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A Temple criminologist who's an ex-cop once said that we needed to turn drugs "from a criminal-justice problem to a public-health one."
I agree with the guy. And that means not just decriminalizing most addictive drugs but legalizing them, taxing them up the wazoo, and spending the tax money on the treatment and rehabilitation programs we will then need (of course, the concomitant reduction in the prison population will also free up some money).
By the way, most of the abused opioids are already legal, though prescriptions are required to obtain them.
Possession and use need to be completely legalized. The very foundation of this country is personal freedom. There shouldn't be any laws prohibiting a person from doing something that doesn't infringe on someone else's rights. The act of taking drugs in and of itself doesn't affect someone else's rights. DUI can still be illegal. Obvioulsy, stealing to support a habit is criminal activity, but doing drugs itself is not the criminal behavior.
On top of that, several substances (first and foremost cannabis but also other non-addictive substances) should be totally descheduled and legalized. The most dangerous thing about cannabis is buying and selling it, and it has medicinal and spiritual properties for many people. It's kind of ridiculous that it's illegal at all. There are certain substances (e.g. heroin or crack) that are addictive enough to argue that cultivating a clientele of people who will literally destroy their lives, bankrupt themselves, and do it until it kills them is a violation of the users' right, and therefore, manufacturing, trafficking, and selling of these substances should still be banned, but use/addiction should clearly be destigmatized and treated as a public health issue, not a criminal one.
One of the worst parts of our current society is the greed and corruption of the big pharma industry. They are pushing poisons like opioids and benzos as primary medical treatments because of the profit in it, all the while keeping much safer alternatives for some people (like cannabis) illegal to protect their profit margins. This industry needs a top-to-bottom restructuring. The worst abuse was lobbying to keep CBD oil on schedule 1 as a cannabis extract even though it had proven medicinal uses and contained none of the psychoactive THC compound in the cannabis plant. Thankfully, that was recently changed at the federal level through the legalization of hemp cultivation (which also has only trace amounts of THC) in the latest farm bill. This is a potential game-changer for the treatment of epilepsy where the ban on CBD forced people to try all of the very expensive anti-seizure drugs with sometimes severe side affects BEFORE being allowed to use CBD oil on an "experimental" basis, which has NONE of the side-affects (but none of the billions of pharma profits, either...).
One of the first things that needs to happen in this area is to severely restrict the medical use of opioids, which is totally out of control when there are usually much safer (but, again, less profitable...) alternatives that are not a gateway to heroin addiction. When my 12-year-old went in for an outpatient treatment to remove a mole, they wrote a script for like 50 hydrocodone pills or some other opioid like that for him. FOR A 12-YEAR-OLD REMOVING A MOLE. Needless to say, we threw the script in the trash (there's NO WAY I'm giving a 12 year old that poison...). He took one children's ibuprofen the afternoon after the procedure and spent the day relaxing playing X-Box, and he was perfectly fine without any pain killers after that.
One of the first things that needs to happen in this area is to severely restrict the medical use of opioids, which is totally out of control when there are usually much safer (but, again, less profitable...) alternatives that are not a gateway to heroin addiction. When my 12-year-old went in for an outpatient treatment to remove a mole, they wrote a script for like 50 hydrocodone pills or some other opioid like that for him. FOR A 12-YEAR-OLD REMOVING A MOLE. Needless to say, we threw the script in the trash (there's NO WAY I'm giving a 12 year old that poison...). He took one children's ibuprofen the afternoon after the procedure and spent the day relaxing playing X-Box, and he was perfectly fine without any pain killers after that.
I had an operation for a wrist fracture, and had a prescription for huge amount painkiller, which I filled. Did not need to use even one of them! Got by with advil type meds. I am not that brave, especially with pain. But even a wrist fracture operation seems to rarely/barely needs true pain killers.
That story about the guy punching killing someone over asking to leash his dog is beyond disturbing. Makes me lose hope in humanity, how such "evolved" creatures could act like that.
That story about the guy punching killing someone over asking to leash his dog is beyond disturbing. Makes me lose hope in humanity, how such "evolved" creatures could act like that.
Yeah, wow...
Not excusing this at all but people have always been monstrous. Always. History proves that. What's different is now we may learn about it so much sooner because of how electronically connected we are.
Yup, White killing him because he was white. Not likely, but it seems particularly strange for a passerby to stab someone in the back when he's not even involved in the situation. Plenty of people out there are hateful.
No one has updated the White-Schellenger case since summer. Wonder why?
In what was turning out to trump Philly's ''The Starbucks 2'' race case, the White-Schellenger case has gone to the disregard file.
White may have inserted himself into the verbal dispute between Schellenger and an unidentified black motorist on 17th Street because Schellenger was white and ''acting like a tough guy''. Hmm.
As the black motorist drove off, White, a complete non-interested party in this dispute, begins an argument with Schellenger. Why? Because Schellenger was white, dressed nice, and in a nice car? Further, this well to do white man was having an exchange with a black male about traffic blocking and up comes White from nowhere and confronts Schellenger...hmm.
White produces his 7'' knife and, as Schellenger tries one of his old wrestling moves, was able to bring the knife full-hilt into Schellenger's back (this takes a lot of strength) and kills him.
