The Wire - Positives of Drug Legalisation

Hamsterdam was a district location where drug trade was legalized. The posited benefits were reduced street crime, city-wide, and increased outreach of health and social services to at-risk populations.

[@kpjlflsknflksnflknsa]

Colvin's crime was caring about his community more than brown nosing.

[@virtuousoutlaw]

S Tillman, Carcetti screwed Colvin over. Colvin showed Carcetti the operations and the current mayor Royce was contemplating not shutting it down because of the 14% decrease and the letters. Carcetti also had the same internal conflict because he saw the good Hamsterdam was providing. However, in the end by informing the media of the situation, Carcetti made Royce look bad and the mayor didn't have enough time to spin it and promote it as a new initiative.

[@ShadowSonic2]

Wasn't it Burrell who leaked the information out?

[@virtuousoutlaw]

ShadowSonic2, no Royce and his cronies were discussing options after Burrell brought it to their attention. There's a scene where Carcetti was discussing whether to use the information that Colvin gave him with his wife. Carcetti was initially torn about Hamsterdam because he saw the benefits of it but his wife pointed out that he could bring about change when he gets into office. It was Carcetti that made the call.

[@69DangerousD]

@@virtuousoutlaw Colvin had to come clean because Herc called the papers and leaked it

[@stephengrigg5988]

the only time Royce seems like a good politician. he brings in a think tank from everyone from law enforcement to clean needle exchange people and debates the subject for days very seriously and tries to find a way to make it work. when he is forced to play ignorant you can't even blame the guy. the governor is threatening to cut off funding completely which would probably hurt Baltimore more than legalizing drugs would help.

[@9e7exkbzvwpf7c]

When Rawls said “I know they’re not there, what I want to know is where they are,” he admitted a truth: you can’t stop the drug trade. It’s going to happen.

[@SamBrickell]

I'm with you that it should be legal, and you can't easily stop it. At the same time though both Amsterdam and Thailand have lower rates abuse of hard drugs like heroin than America does. In Amsterdam most drug use is legal. In Thailand most drug use is a capital crime.

[@nTrubl3]

WHERE IS THE WEST BALTIMORE DRUG TRADE

[@youbetternotplaythatnashee898]

You can stop the drug trade just like you can stop the explosive trade. It depends how far you're willing to go to forbid it.

[@PaddyRoon7]

"Wars end."

[@criert135]

@@SamBrickellYou want to know why? Look at the pharmaceuticals industry in the US and their influence.

[@mzytryck]

I find it interesting that Rawls actually looked at the letters. We already know he's the smartest member of the brass, realising immediately what Colvin did, and laughing about how it genuinely was a brilliant idea (like he does when McNulty manages to saddle him with the murder case in season 2), but here we also see he's genuinely curious about how effective it was even when he knows that it doesn't matter. It doesn't stop him from threatening the careers of everyone Colvin worked with if he didn't submit to the humiliation at comstat, but I've always found Rawls' particular brand of ambition more respectable than Burrell's; when Rawls gets screwed, he just sees it as an obstacle and ruthlessly makes an example of whoever did it, while Burrell whinges about the lack of loyalty and seems genuinely offended by it. Rawls is a total bastard, but I get the feeling that when he looks in the mirror he knows exactly what is looking back at him, while hypocrites like Burrell and many others lie to themselves about what they are.

[@blackjames4959]

I 100% agree with this... I feel that Rawls had the opportunity and resources to do exactly what he had to rectify the hot mess Baltimore PD was in. No politics or any other empowerment programs in the way... Things would alot better...

[@malblago]

I am not 100% sure if Ralws is a tottal bastard. I mean, if he wanted to do the work and don't play the game, he wouldn't ever be made deputy. But if he wanted to climb the ladder, that means he had to paly the stat game. I remember like towards the end and shit, he did try to change the system somewhat, and he was ready for the reformation and stuff, but the point of the wire is, is that you can't change his system. I feel like at the end of the series he was getting old and tired from all of the bullshit he has done, and his higher ambitions got the better of him, just like Carcetti.

[@danendrahartawan9268]

Well, Bill Rawls as we know, is a reasonable guy

[@samuelmuiruri4704]

that is exactly right, he is a reasonable guy but do not expect him to perform miracles. you just need to know how life is. if he could like daniels, he would get another job, but there it is

[@fakenews8295]

Great analysis.

[@hotboxyay9029]

One of the things I love about Rawls is he constantly hints at the fact he is a very capable cop and far from an idiot. Knowing the street signs were switched around when Kima got shot, Immediately figuring out the path Wee-Bey and Little Man took to escape and here, immediately picking up what Bunny was doing in Hamsterdam. After seeing what City Hall throws on their heads constantly, it isn’t hard to understand why Rawls became who he is, despite how good of cop he may be. It’s probably the reason he had so much hate for McNulty. It’s like a father dealing with his rebellious son. No matter how much they are alike, they just can’t see eye to eye.

[@botx2368]

Love the perspective

[@chrisdawson1776]

Rawls is a white supremacist

[@bartoszsekowski511]

He just accepted the game as it is, decided to go with the flow. But I also get this vibe of him being "natural police" back in the day.

[@pennydime14]

He's McNulty if McNulty was a careerist

[@gordonferrar7782]

ALSO hints he's not a stone cold queerbus.

