gallois wrote:
But does any western government think long term these days?
The longest term most politicians think in is the time to the next election….
Personal freedom should be the foremost priority for all of us, but the problem with tolerating drug abuse is that the minds of the participants are damaged, and since the 1960s (when this and a lot of things went off the rails) the worst of them have become (and are) a major drag on society, for the rest of their lives. From a societal perspective that is what justifies government intrusion, more than any interest in government protecting people from their own lack of judgment, which is an ineffective endeavor.
If you want to attack the root cause and instill better judgment in people, the solution starts and arguably ends at home with responsible parents. Government institutions, policy and programs have also in this area have proved ineffective, a malignant mess that by profiting on taxation of addiction, confiscating property and selling it and so on, are as close to being the problem as the solution.
Snoopy wrote:
At least I had no idea until a friend recommended an interesting book on the subject.For some, addictions are manifested from a lack of self-love and self-acceptance. Addiction is often about trying to numb from pain, which comes from insecurity, lack of self-worth and low self-esteem. Has a lot to do with childhood, too. Many adults are hurt children.
I agree on your comment on the “war on drugs” and other political responses to the drug problem, but addiction certainly is a reality. E.g. the physical effects of heroin addiction are bad enough that the user can actually die of withdrawal symptoms. For some other drugs the situation is like that of alcohol which some people are addicted to and some are not.
Yes, good point. Chemical addiction.
in order for docs to prescribe something, it has to pass quality and safety certifications. How would you do that with potentially lethal drugs?
I guess you know that many (most?) prescription and non-prescription drugs are actually lethal, right? One generally found in every household straight off the top of my head – paracetamol…. 
Tigerflyer wrote:
I‘m wondering that small planes are not used more often for this kind of business.
I’m wondering why they are used at all for this. They aren’t that easy to hide, are expensive, have poor payload, and are surrounded by officialdom and paperwork. Even an inexpensive boat can smuggle 100x what even a large GA aircraft can do, and tend to have far less officialdom. For instance, if you want to fly to the Isle of Man you have to tell the police you’re doing it 12 hours before you do, or fly into a tightly controlled airline airport. But in a boat you can anchor up in any random bay or anchorage and bring the stuff onto land on a rubber dinghy and chances are no one will even know you were there.
if you want to fly to the Isle of Man you have to tell the police you’re doing it 12 hours before you do, or fly into a tightly controlled airline airport.
It is 12hrs in either case (GAR PN) 
I think the answer is greed. And it has always gone on at some low level. At one point some years ago they busted a fairly busy smuggling operation involving ULs flying at a low level, Ireland – UK mainland.
As I wrote, the weakest link will be the clients you are working for. They are prob90 under surveillance, and if not now they will soon be. In the drug business there is a huge number of loose ends… all the dealers etc.
It is also stupid because the plane will be tainted. If you ever get a dog sniff squad (like I got at Aosta LIMW) they will find something and will take the plane apart.
A much better smuggling operation will involve working for a small circle of trusted clients who are not doing drugs, and instead are doing stuff like expensive watches and jewellery, where the transport “merely” avoids import duty and VAT. And probably with side benefits like money laundering. I can think of a highly probable case of this but won’t post it.
This IAOPA post is worth a read
The industrial quantities that are shipped through container ports (not difficult to figure out which ones, just test the water) suggests either a resigned police force, political indifference or possibly worse.
The world is still observing the experiment in decriminalisation in Portugal to see if this might be a solution.
They only decriminalised possession for personal use and consumption, not supply, so the stuff will still be smuggled.