Now, Schellenger was drinking and, depending on the media one opts to read, traces of cocaine were in his system; one report states the cocaine remnants were so minor that it didn't warrant mention, another promotes ''race and cocaine'' (victim blaming theme again) in the headline. Being 37 years of age and drinking most likely caused Schelleger to be a bit slow on the move. Regardless, White was able to strike into Schellenger's back at that moment.
So, White's initial story, the one promoted by his family, was false. White was not racially targeted by 3 white men, attacked for no reason, spit on etc. Far from it. White inserted himself and created a confrontation with Schellenger. Why? What was it about Sean Schellenger that White needed to confront him and ultimately cause his death?
Far from completely dropping the white racist men attacking a black male in CC story line, White is still clinging to the ''race card'' defense. Now White is saying that Schellenger used a line that sounds like it's straight-outta ''Precious''...''I'm gonna beat the black off you." Hmm. I've never heard a non-black person use this phrase; of course, none of the witnesses heard this ''racist'' remark that caused White to kill Schellenger.
Now we just have a case of a young black male confronting a white male in CC and killing him. Boring script for the media it seems as the ''white males targeting and attacking a black male'' for no reason story line didn't pan out.
Btw, the video of this attack hasn't been released. Why? Wrong script or version of events didn't turn out as many hoped?
That story about the guy punching killing someone over asking to leash his dog is beyond disturbing. Makes me lose hope in humanity, how such "evolved" creatures could act like that.
If, as this story is going so far, the victim simply asked the perpetrator to leash his dog and lost his life over that, we are all in trouble. A simple request like leashing your dog per park rules ends a life?
If, as this story is going so far, the victim simply asked the perpetrator to leash his dog and lost his life over that, we are all in trouble. A simple request like leashing your dog per park rules ends a life?
It was an absolutely asinine thing to have happened that's for sure.
In this day and age, why would a cop full-out punch someone like that? Doesn't he comprehend the scrutiny in 2018? And I wasn't there so I don't know if he was scared or frustrated or if someone did something in the hours leading up to this event. That's a big problem with these videos. But maybe he's just a brutal cop who should not wear the uniform...
Well, ANTIFA tries to be this hard-as* group of ''street fighters''. ANTIFA came looking for a street fight with cops, as they generally do. It also looks like the ANTIFA ''warrior'' here got a small taste of his own medicine as it looks like he was interfering with police dealing with his ''warrior'' brother or sister cops were dealing with on the ground. ANTIFA also likes to trash cities they contaminate; you know the Starbucks window breakers etc.
I've seen these ANTIFA folks up close. Mostly skinny white dudes; the chicks involved try to be tough street fighters but those bouncy-blond ponytails sticking out from their black covered faces and heads betray the street fighting image. They like to yell and shout down anyone that asks a question. They come across angry...maybe cuz their Lesbian Dance Theory major didn't pan out to a mid-100K salary? Who knows...or cares.
In between street fights with cops, I'm sure these street fighters regularly check their bank accounts this to make sure mom and dad made the deposit in their accounts so they can continue the fight for ''the people''.
Far from being unique, these people are cliche lightweights.
Speaking of 'back in the day' have you ever seen the footage from 50 years ago at the DNC(1968) in Chicago?
Well, I'll give it to the Chicago '68 demonstrators for trying to take on Richard J Daley's Chicago machine. Another example though of a group looking for a street fight that collectively and very publicily got their as*ses kicked.
No one that took on Daley's Chicago Machine won, even Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1966 campaign was deemed a failure.
Also, the Chicago '68 protests sealed Nixon's victory. Public support was overwhelmingly in favor of the police. Taking on and confronting the Democratic Party on the streets of RJ Daley's Chicago backfired, big time.
Yet, unlike Philly, where the "Rizzo statue'' and mural or subject to protest, graffiti, and removal, no pressure in Chicago to erase Richard J Daley legacy from the city's memory, history, or public display. Hell, RJ Daley gave the ''shoot to kill'' looters order during the King riots in April '68 as the west side of Chicago went up in flames and, as a youth, was a street gang member actively involved in Chicago's deadly 1919 race riot. The Chicago Daleys continue to be die-hard Democrats though.
Philly did not see the level of destructive rioting that many U.S. cities did in the late '60s; Philly's 1964 riot was minor league compared to what was coming in Chicago, Detroit, and Newark to name a few.
Wonder why Rizzo is under attack in 2018 while RJ Daley isn't? Hell, the Daley name is still big in Chicago from father to son to grand-kids yet we have to have police protection around Rizzo's statue and mural in S Philly.
Sorry ANTIA and BLM, but 2018 was not even close to 1968. "Taking on Jim Kenny's City Hall''...lol.
One thing Chicago and Philly do share in 2019 though is a reputation for high crime rates.
Thank you. The 'self-defense' defense went out the window when White interjected himself into the confrontation. He should have tended to his own business, end of story.
I'm surprised this post is still active ...
The self defense claim being based on playing the race card resulting in increased racial tension and diminishing the claim for others truly victimized due to race.
If White was actually targeted, trust me, this post would be very active.
Because schellenger was racially targeted though, this post-topic was willfully ignored.
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