This is pretty embarrassing for a major city... (Houston, Arp: home, movies)

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by usc619

Overcrowded jails prompt Houston police to halt some arrests | khou.com | Khou.com - News, Houston news, Texas News, Headlines

I wonder how much room we would free up if we would just deport the Illegals?

Yeah! That's kind of embarrassing!

[glorplaxy]

Legalize pot. There are so many people in jail just for a joint or two it is absolutely RIDICULOUS. Houston cops seem to be very harsh about this and it's really stupid and overcrowding our jails.

Somehow, pot gets you in jail, but it's ok to market alcohol as being sexy and fun and wonderful, when it is much, much, MUCH worse for you. Severe alcoholics can die from withdrawal (not drinking)...nothing comparable would ever happen to even the heaviest pot smoker. Let's not forget about all of the horrendous drunk driving accidents that happen on our freeways every weekend. Ever hear of anyone dying from marijuana? Marijuana-poisoning? No. But Houston sure loves to put up all of those bars on Washington.

If legalizing pot were to ruin our society and get all of our kids smoking all the time then I must ask: why the hell doesn't that happen in Amsterdam? Or India? Both places pot is pretty much legal, meaning you can smoke and no one will ever even look at you. Holy men in India smoke on the street. I've been to both of these places and kids are NOT just sitting on the street smoking pot, in a daze. Especially in India, the kids work a hell of a lot harder than they do here and for a lot less. And Amsterdam is a great example of a cosmopolitan, rich, successful city...although I don't like the tourists who go. But hey, they bring in a ton of money.

People need to realize that decriminalization of certain drugs does not mean that they will be available at any convenience store. And it doesn't mean your kids are going to get these drugs, although I'm pretty certain that your teenaged kids can get drugs much, much easier than most of us adults here at their schools. Also, let's remind ourselves that legalizing marijuana would make the towns on the border with Mexico a much safer place to go buy prostitutes and see donkey shows or buy reasonably priced medications because cartels wouldn't have to basically wage a war with police so they can smuggle contraband into America.

The illegals in Houston's jail are deported, but they must be held somewhere before they can be shipped back to Mexico. You must remember that it takes time, effort, and money to get a van and drive inmates to Laredo or Reynosa.

[Trae713]

Not to mention the legalization of pot will pump money into our economy. All that money going on in the underground market will start circulating in the real market. If your kid wanted to smoke pot already, they'd be doing so. Much easier to get it illegally than it would be if it was legal.

[jfre81]

I saw some figures that suggested that kids in Holland are more likely to try pot but less likely to use it habitually.

What they have there is sort of a half-baked (hur-hur, see what I did there?) approach. In fact it has never been legalized there. What they have is something akin to the so-called "sanctuary city" policy here regarding illegal immigrants. It's not legal, they just choose to turn a blind eye if you will. Cultivation is still illegal and remains a bonanza for organized crime. They could cut that element out too by fully legalizing and regulating it.

As for the immigration thing - the "sanctuary" directive has been in place since 1992 although it is not officially codified like it is in some other "sanctuary cities." They could go rounding up illegals, but they still have to be processed somewhere. And where that would be is overcrowded, which is the whole point here. We vote down bonds that would pay for new jails. I guess we'd rather not have to pay more in taxes or something.

Illegal immigration is something we say we want something done about, but we have no problem buying more stuff for cheap made possible by cheap immigrant labor, of which our country has a time-honored tradition of taking advantage. Who built the railroads? Who builds the cheap houses that people move here from California or wherever and go ga-ga over? Who washes the dishes at your restaurant that serves you huge portions for cheap? Americans associate cheap and big with value, rather than quality or craftsmanship. Basically, we create a market for these people, and they're going to do whatever to come here and make more money than they ever would where they came from. Not saying it's right or wrong, just that it's the way it is. We want somebody to change things for us, but we'll be damned if we're going to change ourselves.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by glorplaxy

Legalize pot. There are so many people in jail just for a joint or two it is absolutely RIDICULOUS. Houston cops seem to be very harsh about this and it's really stupid and overcrowding our jails.

