Time to decriminalize

[husker_99]

 

 

 

And any time I read "time to legalize it," inevitably that means the person who wrote it smokes, and wants to do it without getting busted.

 

Not necessarily. I am for legalizing it and i don't do drugs. Spending 10 billion a year on the war against drugs when it could go to better places is what gets me pissed. making drugs illegal infacts glamerizes it even more than if it was legal. People like to do things they aren't suppose to but less likely to do things that are legal.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

Good posts in here. I dont smoke marijuana and have never had the urge to try it, even though I've been around it hundreds of times. In Nebraska, at least when I was still in my early years of high school, it seemed that there had been enough of a stigma attached to it to push away many from trying it. But that stigma is pretty much faded now, and usage is really starting to leak down the ranks. However, I am sure that this has been evident much longer in the more metropolitan areas of the country. I will say, that the war on drugs, at least the propaganda side of it, probably was effective in keeping me away from marijuana. And definitely made me never want to get near anything more hard than that. I was warped into the mindset that those who smoke marijuana are basically low lifes, as that was usually the case where I grew up. However, as I have gotten older and been through a few years of college, I have realized that some of the smartest people I know smoke.

 

When it comes to the legalization, I would support it, but I think that it would have to come with some stipulations. I agree that the potential tax revenue is almost too beneficial to pass up anymore. But this is a very slippery slope. Do you all suggest that there would be an age like 21 such as alcohol put on marijuana? I would suggest legalization, however I think it would also be interesting to see what a stiffer penalty for minors would do.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

 

 

 

And any time I read "time to legalize it," inevitably that means the person who wrote it smokes, and wants to do it without getting busted.

 

Not necessarily. I am for legalizing it and i don't do drugs. Spending 10 billion a year on the war against drugs when it could go to better places is what gets me pissed. making drugs illegal infacts glamerizes it even more than if it was legal. People like to do things they aren't suppose to but less likely to do things that are legal.

I was just about to say this. Underage drinking isn't a problem because kids want to catch a buzz. They want the adrenaline rush of doing something "bad". If you make things that they do now less"bad", will they resort to harder drugs which carry heavier consequences?

[knapplc]

 

 

 

And any time I read "time to legalize it," inevitably that means the person who wrote it smokes, and wants to do it without getting busted.

 

Not necessarily. I am for legalizing it and i don't do drugs. Spending 10 billion a year on the war against drugs when it could go to better places is what gets me pissed. making drugs illegal infacts glamerizes it even more than if it was legal. People like to do things they aren't suppose to but less likely to do things that are legal.

 

It was an easy mistake to make, considering your post on da sker's Status Update the other day:

 

 

 

 

husker_99

start smoking weed and you can take a "vacation" anytime you need to without leaving.

Feb 27 2012 11:05 PM

[Sub-Husker]

Colorado and Washington are voting on legalizing marijuana for recreational use this November. Hopefully the first two of 50.

 

Damn... Vermont won't be first.

 

And any time I read "time to legalize it," inevitably that means the person who wrote it smokes, and wants to do it without getting busted.

 

I support legalization, but I have no intention of smoking it. I can't no matter how legal it is.

 

In my previous company I was the "Drug Czar", mneaning that I ran our drug compliance program. We made aircraft parts, and under FAA rules I and others had to be tested monthly.

 

In my present position I would have to report any drug use to the US government as a condition of my clearance. That would not look good for my continued status.

 

My interest is to clear out prisons of misdemeanor offenders, and to legalize hemp. I do want to grow hemp as an alternative fuel, and as a food source.

[The Dude]

We are never going to legalize stuff like crack, meth, heroin, cocaine, etc. Mood-altering drugs like this unleashed on society would cause far more harm than "the war on drugs" ever did.

Unfortunately, they've already been unleashed on society. And no, I can't agree that legalizing and regulating them would cause more harm than, say, funding murderous drug cartels than make them available to the public anyways.

 

The war on drugs hasn't been terribly effective. But that doesn't mean it's without merit, or that its goals are not beneficial to society.

It's done a lot more harm than good, and it's not even close.

 

And any time I read "time to legalize it," inevitably that means the person who wrote it smokes, and wants to do it without getting busted.

Nope.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

We are never going to legalize stuff like crack, meth, heroin, cocaine, etc. Mood-altering drugs like this unleashed on society would cause far more harm than "the war on drugs" ever did.

Unfortunately, they've already been unleashed on society. And no, I can't agree that legalizing and regulating them would cause more harm than, say, funding murderous drug cartels than make them available to the public anyways.

