wtf?

Quote :

"Washington, D.C. — The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has designated 26 counties nationwide as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA). Among the counties named are five in North Carolina – Durham, Johnston, Wake, Wayne and Wilson. According to a report issued by the federal government on Thursday, the regions "exhibit serious drug-trafficking problems and harmfully impact other areas of the country." The designation makes additional federal funds, equipment and technology available to those counties for fighting drug production, manufacture and distribution. The five North Carolina counties are the first in the state to receive this designation and will be part of the Atlanta region's HIDTA. In 2007, the HIDTA program provided more than $224 million to support drug-enforcement efforts nationwide."

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2466676/

2/21/2008 2:46:27 PM

Good or bad drugs?

2/21/2008 2:47:35 PM

I-40 and I-85

2/21/2008 2:49:37 PM

^^Who knows. This is the epitome of pork barrel spending. The federal government says we have a huge drug problem, yet despite living here my whole life I have never heard drugs referred to as a major problem for our area.

The greater Raleigh area is consistently ranked one of the top places in the united states to live and people flock here in droves from up north and from Florida. Somehow we still manage to fall on a list of only 26 counties in the US that need additional funds for drug enforcement.

2/21/2008 2:52:06 PM

^ I've been offered drugs or seen drug use in at least 75% of the bars on Glenwood.

2/21/2008 2:58:17 PM

^^you realize that drug trafficking isn't people using drugs right? It's the distribution. With I-40 and I-85 in the immediate area we have drugs going from North and South and drugs going from East and West.

I am willing to bet, because I haven't looked at the list yet, but the far majority of counties on that list will have immediate access to multiple interstates.

2/21/2008 3:03:30 PM

i could also easily see this being pork. i don't know enough to know if this has legs or not. i do remember a while back a friend of mine who was from henderson(?ville?) saying that that town was a major artery for drug trafficking.

2/21/2008 3:06:57 PM

I hear that.

The thing is they expect our local law enforcement to divert their resources to fighting this perceived problem. They send more money our way but we have devote more cops to pulling over cars along I-40. Thats great for the federal government, but what about the areas of Raleigh that need more police attention? We are using our experienced local LEO's to intercept drugs that are just passing through. An RPD officer has stated on here before that Raleigh has a developing gang problem, that would probably be a good thing to throw some resources at.

I think my local tax money should be spent managing local problems.

2/21/2008 3:09:27 PM

I'm sure a Republican White House is really intent on giving pork to Congressional Democrats in an election year.

Part of drug interdiction is going after gangs. The added resources will also free up money for community policing

The added money isn't coming from the local level, it is coming from washington and stopping drug traffickers is a local problem.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 3:12 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2008 3:10:24 PM

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2306198/

Quote :

"The Raleigh police department currently has more than 700 officers ......It has 58 officer vacancies, he said."

Close to 60 positions open. How is money that is earmarked to a specific thing that is not affecting overall quality of life for citizens, going to encourage more community policing?

2/21/2008 3:33:27 PM

I can't believe my taxes pay for shit like this.

2/21/2008 3:46:18 PM

ahhh, the never ending war on drugs...

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/HIDTA/overview.html

pretty much every area of the country is on that list at some point....looks to me like the only result of this program is shifting the trafficking from place to place.

2/21/2008 3:47:35 PM

hate to say it but perhaps we should allocate the resources to finding drugs to finding terrorist i'd feel a lot safer and help me get that sticky icky at a lower cost once supply goes up

2/21/2008 4:05:16 PM

Quote :

"help me get that sticky icky at a lower cost once supply goes up"

Its funny that IF police are successful in their efforts to lower drug volume (and that's usually a big if), it only drives prices up, which makes it even more lucrative to push said drugs, which means more people will take the chance.....and there is ALWAYS someone willing to take the chance.

2/21/2008 4:14:31 PM

I do not support this.

2/21/2008 4:17:24 PM

we are a good resting spot between florida and ny

2/21/2008 4:30:53 PM

Quote :

"Close to 60 positions open. How is money that is earmarked to a specific thing that is not affecting overall quality of life for citizens, going to encourage more community policing?"

Because it frees up city resources. Likewise, more federal money means we have more money to get more cops.

2/21/2008 4:39:30 PM

until the feds find a new pet project, the funding dries up and there is a budget crunch.

2/21/2008 4:52:26 PM

Quote :

"Its funny that IF police are successful in their efforts to lower drug volume (and that's usually a big if), it only drives prices up, which makes it even more lucrative to push said drugs, which means more people will take the chance.....and there is ALWAYS someone willing to take the chance. "

Kinda ironic as the war on drugs actually increases incentive for those who wnat to get into the market.

2/21/2008 5:19:12 PM

How's that War on Cancer going?

2/21/2008 6:17:18 PM

^^ I actually heard a pretty good argument against decriminalization based on those same lines. Basically more people will be inclined to do drugs, which is fine because your average drug user doesn't go around committing violent crimes for his habit (although it does happen). However, this just creates a bigger market and larger margins for people higher up in the food chain who regularly kill people over money and drugs.

I'm not sure how much I agree with it, but it was an interesting take when I heard it.

^ Rates are down, I believe.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 6:23 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2008 6:22:45 PM

let me guess this data was from a gov't source. I guess that would make sense if they solely decriminalized use and possession of a small amount.

besides for stuff like pot i think it should be legalized thus black market wouldn't be an issue anyway

2/21/2008 6:25:19 PM

I'm for legalization before decriminalization. Although I feel like that would be a clusterfuck if it was done on a state level. I would hate having to drive to SC once a week to buy my smack.

2/21/2008 6:49:38 PM