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...

[tacticalogic]

So you should only smoke pot if you’re not crazy?

I guess it depends on what kind of crazy. I think generally you need to be aware of any genetic predispostions you may have inherited, understand what the consequences are, and take responsibility for your actions.

[tacticalogic]

With few exceptions, the pot smokers I've come across all fit that description. It seems to become the focal point of their lives.

I suspect you may have met many more who are moderate users that you don't know about.

[Jeff Chandler]

I suspect you may have met many more who are moderate users that you don't know about.

I'm sure there are young moderate users, but by the time people reach middle age they either grow up and abandon it or really get into it.

[G Larry]

Ya...that’s really helped.

Cartel’s have made mafia moves on private growers.
Threatened families, etc.

Boulder seems to have encountered a run of counterfeit currency.

Holdups at dope shops.

Cities now reconsidering rules for location and licensing, due to the problems in the neighborhoods.

[G Larry]

Is there some valid correlation between then and now?

NOOOOO!!!!!!!

[G Larry]

“Much of what claims to Libertarian is really the pursuit of consequence free self indulgence.”

BINGO!

Yet they pretend there are no consequences, or that those consequences are somehow isolated to the individual.

[tacticalogic]

I'm sure there are young moderate users, but by the time people reach middle age they either grow up and abandon it or really get into it.

That seems to be the way of it, but I know a few who've gone back to in occasionally in retirement.

[Jeff Chandler]

I know a few who've gone back to in occasionally in retirement.

What's 'retirement'?

[tacticalogic]

There is no law that will help if you don’t have the will and the means to enforce it.

[tacticalogic]

What's 'retirement'?

That's when they won't let you work any more.

[fr_freak]

You are not an American conservative. You are a statist. You believe that we are granted rights by the government - we only get to do what they allow us to do and if they say that we're not allowed to do something, then by God who are we to think we have the "right". Your belief system is anathema to the freedom of the individual that was the foundation of our country.

You're no different than the leftist a-holes we are fighting against, in terms of your view of the role of government. The only difference between you and the average leftist is that you want the government to force people to live by YOUR rules, rather than theirs. They want the government to force people to embrace homos and take public transportation, while you want the government to force people to avoid things you don't like and God knows what else. Feh. Decent Americans want the government to leave us alone.

[tacticalogic]

A lot of people in Washington DC has been working very hard, for a very long time to make people ignorant of what it means to live in a republic.

[PeterPrinciple]

The reason I don’t believe there were all those maladies in the 19th and early 20th century is

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My study of history shows that in the 1830 or there about society was about as low as it could go. Family in a bad way and per capita consumption of alcohol at an all time high. This began a shift to correct , late 80’s revivalism and ended in 1918 with prohibition and then the slide began again.

So there is hope but I do tend to agree with you.

[greene66]

That’s interesting to know, in regards to 1830. I’m not really all that well-learned in that era. But when it comes to the late-1800s and early-1900s, I’m much more familiar, as I have tons of original books, dime-novels, stereoviews, magazines, and whatnot. Been a collector of miscellanea for a long time. Heck, I used to talk to a lot of old-timers who were kids back then. Got a pretty good take on the era.

[rawcatslyentist]

Truthfully, I've never even seen the film.

[goodwithagun]

It’s actually one of my favorites. The music is awesome.

[G Larry]

Mostly, you’re an idiot!

Nowhere in my post did I address the role of the Federal Gov’t.

I simply made my case against promoting drug use.

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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.....

[fr_freak]

I simply made my case against promoting drug use.

See, this is where you're stupid. Removing a destructive and unconstitutional power to criminalize a plant, or personal ingestion of anything, from the fedgov (or state gov for that matter) is not the same as PROMOTING use of the drug. It isn't.

You have the statist view that the government is the end-all be-all of human morality and behavior. It's not good unless the government says it's good. It's bad if the government says it's bad. If it's bad we must have the government tell us it's bad, or else how will we know????

Hey, guess what, genius, people can make those decisions for themselves regardless of what the government says. People were doing that in this country for over a hundred and fifty years before the gov decided to tell people what to eat, drink and smoke. But you would prefer that the government dictate such things to us, and send thugs dressed as ninjas to raid our houses at midnight if we don't comply. You probably stroke yourself at night thinking about all of the no-knock raids the gov is engaging in just to get those people who don't agree with your prohibitions.

[fr_freak]

Because mj intoxication is addictive and dangerous in a way that beer isn’t.

Two things:

1) It doesn't matter whether it's addictive or not. The question is whether the government, within the framework of the American philosophy of government, has any business telling people that they can't ingest it or grow it.

2) Marijuana is not addictive. I don't know where you got that from. Cite something substantial, or admit that you pulled that out of your butt. According to AA, however, alcohol is, at least for some people.

[fr_freak]

The only legalization argument I that ever sways me a bit is just the potential of having one of the states (a worthless, Obama-voting blue state, of course) going for full legalization, and thus serve as a magnet for all the hippie dopehead filth to migrate to, leaving the rest of the country cleansed of them.

You've just described federalism to a "T". This is how it is supposed to work. The fedgov is not supposed to be dictating to the states how to run their business. We are supposed to be 50 "experiments in democracy".

With that in mind, I nominate my state, CA, to be the test case. We're boned, anyway, so let's go full retard and legalize EVERYTHING. Let every scumbag in the other 49 come here to live (they've been doing that since the 60s anyway) and shoot up to their heart's content. We'll scrape their bloated bodies off the road like flies. Then the other states can elect sane senators and congressman and we'll be back on track.