[@arbitterm]

Rawls just can't help himself from being impressed. Clever of Colvin to remind him (and the audience) that he used to walk the beat, to emphasize the disconnect between command politics and effective police work.

[@waveali5620]

"YOU..... In my office! Now!" The other commanders were probably appreciative to Bunny actions causing the Comstat briefing to end abruptly.

[@MM-vs2et]

I think anyone in their right minds will respond positively to this. It's an absolute net win. The main effects of the drug trade is completely eliminated, as in turf wars, neighbourhood antagonisation, etc. And the side effects, ie. overdose, STDs, malnutrition, faulty and bad equipment, violence in general, etc, can be managed by clean needle and condom distribution, food and water distribution, and security. It's just that EVERYONE has to have a career.

[@jefferycrouse4652]

Exactly. When managed correctly by both sides hamsterdam would work. But prisons need bodies for labor, cops need to make stats and people whose shoes never even touch the sidewalks of those places would turn their nose up at the idea and demand something be done about the degenerates.​@@MM-vs2et

[@leavemealone5890]

Bunny figuring out the war on drug is lost about 2 decades before anyone else

[@DaHuntsman1]

Honestly anyone with a brain knows the drug war was lost the moment it started, at least in terms of its original stated goals. As for why it continues its mainly profit related for prison industries and pharmaceutical industries, as well as the police systems in America.

[@supertoyg]

People close to the matter, have known this since the late '90s. That's why decriminalisation legislation is slowly emerging - because the generations who've seen nothing but the war on drugs since they were born, know it's a fool's errand, and are now old enough to do something about it.

[@johansmallberries9874]

Yup it was never a war, wars end.

[@Potatotenkopf]

Nah they knew, they just wanted to keep locking people up and getting that prison labor for pennies on the dollar.

[@ndn2589]

the bottom line is drugs will be done and get sold no matter what is done his idea is brilliant

[@jeffwillisjr53]

little nick agreed, that was a good long stack of thank you letters. Because them ppl was once able to walk in play in the streets without a child playing in drugs or getting their hands on a used need. Business was able to make business and not struggle to stay open, or fear of being robbed or a shootout... It was just balance!

[@goodyeoman4534]

no, it's not. Japan and South Korea successfully enforce drug possession laws, resulting in a reduced prevalence of illegal drugs in their society .

[@malblago]

@@goodyeoman4534 You have to understand S Korea and Japan are two tottaly diffirent countries to the United states, not to mention they do not have the same type of population and territory. What's more, the drug distribution there doesn't even match the US margins. Really, most of the cases of hardcore drug distribution in america sprawled from the lack of employment, social capital, racism, culture of crime, and a bunch of other shit which right now S korea and Japan haven't had at this level of magnitute. What's more, is that there aren't that many other countries where the distribution of drugs is as savage and as bloodthirsty as it is in America. Hey, in my Home country, we also have cocaine, we also have heroine and stuff like that, but the shit is sold quietly, secretly and without much or any violance. You will be hard pressed to find and actual dealer here, let alone, one that carries a fucking firearm. I mean, really, they usually have like knives, bats, steel kunckles, butterflies, chains, that type of shit, the worst it could go is a gas pistol, which isn't any joke but still.

[@goodyeoman4534]

@@malblago 'Totally different?' JP & SK are both democracies, secular and are heavily influenced by western culture. The drug possession laws they successfully enforce worked equally well in Britain until the policy of de facto decriminalisation began in the 1970s (I believe)...

[@LoverOfManyArts]

@@goodyeoman4534 you didn't listen to a single point he made

[@richiegarcia-lopez4268]

One of the greatest shows to air in television history.

[@kpjlflsknflksnflknsa]

Police don't want to hear this. There is no incentive to stop or solve the drug war in this way. A lot of very powerful people have staked their reputations of the perpetuation of the drug, policy path dependence and sunk costs also means that deviation from the status quo runs up against enormous opposition.

[@strangebrew1231]

Cops like herc and the other white dude actually ENJOY the low level harassment. They don’t want things to get better

[@ShadowSonic2]

@@strangebrew1231 There are 3 types of Cops in The Wire. The ones who want to do real police work (McNulty, even if he's a total ass over it. Freamon and Colvin), the bureaucrats who want to enforce the system and look good so they can get promoted (Burrell and Rawls) and the thugs who only wanted the badge so they could harass anyone they wanted and get away with it (Valchek, Herc and Collichio).

[@Arcaryon]

@@ShadowSonic2 And the real world is even more complicated. People like to pretend that it isn't but at the end of the day, most people don't even know all the people they grew up with, yet alone are able to judge thousands of strangers they never met based on isolated journalistic reports.

[@davidguiney1746]

I hear Portugal has done some great things around decriminalization. Overdose deaths are waaaaaay down

[@DJrock888]

They don't want a world without crime becuase then the cops lose their power and their toys. Its all part of the military industrial complex. Crime justifies their existence and the more crime the more money they get. The police exist to keep the power at the top and provide a sense of security for the middle class so they don't revolt.

[@princeda8thseed]

"Actually, I elected to ignore them" such an underrated line. 😆

[@wwemusicfanC]

I just love how Rawls makes a point that all of this happened because he was demanding the impossible in stat decreases. He knows that it was good for violent crime stats, but legally and professionally, it made their department a bigger joke than it already was.

