Not into drugs, or else.
Posted on 06/03/2011 9:07:22 PM PDT by Al Gore Vidal
One of Britain's best known entrepreneurs – and a man who knows a thing or two about counterculture – Richard Branson is joining calls for an end to the War on Drugs
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Either the government has to sell it or award a company a license to sell it. If they don't then the problem of dealers selling will not go away because the profit motive will remain even if the penalty is high. So if the government (or some licensed entity) decides to sell heroin itself as part of a decriminalization scheme then they better sell it cheap. So cheap in fact that there is no chance that anyone will want to try and undercut their prices. So then you'll have the government selling dirt cheap, highly addictive heroin. That's not a recipe for create a society of less drug addiction.
If the government sells it and people destroy their lives on it are taxpayers going to be on the hook to pay for the junkies treatment. Right now if an alcoholic kills someone while driving after consuming some legally acquired alcohol the taxpayer is stuck with the bill, a fundamentally unfair and unjust situation. Alcohol being legal doesn't make people drink less and behave better when they drink. There's a reason why a 21 year old go to a store and buy a bottle of vodka but can't then go over to the pharmacy and buy a bottle of Oxycontin.
Even if treating the addicts is cheaper than imprisoning them there will be the moral question of whether or not the government should be in the business of creating, then treating an endless procession of addicts just in order to make sure addicts don't wind up in jail. So then it will be up to business to manufacture and sell the heroin. You'll still have addicts and you'll still have people profiting handsomely from it. If there was some kind of guarantee from the government that the tax revenue generated from the sale of the heroin would go towards paying for the treatment of the addicts...? But then you're back to the problem of cost. If the taxes are astronomical - either as a result of having to pay for expensive and recurring addict healthcare or as a way for government to discourage the use of heroin in general - then a black market will spring up to service those wanting to do the drug but not well of enough to be able to afford it. The average heroin addict is not rich and a lot of crime is committed by addicts trying to score money to pay for their habit. Again, the government will have to sell it cheap. Then they will have to deal with a large, poor, utterly dependent government sponsored addict population that will never go away.
Crime rates will go down due to easy, cheap access to government subsidized heroin and the technical fact that it will no longer be illegal. But it won't disappear. If you're on the street and looking for your next fix chances are you won't be gainfully employed. You'll have to make the money somehow even if it's a small amount... right. So you'll have crime committed to score cash to buy inexpensive taxpayer subsidized heroin. The next logical step will be for addicts, and by this time there will be a lot of addicts, to get their heroin, crack and crystal meth for "free" as a welfare benefit. Independently wealthy people and those whose lives haven't been destroyed completely yet will still be able to buy their own legal drugs. Chances are those masses of non-criminal addicts will wind up living in a taxpayer funded facility that will be a lot like the prisons they find themselves in today. Sure, they'll be able to leave the facility whenever they want. But why bother when you can just shuffle down to the dispensary everyday a get your daily supply, then maybe go to the cafeteria and the rec area to do your drugs and hang out. At the end of the day you'll return to your cell, I mean room, consume your final portion of the day and nod off before repeating the process again the following day.
This all sounds a bit far fetched I know. But the truth is: if you make drugs legal then you have to be prepared to deal with the consequences. Proponents of legalization believe that these consequences will be easier to deal with than the consequences associated with making some drugs illegal. The problem is that once the legalization genie is out of the bottle it will be nearly impossible to put back. That means that if the consequences of legalization turn out to be worse than the current legal situation the countries who choose to legalize will be stuck, permanently with those consequences.
Branson’s brain is warped by Thai stick , hallucinogens,etc... OF COURSE he believes in decriminalization of “drugs” . Any brain he has left from his indulgence has become wacked.
He shouldd take this up with Her Majesty the Queen,Elizabeth R II and see what she thinks- after all they are bosom buddies no matter how the press plays it-he’s one of the big playa’s supporting the tourist industry in GB
GOD HelP The Irish Republic
Now, Richard Branson calls for increasing the number of stoners. Put down the pipe Sir Richard.
Btw, for all intents and purposes, pot has been decriminalized in the USA. I don't see Americans supporting decriminalizing heroin, cocaine or designer drugs.
Not into drugs, or else.
In the US, end the FEDERAL war on drugs, and let the states decide what they want to do on a case by case basis.
Richard knows it would make sitting in a Virgin Airways jet for four hours on the tarmac a lot more bearable.
Dear Dax Brown- thnx for posting a pic of Bronson .
I would really love it if you could send me a copy of your
newly released book instead of replying to my post with a silly pic of some movie hang-dog hasbeen movie star.
Are you pimping your book to me?
If not then I stand corrected-obviously everyone here @ FR
is aware that you have written a book and you have shared this information with them.
:)
Agree. That approach respects the original meaning of the Commerce Clause and Tenth Amendment.
And ending the Federal war on drugs is not the same thing at all as legalizing drugs. Because there would still be state laws.
It would just be shrinking the federal government, nothing would be legalized.
No way. We need Nannies to help prevent us from making bad choices.
More Nannies Now! Nannies forever!
Does he wants his PILOTS to be HIGH on drugs????
Branson owns a private island and an airline. Why would he care if the world goes to pot? (pun intended) He has an escape plan.
All of that sounds like nonsense... because it is.
More Nannies Now! Nannies forever!
:)
$
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