Technology

Simplistic sentiments like 'combating drugs is good' is exactly what leads to people to think spying on citizens should even be considered.

combatting drugs is bad. it leads to a black market and unreliable product, resulting in overdoses & deaths

Because the war on drugs was lost before our government (or any government) even started fighting it.

The DEA is neither necessary or helpful. Legalizing and regulating drugs - and yes, I do mean all drugs - would do far more to improve safety for people who want to, for one reason or another, use drugs (and “drugs” absolutely includes alcohol - it’s a substance that affects your mental state when consumed).

Or, you know, we could actually correct the root cause, which is wealth inequality, general despair over much of what’s happening in the world these days, and endemic poverty and homelessness. But that wouldn’t be profitable, and supply-side Jesus wouldn’t like that.

Down votes are because studies have shown that programs like DARE and the "war on drugs" didn't really make drugs go away, and that we need better solutions that address quality of life and mental health issues to keep people from turning to drugs in the first place. Also, saying we need to "combat" drugs is very adversarial, and reinforces the boogie man of "evil drug users", which helps the passage of overly powerful laws, and often make it easier to exploit minorities.

I also think the simplistic "[let's just] tackle the issue in a smart way" might rub people the wrong way, like "oh, well why didn't we think of that?"

EDIT: Your edit of "people don't agree with me, I guess that means they love drugs" is very assumptive, and close minded.

Why, is this an anti-drug community?

It is downvoted because you appear to think that more drug laws are the way to address the opiate addiction public health crisis.

Gr8 b8 m8 I r8 8/8