Practical Solutions to End the War on Drugs - Alex Wodak

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/04/Should_All_Drug_Use_Be_Made_Legal

Physician Alex Wodak discusses reforming the war on drugs, including legalizing marijuana and repealing criminal penalties for personal possession and consumption. He says the focus of drug reform should be on harm reduction, not prosecution.

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Although the media sporadically reports on major narcotic raids, the general consensus about the war on drugs is that small battles will not win this war. Despite all the money spent on drug enforcement worldwide, illicit drugs are still relatively cheap and widely available. Increasingly drugs are being viewed as a social problem rather than strictly a legal one.

So is it time to rethink traditional approaches to the illegal drug industry? Countries like Portugal and Argentina are forging ahead with drug reforms, but will Australia follow suit?

In this panel from the provocative Festival of Dangerous Ideas the argument is put forward that decriminalization and regulation would be the best solution to addressing the problems associated with drugs. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Dr. Alex Wodak is the Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. He is also President of the International Harm Reduction Association and the author of Drug Prohibition: A Call for Change.

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[mynameisbobtoo]

the war on drugs is not a failure...just the majority of us are on the wrong side of the victory. The war on drugs is amazingly profitable for those in Government. I pays for wars pays for slave labor pays in kicks backs buy off bribes and is a system that government can play from both ends. The war on drugs is a stunning success....just not for you and I.

[willhum]

The critique is good but the solutions don't go far enough. Alex Wodak only seems to want to tax, regulate and legalise cannabis. So he seems happy to leave the rest of the drugs market in the hands of illegal criminal gangs?

Over 29,000 people have died in Mexico since 2007 - as a result of US demand + prohibition + guns. END THE WAR ON DRUGS - ITS A WORLD DEVELOPMENT ISSUE !!

[MrTimothytim]

God im proud to be Dutch.

[dkoribag1]

@1600Percent i agree 100%. I also keep in mind the process of evolution. It seems to be within everything we do and everything around us. Some things evolve at different rates than others. On the individual scale of humans it is exactly the same. Each individual human evolves at different rate . Life is a very strange. The war on drugs is obvious failure and against the constitution and against everything our founding fathers faught so hard for. Shame on the federal government.

[1600Percent]

@brumleyHouse Exactly I've always wondered if humans were placed in this environment as an experiment by a more advanced civilization. We're parasites we pollute consume and destroy. No other animal on earth harms it in the way we do. We seem to be the only species that can't peacefully coexist with the planet and don't fit in with the checks and balances of the food chain. In a nutshell, we are the world's AIDS.

[brumleyHouse]

This war will never be won. Everyone likes the money too much In the end nature will clear away all this rampant political and civilian trash

[WeAskThePeople]

throw off the shackles of this stupid drug war ...treat pot like tomatoes.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE - HUMAN RIGHTS

USA prohibition policy poisons the world. FORCED apon us by trade sanctions & stand over tactics... WAKE UP .. ! compassion NOT incarceration.

[TerrierBram]

Why those so called educated people never seem to consider that it maybe not is meant to succeed. But just another way to have an excuse to make money by selling the drugs for high prices, and collect taxes to finance all this futile state activities to fight drugs activities.The real solution is to burn down this fascistic petrol-chemical industrial and government complex.

[EvilLeparacaun]

@holylok What part of "they don't sell to anyone under age" doesn't make sense to you? Was it the "moron" part that threw you off? Well then, allow me to clarify. Your slow! OK? OK.

Oh and by the way I haven't smoked pot for like 3 months, If you must know. And when I use it, I don't act like a moron (you). My shit isn't THAT good ;)

[holylok]

@EvilLeparacaun coming from a fuckhead who's off point stay on point not pot! derp derp! point u fucking pot head give up the weed cus u didn't make sense in ur reply lol I wonder why!

[EvilLeparacaun]

@holylok yeah but they don't sell to anyone under age you moron

[holylok]

theres even lquor and smoke in shopping malls place that we go all the time to get our food for the week so it's harder to get weed than it is to get smokes n alcohol