Comment by cobbzilla

Somehow this rhymes with the US's "War on Drugs", and it makes me very afraid:

Similarities I see:

* In the years leading up to government action, a mass hysteria was well cultivated in the media (evil drug users committing abhorrent crimes).

* When launched, the public was overwhelmingly in favor of it (In 1971, 48% of the public said drugs were a serious problem in their community [1]).

That's where we are now. THEN:

* It got worse for decades (By 1986, 56% of Americans said that the government spent "too little" money fighting drugs [1]).

* Following many years of lobbying, some rights are slowly restored. (NORML and other groups fighting for legal medical, then recreational use; mushrooms are legal in few places, etc).

* It's still going on today. (Over 100,000 people currently serving prison sentences for drug-related offenses [2]).

[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/6331/decades-drug-use-data-from...

[2] https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2025.html