Legalizing Drugs.

Legalizing Drugs. (Full Version)

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DomImus -> Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:11:52 PM)
Every day we read new stories from Mexico about the drug cartels and the havoc they are wreaking there. For years people have bemoaned the efforts of the US government in its war on drugs. The solution to the problem that many suggest is to legalize drugs - taxing the sales to raise revenue. While I will agree that legalizing drugs would remove or greatly diminish the drug crime problem... crime is only one issue. What about the effects of drug use and abuse? Alcohol is legal in the US and look at the social problems and cost incurred by society due to alcohol and its abuse. Same with legal prescription drugs. Are there potential drug users/abusers waiting in the wings that would come to the forefront if currently illegal drugs were available legally in the US? Is legalizing drugs really the answer?

Crush -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:15:07 PM)
There is no one "answer." But legalizing drugs can cut into the profit margin, making it less attractive as a choice. There will always be drug runners, just like moonshiners and tobacco runners...and bookies and gun runners and loan sharks... The trick, I think, is to find a way to take the profit out of an activity for more people. Won't get rid of it, it will just make it less attractive. Which should, if history is any teacher, diminish the activity.

thornhappy -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:18:42 PM)
Portugal decriminalized, and none of the "worst" scenarios played out. I'm for legalizing, taxing the snot out of it, and using proceeds for treatment centers...about 10-15% of users are gonna have problems, just like alcohol. thornhappy

rulemylife -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:19:23 PM)
Prohibition didn't work, the war against drugs is not working. Do you really think there would be any change in the abuse problems? Were there any changes from before Prohibition, during Prohibition, to after Prohibition?

JstAnotherSub -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:20:06 PM)
personally, i think the answer is legalizing pot and using the taxes from it to go after the bad drugs.....i know, who decides whats bad drugs.....but it could be a start......that would be one tax i wouldnt mind paying.......

BKSir -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:24:50 PM)
I dunno, I'm all in favour of leagalizing marijuana for medical use. As far as completely opening it up, I could be swayed one way or the other with a series of reasonable and logical facts, figures and arguments. Loosely translated, I don't give a shit one way or the other on that. ;) EDIT: As far as anything harder, no. There have been literally zero deaths directly from marijuana use. It's truly impossible to OD on it. You pass out and wake up later with a really really dry mouth long before you intake enough to actually O.D. Most anything else though, can't really say that about. In all reality, marijuana is safer than alcohol. Things like crack or heroin or coke... easy to o.d. on or do far more stupid things (as far as being dangerous... most people do plenty of stupid things on pot, but they usually involve staring at the table.)

pahunkboy -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:28:50 PM)
We need to delete George Soros and off shore Cayman hiding banks that launder the money! We have a 2 tier justice system and it sucks. I think the government needs to remove all obsolete laws....we are doing so at the city level which is a start. Study the East India company and there tactics...... ie George Soros!! So now we have the Patriot act- that you cant fart with out an RFID scan. But do the gangs stop? and who is the bigger criminal the street gangs or the government gang? At this point- I personally do not want the government to fix any problem. Drugs are a terrible thing. One problem is eduction on it is so lacking. All drugs bad? No. In grade school we seen all these films how bad.... well- the film was a lie or not entirely truthful. So if they lied then- surely other drugs are not that bad either. Then factor in bextra, celebrex, stantins and odd concoxions that supposedly help us all. which end up in many cases to be LIES. The problem wont ever be solved. In the mean time- where is your RFID to tab this post?

vincent63 -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:32:28 PM)
im very much on the fence on this issue,,,and i wish i knew which side had the friendlier dog...if we look at prohibition, that is what gave organized crime it's foot in the door , by giving it the capital it needed to go from a relatively small problem to a major problem that took billions of dollars to investigate,try and convict...and it still hasn't gone away......however, as an ex heavy drug user, i can say that in my case, pot was a gateway drug to vitamin k, angel dust, coke, meth, valium,'ludes, black beauties, about the only thing i didnt try that was available when i was in the life was heroin, and it was offered many times...however, look at amsterdam,,,it's controlled, taxed, and regulated to the nth degree and if anything is a boom to their economy by way of tourist dollars....since time out of mind man has been injesting substances to expand their mind, dull pain,get in touch with the spirit world,,right up through the 1800's in this country you could purchase opium derivitives through the sears and roebuck catalog,most drug regulation in this country doesnt owe it's existence to the potential danger of abuse but rather to racial profiling , i wish i knew the answer, because ive got a bunch of ex running buddies either dead or serving hard time because of dope who might be still drawing the free air if someone had made a different decision

StrangerThan -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:38:57 PM)
I'd probably go along with legalizing weed. As someone here noted, there will always be those who have a problem with it but for the most part, I think it'd end up seeing occasional use among most folks. The bigger and badder stuff? No. Grew up around too much of it and many of those I grew up with are either dead or put away for a very long time because of it. My life story in terms of friends when I was younger is like a War on Drugs infomercial. But.. they were all doing the big and bad stuff by the time their magnum opus of the bad variety occurred.

