I say this as a Christian and a conservative.
I wonder how many people would die from over dosing. I suspect it would level off around 3% of the population of the U. S. That is about 7.5 million. That is just a WAG, so I could be wrong.
Bear in mind that some people here would be happy to ban alcohol and cigarettes completely0 (Reason: they don't like them - and think of the children)
Whenever I consider a world of legalized drug posession/use I think of two words:
Democratic. Underground.
I'm with Clarence Thomas on opposing the federal WOD's abuse of the commerce clause, and I think the WOD is one of the worst policies in the history of the US.
3 million overdosing? No way. You essentially have access to any drug you want now, if you want it bad enough, and there are not that many people who OD. As for the need for painkillers, I am one of those who has medical problems and sometimes I need the good stuff just to function. So i wish all the anti-drug people could be in the same situation - oxicodone worked great but I doubt I could get any now. 20 tablets got me through 6 months, so it isn't like I'm some user, just the WOT has negative consequences on many levels.
You sure don't sound like a "Newbie" ... and BTW I totally agree with you
All vice laws are unconstitutional.
I had root canals done on my two front teeth when I was six. I managed to live through the pain without a desire to legalize all drugs.
Meth was declared just today to be the number one drug problem. But the WOD is neither a Conservative nor a Liberal cause. It is a little robot creature running autonomously after Congress budded it off.
The drugs being made illegal came in at the same time as the new deal. To me its just another example in a long list of leftist social engineering experiments. Of government knows best.
If one wants to label the war on drugs as conservative or liberal, I believe the criteria should lie at government's role. Many of the liberals I know that support drug legalization would use tax revenues from sales to pay for state sponsored drug rehab programs, among other things. In other words, legalization expands the role of government in everyone's lives. Likewise, enforcement seems to have a similar result. Those who push for huge funding projects on enforcement also expand the role of government in people's lives. Anytime people advocate bigger government for public safety, I see that as a "liberal" policy.
I've always thought that many so-called conservatives miss the snake in the grass on this topic. Advocating the expansion of government for something you personally disaprove of isn't very conservative at all.
I say this as a Christian and a conservative.
The borders are wide open. Cocaine is cheap as dirt. You should have got you some. A little topically, a little up the nose, you would have been fine as frog's hair.
Don't blame me, talk to Arbusto. There is no war on drugs.
Did you sue the dentist for pain and suffering??
At this point in time I believe most Freepers understand this issue very well. I would like to see a poll done at Freerepublic on this issue one day.
Pinggggggggg
Our only drug laws should prohibit sales to minors. Beyond that, if you're stupid enough to want to abuse a particular chemical, then you ought to be allowed to screw your life up as much as you want. The State ought not take over the role of your mother.
The question isn't so much whether which drugs should be legal and which side of the drug war liberals and conservatives should be on. It's more whether or not such things are the province of the federal government at all.
My opinion is that drug law is up to the states, but the Supreme Court recently ruled otherwise, noting that the interstate commerce clause gives the feds pretty much total power.
So to all on this thread, suffice it to say that, after what happened to my sister, you can count on me to NEVER be in favor of legalizing drugs.
Rant and rave all you like. Twist what I have said. Ignore the parts you don't wish to acknowledge. Use all the silly hyperbole you like. None of that is going to change my position. . .it is not going to change how and for whom I vote.
If that bothers you, so be it. I'm sure it doesn't bother you near as much as having your sister raped and thrown out a window.
Good day to you all.