Posted on 07/05/2005 9:30:27 AM PDT by Sensei Ern
For many years, I have been a strong opponent of legalizing drugs. As you read this, remember that I am still against drug legalization, but I have more sympathy for the opposing argument.
The reason I have been opposed to drug legalization is to protect children. I grew up in a home that was one step up from a crack house..at least we had heat and food. I know first hand what can happen when a child lives in those conditions.
As a counter, I have always felt that use of tobacco and alcohol should be legal for those of a responsible age.
The reason I am considering a change is because of the pain I went through this last month. Four weeks ago, I had a root canal done on a tooth...it was Friday. Once the Novocain wore off, I was in serious pain because the doctor was inexperienced and left a partial root. I experienced pain worse than listening to Rosanne Barr sing the National Anthem. He forgot to write a prescription.
I called the emergency number only to be told I could see the doctor on Monday. TWO WHOLE DAYS IN EXTREME PAIN! I had some 800mg Ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet. That only took away enough pain to convince myself to not commit suicide to stop the pain.
On Monday, I was given a prescription of Tylenol 3 with Codeine and an antibiotic. That took away the pain. Until it ran out. Again, extreme pain. Another dentist did another root canal...and again did not get the whole root. I made sure he gave me a prescription for the pain, before I left the office.
Finally, when that ran out, and another dentist completed the root canal, the pain has subsided.
To be in the kind of debilitating pain I was in, cannot be described. Bill Cosby once talked about taking your bottom lip and pulling it over your head...that comes close.
I have always been an advocate of personal responsibility. That conflicted with knowing that some of the drugs offered today are so dangerous that they needed to be regulated. Then, I thought back about how things were a hundred years ago. The doctor prescribed a treatment, and you either made it yourself, or went to the pharmacist, who mixed up the more potential drugs.
Back then, the only regulation was, could you afford the cost? Drugs were available, and the pharmacist would determine whether you were abusing. If you OD'd on a drug from abuse, you died and life went on for others. But, you could get drugs if they were needed, and you did not have to wait until Monday. You didn't need to wait for approval from anyone to use a drug.
That is enough about that for the moment.
If drugs were to be legalized, they should be regulated like alcohol and cigarettes...have a legal purchasing age. Also, if you do harm to another while under the influence of anything, you should be held personally responsible...to the fullest extent, especially capital punishment for causing a death. If you are taking drugs to get high, strap yourself into a chair and sleep it off.
If drugs were immediately legalized, we could expect some immediate effects. For one, the drug addicts would run out and by everything, and we would have a rash of overdosing for about a month. The rest of us could then go on with our lives, only mourning the loss of a relative, instead of daily living with the horror of a drug addict in our lives.
Currently, I believe law enforcement should be stronger. But, I could be moved to undecided if I heard good arguments for the opposite.
--Pray for our troops --Pray they have wisdom to do the right thing --Pray they remain courageous --Pray they know we love and support them --Pray they get the equipment they need to do the job --Pray for their safe return home to a hero’s welcome
Why is that specious? The guy needed a pain killer and he needed it NOW and could not get it because it is a prescribed drug. One hundred years ago, every pharmacist carried cocaine and dispensed it as he saw fit.
His sister is much, much, much likelier to be attacked by somebody who's drunk than by somebody who's high. I guess we should ban alcohol. And spend billions of dollars enforcing the prohibition. And trample all over civil liberties to do so. And accept the fact that huge quantities of money will now be flowing to criminal organizations rather than legitimate businesses to supply the demand. And that all of those illicit dollars will go untaxed. Sounds like a great solution to me.
I posted it during a break at work. I will respond as I can.
That's okay, know the feeling, most of us here respond during work breaks too!
Yep, drug use is dangerous. And smoking is dangerous. And drinking is dangerous. And eating fatty foods is dangerous. And NASCAR is dangerous. And bungee jumping is dangerous.
What does not follow is that the appropriate response to danger is prohibition.