pahunkboy -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:46:25 PM)
I always thought the AA crowd had a harder time staying clean due to booze being everywhere. (as opposed to NA crowd) Locally- we are going to see a crime summer. Gangs trying to come in. But now that I think of it- the grocery store s filled with crap- out of a while store what is nutritious, 3%, 5%, 7% ???? In coming year- law enforcement will have no choice but to utilize resources in the best way possible. To me violent crime is what we should focus on. Treatment for drugs can not be forced. The person must themself require it. It is sad- I have a family in my neighborhood that was doing so well.... that has changed. I see trouble. I head thru the grapevine we fell off the wagon. But ya know just looking at the slum tells the story. No care in the world over upkeep of the home. Sad. I see wasted lives there. PS- I might add- the police do kick in doors locally, I went as far as to clarify my house address on the house as a precaution in case they get the wrong house. Sometime they make mistakes, but with my place clearly denoted- hopefully there is never a mistake here.

rulemylife -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:46:37 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: vincent63 im very much on the fence on this issue,,,and i wish i knew which side had the friendlier dog...if we look at prohibition, that is what gave organized crime it's foot in the door , by giving it the capital it needed to go from a relatively small problem to a major problem that took billions of dollars to investigate,try and convict..... Organized crime existed long before Prohibition, but you are right that they gained money and strength from it. So now we are doing the same thing and wondering why we have a problem with gangs and Mexican drug cartels.

kittinSol -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:46:37 PM)
I think everything should be decriminalised, at least, if not legalised. It's proven that the policy of zero tolerance of the past few decades has yielded nothing but trouble. Apparently, the growing drugs of choice are legal prescription opiates anyway: perhaps we should look into these, and the pharmaceutical companies that produce them, instead of pursuing stoners and skag addicts.

slaveboyforyou -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 4:47:39 PM)
I'm for legalizing marijuana; I'm not for placing high taxes on it. It would be extrememly difficult to tax a weed that is very easy to cultivate. Yes we have federal laws against distilling alcohol, but distillation is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Growing marijuana is not a dangerous activity. I'm not for legalizing dangerous drugs like opiates, methamphetamines, and various hallucinogens. I am for decriminalizing posession of it, and for requiring that a large amount of money be spent on drug rehabilitation, alternative sentencing, etc instead of prisons for non-violent drug offenders.

slaveboyforyou -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 5:01:18 PM)
Something I forgot to mention.....cocaine. I am not for legalizing powder cocaine. But I am absolutely for legalizing the sale of coca leaves, and coca leaf products in this country. It is a mild stimulant that has been consumed by indigenous Americans for thousands of years. Coca tea and coca leaf chewing is legal in many South American countries. We could stop the war on coca farmers in South America, and give them a legitimate place to sell their product. I also believe that coca in it's natural form would help with weening cocaine addicts. I don't have links, but I have seen studies that say that.

DesFIP -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 5:05:13 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: rulemylife Prohibition didn't work, the war against drugs is not working. Do you really think there would be any change in the abuse problems? Were there any changes from before Prohibition, during Prohibition, to after Prohibition? Prohibition did not work in terms of law enforcement. In terms of alcoholism and hospitalization of alcoholics, it did work.

StrangerThan -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 5:25:04 PM)
I agree with you on the prescription stuff being the growing drugs of choice. I also would go along with the coca leaf thing that slaveboyforyou mentioned. The hard stuff? That would take some serious thought. Out of the people I ran with, there is me, and one other left. All the rest went down in drug induced flames. Out of the closest, one drowned playing submarine while on LSD. One was killed with a machete by his brother-in-law after doing pcp. Another is in prison for.. dunno a life time or two for stabbing a man.. I think it was 32 times over a deal gone bad. I mean it goes on and on. I'm not joking when I say it's like a war on drugs infomercial.

Rule -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 5:34:29 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DomImus The solution to the problem that many suggest is to legalize drugs Won't happen.

rulemylife -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 5:35:27 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DesFIP quote: ORIGINAL: rulemylife Prohibition didn't work, the war against drugs is not working. Do you really think there would be any change in the abuse problems? Were there any changes from before Prohibition, during Prohibition, to after Prohibition? Prohibition did not work in terms of law enforcement. In terms of alcoholism and hospitalization of alcoholics, it did work. Then offer me some facts.

vincent63 -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 5:38:17 PM)
no, it won't because organized religion and the hard line bible belt wont let it,,,,,not to mention all the federal ,state and local LE jobs that would 'poof ' disappear overnight

rulemylife -> RE: Legalizing Drugs. (3/26/2009 5:43:39 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: vincent63 no, it won't because organized religion and the hard line bible belt wont let it,,,,,not to mention all the federal ,state and local LE jobs that would 'poof ' disappear overnight How about all the jobs that would be created overnight?

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