[@CrimzinEclipse2010]

I like how Colvin, Rawls and Burrell all saw the letters differently: Colvin saw them as evidence that Hamsterdam was working at genuinely improving the community. Burrell saw them as nothing more than a way of “saving their asses”, showing that any part of him that once wanted to do good police work vanished long ago. Meanwhile, Rawls is morally right in between the two. He understands and respects the career suicide of Hamsterdam, but he still looks over the letters because there’s still some part of him that wants to do good police work for the city.

[@k8keman95]

Really well thought out never seen it that way 👏

[@pako5586]

Colvin didn't see it as anything but positive. rawls may have had a more objective view than colvin but that doesn't make him right. after all he still decided to take burells side in the end

[@CrimzinEclipse2010]

@@pako5586Rawls ultimately chose his career over doing the right thing, but there was still some aspect of him that understood what the right choice was.

[@xKiLLa_Carter777]

That’s another reason that may indicate he was against actually the stats, just great at enforcing it. When he made his commanders adjust to the idea of natural and good police work, despite the fact that “their boys were raised on stats”, he took pleasure in being ready to shit on anybody who did not heed to Mayor Carcetti’s adjustment

[@jeffwillisjr53]

That was a good long stack of thank you letters. Because them ppl was once able to walk in play in the streets without a child playing in drugs or getting their hands on a used need. Business was able to make business and not struggle to stay open, or fear of being robbed or a shootout... It was just balance!

[@kharizmatikone1481]

More than anything, the people who weren't in the game felt safe for the first time in a long time. Those letters expressed so much gratitude to the department and yet the higher up cock suckers was worried about their stats, their rep, how they were going to look etc. It just shows you (generally speaking) that nothing that's gov official cares about the people. Whether if it's police, the church, the school district etc. They all have one main goal in mind and that's to manipulate and control the people for their own selfish gain and power.

[@davidhutchinson5233]

The Swiss did it over 35 years ago. The Dutch did it around the same time and the Portuguese have decriminalized drugs for over 20 years now.

[@siphillis]

Bunny and Lester were the only two truly honorable cops on "The Wire" and they both wound up on their asses for their efforts.

[@danielzitnik4247]

Sydnor makes it through, although he's younger. And some other cops we don't see much of seem like decent enough people, but who knows.

[@janconner2087]

Lester lost nothing in the end. He got his full retirement, his miniature furniture business, his woman and his freedom. He, unlike McNulty, understood there was more to life, than “The Job”

[@ctwwtc8761]

Lester was dirty the whole season 5 basically

[@maoli4889]

the most brilliant moments in this clip: 0:55 when bunny assumes sole responsibility Rawls already knows that something is going on 1:19 lighthearted godfather reference immediately killed by Rawls (we see the same when McNulty tries to make excuses and Rawls shuts him down with a "he's a good looking kid right?" showing a photo of his kid 1:33 Burrel be like "wow thats really interesting" 3 seconds late Rawls connects the dots ("stone stupid" Burrell by Prop Joe) 3:11 Burrell unimpressed by the letters "They're all positive" later when he shows the letters to Royce he says "glowing reports" power trip at its best

[@emmetmullan1]

T

[@marcoe1722]

Great scene.

[@romanmcghee600]

Yes "stone stupid" had me in tears laughing so hard when Herc said I have to ask and Prop Joe said that line. BEST SHOW EVER!!!

[@TheIkaraCult]

"Deputy... I dont know quite how to put this..." Glorious

[@projectdan3369]

“AND IN ONE STROKE!!” Rawls is one of my favorite top 5 charters. His comments be having me dead

[@nobad6134]

Bunny should have used more euphemisms. He should have never put it as drugs would be legalized. Just said we will rigorously enforce crackdown in these areas which will be our priority. Get the hint that we will not be looking at other areas.

[@stephengrigg5988]

Rawls still woulda saw through it. none of the other heads even knew what he was saying until Rawls spelled it out for them.

[@nobad6134]

@@stephengrigg5988 Yeah he tried to say we elected to have drug enforcement not as a priority in these districts.

[@charlescalthrop2535]

@@stephengrigg5988 even if he didn't, it was going to break in the media and it was better to have Burrel and Rawls find out at comstat and not the news.

[@idicula1979]

This story line deserved a spin off in itself. Why does America so desperately need drugs to be illegal, that we ignore it's dilemmas at every step? Why do we ignore the disparity of justice that it meets out between rich and poor. The Banking industry and the Drug legalization the only string left unraveled by the show. As it was the Wire was a groundbreaking show with every other avenue explored. When society does not have an answer for a problem it begins to diminish, and when society turns a blind eye, it begins to eat it's own.

[@unoaceo]

mathew idicula Sad thing its money

[@KiloByte69]

+Ace Money and government control. Like we're seeing with ever increasing taxes on alcohol and tobacco not to mention draconian anti-smoker laws. Politicians love sticking their noses in people's private lives.

[@A_10_PaAng_111]

No it’s because it brings down the quality of life in a community. Who the hell wants a Hamsterdam in or near their community? Where do fiends get there $$$ to support their habit? They sell off everything they have. Then when there’s nothing more to sell they then steal, cheat and rob. Turn tricks. And who gets stuck in the middle? The working man. Not only that but who the hell wants a bunch of potheads and fiends walking around all over the place? The kids featured. Who the hell wants a whole generation of kids like that around? Wasted generation. That’s why drugs are kept illegal. Money and Govt control? FOH. Blaming that is too easy .

