I found this a very interesting debate between a libertarian and conservative on the "war on drugs". While I can see both sides of this, it is very difficult to deny how much money we spend on putting people with small amounts of pot into jail.
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Against Euphemisms
10 hours ago
6 comments:
I wrote something about this the other day at http://catawissagazetteer.blogspot.com/2011/01/just-say-no-to-stupid-drug-laws.html. Our drug laws make no sense whatsoever.
I'd like to see all drugs legalized and controlled the same way alcohol is.
The crime industry that is fueled as a result, not to mention the crime perpetrated by the users is absurd. I care much more for the lady coming home from shopping getting hit on the head than I do about a druggie in any form.
btw - Portugal decriminalized all drugs - about 9 years ago now = and have far fewer people with drug problems as a result of them not being afraid to ask for help.
I really do see what the two of you are saying. But I just can't wrap myself around the idea of legalizing heroin. Pot I can probably go along with, but cociane and herion I just can't. They destroy people and I have seen it with my own eyes. My high school boyfriend and I were supposed to get married and it destroyed him. He is dead now, died at 35. It was awful to watch and as much as it broke my heart I had to walk away.
simple regulation of human behavior is nothing but a liberal attempt to increase government revenues. you either criminalize it or get the government out of it.
JACG, first my sincere condolences.
I had a young man working for me when I was also a young man. He was 21, I was around 35. He was my service manager and had a lot going for him, but got tied up with cocaine. It took about a year and his life went straight down the tubes. He might still be in jail, as last I heard he was 3 strikes when they caught him hauling a bunch of cocaine to Calif.
Personally, I had tried cocaine several times up to that point and didn't see what the attraction was.
I'd never spend 100 bucks (back then) for a little white ball of powder. SO, there must be something genetic/chemical that causes some people to not be able to put it down.
Well, it will Never happen. I don't even expect to see weed legal in my lifetime, but imagine that if the government was doing it, labs could come up with drugs that give people the same feeling but without the addictive qualities. All this crap on the street is the cheapest S* they can push out the door which is also part of the problem. Anyway, opiates were legal up to around 1920 I believe and the world didn't fall apart.
Some people will still be harmed-maybe All the same people- whether it's legal or not, which leads me to concluding that legalizing it would eliminate a while bunch of crime and potentially be a positive besides.
And I've read a guy who worked in against the drug trade back when he was in spec ops, who says that we spend so much money on the drug trade that we could afford a personal attendant for each and every addict in America and still save a ton of money.
Thanks for condolences.
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