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Regarding the ACLU, I can only judge them by their works, which in my own experience has been overwhelmingly positive. As for their history and motivation, I have to admit I was uninformed until reading the article you pasted. I am especially concerned regarding government funding of their organization, as you are correct that I am 100% Libertarian. I will refrain from commenting on them further until I have done more research on their origins and underlying principles.
I also enjoy when we get into these political topics, although I sometimes think we are going to wind up veering too far off topic and getting ourselves in trouble
Hoagie:
The "what about the children" argument is an interesting one that is often used but rarely examined. Do you think that decriminalizing drugs and placing age restrictions on the purchase and/or possession of drugs would make them any more available to children than they are today? I would suggest speaking to a 12 year old who attends public school and asking him/her about the availability of drugs under our current prohibition. Or you can simply google child drug use statistics since the late 1960s when the "war on drugs" began. Usage has gone WAY up. Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that definition alone, the war on drugs is simply insane.
I have a simple question for long time Charlotteans: before the "war on drugs" began, was there a gang problem in Charlotte?
Have to say that I am very disappointed in this "decriminalization of drugs" conversation. My biggest argument, and trust me, I have plenty, is how you would propose keeping narcotics away from children? Am I to believe that you all want a bunch of 12 year old potheads running around? Would it be ok for your 15 year old daughter to sit down and share some cocaine with you? Seriously- we can't keep alcohol and cigarettes away from kids determined enough to get them. How can you expect we will keep drugs from the same kids?
There ARE bunches of 12 year old potheads running around. Drugs ARE in schools and your kids know it and know kids that use them and kids that sell them. I think we JUST saw pictures of 12-18 year old potheads and drug dealers, which started this whole thread. And someone's 15 yr old daughter may not use cocaine, but I'm sure she knows kids that do. This is along the lines of making all guns illegal because people use them to murder people. Except murdering people is already illegal and much more penalized than illegal firearm possesion - and people still murder people.
The only real answer is how substances are controlled AND how they're portrayed, especially on TV. Stop crack dealing from being so lucrative and people won't deal crack. Stop the gangsta rap videos that glorify crime and the culture that thinks it's cool to be a gangsta goes with it. Or let all this continue and accept that there are just going to be people that don't care if it's legal or not.
I'm not sure how pot got into this - these kids probably sell that too, but the real money comes from crack.
And there's a whole other avenue of drugs in schools - that's mom and dad's medicine cabinet. I won't even get started on that one.
Look at it like speeding, drinking and driving or pirated music downloads - all illegal and people do them all the time, despite heavy penalties (given the level of seriousness of the crime - like $200 tickets for 8MPH over). People get caught all the time too.
And while we all know those kids in the pics are up to bad things - a posted photo of $20k worth of weapons without the kid in it is probably not their picture. And a pic of a minor holding a gun? What about 15 year old Johnny's first deer kill picture? I've got pictures of me at 12 target shooting with my .22. Unfortunately the laws have to apply to everyone, even though these aren't deer hunting pictures. When you start personalizing laws, people get even more room to get out of trouble because their case is "different" or they have a "reason" or an "excuse".
Charlotte has had a gang problem for years...alot of people like to think that gangs are not in Charlotte...but they are common in some parts of town and have been for awhile. Mexican gangs, Asian gangs, Black gangs, White gangs...all exist in Charlotte.
Can't reveal exactly where I work but I'm sure it can be guessed. I provide education to 100% of those youthful offenders/gang members. The first problem is home. There is absolutely NO SUBSTANCE (love, confidence, education, training, ANYTHING) coming from home. I know probably about 90% of those kids on those myspace pages. The sad thing is that they believe their made up gangs are REAL and they act on it because its ALL they have. Their parents are those strung out on hard drugs, homeless- some kids live in hotels, prostitutes, They are the 2-3% of teenagers that
are on a path of destruction. No its not the white man's fault, Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton, juvenile judges, TV, the black man, or society's fault. I believe its their STUPID, INCONSIDERATE, SELFISH parents. I mean this passionately because I have to extensively interact with these kids everyday and their reality is negatively distorted thanks to their STUPID, INCONSIDERATE, SELFISH parents.
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