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I love it. I live in a country where Economics is the only criteria used to judge legislation -- not Morality, nor Virtue, no Practicality, nor the right thing to do. If it's good for the bottom line, it's good for America.
I really don't understand your reasoning of morality unless your talking about your religious views. Which is fine, it just shouldn't be used to determine policy.
If your Christian, then Jesus encouraged drug use by turning water into wine. In other religous, marijuana, peyote, and other mind altering drugs are often used in religous ceremonies and rituals.
I don't find anything morally wrong with marijuana and other natural drugs. Why the outrage over marijuana and not prescription drugs? Why no outrage at painkillers, anti-depressants, etc?
Are you saying that the war on drugs was a success?
Miami in 1980s was hell on earth, with the cocaine wars raging, and it did not end until the FBI came down in force to stop it. I am not saying it has eliminated all drugs, and that was never the goal in the first place. It has been a success in reducing an out of control situation to a more manageable situation.
No way should be give up, and live at the mercy of criminal cartels again.
We are not going to legalize all drugs. It's simply never going to happen. There is no reason to even discuss it. We will be living on Mars before a complete legalization of drugs happens.
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Marijuana will never gain legal status in this country...EVER...much less all other drugs. Local municipalities, cities, counties make so much freaking money on marijuana prohibition it would be foolish for any local governing body to ever acquiesce to the weed's legalization.
Take one major U.S. city for example, like Memphis, TN. Each day their local drug courts hand out anywhere from 500 to 600 fines in the amount of $2000 for first offense, simple possession of marijuana. That's five days' per week throughout the year, barring holidays and whatnot. Five day's per week somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 to 600 $2000 fines, which is a huge amount of money. Those monies fund the judges, the bailiffs, the court reporters, the prosecutors, the defense attorneys (in some instances), in addition to all the minor level servicers of the judicial system's infrastructure. If pot were legalized, these people would lose money.
It's not just the judicial levying of fines and turnkey fees that will keep it illegal, there's also a huge, for-profit industry devoted to urine testing that would be obsolete if marijuana were ever legalized. Essentially, urine testing has been designed to discourage pot smoking since THC-related toxins remain in the body far longer than does any other schedule I or schedule II drug. Cocaine, for instance, stays in the urine for about two to three days time whereas marijuana can be detected in the urine for 21+ days. Since many potential new hires know several days in advance they will hand over their urine, many will simply abstain from using substances like coke until they've passed their drug test. If weed were legal and urine tests didn't apply, then what would all those labs do? How would they make their money?
Not to mention the effects of weed legalization on law enforcement. Marijuana, because of its odor and its light weight (rendering huge amounts to make simply a pound), is the easiest drug to detect because smugglers have great difficulty in hiding it. If it were legal, then law enforcement would be at great pains to detect other drugs like cocaine or opiates since these can be smuggled a little easier than can pot. The result would be more law enforcers out of work and we can't have that in our de facto police state.
For these reasons, I'd bet that cocaine could achieve legal status far quicker than marijuana. Its prohibition builds peoples' livelihoods and you mess with that and there will be resistance. So I think it's pie in the sky for anyone to think that weed will ever be legal in this country. Even in states where it's "decriminalized" the criminal justice system still renders countless dollars in fines every year.
Marijuana will never gain legal status in this country...EVER...much less all other drugs. Local municipalities, cities, counties make so much freaking money on marijuana prohibition it would be foolish for any local governing body to ever acquiesce to the weed's legalization.
Take one major U.S. city for example, like Memphis, TN. Each day their local drug courts hand out anywhere from 500 to 600 fines in the amount of $2000 for first offense, simple possession of marijuana. That's five days' per week throughout the year, barring holidays and whatnot. Five day's per week somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 to 600 $2000 fines, which is a huge amount of money. Those monies fund the judges, the bailiffs, the court reporters, the prosecutors, the defense attorneys (in some instances), in addition to all the minor level servicers of the judicial system's infrastructure. If pot were legalized, these people would lose money.
It's not just the judicial levying of fines and turnkey fees that will keep it illegal, there's also a huge, for-profit industry devoted to urine testing that would be obsolete if marijuana were ever legalized. Essentially, urine testing has been designed to discourage pot smoking since THC-related toxins remain in the body far longer than does any other schedule I or schedule II drug. Cocaine, for instance, stays in the urine for about two to three days time whereas marijuana can be detected in the urine for 21+ days. Since many potential new hires know several days in advance they will hand over their urine, many will simply abstain from using substances like coke until they've passed their drug test. If weed were legal and urine tests didn't apply, then what would all those labs do? How would they make their money?
Not to mention the effects of weed legalization on law enforcement. Marijuana, because of its odor and its light weight (rendering huge amounts to make simply a pound), is the easiest drug to detect because smugglers have great difficulty in hiding it. If it were legal, then law enforcement would be at great pains to detect other drugs like cocaine or opiates since these can be smuggled a little easier than can pot. The result would be more law enforcers out of work and we can't have that in our de facto police state.
