What are some good arguments in favor of the War on Drugs?

Many many many many humans are earning a living involving themselves on one side or the other in this alleged war.
Cops, lawyers, judges, politicians, their aides, court reporters, stenographers, clerks, bailiffs, sheriffs, custodial employees, jail personnel, Dealers, users, pushers, paraphernalia vendors…

Since pot is a gateway drug, perhaps stopping some young tykes from that path will spare them years addicted to heavier drugs like mushrooms and peyote. (And leave some for the rest).

The war on drugs is as futile as prohibition proved to be in the old days. We live in a world of supply and demand. Cutting the supply has never been achieved and will never be achieved. The only way to have a grain of success is to curb the demand. That would be, in the case of drugs, maybe educating people on the dangers of drug use or making rehab available to those who seek it.

Our current strategy of chasing pushers and users around to arrest them is exactly what was tried during prohibition. What that strategy creates is an underground network of supply, very dangerous people shooting it out in the streets for territory, and makes a lot of very bad people very rich.

I learned that my brain is a fragile little egg and drugs are a hot cast iron skillet.

There are none.

@Dan_Lyons Are caffeine, nicotine and alcohol gateway drugs too? Also kinda interesting that the heavy drugs you listed are both pretty damn safe and peyote is near impossible to find anymore honestly.(on the east coast at least)

Shame @El_Cadejo Peyote grows quite wild in the SouthWest of the US. It is a cactus! Yes of course nicotine, caffeine and alcohol are gateway drugs.
If you think mushrooms and peyote are safe you must have them mixed up with some other drugs.

The best arguments for the war on drugs are the crime and health numbers for countries with looser regulation and policies.

Any argument for ending “the war” at a policy level should begin with how we can do better.

It allows a small group of folks to rack up a lot of money:

It allows a small group of politicians to get re-elected because of how tough they are on crime.

It allows for the incarceration of “troublesome” citizens.

I allows some people to feel superior to another group.

It has brought about stronger, more potent drugs.

It provides a living for many third world farmers and distributors.

It provides the funding for many luxury items by those who profit from it which provides jobs to provide these items.

@Dan_Lyons Peyote is something we really shouldn’t be consuming honestly. It takes upward of 15 years for a single segment to grow. It’s going extinct due to people picking it. As per the safety of peyote, mushrooms, and other hallucinogenics, bearing you have a clean history of mental health they really are quite safe to take. The LD50 is extremely high on them and they are non habit forming.

1) It helps to keep dangerous marijuana offenders off of the streets.

2) It gives the state money through seizing the assets of various levels of drug offenders, by taking their hard-earned property like seizing a vehicle for a joint, or seizing a house for two pot plants, thus saving tax-payers money. This also allows others to purchase your hard-earned property when it gets auctioned off for a fraction of the price you paid for it. Win win!

3) It prevents those convicted of drug offenses, even minor ones, from potentially receiving student aid. However, you can murder people, rape people, assault others, steal another’s life savings, rob several banks, etc and guess what? Yep, you’ve guessed it, you will not be denied a loan based off of those offenses alone. Yep, another plus, because the drug war prevents many dangerous marijuana offenders from attending college while allowing lesser violent offenders to. Win win again!

4) It’s helping to create a blooming prison industry. Look at all of the pretty new prisons being built. Now how can you not want to be at one of these luxurious places now?

5) It helps to reform marijuana offenders by putting them in prison with hardened criminals, thus making the recreational user a better person when they get out.

@Paradox25 Well played.

@rojo It has brought about stronger, more potent drugs. Interesting point, because I suspect that many designer drugs and alternative methods for getting high came to be through strict cannabis enforcement. It’s very difficult to get weed where I’m at anymore, but spice, bath salts, designer substances, meth and heroin are readily available. Oh, and alcohol.

It allows some people to feel superior to another group. Yes, usually from the self-righteous high on life type of folks who themselves contribute to many of the problems plaguing most cultures today. The war on drugs is really a war on cannabis, and cannabis criminals are nothing more than cultural misfits who end up being either political prisoners, or people who kindly end up forfeiting their hard-earned assets to the state.