meth is bad..mmmm kay [link & video]

He wasnt a thief until he was CONVICTED of the crime. Do you really want the Govt. to just run amok doing whatever it wants to anyone it simply says is a suspected criminal? (of course they do that largely already when it comes to drug offenders or anyone they label "terrorist").

Terry

 

Jason, believe it or not, i was being facetious, ie, how could a California court, with an 'everybody is a victim' lawyer, make nonsense out of the situation. It was intended in jest. Do not take me seriously.

 

Because you live in a society, government is tasked with establishing minimum levels of safety for the society--to protect people from harming themselves and/or others. This preventive action/legislation keeps societal costs under control (we hope) and allows us to function as a normal society (again, we hope).

You are comparing the effects of legal drugs vs. illegal drugs. If the illegal drugs were legalized, then the deaths/damage/negative effects on society, etc., resulting from the more harmful drugs would be far, far more. You are not comparing apples to apples here. Yes, we could criminalize alcohol. And driving. And running. Noone knows what the correct balance of safety/freedom/cost is. But you can be sure that legalizing dangerous drugs would decrease safety and increase costs dramatically.

That's like saying, why lock your doors when thieves know how to break in. You do what you can. And yes, a lot more could be done. What is being done could be done differently. I don't know--the right people to discuss this with would be the DEA and your local gov't--if you have constructive criticism, that is where it should be channeled.

See above. Contact the DEA if you can think of better tactics. I have heard of grassroots citizen efforts that have succeeded in taking neighborhoods back.

Maybe, but we are not criminalizing marijuana now because of a sinister conspiracy to put hemp-based-paper consumers out of business.

For the record, I don't really have a stance on this. I don't do pot, but I hear it's not harmful from its proponents. And then there is the social image of it as a "soft drug"--whatever. Holland seems to do alright, and Nepal doesn't (dunno if it's illegal in Nepal, but it is everywhere). Anyways, this debate is about crystal meth, not pot. I am just pointing out some weaknesses in your arguments.

 

Let's face it, even wine is a drug.

For pot, i'm against it.
There is no such thing as a soft drug.

 

"He who is willing to sacrifice liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security" - Ben Franklin.

He also usually ends up with neither. Your arguement is the same one used to justify every police/tyranny state in history.

Under your arguement.... the Govt. can outlaw anything it wants. Fast food = heart disease so outlaw it. Eat a burger: go to jail. Ice Cream is horrible for you: make some ice cream at home = prison. Where do you draw the line? Who gets to draw the line? Remember: the list of schedule 1 drugs has NEVER been voted on by the people and no definitive medical research exists that suggest most drugs are any more dangerous than alcohol!

Here is a novel concept for you: YOU are responsible for YOU. If you decide to take drugs and destroy your life, that is your free choice. Don't expect society to bail you out or help you. If you commit a crime against another due to your addiction.... expect EXTREMELY harsh penalties. Think labor camps and/or death penalty. You decide to destroy your life with drugs.... expect society to close the deal for you.

In a "Free Society" you should be just that: FREE. That means free to be stupid including free to destroy your life by drugs.

I am all for the Govt. providing education and conducting campaigns to reduce the demand side of the equation. I would also support drug tax paid addiction treatment facilities and counseling for those needing help to kick a problem. This problem should be attacked on the DEMAND side. If history has proven nothing else on this topic it is that attempts to attack the supply side are a waste of time and money.

There is no evidence to support your position. Anyone who wants to do drugs that are illegal today DOES. The supply is sufficient to satisfy demand and even the price stays down. Interdiction is a total failure. There is also no evidence to suggest that simply because a drug is illegal large numbers of those desiring to use it refrain from doing so. Law Enforcement knows and acknowledges this. They know they are fighting a joke of a war that has no hope of ever being won.

You say that legalizing drugs would decrease safety. There is no evidence to support that at all. In fact, if you look at nations who have adopted a demand side focused effort at reducing drug addiction they achieve better results than we do with our supply side focus. In addition, the taxes on drug sales more than fund the effective demand side drug war efforts.

You are simply buying the Govt. line. Be careful. The Govt. lies. The drug war is about money.... big money. Prisons and law enforcement are multi-billion dollar industries. So is the illegal drug trade. Many fortunes are being made on both sides of the fight, neither side wants to see any change.

Dont think a Columbian drug lord wants legalization! That would be a disaster for them. I think that if legalization was ever seriously on the table, politicians supporting it would be at extreme risk of assassination. The drug cartels would not just sit back and watch their empires implode.

I would no more go to the DEA and discuss this issue than I would walk into a Gestapo office in Germany in 1944 to discuss better work conditions for jews. You want to dance with the devil, knock yourself out. I dont want them to EVER even hear my name!

Look... I am not supporting drug use. My position is simple: drug use is very dangerous and thousands of people destroy their lives by taking that risk. Best bet is to just not do it. But, that said, I want to live in a free nation where individuals are responsible for themselves and the Govt. does not have the right to tell you want you can and cannot do with/to your own body in your own home. Period.

The current drug war not only erodes individual liberty and places far too much power in the hands of the Govt. but it is a proven miserable failure.

Why not acknowledge the failure, move back toward a TRUE free society and focus our efforts on attacking the demand side of the equation. I think we would achieve far better success.



Terry

 

I just don’t see why anyone other than a fisherman would want to steal a bait truck. Bait is smelly and gooey and tastes terrible. I remember last year when I went to a party and went to the fridge and opened up a carton that turned out to be filled with fishing bait. I didn’t know it was bait at the time. I thought it was some new kind of cheese wiz. It smelled kinda funny and looked all mushy and gross. I thought well, you know, it could be tasty on a cracker, so I tried it on this Ritz cracker and it tasted like I put a dead cat filled with thousands of teeny tiny maggots in my mouth. I must have thrown up for a week. I can’t understand why anyone would want to steal bait?

Signed Roseanne Rosanna-Dana

Oh, never mind.

 

Damn. I shoulda known. HAHA, I will never take you seriously again

Touche. Although, as you already pointed out, they do a pretty good job or already doing that.

 

Oh God! I'm having flashbacks! I haven't heard that for decades. Back when Saturday Night Live was actually funny.