I just saw a undercover cop show the other night. They had the undercover guy dressed as a heroin addict, a team of 6-8 other protecting the cop (two were on bikes, a couple cars, a video van), surveillance equipment, the whole nine yards. Who did they bust? A guy who sold ten dollars of drugs to him. The surveillance team swarmed on this seller. OK, I thought, this is just one transactions, maybe something bigger will happen. So, the 'junkie' went on his way looking for the next drug deal. They scored on this one, the 'junkie' bought twenty dollars of drugs. What an absolute waste of tax payer's money, 6-8 cops at a salary, plus all the paper work, lawyers, da's, judges time, etc. These cops should have been out there looking for rapists, murderers, terrorists, or the drug king pins, not the small street users. If they can (A big IF, because it has not been effective yet) stop the supply line, they wouldn't be arresting kids getting high. So, is the solution to regulate it like alcohol or tobacco and tax the heck out of it? (The gov has probably a written plan of action if they go that way, laws and guidelines, etc already developed) Maybe, it would be far more effective doing it that way than what they did on that cop show. Anyway, the more I see how ineffective the WOD is, the more I say we should give up that effort.
Plenty of people who do dumb or violent things while sober, too. Should we outlaw being sober?
I'm likely to agree with you except when it affects pushers hanging around schools ... those scum should hang!
If an adult wants to stick a needle in himself while wasting his life ... go for it, I'll just step over the body on the way home to my wife and family.
The WOD is nearly 100 years old. It was started by southern DemocRats (and socialist Woodrow Wilson) in Congress looking for another excuse to put black men in jail. When the strict constructionsist SC overturned the law in 1938, FDR (another socialist) threatened to load the courts and cowed them into submission. Then he had another DemocRat Congress pass the law again.
I sure do. It's your @#$%^!! body. If you want to put crystal meth in it, or put alcohol in it, or put nicotine in it, or put Drano in it, it's your business. Not mine. And definitely not the government's.
Much more of those violent crimes are committed by gangs over drug turf. Legalize drugs and you will defund the gangs. With no source of income, they will disband.
Not suddenly and unexpectedly. And both parties know that the smoker is smoking and can address the situation appropriate.
And drinking is dangerous.
I don't think you want to hear what I have to say about alcohol.
And eating fatty foods is dangerous.
Only to the eater.
And NASCAR is dangerous. And bungee jumping is dangerous.
Only to the participants and those who choose to be observers.
Nice try, but you are attempting to compare apples and oranges.
When your sister has been raped and thrown out a window by someone who is high, let me know.
And this is another important pro-legalization point. Ask a schoolkid whether he'd find it easier to get marijuana or alcohol, and most of them will answer marijuana. Why? Because alcohol is sold by licensed dealers who have a strong financial interest in keeping their licenses, and therefore a strong interest in not selling to minors. If an alcohol dealer sells to a minor, he risks his livelihood, and that's not a risk most of them are willing to take just to make a sale.
Drug dealers, on the other hand, operate outside the law. They're already risking their freedom by simply being in their business, and it's not much of an increase in marginal risk for them to sell to minors. Alcohol dealers check ID, drug dealers don't.
Agreed, if you are that stupid, fine ... purifies the gene pool when they OD.
I am always confused on why alcohol is legal but weed isn't ... how is this rationalized?
Whenever I consider a world of legalized drug posession/use I think of two words:
Democratic. Underground.
How many innocent people will each druggie take out of the gene pool along with himself?
I just don't think it's a good idea to facilitate more druggies high on all sorts of stuff, legal or not, staggering around our streets..
The death and violence we see from abuse of alcohol is bad enough.
Could be. But I don't think you want to hear my position on alcohol.
And spend billions of dollars enforcing the prohibition.
We're spending billions anyway. If they don't get arrested for being high, they end up getting arrested for some other crime they commit. Personally, I'd rather head them off at the pass.
What do you mean? Do you not understand the concept or do you not understand why we have crimes against getting high in your living room and watching Sponge Bob Squarepants?
If it is the latter, they are put in place by people who want to control you and are happy pass laws and hire thugs to do it for them.
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