America's War On Drugs.

[dimpy.handa]

What amazes me is how little people know when it comes to defining exactly what a 'drug' is. Obviously, and technically, EVERY chemical known to man (and even those unknown), including water, is a drug. To be sure, some chemicals have very subtle effects that are not readily apparent. Not so with the myriad drugs we call medicine. In fact, the most dangerous drugs that people ingest is almost always a 'medicine' prescribed by doctors. The biggest and most corrupt drug dealers in the world are NOT the drug cartels plying heroin and cocaine...it's the MEDICAL PROFESSION!

Drugs are exactly like religion in that BOTH are used in attempts to control the masses.

 

[shivibhanot]

FORTY YEAR WAR
Since Nixon coined the phrase, every president since has continued the "War on Drugs" in some form.

Much of the focus of the four-decade war been curbing supply and distribution of drugs such as cocaine in its journey from the Andes to dealers and users in U.S. cities. But supply has easily kept pace with demand.

Data compiled by Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, and University of Maryland professor Peter Reuter, show that at the "farm gate" in Colombia, 100 percent pure cocaine costs about $800.

After several mark-ups along the chain, dealers working for the cartels in the United States break down each kilo into individual grams sold between $80 to $100 each, generating between $80,000 and $100,000 a kilo, according to DEA data.

Kilmer said revenues can be even higher when the cocaine is diluted with other substances, with a kilo bringing in the equivalent of as much as $122,000 in some cases.

"Drug traffickers make so much money that even if there are big seizures they end up losing only a fraction of what they stand to make," Kilmer said.

"Experience has shown that major drug busts can lead to short-term shortages and high prices for drugs," he added. "But within a few months supply catches up with demand again."

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center 2009 report, at least 35 million Americans -- more than a tenth of the population -- used illicit drugs ranging from pot, to cocaine, meth and heroin and party drugs like ecstasy, or abused prescription drugs.