[@isaiahthompson2134]

A10PANG hamsterdam was actually specifically set up to move drug trades away from concentrated parts of communities, effectively decreasing the amount of innocent ppl affected. While it doesn't sound good the theoretical numbers don't lie. Decrease in drug fiend overdose due to cleaner needles, decrease in violent crimes in general and also in hamsterdam communities that we're still police supervised, decrease in murder rate. Ideally, from creation of a hamsterdam spot you then implement drug rehab outreach as well as youth outreach to bring in the new, younger dealers before they're too far gone

[@JonSmith-yq1dw]

America? Where are drugs flat-out legal in the world? There are a few places that have certain substances decriminalized and a few places where marijuana is legal including several states in the United States

[@eblackman]

I can say this was what happened in Oakland... Now that weed was basically legal no kids on the corners... people had places to purchase. I can't agree with everything he did but I think there can be a medium or growing pains

[@RaptorJesus]

Always gonna be some friction when a big change is made. But that friction is temporary, it'll work itself out. Yes, for a few months after a legalization of drugs there's gonna be plenty of people up in arms, scrambling to adjust. But after that? No more innocent people in the crossfire. It'll be no different than alcohol, yes there's victims of alcohol abuse and drunk driving, but as a society we have decided that *some* amount of that is acceptable losses. Obviously we do our best to limit it as much as possible, but for the 99% who can enjoy alcohol responsibility we have decided it is worth allowing it to that 1% that can't. Otherwise, to paraphrase Mark Twain, we ought to ban steak because babies can't chew it.

[@QuadzHeadshot]

@@RaptorJesus this is the greatest response I’ve ever read … this literally is the answer! Me personally I don’t smoke or anything like that but like some people have to come down to earth and realize drugs literally aren’t going anywhere it’s sad to say but it’s really not… it’s one of those things where it’s inevitable like taxes

[@zippymufo9765]

@@RaptorJesus No country has ever legalized hard narcotics and none ever will 🙄 The best you can hope for is decriminalization, where they're still illegal but the penalties are much more lenient. Just because the drug war is a failure doesn't negate the fact that opiates and cocaine cause serious damage to people and society. Besides, letting government and Big Pharma profit openly from servicing addiction is just as fascistic and immoral. You're talking about a society where Purdue would have been applauded for making Oxycontin and pushing it on people instead of criminally punished. 😂

[@RaptorJesus]

@@zippymufo9765 If you look into what the actual problems with opioid addiction are, it often has more to do with *not* getting them, then taking them.The fact of the matter is, most high-performing professionals are on some manner of narcotic. I would rather the option exist for all, rather than just the wealthy. Because there *was* a time where it was all legal, even in the west. Society functioned just fine. There is no substantive difference between alcohol & opioid abuse. Opioid abuse would be no different than alcohol abuse, if *both* were legal.

[@zippymufo9765]

@@RaptorJesus You're asking for something that's never going to happen, or not for the foreseeable future. That was over 100 years ago. They've spent billions on building a "rehab culture" and "fix addiction" culture----they're not going to turn around and say oh, sorry, addiction is okay and acceptable. They won't even give opiates to people who need them for pain half the time, much less endorse recreational use. The only reason methadone and Suboxone passed the political okay is because addicts don't get high off them. (Most don't, I know there's ways like mixing meth with anti-nausea and blood pressure meds).

[@theWn123]

1:36 respect to Rawls. He figured it out immediately

[@pokeyd85]

"These 3 designated areas where drug enforcement was not a priority" Rawls said wtf?!!?

[@jasminemonroe5784]

You made them an offer🤣🤣 The look on his face is priceless but they asked for a decrease in Crime statistics and Colvin delivered💜💎

[@xKiLLa_Carter]

So did Kim’s when she first heard it from Bunny himself. And also she and Rawls were the only 2 that acknowledged that the street sign was turned during the Orlando set up

[@MarcoBoneMan]

Great acting. You can see his head spin as he grasps the implications.

[@christophermccoy5724]

You nit, don't you see what he's done?!

[@TheDCGuitar13]

Are they mad because he broke the rules or because it worked?

[@MarcillaSmith]

correct

[@Bek359]

They're mad because there's going to be massive political fallout over this and shit's going to be raining down on them from the media, the politicians, the feds, etc. There's a scene later where some guy from the federal government shows up and tells Mayor Royce that a massive amount of federal funding will be taken away from them if there continues to be any sort of zone where drugs are legal. If they were able to keep it secret, that'd be one thing - but they all know that's completely impossible. They're not mad at him just for going against the conventional wisdom, but for the political and economic consequences that will follow.

[@phonkphonk]

Both. Cognitive dissonance.

[@Loj84]

@@phonkphonk there's no "cognitive dissonance" here. They're mad, like bek said, because it could easily cost them their jobs. Doesn't matter to them if it worked or not. They don't make the rules.

[@adopehipster6972]

i always thought in his own backhanded way Rawls was sticking up for Colvin in Burrells office

[@antiques306swordjuno5]

or giving credit were credits due

[@jonathannagel7427]

I love that Bunny still salutes his superior at the end, even if being told to “get lost.”

[@jsvlad]

If he did a public survey and had voters behind him he could have been a hero … voters > mayor > police

[@ShadowSonic2]

The Problem is that Colvin caved too easily when Rawls and Burrell threatened his people instead of trying to fight back.

