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If we stop the "war on drugs," do the rest of us have to support the losers who can't function because they are stoned?
If so, I'm not for it. I'd rather keep trying to educate against drug use and punish dealers. Let's address the root cause(s) of weakness in people who can't face life.
If not, then go for it. I'm up for trying to protect me and mine from lazy ba****ds that would want to steal rather than work. Though, even then society in general would have to support the unfortunate children of the drug-addled.
Simplified and uniformed post.
You offer no solutions other then the continuation and increase of a government program that has been proven to be failure.
You already support the "drug-addled." And you will continue to do so unless policies regarding current illicit substances change.
I've never understood why, in a so-called free society, the government should be allowed to dictate what adults can & cannot consume, especially when you consider the government is not truly of, for & by the people anymore.
Also, drug addiction needs to be addressed & treated for what it is...a medical problem, not a legal problem. After a person is released from jail for drug possession, they are often put on probation where they spend a lot of time traveling to drug testing facilities, their probation officer's office, classes they are required to attend or rehab where they meet new connections for obtaining drugs, but usually don't learn anything that helps them just day no. So much is required that does little to no good, it makes it very difficult to work the hours required by an employer. And if you received a felony conviction, forget it. They can't get a job & many will resort to dealing.
If we stop the "war on drugs," do the rest of us have to support the losers who can't function because they are stoned?
It's like people can't think past their own idea of how the world works.
Scenario 1:
Guy gets caught with a medium amount of personal marijuana, or even an entire plant he's growing in his house, and goes to jail. YOU pay for his entire existence while he's in jail. You, the taxpayer, pay for his food, clothing, medical care, very expensive housing, and a very expensive security force to protect him.
Scenario 2:
Guy is under extreme stress because of work problems/marital problems/medical problems/financial problems/whatever. He is scared of branDcalf's wrath, so he doesn't relieve stress using currently illegal drugs. He has a mental breakdown, defaults on his debts (including massive hospital bills that get passed on to you), and gets admitted to a mental hospital.
Scenario 3:
Guy is under extreme stress because of work problems/marital problems/medical problems/financial problems/whatever. But he's able to relax at home by smoking a joint a day and continue to function.
Yes, it's true that a very small percentage of the population will turn into dysfunctional stoners, but how is this different from currently legal alcohol abuse?
I would rather see solutions to offer those that escape via drugs.
I think most do. But being locked in a cage ain't it. It isolates them further (often the reason for using in the first place) and effectively removes them from the economy and society when released.
Oh, and prisons are FILLED with drugs and many inmates report making connections with other users and dealers in prison-sending them further down the rabbit hole.
But drugs are not all bad-it is human nature to explore our own consciousness, often with "drugs". That will never change and most people can smoke pot or even take mushrooms or whatever it is in moderation.
"We live in a society that will send us to prison if we make use of time-honored sacred plants to explore our own consciousness. Yet surely the exploration and expansion of the miracle of our consciousness is the essence of what it is to be human?
By demonozing and persecuting whole areas of consciousness, we may be denying ourselves the next vital step in our own evolution."
I would rather see solutions to offer those that escape via drugs.
I'm one of those, but I wouldn't call it "escape" any more than I would call it escape if you come home from work and pour a glass of wine. I work and support myself, I'm close to my extended family, a good daughter, a good citizen, I vote, I don't even get speeding tickets. But I like mj, it's enjoyable to me. When I dust and vacuum after I smoke (vape actually) dancing around with my iPod and headphones, I have fun. I'm in my own home cleaning, dancing and enjoying myself not hurting anyone. WHY do I need a "solution"? What is so awful about that and what it is you are so concerned I'm missing out on??
I'm one of those, but I wouldn't call it "escape" any more than I would call it escape if you come home from work and pour a glass of wine. I work and support myself, I'm close to my extended family, a good daughter, a good citizen, I vote, I don't even get speeding tickets. But I like mj, it's enjoyable to me. When I dust and vacuum after I smoke (vape actually) dancing around with my iPod and headphones, I have fun. I'm in my own home cleaning, dancing and enjoying myself not hurting anyone. WHY do I need a "solution"? What is so awful about that and what it is you are so concerned I'm missing out on??
Your days are so bad that you have to drink or smoke to unwind? You can't let off steam without a chemical aid? ETOH, mj, rx.
I find it odd that so many need something in order to just live, to just have a day. Don't try to get my empathy about stress. That is laughable.
Speaking as an old non-liberal white guy who has never used an illegal drug, I'm with the OP - just make 'em all legal. Treat abuse as a health problem, not a legal problem.
Tee-totalling religious types, the same ones who still enforce the surprising number of "dry counties" left in the United States. Ironically, both extreme Christians and Muslims are on the same side here, although neither would be willing to admit it.
Police departments who get massive amounts of free money from DEA grants (plus kickbacks from civil asset forfeiture... see Policing for Profit) along with donations of hugely expensive cop toys to help them fight the "war". Very few local police forces could justify purchasing an armored personnel carrier, but put in a request to the DEA along with a description of the local drug problem and they get one free!
For-profit private prisons who only make profits when the cells are full, and a drug user sting is a quick and easy method to fill up a prison. There is another thread discussing this on this forum.
"Law and Order" Politicians who pander to the groups above.
Ironically, drug cartels prefer to keep drugs illegal because that means higher prices and higher profits. Yes, this means that Drug Cartels and extreme Christian groups make campaign contributions to the exact same law-and-order politicians.
Let me see of I can change some phrases around and make a few more points
"Extreme Christian groups make campaign contributions to the exact same law-and-order politicians." They believe they have a duty to make everyone think the way they think. "Christians and Muslims are on the same side here, although neither would be willing to admit it." Muslims torture and kill those who disobey, we are not going to do this! The same with AIDS; few cases in the Middle-East because sexual 'conduct; is severely punished, we fo not advocate this!
Same with China:
After Mao Tse-tung`s Communists took over in 1949, one of their first campaigns was to eradicate the widespread opium-smoking habit. Tens of thousands of peddlers were allegedly executed and addicts were simply left to die at a time when popular fervor was on the side of the Communists.
"drug cartels prefer to keep drugs illegal because that means higher prices and higher profits. Yes, this means that Drug Cartels and extreme Christian groups make campaign" It is really not so ironic, drugs are a viable commodity only because they are illegal. If drugs like heroin and cocaine were legal, but controlled, the market would crash and the drug cartels would be our of business.
"Law and Order" Politicians who pander to the groups above." The original group was the religious thinkers, and they have always desired all people think the way they do. Drugs because illegal for two reasons, the first was bigotry, the Chinese in San Fransisco were the first banned from using opium, and why, to protect white women from drug crazed China-men! Cocaine, because it was assumed black men, while high on it, would rape white women. The second reason was the average heroin addict was a middle-aged white women who lived in rural middle America. They were not using the opium or heroin to be cool, rather to alleviate pain and tiredness, and were far more willing to give up using it.
If you ever get a chance ti see, "illicit drugs and how they got that way" on a rerun of the History channel, it was an excellent program about all of this.
The laws against a consumed substance has not worked and threatening people with their loves, the only way it has worked in the past, is not what civil people in the west will condone. Legalize it and control it by recording who is using it and how often will work.
We need to get the irrational religious authoritarian penchant out of our legal system!
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