total hypocrite and you don't deserve the right to be in the drug debate.

[KripDrip]

alcohol does more damage only because far more people drink than smoke crack heroin or meth. Since its legal cheap and widely available, more people drink alcohol. If all those other drugs were legal and sold in every store and was cheap for even the poorest people, far more people will die.

[PassThaRizla]

By now people should of learned that the government and media are.........[drum roll].........

FULL OF SHIT!!!!!!!

War on drugs? i think you mean war on our personal freedom.

DrugPolicyAlliance can fuck off too, deleting my comments on other videos when i have said nothing wrong other than the truth. but obviously people don't want that getting out.

[wildpeachatl737]

I'm more afraid of the phamaceutical industry and the products that they are peddling to the American public. How hypocritical to tell Americans that pot is bad and causes such damage and then I get Xanax, Zoloft, Seraquel and more pushed at me by my doctor.

Whose really the largest drug pusher in America?

[33115566]

People must be good at behaving normally when using pot. I never see any evidence of pot usage.

[spungii117]

make weed legal guies

[ManustheCaptain]

The war on drugs is like the war on terror.

Scaring people for something by creating a problem and then offering a bogus solution in response to this fear.

And all the time they making huge profits using your taxes by scaring you and taking away your rights and freedom!

[99minerkc]

Isn't it ironic that marijuana is legal for medicinal use(and rightly so!)in 12 states and likely more soon as it's GOOD for the body! However, Bennett has an agenda!! He could give a RAT'S ASS about whether or not weed is bad for young people! He's a political puppet like Obuma to special interest groups! The real reason why MJ is still illegal!

[jbcvabeach82]

the fat guy on the left is full of crap... they need to legalize marijuana...period...

[SlckJwdBtnk]

The Drug War. It's just so pathetic.

Observing how well Mr. Bennett handled himself is a perfect example why the DEA fails day after day.

People are so quick to want to ban something they don't like. So quick, that they often don't bother with learning dick about the problem.

Funny how when a hundred or so years ago nearly all drugs were legal (grass, cocaine, opium, etc.) there was no apocalyptic scenario. Ever heard of an old west cowboy coke addict? Nope, didn't think so.

[L3THALx1NJ3CT10N]

THAT'S A POLL. THAT'S A POLL.  THAT'S A POLL. THAT'S A POLL. THAT'S A POLL. THAT'S A POLL. He acted like a child...

[thenewvoice8]

Excellent interview Nadelman - showed you knew all the stats and figures and made Bennett look like the out of date half wit he is.

magic job

Free the Weed!!

[pomeroy82]

Ethan Made Bennett Look like a total idiot!!!! Good job Nadelmann keep it up!

[99minerkc]

Well Bennett is a total idiot without Ethan's help!

[trauts01]

"Had the most success..." OMG Bill needs to move to an urban neighborhood.

'Dysfunction..." How much more dysfunctional could a nation get?

Prescription and OTC drugs are the most abused by teens, not pot. Pot has a distinct odor which is easily detected by parents, since most of their parents smoked it back in the day. Kids switched to other drugs, back in Bennets day, as a way to get high without the telltale odor. Pot was king till the drug war, then the shift went to coke, remember?

[JRLLUnd]

Of course regulation of drugs could solve the drug and crime crisis, drug use is a public health issue not a criminal justice one. Education and Regulation is the way.

[NikoKun]

The ONLY way we could "win" the war on drugs, is to eliminate the demand for the drugs... Since OBVIOUSLY history has shown, as long as there is a demand, you can never eliminate the supply.

But short of mind control, there is nothing, no policy, no law, no punishment, that will eliminate the demand. Millions of free people want to use Marijuana, and that wont change.

The only way to reduce the problems, is to legalize and regulate it. Criminalization only makes the problems WORSE.

[NikoKun]

I think Nadelmann forgot to say it, but he was so close...

Drug dealers don't check IDs. Their profits depend on that. And because they operate in an already illegal market, there are no real regulations or incentives to ensure that they don't sell to kids.

THIS is why Marijuana is easier for kids to get than alcohol. If we legalized it, we could set age of sale regulations, and take away the licenses of sellers who break that law.

Legalization eliminates the black market, prohibition can't!

[klard]

As usual the loser of the debate is blowhard Bennett.

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

The war on drugs failed the day it began. The only difference between alcohol prohibition and drug prohibition is that current prohibition is much much worse and has created dozens of BILLIONAIRES, not just a few millionaires.

[AbbeyNormal]

Nadelman is awesome. He's like a walking encyclopedia on how the drug war is retarded. I've never seen anybody get on up on him.

[xcetia37]

I hate the fact that Ethan never acknowledged that Cannabis is one of the safest substances known to man and the only reason there are statistically more people going into rehabilitation for Cannabis is because once some one is caught in possession they are forced by the court system into either going to jail or drug rehab. Naturally one would choose the latter causing them to become another "statistic" in the evidence of prevailing marijuana abuse.

[AbbeyNormal]

Yeah, I was waiting for him to say that but he went the route of "it's popular" which is a bad argument in my opinion. Usually he's stronger than that.

[k2dart]

why is there a delay on the comment system, wtf?

[k2dart]

Bill Bennett is a fool

LOL @ 4:34  he's anthropomorphizing drugs.

[whoo689]

The reason you don't "hear this argument" in the streets or from parents is because they've been led to believe the government and DARE's propaganda. It's called indoctrination. It's so obvious.

And who are all these idiot kids who actually believe the gov't's nonsense and appear in these stupid PSAs?? That's what I wanna know. What, is there like a contract deal where the sons and daughters of anti-drug gov't workers have to star in certain PSAs? It's so weird.

[AbbeyNormal]

Strangely, the inner city is where we need this argument most, because it's where gang-controlled drug trafficking does the most damage.

[whoo689]

Who the hell has been "screwed up" by marijuana? Come on! Maybe a few kids with a family history of mental illness or some shit but they're only a handful of all weed users. It's the idiotic court system that sends kids to rehab just for doing weed!! They actually believe this shit is addictive and very harmful.

[Puabond]

I love this segments format. Ethan just ripped old man river a pretty new hysterectomy bag.

[whoo689]

Ethan Nadelmann blows these prohibitionists out of the water! They're spewing the same crap they said back in the 70s when the drug war started. Meanwhile, we keep getting more and more information as time goes by showing the failures of the drug war. It's time to legalize and just get this over with. Legalize, tax and regulate.

Besides, since when is it gov't's job, esp. the federal gov't, to tell us what we can and can't consume?? That's anti-freedom! It's unconstitutional.

[joshd321]

Legalize, period. Not "legalize, tax and regulate."

Anything else is anti-freedom since it's not the govt's job to tell us (or place limitations on) what we can and can't consume . You said it yourself.