[@Greko-grb]

Bunny did his idea to help his district get rid of crime for the betterment of their lives. Rawls also praises bunny and thinks he had a brilliant idea, but his point of view was the stat decrease.

[@AJ-sq5pl]

How ironic, the cops that play the numbers game, who dont give a damn about the drugs, tacitly accepting them as a fixture in their city, all of a sudden get all hot and bothered by drugs when they are overtly accepted and their numbers games are significantly improved. Lol

[@WlatPziupp]

Decriminalizing drugs could make it harder to justify endless enormous payments

[@supertoyg]

That's because they're the ones who have to do business with politicians, and politicians are still largely convinced that decriminalisation is a vote-loser. That's why they're bothered, because they're still playing the game.

[@brianellinger6622]

Controlled Chaos works I have seen this firsthand in Montgomery County Maryland this show is set in Baltimore. the drugs stay in the drug neighborhoods and away from the taxpayers ... ...this works

[@blacklioner3710]

" its insane and brilliant"

[@xKiLLa_Carter]

@@blacklioner3710 systematic LEGAL segregation

[@xKiLLa_Carter]

And a lot of the “kids” in Mo County are the drug financers of the county, specifically Potomac

[@Maddog494]

This is easier said than living in that hell.

[@qamarmood1157]

I like how it shows how stupid Burrell is it took him the longest to realize what was going on

[@distranthegloriouslydeform9259]

One thing that pisses me off is that the letters from the community leaders not mattering. How is that not a rock solid expression of the will of the people.

[@jplaga763]

I love the acting the way they seemed surprised. Rawls and Burrell owned this scene. Bewilderment was epic

[@chet6969]

Rawls is thunderstruck and Burrell is so angry that he looks like he's in pain. Great duo.

[@lardshank]

the look on rawls' face when colvin corrects "we" to "I" is great

[@pheeqzie]

Funny how they're outraged that Bunny seemingly legalised drugs yet just a moment prior, Rawls was asking where the Baltimore city drug trade was like it was something legal🤯🤯🤯

[@chet6969]

He's totally given up on stopping or even slowing it down, it's just a fact of life to him now.

[@flightofthebumblebee9529]

Howard "Bunny" Colvin is the Frank Sobotka is season 3. Both are truly selfless men who gave everything to try and do their job in their broken system as best they could to help others and do some real good.

[@ShadowSonic2]

Eh, Sobotka was mildly deluded. He refused to admit that the Dockworkers' Union corruption is what led to things getting so bad to begin with.

[@CounterCultureCantCount]

He should've just lied and said he increased Police presence in the dangerous neighborhoods and reduced it in the "calm" areas. The dealers, sick of being harassed, decided to sell in quiet places and magically moved there... THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN CRÈME FUCKING BRULÉE !

[@thomassodomizer764]

I've always been torn about Hamsterdam. They tried something like this in real life in Switzerland. It was a park that ended up being called Needle Park. The same thing ended up happening tons of homeless drug addicts along with dealers swarmed the place from all over Europe.

[@Will21st]

Switzerland to this day gives out heroin on prescription, needle park happened before that.

[@dylanabela4058]

Switzerland failed to provide any real services to addicts, and eventually cracked down on needle park. Switzerland's recent harm reduction strategies have been far more effective. Portugal's national drug decriminalization program has been a massive success.

[@supertoyg]

All decriminalisation efforts don't work when made in isolation. Amsterdam is slowly cracking down on coffee shops because the drug tourists have become too many, impacting life in the city; but if most of Europe legalised weed, or at least had Christiania-like free zones in every city, the drug tourists would disappear.

[@derekkoster7635]

Letting people be free is always going to be more positive than prohibition, the war on drugs has been fueled by the greed of big pharmaceutical companies and our own politicians who take their money for campaigns . 600,000 dead in 20 years and counting yet nothing has changed to fix this nightmare . It can be you next , one accident away and you maybe the next drug addict or one night out thinking your taking one drug but it’s something that kills you , we need to legalize and regulate because drugs aren’t ever goin anywhere.

[@kittykat4362]

♥️🙏💯👍💯🙏🌞♥️

[@erics362]

Bunny was my favorite character and Season 3 was my favorite season because of his experiment.

[@stonem0013]

Colvin is an awesome example of chaotic good

[@vhscopyofrainman163]

This was suggested in the 90s for NYC, obviously ignored. Tried on the wire, and now it's the norm in most major cities.

[@KimarShabbaz]

Crime is a business, an industry on both sides. Especially in the US.

[@yoloswaggins2161]

His voice as Caesar in Fallout NV is unforgettable.

[@amarevanhook7453]

wtf really😭😭😭😭the versatility of this man

[@burtonryan50]

Even though it's still illegal what Colvin did with the legalization, look at what good it did for the community. The law is still the law, and people have to remember and respect that, but legalization can certainly solve so many problems with drugs.

[@thephantompenance]

It was barely a solution. In more ways than one, it was just a facade. Legalization didn’t solve the problem because (as the Pastor pointed out a bit earlier in the season) moving all the dealers and users into that one spot made that spot hell. People were still using and people were still dying; it’s just that people didn’t see it right in front of them anymore.

[@MrTHEMONEEMAKER]

@@thephantompenance innocent people werent caught up it in whether from pushers or junkies

[@talpho3301]

@@thephantompenance that’s wrong imo. I believe it’s just as much of a solution as our current one is. Both have MAJOR flaws, but if we’re talking about positives, hamsterdam was out of the way, had I believe only 2 civilians in it, only effected those using, could’ve been implemented with health overseers and kept police presence if the mayor wasn’t a coward, etc. it was almost beautiful how close it was until it all went to shit.