Somehow, pot gets you in jail, but it's ok to market alcohol as being sexy and fun and wonderful, when it is much, much, MUCH worse for you. Severe alcoholics can die from withdrawal (not drinking)...nothing comparable would ever happen to even the heaviest pot smoker. Let's not forget about all of the horrendous drunk driving accidents that happen on our freeways every weekend. Ever hear of anyone dying from marijuana? Marijuana-poisoning? No. But Houston sure loves to put up all of those bars on Washington.

If legalizing pot were to ruin our society and get all of our kids smoking all the time then I must ask: why the hell doesn't that happen in Amsterdam? Or India? Both places pot is pretty much legal, meaning you can smoke and no one will ever even look at you. Holy men in India smoke on the street. I've been to both of these places and kids are NOT just sitting on the street smoking pot, in a daze. Especially in India, the kids work a hell of a lot harder than they do here and for a lot less. And Amsterdam is a great example of a cosmopolitan, rich, successful city...although I don't like the tourists who go. But hey, they bring in a ton of money.

People need to realize that decriminalization of certain drugs does not mean that they will be available at any convenience store. And it doesn't mean your kids are going to get these drugs, although I'm pretty certain that your teenaged kids can get drugs much, much easier than most of us adults here at their schools. Also, let's remind ourselves that legalizing marijuana would make the towns on the border with Mexico a much safer place to go buy prostitutes and see donkey shows or buy reasonably priced medications because cartels wouldn't have to basically wage a war with police so they can smuggle contraband into America.

The illegals in Houston's jail are deported, but they must be held somewhere before they can be shipped back to Mexico. You must remember that it takes time, effort, and money to get a van and drive inmates to Laredo or Reynosa.

I heard about 2 years ago that you could no longer legally smoke tobacco in a bar in Denmark, but pot was OK. I thought, at the time, what a reverse world from the US. They were protecting people from known harm done by second-hand smoke. That's the right message to send out to the world (someone earlier was very concerned about sending out the wrong message by legalizing grass) - it shows they have common sense. Grass helps with the after-effects of chemo and also with glaucoma. Not sure if I have ever heard of any positive effects of tobacco - just things like lung cancer. I have no dog in this fight - I don't even do Tylenol more than a couple of times a year - but if glaucoma or chemo comes knocking, I'd like it to be legal.

[glorplaxy]

That wouldn't be so bad. I wouldn't mind second hand marijuana smoke nearly as much as I would mind second-hand cigarette smoke.

There's no evidence that marijuana causes cancer, but undoubtedly smoking does harm on the lungs. The upside: you don't have to smoke marijuana to get its effects. Smoking it isn't even the best way.

I also think I'd prefer there to be places like coffeeshops where people can go smoke in a social setting. I would really prefer that to the bars where people come out ready to kill some innocent people in a drunk driving accident.

[SouthernBoy205]

So how will these illegal immigrants be counted for the census?

[usc619]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

So how will these illegal immigrants be counted for the census?

I laugh every time I hear an ad talking about how "EVERYONE" needs to fill out the census forum......

[SouthernBoy205]

Uh Oh!

[LizzySWW]

My pot thoughts: In my younger years, I was a passenger once or twice in a car where the teenage driver was too stoned to be driving. It was scary & stupid. Also, a girl in my freshman class died while driving stoned, she flew her car into a ditch full speed.

Weed is a mind altering drug (like booze). Too many people get behind the wheel after smoking pot and I don't want that legalized in Houston. We already have enough people who can't even read the road signs in english. I don't want to add to Houston's current traffic nightmare by allowing more stoners on the roads than we already have.

My 2 cents. Bash away, I know it's comin' lol!

(Now for medicinal purposes, I'm all for that.....Chemo & like kind.)

The law is the law. Go to jail if you're caught breaking it. Let's build more jails. Houston is too big & too close to Mexico (which piggybacks us) not to expand the current jails. It just makes more sense as Houston grows too.