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There would still be a major drug problem in the U.S.
And, if we legalize pot for medical use only then it makes the cops job harder.
There will always be a huge drug problem in the US, we're a nation that can't stand reality be it alcohol, pot, reality TV or heroin. I just don't think a simple herb should be a crime. I think it should be limited to those 21 and over.
I think users of hard drugs should be put through a drug court-style program rather than a criminal court system. But smokers of pot should be left alone to do whatever. Some will be lazy and live off the government teet and some will be lawyers, doctors and politicians. Most will fall somewhere in between. But when you get down to it. The government is waging a massively expensive and failing war on a plant that grows naturally out of the Earth.
Pot is like a cheeseburger. Some people eat cheeseburgers all day long and get fat and die of a heart attack. Some smokers smoke all day long and never do anything with their life. Some people eat a burger once a month and suffer no ill consequences, some smoke pot once a month and suffer no consequence. Most are probably somewhere in the middle. Still others have the right to eat healthy and never have a cheeseburger. Same as people have the right to never spark a doob as I think most people don't smoke, and not risk becoming a lazy bum. I believe in personal responsibility and that is what it comes down to me.
I'm centrist so I can't speak for conservatives but I can say that I tend to support their position against legalization for this reason: I do not see that people who use any substance (alcohol, pot, heroine, meth, whatnot) are responsible for themselves. I see addiction costing america big time and our sloppy policies managing vampires isn't working. There is evidence to support for instance that genetic material from alcoholic fathers are the common thread in children born with ADD/ADHD. There are other phenomena going on surrounding the issue here... Gender of Alcoholic Parents Affects Child’s Risk for Psychiatric Illness Yes, this is talking about alcohol but when the other substances people have been abusing are illegal gathering scientific evidence is hampered. I suspect we will find similar results of other chemicals. Bottom line is the rights you think you have shouldn't be the burden of children. If you want legalized drugs the terms and conditions are-- give up reproductive rights, give up x #'s of potential professions, and don't be a burden to your community. Off to your commune elsewhere because letting yourself off the hook for abiding standard business contracts or common decency in open society really doesn't work for the rest of us.
On the one hand they claim to want their rights, but out of the other side of their mouths when they conduct themselves inappropriately or make a mess of their lives they negate all responsibility claiming themselves victims, disabled, and wanting sympathy as if this were a bolt of lightning from the sky illness they had no active hand in designing. They've done it to themselves and ought to pay for it themselves. It's really that simple. You'll say it's comparing apples to oranges because pot isn't physically addictive as alcohol is. You're right. It's psychologically addictive and impairs judgment not just in the moment it's used. People use it as a crutch and build a philosophy around it that negates personal responsibility and hobbles the will. They're happy as rusted transmission couch potatoes going nowhere and doing nothing for decades. I've seen heavy pot smokers over long periods of time begin to resemble the wet brain symptoms of chronic alcoholics. These are extreme examples but we can't ignore that they exist at all. By and large and most infrequent users of pot are as responsible as someone who has an occasional beer. No one complains about either because there's nothing to complain about. They aren't making a nuisance of themselves disrupting civilization or petitioning the community for sympathy. Clean up the sloppy policies surrounding addicts then we can have a meaningful vote. As it is it's loaded dice with too many unanswered ancillary issues surrounding it.
Birdseye view seeing this issue in terms of impact assessments the only way I'm willing to say yes to any mind altering substance is when policies are put in place forcing people to pay for their own choices (self destructive especially) directly. If you're willing to sacrifice your responsibilities (rights) as citizens in exchange for drugs, you'll have my vote. That's what it takes to get along. This isn't about me trying to control others so much as it's a demand they control themselves.
Generally conservatives dont seem to be in favor of legalizing marijuana. You would think wanting less government intervention and smaller government would mean legalizing it. A.
The gov should stay out of peoples business when it comes to waht they want to smoke. B. All the government agencies surrounding stopping the marijuana industry cost a fortune and dont really accomplish anything.
Just curious waht your take on this is?
I have two ideas, A. Concservatives tend to be more of a family of values, family. The other thing is the prison industry is a huge industry, we have more people in prison than any other country and private prisons make a fortune off locking up non violent marijauna offenders. Not saying Republicans are in business's pocket because dems are as bad if not worse but its a big money maker locking up people for a plant.
I am very libertarian minded, but i just have not been convinced that legalizing dope is beneficial......one could ask why arent all those in favor of legalizing dope conservative.
If you've ever ate in a restaurant, chances are a stoner cooked your meal. If you live in a house, chances are it was built by a stoner. If you listen to music, chance are it was a stoner singing, yes even Toby Keith. If you went to college, there is a good chance your professor has imbibed in the last six months. If you've ever needed a lawyer, chances are they smoked in college. If you've ever voted, you probably voted for someone who at one point and time was a stoner.
I just don't buy the arguement that stoners are all sloppy bums that mooch off everyone else. Some do, but some people never smoke and still do. The violence caused and the expense of keeping it illegal isn't worth it. Besides we can't ignore all the tax revenue it would generate.
I'm a conservative in favor of legalization and TAXATION of the wacky weed.
Me too. Forget the money-pit "War on Drugs," which failed totally, and tax these industries out of existence like we taxed most Small Businesses out of existence.
How can a country reasonably outlaw other drugs, when Tobacco is legal? Worldwide, "Tobacco use causes 6 million deaths a year, a third of those deaths from cancer, according to a report released by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation." Report: Tobacco Use Kills 6M People a Year - CBS News
"All illegal drugs combined kill about 4,500 people per year, or about one percent of the number killed by alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco kills more people each year than all of the people killed by all of the illegal drugs in the last century."http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/library/basicfax3.htm
Is there absolutely no standard for hypocrisy? I don't think it's any coincidence that the drugs used by the lowest classes (and forming their black market economy, which avoids the huge losses to taxes the rest of us pay) are illegal, while the Middle and Upper Classes get all the drugs they want via doctors, the insurance industry and Big Pharma.
If you believe in justice and racial equality, you should be all in favor of legalizing the vast majority of drugs that are now illegal. Drug abuse is a social and physical problem, not a criminal one. Legalization would have the additional benefit of reducing the number of people in jail, thus making room for actual violent criminals: "The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world..The USA also has the highest total documented prison and jail population in the world....Perhaps the single greatest force behind the growth of the prison population has been the national "war on drugs." The number of incarcerated drug offenders has increased twelvefold since 1980." Incarceration in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Generally conservatives dont seem to be in favor of legalizing marijuana. You would think wanting less government intervention and smaller government would mean legalizing it. A.
The gov should stay out of peoples business when it comes to waht they want to smoke. B. All the government agencies surrounding stopping the marijuana industry cost a fortune and dont really accomplish anything.
Just curious waht your take on this is?
I have two ideas, A. Concservatives tend to be more of a family of values, family. The other thing is the prison industry is a huge industry, we have more people in prison than any other country and private prisons make a fortune off locking up non violent marijauna offenders. Not saying Republicans are in business's pocket because dems are as bad if not worse but its a big money maker locking up people for a plant.
Wow, man. Hey, man, maybe we should just legalize all drugs ... wouln't that be cool man? Far out, huh? Maybe even LSD? Does anyone do that anymore? Far out!
There would still be a major drug problem in the U.S.
And, if we legalize pot for medical use only then it makes the cops job harder.
Fifteen states have already legalized pot for medicinal use. How has that made the cops job harder?
And when it comes to pot, we don't have a "drug problem"..that's nothing but government and DEA propaganda. Reefer Madness BS. What we really have is too many laws trying to dictate to people what they can put in their own bodies.
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