[@drewski5555]

What’s crazy is every single on of them corners bunny named in the beginning are actual active dope shops to this day 💯

[@supertoyg]

The show creator was a beat journalist, he basically wrote docu-fiction.

[@tookiezzz2898]

GOD I love this show . . .

[@ShadowSonic2]

Okay, something needs to be brought up here. The real reason everyone was so horrified at what Colvin did isn't because they're terribly invested in the Drug War, it's because the "War on Drugs" was a Federal Initiative and not some State or Municipal thing. By doing what he did, he violated Federal Laws that superseded everyone in Baltimore. The Commissioner, the Mayor and the Governor of Maryland. If the Federal Government found out what had happened, they'd have used it as the excuse to basically try and take control of the City and probably take a swipe at the Governor too. Now really, with how poorly Baltimore is run maybe this wouldn't be a bad thing, but everyone who had something to lose would be desperate to stop that from happening. So yeah, this went far beyond Colvin just doing a crazy thing. His actions potentially could have terminated Baltimore as a city.

[@yuiopoli9601]

Oregon just decriminalized all drugs under a certain amount.

[@nobad6134]

They know the future

[@joeywheeler8362]

The problem is they decrimmed them everywhere as opposed to in just limited zones

[@Loj84]

@@joeywheeler8362 that's a good thing. Decriminalized doesn't mean you can use them wherever you want. Alcohol is fully legal; it's still generally illegal to drink on public property.

[@Lucifer-in-the-flesh]

I live in Portland downtown. It’s a whole bunch of drug junkies just roaming the streets that live in tents all over. You’ll go to a closed park or something and it’s a camp full for junkies in tents. You’ll be walking on the sidewalk to see someone just later out passed out in the middle of sidewalk. Some people you see really resemble zombies.

[@ryansaunders65]

@@Lucifer-in-the-flesh it's the goddamn real life walking dead...

[@joefeeney5497]

He’s legalized drugs!

[@k_dotnet3197]

Colvin,Omar,Bodie,Daniels,Lester,Bunk and McNulty the reason I went to best buy and bought the whole series DVD box set

[@michaelwhalen5836]

1:58 Burrell needs it spelled out for him.

[@gerarpope6581]

YOU IN MY OFFICE NOW! LOL!

[@PeterParker-yg6fc]

a show about something so mundane has no right to be this compelling!

[@peterkost4376]

Notice how rawls picks up on it first

[@clayz6717]

All these years, this still gives me thrill

[@ban9nas177]

The best part of this is Burrell when he says “YOU, in my office… NOW!”

[@thanosalaarson8290]

1:51

[@SaltyChip]

“I do t know how to put this…” Lol right as he’s about to drop a sledgehammer on the room!

[@vjenkins6815]

Positives of drug legalization? I actually thought there were some until I visited Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco. 🤮

[@blahblahblah9844]

Even though the higher ups saw the net good of this, they're all afraid of the institutional pushback and they'd all essentially be replaced if need be. The Wire reminds us it's the system and its institutions that are the problem these people are players in them. It's all in the game.

[@steverogers7601]

Carver was so underrated Daniels was so underrated Lester was so underrated Mcnulty was so underrated Rawls was so underrated Landsman was so underrated Sydnor was so underrated Cutty was so underrated Watkins was so underrated Brother mouzone was so underrated Dr Frazier was so underrated Elena mcnulty was so underrated Donette was so underrated Mcnulty’ s sons were so underrated The camera that Marlo stole was so underrated The pit sandwich was so underrated Anyone else? I thought I saw a janitor at the courthouse who was also underrated

[@jaredwatt9846]

The food wee bee was eating in the box was underrated

[@kokosifredi8408]

the secretary sucking mayor's cock is underrated too

[@cockoffgewgle4993]

How is it that it was *only* a 14% decrease?

[@KhalilTheIDeviceGuru]

in baltimore that’s a number drop people could only dream for

[@tedof87]

That was just in a couple weeks.

[@Medix916]

The drugs and crime the drug trade brings about was never really gone it was instead controlled to 3 specific sectors in bunny’s free zones. Meaning that instead of having the petty and felony crimes of the corner boys spread through out the neighborhood affecting business and residents in that community it sent the malefactors of society (dealers, narc users, thieves, prostitution) to those free zones. The residents within those communities didn’t see the shootings and violence from the corner boys when they left. So in laymen’s terms when the corner boys got pushed to thier respective hamsterdam zones they took thier fellow criminals with them and there for the residence were not reporting or calling the police to deal with them. So crime went down in those neighborhoods yes it was safer but the crime never really went away it’s was just organized by the police so the good tax payers of west side Baltimore weren’t afraid to live in thier own homes if that makes any sense to you

[@gerarpope6581]

Has anyone picked up on the interactions between Rawls and Colvin throughout the whole series? In a nutshell it seems as if they knew each other so well, possibly starting together and working their way up. I would assume Rawls became more notable in his position while Colvin who is accomplished as well chose to be lower key. Case in point, season 2 in their first scene together, Rawls gives Colvin a little grief for being at a police conference when a kid was shot in his unit's neighborhood but he does it in a respectful way and doesn't berate him like he does others. Colvin responds as if they indeed go a long way back with putting in work together by saying, "he knows the drill." In season 3, Colvin gets to be the smartass with Rawls when he asks, "how can you hide a dead body?" Normally Rawls would give someone a piece of his mind, yet all he does in that scene as just stares at Colvin as if he is asking, "so you f__ing with me now?" But he doesn't say anything and again, he stares with some sort of respect (he would have berated others). Even Burrell doesn't go too hard on Bunny's comment when he steps in to mediate (like all three of them go back). Again...just my observations. I know a season 6 is out the question but I think they would do well to create prequels to tell many of the backstories of various characters.

