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ZOT: How Do We End The War On Drugs?
about.com ^ | Andrew Somers

Posted on 01/04/2004 10:44:31 AM PST by patdor

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To: Pahuanui
It doesn't.

Sure it does.

You're just unwilling to go there. Or anywhere near it.

When I'm right - I'm right.

And you're wrong, incorrect, off-track - playing some sort of game that defies logic and common sense.

Failure to accept certain fundamental truths or basic concepts that underlie the motives or desire of, say, our law-making bodies as applies to their reasons for passing certain drug-laws is, well, living in a fantasy world ...

But hey, that's your choice, not mine.

81 posted on 01/04/2004 4:43:43 PM PST by _Jim ( <--- Ann Coulter speaks on gutless Liberals (RealAudio files))
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To: patdor
If what you are doing fails, then it is wrong.
We have had years of practice and it is worse.
82 posted on 01/04/2004 5:36:02 PM PST by freeforall
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To: _Jim
It doesn't.

Sure it does.

This is like trying to teach algebra to a goat.

You limited the choices of motivation for sponsoring and/or passing legislation to three categories.

I, conversely, recognize this as a false dictomony, since there are practically as many reasons as there are consituents.

You're just unwilling to go there. Or anywhere near it.

When I'm right - I'm right.

Yes, I'm sure you're looking forward to that special, first time.

83 posted on 01/04/2004 5:38:03 PM PST by Pahuanui (When a foolish man hears of the Tao, he laughs out loud)
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To: Pahuanui
, conversely, recognize this as a false dictomony [sic]

A capricious and completely arbitrary appraisal by yourself carries little weight ... for all I know you could be the most contentious person on this board contesting our very existence and the validity of any thought!

There is no pleasing some people - kinda like the appetite of Hades; unquenchable, unfulfillable.

84 posted on 01/04/2004 5:49:00 PM PST by _Jim ( <--- Ann Coulter speaks on gutless Liberals (RealAudio files))
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To: _Jim
conversely, recognize this as a false dictomony [sic]

A capricious and completely arbitrary appraisal by yourself carries little weight ... for all I know you could be the most contentious person on this board contesting our very existence and the validity of any thought!

No, not arbitrary or capricious in the least.

You are laughably ignorant of the rules of logic, so I don't expect you to understand when they apply and when you have violated them.

Do try and grow up some time, hmmmm? It would make your posts that much more interesting.

85 posted on 01/04/2004 5:57:55 PM PST by Pahuanui (When a foolish man hears of the Tao, he laughs out loud)
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To: Ecliptic
I believe that when the author says, "The very hardest of recreational substances ... would be regulated and distributed only by the government and directly to users", he means at a greatly reduced price or for free.

This is the only way to stop the crime associated with drugs (gangs, black market, addicts stealing and prostituting to buy drugs).

Addicts can get methadone for free, but most choose to steal to purchase herion. You don't think this would happen with government provided crap drugs? Look what's happening in Canada with government provided "medical" marijuana -- nobody wants it!

Reminds me of Lance's description of his heroin for sale in Pulp Fiction:

"Now this is Panda, from Mexico. Very good stuff. This is Bava, different, but equally good. And this is Choco from the Hartz Mountains of Germany. Now the first two are the same, forty-five an ounce -- those are friend prices -- but this one... (pointing to the Choco) ...this one's a little more expensive. It's fifty-five. But when you shoot it, you'll know where that extra money went. Nothing wrong with the first two. It's real, real, real, good $hit. But this one's a f##kin' madman."

86 posted on 01/05/2004 6:40:25 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: Servant of the 9
"If the Federal Govt. did not have the power to ban alcohol without a Constitutional amendment,"

But they did have that power. Now what?

87 posted on 01/05/2004 6:44:22 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: patdor
Good article in general, but...
In other words, each state and locality should be afforded their own means of dealing with issues relating to drug abuse.
Snip...In other words, each state and locality should be afforded their own means of dealing with issues relating to drug abuse.
Snip...About 10% of the people that use alcohol use it abusively. (abusers) This minority of abusive users is echoed by other substances as well. Depending on the substance, only 5% to 15% of the users develop abusive use habits.
In the first two sentences there is only abuse, not use and abuse, which the author does demonstrates in the third sentence.
Oh, and something else. Alcohol is considered a drug so it kind of hampers the whole "drug abuse" aspect. Most don't seem to recognize that alcohol is considered as such.
88 posted on 01/05/2004 6:56:37 AM PST by philman_36
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To: Reagan Man
We have enough problems with alcohol in our society and shouldn't be opening the flood gates to drug legalization.
So should we try for repeat performance of the 18th Amendment? If one is banned then what is good for the goose is good for the gander!

Let's do it! Let's write our representatives, fight against the huge financial resources of the alcohol industry with miniscule funds, write petitions, get major organizations to sign on touting our agenda, ask for more laws instead of constitutional amendments...

WHOA...deja vu!

89 posted on 01/05/2004 7:06:04 AM PST by philman_36
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To: Pahuanui
Homicide detective -- cool.

I wonder if, every now and then, Elliott Ness wished that prohibition were over. I wonder if he thought organized crime would go away if only alcohol were legal, that the price would be lower and people wouldn't have to steal to buy it, that the level of violence, murders, and death due to alcohol would decrease.

Granted, his job would have been much easier if he didn't have to arrest all these people. But that's not the reason you advocate it, I'm sure.

The reason I'm sure is this: As a homicide detective, what percentage of your cases involve the use of legal alcohol by the perpetrator or the victim? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Excluding DWI's, alcohol is associated with over 100,000 deaths per year. I wonder how many died annually during Elliott Ness' days?