For these reasons, I'd bet that cocaine could achieve legal status far quicker than marijuana. Its prohibition builds peoples' livelihoods and you mess with that and there will be resistance. So I think it's pie in the sky for anyone to think that weed will ever be legal in this country. Even in states where it's "decriminalized" the criminal justice system still renders countless dollars in fines every year.
Never say never. But seriously, the reason that marijuana definitely remains illegal is due to those who make money in keeping it illegal. I say too bad! Find a new line of work, or go after real criminals instead criminalizing people for partaking in a natural substance! We have bigger fish to fry than to worry about someone smoking a joint in their own home!
Never say never. But seriously, the reason that marijuana definitely remains illegal is due to those who make money in keeping it illegal. I say too bad! Find a new line of work, or go after real criminals instead criminalizing people for partaking in a natural substance! We have bigger fish to fry than to worry about someone smoking a joint in their own home!
I agree wholeheartedly. Marijuana prohibition is one of the great crimes of our era. Yet it's criminality will continue for a long time to come because people are building their livelihoods around its prohibition. Until that changes, it will remain forbidden. And in the meantime, prohibition proponents will churn out more and more rhetoric and propaganda about how if you smoke marijuana, you "fry" brain cells, or if you smoke marijuana, then you support terrorism. And my personal favorite, if you smoke marijuana, then eventually you'll be strung out on heroin and living in a van down by the river.
I agree wholeheartedly. Marijuana prohibition is one of the great crimes of our era. Yet it's criminality will continue for a long time to come because people are building their livelihoods around its prohibition. Until that changes, it will remain forbidden. And in the meantime, prohibition proponents will churn out more and more rhetoric and propaganda about how if you smoke marijuana, you "fry" brain cells, or if you smoke marijuana, then you support terrorism. And my personal favorite, if you smoke marijuana, then eventually you'll be strung out on heroin and living in a van down by the river.
I know that my post may be based a bit on emotion, but at any rate, can't we ship these control freaks, and authoritarian types off to another country, or to a deserted island? Let them wallow in their own misery!
I honestly think that we are getting closer to legalization. It is a slow process, but more and more states are legalizing it for medicinal purposes with more states looking into the idea. Baby steps I guess.
The true criminals are the ones who want to keep it illegal in the first place and continue the lies and propaganda, while in the meantime allowing big Pharma to peddle and get people hooked on their poison!
And finally, I've never once had an interest in doing heroin, or any other hard substance. Further proof the gateway theory is BS!
Never say never. But seriously, the reason that marijuana definitely remains illegal is due to those who make money in keeping it illegal. I say too bad! Find a new line of work, or go after real criminals instead criminalizing people for partaking in a natural substance! We have bigger fish to fry than to worry about someone smoking a joint in their own home!
There is one huge obstacle that those who want pot legalized have to overcome before there is ever a chance for it.
A way to measure and determine influence. Until we can measure the influence of a driver we will not legalize pot. I'm all for legalization, but it isn't going to happen until we can do this.
I've been over the arguements that you can drive better under influence. No you can't and I'm not going to go there. No, test for alcohol do not work for pot even though sometimes law enforcement is stuck trying to prove influence with those standards.
If you want pot legalized you need to quit trying to get politicians to do it and instead get some lab to do it.
There is one huge obstacle that those who want pot legalized have to overcome before there is ever a chance for it.
A way to measure and determine influence. Until we can measure the influence of a driver we will not legalize pot. I'm all for legalization, but it isn't going to happen until we can do this.
I've been over the arguements that you can drive better under influence. No you can't and I'm not going to go there. No, test for alcohol do not work for pot even though sometimes law enforcement is stuck trying to prove influence with those standards.
If you want pot legalized you need to quit trying to get politicians to do it and instead get some lab to do it.
In my youth I've driven stoned, as well as drunk. Being older, wiser and more responsible not to mention the fact that they hand out DUIs like candy, it's not worth it. I make sure my day is done and there are no errands that I need to run before I even consider cracking open a beer. If I'm somewhere away from home, and driving, I have one, maybe 2 and wait quite a long time before driving.
Again, we're back to testing to determine under the influence. Any officer that is worth a damn should be able to determine whether or not someone is impaired with a field sobriety test. I also have a huge problem because testing is flawed, and it allows for people to get away with other hardcore substances which in turn are much more dangerous. It is known that the effects of marijuana on the user wear off in 1-3 hours. THC being found in someones body 10 days later does NOT mean impairment. THC is not soluable like the other properties found in the other substances!
I'm all for more research being done on the effects of marijuana to debunk the BS propaganda put forth, but you have to get the politicians to play ball or it ain't gonna happen. Don't you find it ridiculous that marijuana is classified as a Schedule I narcotic, when A.... it isn't even a narcotic, B... other much more dangerous substances like cocaine and heroin are Schedule II, and C... it is classified as such, because they claim that there is no medicinal value when in fact you and I know that it is a crock of s***?!
Going forward I will do my part as small as it may be and vote those out of office who continue to pander to the special interests groups who want to keep it illegal, and not to mention those that want to continue the growing nanny state!
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