[@DaleRobby]

After rewatching The Wire I saw Rawles differently. It was easy to pin him as the bad guy but that isn't accurate. The fact is about half the characters on this show are murderers and Rawles is law-abiding and under insane pressure. His crime is ignoring the actions of his superiors while subjugating his subordinates. But he's come to realize that is the only way to drive the ship.

[@Delightfully_Bitchy]

I no longer see him as the bad guy, but he was still a bad guy and never forget it. ...He was just human. I can't say that for the whole cast.

[@elftax]

Apart from the likes of Marlo, Stringer Bell and the Greeks, there are no real bad guys in The Wire, it’s people living in a shit situation and trying to live.

[@Delightfully_Bitchy]

@@elftax In the way I use it at least, there's a difference in "bad guy" and "evil": Rawls showed a surprising amount of depth and kindness once in a while, but he still intentionally hindered justice for the people, ruined careers for petty slights, needlessly humiliated his subordinates, and backstabbed his bosses when he was just ass kissing seconds ago. Also, he wasn't particularly politically correct even by police standards If it wasn't for Valchek, Rawls would be the Big Bad Boss of the Police Force.

[@wesleymaistry6278]

In life ,there will always be evil (drug trade in this instance) so making a compromise is necessary to increase the peace. If only all governments thought like this.

[@MegamanTheSecond]

A man of high intellect can never truly strive in the system he understood you can't stop crime you can only control when and where it happens

[@ben86jones82]

A brilliant idea. Insane and illegal but stone fucking brilliant none the less. One of the best lines in the entire show

[@Arkazon]

Still the most brilliant strategy. The problem with the drug trade wasn’t the drugs … it was the violent crime that comes with the business and the territory war. Moving it all to one space had an Arkham City vibe, sure, but it cleaned up the streets of violent crime. It solved the problem nicely.

[@JoeKlunder1]

All these politicians look so petty. All that cursing, complaining, etc. No real changes or results.

[@generalchow3588]

This isn't legalization of drugs, because those drugs were still prohibited under law. It's decriminalization, which is the act of ceasing to treat something that is illegal or criminal. Police and Prosecutors have the discretion to decriminalize illegal acts by using their discretion (police powers) to ignore crimes by failing to make an arrest or prosecute a crime. A DA can decide to cut a deal to not prosecute a murderer in exchange for that person's testimony against an accomplice by agreeing to a plea deal.

[@paperboy856]

Real man see how he started off with . I not me or we but i.....respect

[@rodgcc]

12 years ago on TV. And now here we are today with several west coast cites understanding they lost the war long ago and are moving on. This show was pivotal in every way.

[@DANtheMANofSIPA]

The difference is Bunny kept it in abandoned parts of town and moved in humanitarian efforts, in our America they are letting these druggie vagrants go wherever and giving them no help for rehab and getting them back on their feets

[@yinoryang1]

Rawls when he (instantly) realizes at 1:35 is every bit as meme-able as Wee Bey in the copy shop

[@ryano6015]

Funny thing is Bunny would have gotten away with it had it not been for Burrell at the very end

[@romanmcghee600]

Best TV series ever!!

[@jeffshriber6120]

The big problem with that approach is the drug dealers were promised an area that won't be touched by cops, so if the cops now enforce drugs in the designated no cop zone it will mean breaking their word and all hell will pay. It also means if drug dealing goes back to the corners, the citizens will retaliate . This is a loose loose situation.

[@matthewgarcia9494]

The whole reaction was unrealistic,the real reaction would have been to see right away that the small locations in which the dealers are now selling in make it easy to maximize manpower and easy to observe their trades. Those small districts are easy to watch

[@kevinghost7211]

He did the most effective thing 6 generations of public safety has done

[@adriande1]

What’s the name of the guy next to Burrell? I never could figure that out

[@ShadowSonic2]

Reed. He's the Major in charge of Internal Affairs.

[@adriande1]

@@ShadowSonic2 thank you! I've scoured IMDb and google and could never figure it out.

[@justinthakar]

I think they could've gotten away with it if they'd hidden the actual dealing in the houses. Smart police could make drugs legal in this country, as long as they know how to hide it from cameras.

[@thabomuso6254]

People still got shot in Hamsterdam so they couldn't hide it.

[@justinthakar]

@@thabomuso6254 well no, technically they WERE able to. Two different ways, too: dragging the body outside of the bounds of Hamsterdam, and carting another body away in a police car instead of an ambulance.

[@thabomuso6254]

@@justinthakar yes the cops dragged a body away from Hamsterdam but that was discovered by the forensic detectives. And there would have been other murders in due time.

