Posted on 06/06/2006 4:32:38 AM PDT by LowCountryJoe
Meanwhile, politicians puff sanctimoniously about ``cleaning the streets" and ``ridding the projects of drug dealers
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I bet if you were around during Prohibition you'd say, "Legalize alcohol and the gangs will be gone and we'll finally have peace in the neighborhoods".
BWAHAHAHAHA!
Personally, I believe a drug dealer destroys hundreds of more lives than a violent criminal can ever hope to.
Isn't that true for other recreational drugs?
Life can be the best teacher. Those failing life's lessons shouldn't get "social promotion".
Let's explore these odd beliefs of yours. Do you also believe that if other people are in the same building, but not the same room, you are not "alone"? Do you believe that a man having his schlong sucked is not engaged in "sex"?
You're looking at around 5% of the population smoking marijuana and another 1-2% doing hard drugs. That ain't "normal" behavior.
Unless you have a totally different definition of 'normal'.
Got a point?
No, because drugs such as meth and cocaine are much more harmful to individuals, families and society. So is alcohol, for that matter.
I liken it to various driving laws. States don't outlaw eating while driving, even though it can cause a distraction. Some states outlaw using a cell phone, because it is more distracting. And all states outlaw DUI, because of the much higher probability of causing an accident.
I see drug use in a similar manner.
I was about to say something very similar. As long as someone else's life or liberty isn't affected the government shouldn't be in the business of making such judgments. I don't believe that government should legislate morality or stupidity.
As far as your 5% number is concerned, it's not even close. You mean 5% this very moment? Today? This week? This year? Ever?
Statistics can be manipulated any way you want.
People all over the world use "drugs" regularly. Alcohol and various other mood altering substances have been used since humans discovered them. Even if the percentages don't represent a majority in any particular society, it is not abnormal behavior.
How many people do you know who have NEVER, EVER, used any mood altering substance? Alcohol seems to be the favorite, but coffee and cigarettes could also be counted.
Your statistics tell the story you want to tell, nothing more.
It certainly didn't turn out that way. Once booze was legalized, the gangs turned to drugs, in addition to the ever-popular hookers, gambling, loan-sharking, and other rackets.
Legalizing drugs would simply close down one "silo" in a gang's business plan.
The poster was quite clear on the type of drugs being referred to.
"You mean 5% this very moment? Today? This week? This year? Ever?"
Around 5-6% of those 12 and older smoke marijuana at least once per month. I would refer to such a person as a marijuana user.
"Even if the percentages don't represent a majority in any particular society, it is not abnormal behavior.
Illegal recreational drug use is not the norm. I think you're playing word games here, and I don't know why you are doing that. I didn't think that was your style.
Even worse, the poster (in his post #19) suggested the legalization of only pot and cocaine, leaving all other drugs illegal to be sold by the gangs. Sure, the legalization of pot and cocaine would have an impact, but the gang members aren't going to go out and get real jobs.
If drugs were legal in the U.S., gangs would simply go from the illegal import business to the illegal export business, locating their operations here and exporting our legal recreational drugs to those countries where it remains illegal. Unless, of course, the poster is suggesting that every country in the world, including China, Singapore, North Korea, Indonesia, etc. would follow our lead and legalize all drugs.
Well, if you're going to dream, dream big.
I did read the article--every single word. I strongly believe that drug use is just another symptom of a society looking for a quick and easy fix to what is going on in their lives.
Society took the "quick and easy fix" by criminalizing & prohibiting drugs beginning a hundred years ago. Prohibitions don't work.
Regulating access to drugs, just as we reasonably regulate booze, is the best we can do in a free republic.
Prohibitions are the the worse thing we can do ~against ~ our republic; they violate due process of law.
And particularly since I'm not playing word games. The poster said drug use was deviant.
Most adult people in the world have used "drugs" (mood altering substances) in their lives. Most have done so many, many, many times.
Clearly it is not deviant behavior.
You yourself defined deviant as differing from the norm. Using illegal recreational drugs is not the norm. Can we at least agree on that?
Illegal? Sure.
Which is not to say it's even close to being uncommon.
Now can we agree that using mood altering substances is normal?
Have you ever had a drink?
I do not believe that hard core drug use is present in enough of the American population to consider it "normal."
Even if my numbers were tripled, that would still not be enough to be mainstream.
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