 

The war on drugs hasn't been terribly effective. But that doesn't mean it's without merit, or that its goals are not beneficial to society.

It's done a lot more harm than good, and it's not even close.

 

And any time I read "time to legalize it," inevitably that means the person who wrote it smokes, and wants to do it without getting busted.

Nope.

You also have to weigh the difference between providing the drug cartels with money, and having a nation running rampant with crack heads.

[knapplc]

We are never going to legalize stuff like crack, meth, heroin, cocaine, etc. Mood-altering drugs like this unleashed on society would cause far more harm than "the war on drugs" ever did.

Unfortunately, they've already been unleashed on society. And no, I can't agree that legalizing and regulating them would cause more harm than, say, funding murderous drug cartels than make them available to the public anyways.

 

You're apparently presuming that the drug cartels will simply dry up and wither away if drugs are legalized? Where is the factual basis for that? Why would they stop rather than acting as a black market source?

 

The war on drugs hasn't been terribly effective. But that doesn't mean it's without merit, or that its goals are not beneficial to society.

It's done a lot more harm than good, and it's not even close.

 

Again, any factual basis for this opinion? You're claiming that the goal of removing drugs from society is not beneficial? Sorry, that's entirely not true.

 

Because the program has been poorly implemented doesn't in any way make its goals harmful.

[The Dude]

You're apparently presuming that the drug cartels will simply dry up and wither away if drugs are legalized? Where is the factual basis for that? Why would they stop rather than acting as a black market source?

The factual basis is these cartels are a direct result of the drugs being prohibited in the first place. There was never an illegal drug trade until we started prohibiting drugs. Take away their whole reason for existing, they don't exist.

[308_Husker]

Because the program has been poorly implemented doesn't in any way make its goals harmful.

Yes, it has. However, when we have an overcrowded and underfunded jail system because we throw people who smoke/sell pot next to murders and rapists, then I have a problem with it. I would rather throw in jail the guys who committed the harder crimes than a guy who smoked a plant that grows naturally and is a part of some people's religion.

[The Dude]

You also have to weigh the difference between providing the drug cartels with money, and having a nation running rampant with crack heads.

You have to realize the reason the illegal drug trade is such a lucrative business, is because people will get high whether it's legal or not. I don't believe there's any evidence that suggests we'll "have a nation running rampant with crack heads". That's pure conjecture, and I don't buy it.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

You're apparently presuming that the drug cartels will simply dry up and wither away if drugs are legalized? Where is the factual basis for that? Why would they stop rather than acting as a black market source?

The factual basis is these cartels are a direct result of the drugs being prohibited in the first place. There was never an illegal drug trade until we started prohibiting drugs. Take away their whole reason for existing, they don't exist.

There will still be a reason for them if we are implementing a tax. Make a difference? Sure it would. Eliminate them? No way. There are always loopholes that they find ways to exploit.

[knapplc]

You're apparently presuming that the drug cartels will simply dry up and wither away if drugs are legalized? Where is the factual basis for that? Why would they stop rather than acting as a black market source?

The factual basis is these cartels are a direct result of the drugs being prohibited in the first place. There was never an illegal drug trade until we started prohibiting drugs. Take away their whole reason for existing, they don't exist.

 

Except that you can still buy black-market pharmaceuticals that are perfectly legal to this day.

[The Dude]

You're apparently presuming that the drug cartels will simply dry up and wither away if drugs are legalized? Where is the factual basis for that? Why would they stop rather than acting as a black market source?

The factual basis is these cartels are a direct result of the drugs being prohibited in the first place. There was never an illegal drug trade until we started prohibiting drugs. Take away their whole reason for existing, they don't exist.

There will still be a reason for them if we are implementing a tax. Make a difference? Sure it would. Eliminate them? No way. There are always loopholes that they find ways to exploit.

It would largely eliminate them. Maybe not totally, hell, there's still an illegal market for booze and tabacco, but that market is tiny compared to their illegal counterparts.

[The Dude]

You're apparently presuming that the drug cartels will simply dry up and wither away if drugs are legalized? Where is the factual basis for that? Why would they stop rather than acting as a black market source?

The factual basis is these cartels are a direct result of the drugs being prohibited in the first place. There was never an illegal drug trade until we started prohibiting drugs. Take away their whole reason for existing, they don't exist.

 

Except that you can still buy black-market pharmaceuticals that are perfectly legal to this day.

Which market is bigger for those? Legal or black-market?