90 posted on 01/05/2004 7:14:44 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: _Jim
"A problem arises and some elected representative rises to the occasion to propose a solution."

Yep, and who gets to define "problem"? By this definition, you would support abortion laws and banning of prayer in schools. Some laws were made by government types so you must support them as good laws!
91 posted on 01/05/2004 7:33:45 AM PST by CSM (Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R.-at large), my new hero! The Anti anti Smoke Gnatzie!)
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To: _Jim
"Cocaine consumption is up 600 percent in many American cities."
-- Willam Buckley, July 15, 1986

Cocaine use peaked in 1982 and has since gone down 66%. Without legalization.

92 posted on 01/05/2004 7:33:55 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: international american
"I know some people might consider this draconian, but I worked like a charm.And the crime rate in Malaysia is very low. happy New year!!
Best regards, IA"

Do they allow ownership of guns? If not, couldn't a good argument be made for banning guns here....correlation of crime rate and all!
93 posted on 01/05/2004 7:37:01 AM PST by CSM (Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R.-at large), my new hero! The Anti anti Smoke Gnatzie!)
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To: _Jim
I would take a stab at answering your question by using the 3 options you have provided. However, the problem with what you have proposed is that you fail to distinguish between what government agencies you are discussing. When you show me the federal law regulating alcohol, then I will agree that these federal substance laws are constitutional. Until then, it should be left to the states and localities! Just like the laws you discuss regarding alcohol.

Otherwise the constitution is trampled, but it seems you support that!
94 posted on 01/05/2004 7:43:48 AM PST by CSM (Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R.-at large), my new hero! The Anti anti Smoke Gnatzie!)
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To: LPM1888
"the glamour of doing something illegal would be gone for the teenagers,"

Wouldn't drugs still be illegal for teens?

But if you're saying that because drugs would be legal for adults, the glamour would be gone for teens, you're dead wrong.

Despite the fact that every survey shows that teens say marijuana is easier for them to obtain than alcohol, twice as many teens use alcohol over marijuana (34.6% vs. 15.8%). You can find it here.

Care to explain how this fact fits your theory?

95 posted on 01/05/2004 7:54:28 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: robertpaulsen
"If the Federal Govt. did not have the power to ban alcohol without a Constitutional amendment,"

But they did have that power. Now what?

No, they did not, which is the reason they passed the:

XVIII amendment.

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section. 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

====================================================
But when it came to drugs, they just made the right to control up out of whole cloth and arogance to 'protect us from ourselves' So9

96 posted on 01/05/2004 8:03:38 AM PST by Servant of the 9 (Goldwater Republican)
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To: robertpaulsen
Homicide detective -- cool.

Best job I've ever had.

I wonder if, every now and then, Elliott Ness wished that prohibition were over. I wonder if he thought organized crime would go away if only alcohol were legal, that the price would be lower and people wouldn't have to steal to buy it, that the level of violence, murders, and death due to alcohol would decrease.

I have absolutely no idea.

Granted, his job would have been much easier if he didn't have to arrest all these people. But that's not the reason you advocate it, I'm sure.

That is not the reason I advocate it.

The reason I'm sure is this: As a homicide detective, what percentage of your cases involve the use of legal alcohol by the perpetrator or the victim? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Some, but in my area, a great deal more are gang-related.

Excluding DWI's, alcohol is associated with over 100,000 deaths per year. I wonder how many died annually during Elliott Ness' days?

I wonder if you realize what an utter non-sequitur that is to the issue of decrim of most currently illegal substances.

97 posted on 01/05/2004 8:10:51 AM PST by Pahuanui (When a foolish man hears of the Tao, he laughs out loud)
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To: Servant of the 9
Oh, but don't you know the "Commerce Clause" is 100% valid and any behavior can be regulated under that clause.......Just because it is used to trample on property rights and personal liberties doesn't mean that it invalid!

(sarcasm meter running high!)
98 posted on 01/05/2004 8:12:30 AM PST by CSM (Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R.-at large), my new hero! The Anti anti Smoke Gnatzie!)
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To: Servant of the 9
Oh, I know they passed the amendment. I'm just saying that an amendment wasn't necessary.

"An amendment to the Constitution obviously appealed to temperance reformers more than a federal statute banning liquor. A simple congressional majority could adopt a statute but, with the shift of a relatively few votes, could likewise topple one. Drys feared that an ordinary law would be in constant danger of being overturned owing to pressure from liquor industry interests or the growing population of liquor-using immigrants. A constitutional amendment, on the other hand, though more difficult to achieve, would be impervious to change. Their reform would not only have been adopted, the Anti-Saloon League reasoned, but would be protected from future human weakness and backsliding."
-- druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/rnp/RNP1.html

Now, if you have information supporting your statement that a constitutional amendment was required, I would (seriously) be interested in reading it.

99 posted on 01/05/2004 8:13:42 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: robertpaulsen
That the Federal Govt. was restricted to specific enumerated powers was accepted constitutional doctrine, and the Court could and did overturn such laws as unconstitutional, right up to the time FDR thuggishly rolled the court by threatening to pack it.
Virtually every power assumed by the Federal Govt. under the bastardized interpretation of the Interstate Commerce clause is unconstitutional by any reasonable standard.

Since the courts have shown 70 years of gutlessness, it is time to ammend the Interstate Commerce Clause and limit it to its original purpose.

So9

100 posted on 01/05/2004 8:23:06 AM PST by Servant of the 9 (Goldwater Republican)
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