[@justinthakar]

@@thabomuso6254 again I think the trick is to keep experimenting with subtly hiding evidence. I mean the fact is that cops have been doing this for ages and getting away with it for decades if not centuries; I think the right amount of strategizing would ultimately find _something_ workable eventually

[@thabomuso6254]

@@justinthakar it can work to one degree or another. Not so much depending on what is done but rather whether those in power agrees to it being hidden. However, I think your approach is very dangerous, criminal and highly immoral. There are far better ways to deal with the situation if society wants to.

[@nosey3972]

since nothing else has worked the government should give it a probation trial. with the main ingredient on educating the masses on how negative drug use is if it doesnt work try and try again until we find a solution.

[@RaphialLee]

A lot of major cities are doing this now, and it's working. People are going to get drugs theres nothing you can do about it, but what you can do is keep them in one area where there are medics and police at to prevent overdose.

[@adamgrimsley2900]

Now I know where Jimmy gets it from

[@MrMooemoney]

2:38 "fu***kin shame it going to end our careers" Sums up the hole "drug war"

[@randclar2037]

Very Excite

[@jimhorton2996]

To be honest with you that wasn't a bad idea keeping the drug sales away from kids And decent hard working people in Baltimore and keeping it far away from the local citizens , I don't think the war president Reagen started against drugs is a winnable war, so instead of having innocent people caught in the crossfire they eliminate for a short time, it's crazy but I believe something like that would get shutdown because the cities crime would faltef and it would make the streets safer and we can't leave that!!!

[@luvmenow33]

I'm curious to know in 2020 , what's the percentage of people that think HamsterDam would be a good idea to try today.

[@Ephraim-ky5be]

Look at Oregon. Some countries also legalized the use of all drugs to a certain extent Result is actually that less people use drugs and more seek treatment because the ressources are sufficiently funded

[@capnskiddies]

@@Ephraim-ky5be Portugal decriminalised it all. It worked in the beginning, but it's starting to show cracks iirc

[@elagrion]

HamsterDam is temporary and local solution driven by the limitations of the law. It has a lot of downsides and balances on implicit assumptions and agreements, which is destined to fail at one point. However it did shows a lot of promise for one particularly bad district. Now, a good idea would be to legalise some recreational drugs (less harmful ones) and sell them in state controlled stores. Tax it. Tax money from it (and money that are fuelling war on drugs right now) should into prevention, treatment and correction programs.

[@ElectronFieldPulse]

Well, depending on what happens in Canada, we will see. B.C. just passed a health directive allowing doctors to prescribe fentanyl, hydromorphone, meth, and some other drugs for addicts free of charge for the addict. It is legal, but it is unclear if any doctors are actually willing to take them up on the offer. It doesn't force doctors to.

[@asimhusain8087]

Well a country their people aren't tough enough too stop drugs I know this may get a whole lot of people mad but capital punishment and or very long sentences may be able too stop drug's

[@maniac50ae14]

How "illegal" is this though? I mean, if it cooked meth in the desert, then smoked it, and made sure it never left the desert or made it to the city ir in the hands of child, would it really be a priority. Obviously im breaking the law, but would that be a high enough priority to chase? Should it be when officers can then spend time going after murders, grapist and thieves?

[@BestWayKilla]

These dealers aren't doing it out in a desert though, are they? They're doing it in the middle of the city and selling it to whoever's buying, be they man, woman, or child. And not for nothing, but every city that has a major drug problem also has major problems with theft, rape, and murder, and it isn't because the police are too busy going after drug dealers.

[@god6less]

A solution was not what they wanted, just more bs to add to their bs.

[@ShadowSonic2]

A lot of the cops in the show openly admitted that the "War on Drugs" was never going to be a success. They know that a real solution will never really work.

[@Mikelord28]

His plan was actually a genius way to handle it.

[@phantomqueen9281]

Number one way police increase their budget make it seem like the problem is bigger than what it is

[@oscarmaldonado1073]

Trying to do whats best for the community will always get your ass fired all the under privileged suffer because no one is allowed to work outside a system that was created to help the underprivileged...maybe it wasn't made for this purpose at all but they keep telling us how much they want to help

[@bartolomeestebanmurillo4459]

Rawls could be an effective cop if he wasn't about getting promoted and actual police work be damned.

[@tawilliamson83]

Nothing more important than saving your own behind.

[@SaltyChip]

Rawls doesn’t give a fuck about anything but those numbers.

[@johnnyjacuzzi7498]

Legalize drugs and allow for domestic manufacturing. There will be a new taxable industry, and user costs will plummet, so addicts won’t face financial ruin just to keep up their habit. It will also put the cartels out of business. These cartels exist because Americans love drugs, and will pay a premium cost to have them smuggled. Since they’re currently illegal, traffickers have to use violence to resolve issues. If all of a sudden their return on investment is decimated, there’s no reason to continue distributing. They’ll be fucked. As for concern about creating new addicts, if we allocate even a tiny fraction of what we spend on drug enforcement towards substance abuse counseling, education, treatment etc… we’ll spare hundreds of thousands the misery of their addiction being a crime. We bring their struggles to the light, and resolving them becomes a lot easier.

[@laza6141]

Pure logic.

[@brianellinger6622]

Yup

[@KingTerry1001]

Rawls was the only higher-ups that figured it out. And Burrell didn't have a clue. 😂

[@crapface911]

Is that Caesar?

[@bigmanp12]

He basically did what the Patrician did in Discworld.

[@Timureithi]

2:00 Burrell really was stone stupid. It took him that long to figure it out.