Contempt for illegal drug use blinds American public to alternatives

Coach is Right ^ | 8/25/13 | Bruce Karlson

[Oldpuppymax]

Please do not be guilty of the above when considering the legalization of all recreational drugs. Anyone is legally permitted to kill himself slowly with tobacco, once addicted. Equally, a person may legally drink himself to death and/or wreck the lives of those around him with a bottle a day. For such people we have compassion. But for the users of illegal drugs, most of us have only contempt.

It is difficult (impossible, actually) to understand the logic of making certain drugs illegal. Apart from legality, what is the difference between smoking a “joint” and having a beer? Further, doing a “line” of cocaine makes for an apt comparison with having a dry martini. Oh, the “gateway” routine? Well, weed may be a “gateway” drug but Budweiser and nicotine are the “gateways” to weed. Shall we continue this line of reasoning??

Society is visited with problems from both legal and illegal drugs but the illegal ones support a criminal culture that is bankrupting...

[Jeff Chandler]

what is the difference between smoking a “joint” and having a beer?

Actually, it's more like having a few beers, but the idea of the federal government making a common plant illegal is ridiculous.

[axxmann]

If people could grow their intoxicant in the back yard, Anheuser Busch would sell less beer...follow the money.

[Silentgypsy]

It probably boils down to money and power. There’s no logic that supports the current laws.

[FatherofFive]

William F. Buckley on cigarettes, illegal drug and hypocrisy

[Norm Lenhart]

Ask a drug warrior to research the consumption habits of the founders sometime and then watch as the excuses flow.

I am not a drug fan. I am a truth fan.

[cripplecreek]

Nobody is suggesting that I pay for “medicinal” Marlboros for the poor.

[James C. Bennett]

The morons who have supported the current drug laws are too stupid and dumb to see how they have boosted entrenching crime by sending drug users to prison and initiating them into lives of crime once they mingle with hardcore criminals there.

A natural substance with popular demand, when banned, will create an underground market that will fuel gangs and criminal organisation. The lessons from Prohibition have completely escaped these nitwits.

[DannyTN]

"But for the users of illegal drugs, most of us have only contempt."

Wrong we have pity. But we do have contempt for pushers. And we recognize that jail time is a deterrent.

"t is difficult (impossible, actually) to understand the logic of making certain drugs illegal. Apart from legality, what is the difference between smoking a “joint” and having a beer? Further, doing a “line” of cocaine makes for an apt comparison with having a dry martini. Oh, the “gateway” routine? Well, weed may be a “gateway” drug but Budweiser and nicotine are the “gateways” to weed. Shall we continue this line of reasoning?? "

Marijuana causes bipolar and schitzophrenia is a big difference.

And yes, let's continue the reasoning. Are you going to allow drugs so addictive that one use virtually assures you are addicted? Or hard drugs like LSD and bath salts. Drugs that cause permanent brain damage?

If not, then we are just talking about where to draw the line. And if the line has to be drawn somewhere, then it seems to me that drawing the line after alcohol and tobacco is a pretty good place.

[G Larry]

Society doesn’t need any more intoxicants.

The more the stigma of using intoxicants is removed, the more young people are going to be impacted by their mind dulling, motivation killing qualities.

Despite the howls of protest, the use of “recreational drugs” is a clear gateway to addictive “hard” drugs.

This isn’t some libertarian, individual “right”, as the impacts to society are long term and severe.
Look at the cultures that have tried the libertarian approach.
Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands.....

[Quickgun]

100% agreement here. You can get flamed here over this topic though...be warned.

[wintertime]

Indeed! There is no logic.

Prohibition merely creates black markets for the prohibited substances and encourages the growth of organized crime and the corruption of police, legislators, and rule of law.

Decades of the War on Drugs has not improved matters one jot. It is time to try something different.

[Up Yours Marxists]

This link explains why illegal drugs are illegal:

http://american_almanac.tripod.com/opium.htm

The destructive nature of opium was well known at the time of the Opium Wars. Opium is highly addictive, and induces passivity into the smoker. Addicts seldom lived past age fifty; heavy smokers had a life expectancy of only five years.

The drug was widely used in Britain itself, even by the Royal Family, as shown by revelations that Queen Victoria's court frequently ordered opium from the royal apothecary at Balmoral. In England, where opium was legal, the cause of the exceptionally high infant mortality rate in one Lancashire town was discovered to be a concoction, called ``Godfrey's Cordial,'' a cough syrup containing opium which was given to babies, often in lethal doses.

While a prosperous Chinese official could afford opium addiction, a Chinese worker would spend two-thirds of his wages, neglecting his family. Many Chinese saw opium as a poison introduced by foreign enemies. In 1729, the Emperor banned the import of opium, except for a small amount, licensed as medicine. In 1799 a stronger Imperial decree was issued prohibiting both the smoking of opium and its importation. This decree stated:

``Foreigners obviously derive the most solid profits and advantages ... but that our countrymen should pursue this destructive and ensnaring vice ... is indeed odious and deplorable.''

Confucianism strongly condemned the use of drugs like opium. Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716), the great German mathematician, physicist and philosopher, who wrote extensively on China, recognized that Confucianism contained many of the most positive features of Christianity. Leibniz worked for an ecumenical alliance between Confucianism and Christianity. In Confucianism, a man had a duty and debt to his ancestors. His body was given to him by his ancestors as their link to his descendants. Therefore, for a man to destroy his own body was a great offense against filial piety.

I guess the numbskulls in this country need a refresher course from time to time.

[mountainlion]

George Soros and others spend large amounts of money to get drugs legalized. The more doped up people there are the easier the take over is. The government has little will to stop drugs or illegal immigration or really anything Illegal. This causes a lot of innocent victims to get caught up in conditions they can not control.

[rawcatslyentist]

>Nobody is suggesting that I pay for “medicinal” Marlboros for the poor.

Wanna bet

Back to work EBT card provider! You got 40 oz and a pack of Marlboros to buy for several peeps today!

[wintertime]

Here’s my line: Antibiotics

Antibiotics are the only drug that should need a prescription and regulation. Why? Because the misuse of antibiotics causes organism resistance which endangers everyone.

Other than that, no line is needed.

[mountainlion]

Nobody is suggesting that I pay for “medicinal” Marlboros for the poor.

There is even evidence that smoking helps malaria but there has been no “medical cigarette” to help malaria.

[cripplecreek]

Thus proving that the drug sodden dickheads rank right up there with the rest of the EBT leeches.

[GeronL]

Contempt for ______________ blinds public to alternatives.

murder, rape, child molestation....

[cripplecreek]

Pay attention, they’re already talking about subsidizing “medical” marijuana for the poor.