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You are forgetting to consider how BAD that would be for many law enforcement agencies, prisons, etc.
The war on drugs puts food on the table for MANY MANY people in this country.
Ah, so drug laws are a conspiracy by the criminal justice system and all the private entities who profit from it? Got it.
BTW, for the folks in the middle, the marijuana propagandists often put out the false claim that our prisons are filled mostly with folks in there for drug convictions. Being the skeptical person I am, I researched this claim a couple years back. From the government data I saw, about 30% of federal prisoners are in for drug convictions and among them, very few are in for marijuana possession convictions.
You will also hear another stock line from them that drug laws increase crime while legalization would reduce crime. Many people are naive about drug dealers and many drug users. Drug dealers tend to be violent people. They may be caught and convicted for dealing and not for violent offenses, but that doesn't mean they haven't committed violent offenses. Most criminals commit many crimes before they're caught. We dramatically upped drug enforcement and sentences for drug convictions in the 1980s and 1990s. At the same time, by the early/mid-1990s, crime, and violent crime particularly, dropped precipitously. Folks in the middle on this issue should consider that there is quite possibly a causal link between putting away drug dealers and abusers for longer periods of time, sometimes until they are old, when recidivism rates plummet, and the historic drops in violent crime we've experienced.
Prohibition didn't work and Prohibition II isn't working. We need to decide once and for all if it is the government's job to protect citizens of this great nation from themselves. I say it isn't and we should scrap the War on Drugs once and for all. If Portugal is any indication, remove the thrill of "we're doing something against the rules!" and wait a decade and drug use actually decreases.
Or we can keep going with the idiotic War on Drugs, which has devastated most of Latin America and created illegal organizations so powerful that they can quite literally overthrow or control the governments of entire nations -- just like we saw during the original Prohibition.
The only place prohibition failed was in your area because everyone was already corrupt. Medical and government documents confirm that alcoholism, alcohol related medical problems, rape, assault, petty crime, and other ills were declining during prohibition (I have addressed this many times in detail in other topics).
As for Portugal, that’s a red herring. America is not Portugal. Also, drugs aren’t legal there. That’s a misconception. You still get in trouble for using drugs. You face fines and mandatory counseling.
But many young people do use alcohol and/or smoke pot and do fine. And many have for many years. I am 70 and have seen it all my life.
And there are many who have wrecked lives while pursuing that perfect drug that will give them a break from reality. The one universal truth among homeless youths I have tried to help has been substance abuse.
Ah, so drug laws are a conspiracy by the criminal justice system and all the private entities who profit from it? Got it.
BTW, for the folks in the middle, the marijuana propagandists often put out the false claim that our prisons are filled mostly with folks in there for drug convictions. Being the skeptical person I am, I researched this claim a couple years back. From the government data I saw, about 30% of federal prisoners are in for drug convictions and among them, very few are in for marijuana possession convictions.
You will also hear another stock line from them that drug laws increase crime while legalization would reduce crime. Many people are naive about drug dealers and many drug users. Drug dealers tend to be violent people. They may be caught and convicted for dealing and not for violent offenses, but that doesn't mean they haven't committed violent offenses. Most criminals commit many crimes before they're caught. We dramatically upped drug enforcement and sentences for drug convictions in the 1980s and 1990s. At the same time, by the early/mid-1990s, crime, and violent crime particularly, dropped precipitously. Folks in the middle on this issue should consider that there is quite possibly a causal link between putting away drug dealers and abusers for longer periods of time, sometimes until they are old, when recidivism rates plummet, and the historic drops in violent crime we've experienced.
This. The vast majority of people in prison deserve to be there. Most people are not there for drugs. The ones who are in for drugs are there for distribution. That’s why it’s ridiculous to say that drug dealers oppose legalization.
Wait, wait, wait... you’re really saying that we should base public policy on anecdotes told by anonymous internet posters over verified factual studies done by physicians at university medical schools?
No, I said you should base public policies on reality, not "verified factual studies done by physicians at university medical schools".
That's because those studies cannot be trusted. Most are NOT "verified factual studies", and for the inexperienced like yourself, you have no way to separate the valid ones from the ones that are funded only if it produces the "right" conclusion.
I could post 100 links after this paragraph that are in some way positive about cannabis. All "verified factual studies". Some would be true, some would be propaganda. You would certainly peg all of them as High-Times related propaganda.
However, any and all links that are anti-pot are "verified and trusted" according to you. You do that consistently, whether you realize it or not.
The bottom line is that the resident potheads and marijuana apologists here and elsewhere ceaselessly argue that marijuana benefits people, not harms them. It's illogical to then argue that kids should not be exposed to all these health benefits. To stake it on, "Well, they might abuse it and get addicted," is absurd. By that standard all sorts of prescription drugs should never be given to kids, regardless how they may help them, on account of the fact that some might abuse them and become addicted.
Many legal substances have benefits that can be abused and turned negative.
Presenting and "all or nothing" scenario is not realistic.
BTW, I know a LOT of law enforcement, and they are almost all for legalization, they are hardly worried that they will be out of work.
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Yes, it's logic at its finest. Since one dangerous chemical is legal, other chemicals should then be legal. Drunk driving is often statistically less dangerous than distracted driving, like texting while driving, and since it is still legal to text and drive in some places, drunk driving should also be legal, on account of the fact that it is less statistically dangerous.
Dare I say..."pothead logic?"
Failed logic... Legalizing marajuana wouldnt result in legal driving while under the influence. Same laws would apply to marajuana as it would alcohol.
And yes... Alcohol is an excellent argument because practically every argument made against marajuana can be made against alcohol. Even better... There are no know medical benefits of alcohol
Failed logic... Legalizing marajuana wouldnt result in legal driving while under the influence. Same laws would apply to marajuana as it would alcohol.
And yes... Alcohol is an excellent argument because practically every argument made against marajuana can be made against alcohol. Even better... There are no know medical benefits of alcohol
There are, but I agree with the rest of your post.
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And there are many who have wrecked lives while pursuing that perfect drug that will give them a break from reality. The one universal truth among homeless youths I have tried to help has been substance abuse.
Of course, and the same is true of the adult homeless population. Are the kids who show up at my school with drug paraphernalia and weed t-shirts usually our honor students with good behavior records? Of course not. Invariably they are our poor academic performers with miscreant behavior records. Shocking, isn't it? Also shocking that their parents usually use, too. My father, who I believe still favors decriminalization, was an administrator in drug abuse treatment for decades and far and away, the greatest predictor for whether a kids uses and/or drinks is if his/her parents used/drank. It reinforces what I say about 30/40/50 year-olds still toking up: they're losers and they're likely passing on their moronic behavior to their kids because they model it. Kids know when their parents are using, always, even if the parent thinks he/she is doing it out of sight.
Posters keep saying "addiction". There is a dispute among experts about that. Many say that it is not addictive at all. While virtually all say that there are no withdrawl symptoms from cessation of use.
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