Posted on 01/15/2009 8:32:09 AM PST by Ericka81
he cause of criminal violence is not drugs or alcohol but rather criminals. To believe otherwise is to expect every drug dealer in America to give up and apply for a job at McDonald’s or WalMart the day legalization occurs. Every society contains a sizable element whose members refuse to make an honest living under any circumstances. The legalization of drugs will not change this large-scale reality of human behavior.
For now, many societal malefactors have the option of selling or trafficking drugs. But their real trade is to profit from the unwillingness of others to take the risks involved in illegal activity. Think of drug legalization, then, as a new government regulation on the drug dealer. It removes the illegality, and therefore much of the profit, from his trade. Experience suggests that such changes in government policy motivate economic actors to find loopholes. For the drug dealer or supplier, that means finding some new illegal activity through which to cash in on one’s tolerance for the risks of crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at culture11.com ...
There is absolutely no reason why pot should remain illegal. And I say that as a card-carrying Extreme Right Wing Republican who wants to starve children and minorities.
End the Drug War!
And England out of Wales!
the problem with the WoD is the fact that the vast majority of the arrests are for minimal infractions. its rare that a large manufacturer/ dealer gets busted. and when they do, they typically have enough money to get out of it.
Welcome to FR. Many of us here support the Bill of Rights.
As Martin Behrman, then mayor of New Orleans, said when the Navy made the city shut down the Storyville red-light district, “You can make it illegal but you can’t make it unpopular.”
If you want to know whether legalizing vice will eliminate the criminal participation in that vice, look at prostitution in Amsterdam. The trade is legal, and it is still controled by criminals. Whether mind altering drugs in general or particular drugs should be legalized can be debated, and I haven’t settled on either position, but doing so to eliminate the criminal incentive for the drug trade is unlikely to work.
Bookmark for later reading.
Note: Don’t worry if you get flack with this post. It means you are over the target. It also isn’t representative of the majority here. Just take the constructive and ignore the idiots.
Whether on this or any other thread you find interesting discussions and two knuckle deep nose pickers at the same time.
Of course there's a reason: The majority of Americans are not in favor of legalization.
I do agree with you if you are talking about California and the other states where the people have spoken at the ballot box.
You take the super high profit out of a cheap product when it is legal.
The jail population would be cut in half, and the border patrol wouldn't waste time chasing bales of mj or kilos of coke.
Prior to 1904, all drugs in the US were legal and sold in "drug stores".
Did we have rampant groups of gangs killing each other trying to "control" drug stores?
Idiots that want to use drugs are going to, and the legalization of drugs won't eliminate all illegal acts, but it will eliminate the high profit that makes drug dealing rampant.
If you want to be a stoned zombie, have at it, people do it all the time with alcohol.
Do you think that alcohol prohibition will work?
Oh, we tried that, and got al capone and others like him.
We learned a lot from that experiment.
Apples & Oranges
Prostitution involves selling and trading people.
The criminal element there will always be present because the ‘product’ IS people. The product thinks, has feelings and doesn’t just sit there. The only way for the owners to control the ‘product’ and cut costs is threats and force. Criminals have the advantage in this business because they can essentially enslave people and sell a product that costs them almost nothing. Prostitution businesses run without force simply cannot compete.
Drugs are an object which can be grown or made in almost unlimited amounts.
Before being made illegal, many of the most dangerous drugs today such as cocaine, heroin, amphetamines were available over the counter at your local pharmacy.
If drugs were sold the same way today, criminals would not be able to compete and there would be no black market. Large legitimate drug companies with quality products and lower prices would put criminals out of business.
Just like the black market for alcohol has been virtually eliminated. There is a small black market due to high taxes but the quality does not compare to legitimate products.
Ditto your Extreme Right Wing Republican comment. I have never smoked pot, and have never needed to. However, I’m typing this after coming off a 4 day migraine trip. I have a doctor who doesn’t agree with prescribing pain pills willy nilly, and I appreciate that. Years ago, a doctor prescribed Vicodin for my migraines. It scared me. It scared me because I LIKED Vicodin. That was the last bottle I ever had.
I have read reports about THC treatments for migraines. If it’s non addictive and a successful treatment, sign me up. But, it’s illegal both for recreational and medicinal usage here in KY. So, I’ll wait and hope.
well, yeah but it’s the street level guys who carry illegal guns and who’s stray bullets hit kids on jungle gyms. don’t matter if it’s some guy in columbia or the federal gov’t supplying drugs. the drug trade will still be run by street thugs. and if it is legalized and the cost goes down, the drug-wars will escalate.
Illogical. That didn’t happen when prohibition ended.
LOL. So which side are you taking? On any presidential election 2008 thread, references to the majority of Americans are (here at FR) typically quite negative, given the results of the last election. As in, whatever the majority wants, we should have done the opposite.
and you can buy it in grocery stores. unless you think weed should be readily available at every A&P, then your analogy is illogical, spock.
Logic and the proof of history have never mattered to the Drug Warriors.
I know.
I supported the WO(S)D until age 27, when I wised up.
Why Cannabis was made illegal:
1. Racism -(number one reason)
2. Fear
3. Protection of Corporate Profits
4. Yellow Journalism -(certainly you jest)
5. Ignorant, Incompetent, and/or Corrupt Legislators -(no way)
6. Personal Career Advancement and Greed
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.