It's the usual--overheated rhetoric that, when proven false, helps people sleep better at night. ("Why there's not a problem in the black community--(insert favorite columnist here) proved that was false!")

What I love is that neither Edwards nor Obama put forth a solution. Here's one--how about investigation why college tuitions have gotten astronomical? Maybe setting aside more money for public service in exchange for grants? Just a couple thoughts.

I have to laugh at the article's solution however: end the War on Drugs. While I see the point they're trying to make, I don't think legalization is the way to go. I don't relish the thought of driving on the same highway with someone hopped up on PCP who feels invincible.

That being said, I'm more in favor of an "aggravating circumstance" approach rather than preventive imprisonment approach. For example, if you kill someone in a car wreck while high, that's it. Go to the gallows, go directly to the gallows, do not pass home, prison, etc.. (Singing of Styx's Renegade is optional, however.) If you give up your dealer, you get the long drop, you decide to "keep it real", you get the short.

since you appreciate Reason magazine as a good source, perhaps you saw this article as well:

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/122808.html

There's a difference between legalizing drugs and legalizing driving while high. We already make that distinction with alcohol, and I suspect most of us in favor of the former are not in favor of the latter.

Oh, I'm not saying people who _are_ in favor of legalization are in favor of legalizing operating while intoxicated--I'm just saying it's going to happen if you do legalize it. :)

If said legalization does occur, given the effects of hte drugs (orders of magnitude worse than alcohol, I think), it needs to be squashed without mercy. People who drive while drunk and kill someone usually do it as a mistake. Someone who's high on some of the harder drugs will do it because it'll seem cool.

"People who drive while drunk and kill someone usually do it as a mistake. Someone who's high on some of the harder drugs will do it because it'll seem cool."

What the fuck are you talking about, and what do you base this conclusion on, other than cheesy Hollywood cliches and DEA "Reefer Madness" propaganda?

I did plenty of drugs in college, and the only one that made me feel the least bit pugnacious was alcohol. Most of them made me want to sit in a comfy armchair and daydream while I listened to music.

Karol:

There *are* more black men in prison than in college.

What's inaccurate is the claim that there are more *young* black men who are incarcerated.

Of course, the latter comparison is the apples-to-apples one. Among people over 35, less than 1% of any race are attending college.

Tsk, tsk. You via'ed Fark, but it's really via via TheWaPo. You get a liberal-media demerit.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but the couple of times I've encountered someone doing hard drugs (meth, coke, and one we _still_ don't know what it was), they were rather belligerent/euphoric. I won't even get into conversations with law enforcement or lawyers.

Now, you want to tell me you did coke, meth, and unknown drug that turned a 145 lb. individual into someone that required three people to tackle, I'll yield to your experience.

Like I said, you want to argue legalize them, fine (something that would tend to indicate that, no, I don't believe the propaganda). However, I am saying that if someone _can't_ handle their drugs, they shouldn't get a second chance to screw up. Incidentally, I believe this for alcohol also, so it's not like I'm changing my standards--much.