Posted on 08/22/2005 3:21:05 PM PDT by freepatriot32
In that case, it is not the substance, but rather the prohibition that is the impetus for the act. You really do need to rethink your argument.
Incidentally, armed robbery is a state crime, not a federal crime, and MJ is legal under state law, so your statement above is flawed anyway.
You just contradicted yourself ... if "current conditions and laws" "will always provoke people to violence" to get it, then it is the laws and not the substance itself that provokes violence. Unless you consider violence to be an objective good, you should oppose these laws that you yourself state are what provoke it.
Hence, it possess a risk to the community.
No, "current conditions and laws" are what provoke the violence, and so possess the risk to the community.
I submit that YOU are the one who is blinded by your own desire to assert that MJ in innocuous.
I don't think it's innocuous, and never stated so. What I have implied before, and will explicitly state now, is that the drug war is far more harmful than the drugs it has been waged to eliminate. (And, the war hasn't even done that.)
If it became legal tomorrow I would not care one bit and maybe it should never have been made illegal but that is our lawmakers fault and not law enforcement.
I half agree. It is the legislators fault for passing bad laws, but LE also bears responsibility for the way in which the war is waged. Separation of powers demands that police have the discretion to not enforce, and that the judiciary not prosecute (and, that juries not convict) or otherwise, all the power rests with the legislative branch and none anywhere else.
You don't know me and you have no idea about my ideology.
That is true. What I do know, however, is that you bend over backwards to defend the thuggish behavior of the police power, even in very questionable cases. I don't know what else I need to know about you in order to take issue with your statements. Perhaps you could enlighten me.
All you think you know about me is my position on the need to protect and defend law abiding citizens.
If you think sending in paramilitary assault squads in the middle of the night into residential communities, somehow serves to "protect and defend" them, I will stand by my above comments. Thanks but no thanks, I think society will be better protected and defended without that kind of "protection." And I think there is plenty of evidence that when governments wage war against their own citizens, very, very bad things happen.
7thOF7th: I couldn't agree more! You must understand that law makers are the problem not law enforcement.
What would be your recommendations to lawmakers at the State level, and at the congressional level, for marijuana policy?
I believe that MJ should be decriminalized. It is a plant which grows naturally and no government should be allowed to impose control over a God given resource. That is not to say that it use should not be controlled. Adults can make decisions for themselves but minors should be protected from its use until they are old enough to take responsibility for their own actions. I bet you expected a totally different answer but that is what I believe.
How about example of untax-stamped cigarettes?
Medical marijuana is legal in California and still more expensive than illegal.
So much for your libertarian theory.
On the contrary, it's still illegal under federal law, states rights and the will of the people be damned.
and still more expensive than illegal.
This merely proves that the regulatory burden of medicines is heavier than black market business costs are. Go price salt, water, vs. medical 0.9% saline for irrigation. Your statements do not disprove that if MJ were decriminalized, the prices would plummet, as much as you would like to think otherwise.
Do you really think the price would stay the same, or go up, if people could grow their own without legal hassles?
Would?
I'm saying, today, the price of legal medical marijuana in California is higher than illegal and it has nothing to do with a regulatory burden. It has to do with greed.
Some Compassionate Use Program they got goin' on out there in the land of fruits and nuts.
"if people could grow their own without legal hassles?"
So you don't agree with the "legalize but tax the hell out of it" crowd?
Just damn!!! Hold my doobie!
Correct. They are starting to tax the hell out of cigarettes, and cigarette smuggling has already been used to fund terrorists. Sure, encouraging people to quit smoking might be a social good, but it's not clearly a purpose of government, and policies which fund terrorists are certainly bad.
Taxing the hell out of pot would bring the same problems. If you want it, grow it for free and get the government out of the transaction altogether. For those who can't or won't grow it, a small remaining market will exist, and taxes no higher than alcohol or cigarettes are taxed would be appropriate, for starters. I'd limit sales to adults only, just as for those other two drugs.
I would really like to take all the JBTs off pot enforcement and put them on the border, but that's just me.
That's a lot of gunfire over a weed that *allegedly* makes people passive and peaceful.
(They haven't smoked it yet.)
But seriously, you could say the same about heroin - which by the way doesn't "allegedly" make people passive and peaceful - it really does do this. Yet, you can't buy it legally, so if you want it, you either pay criminals, or you take it from them.
Why should pot be allowed such special status?
Do you think the legalization of pot will ever get enough votes (from Congress or the people) without taxation? That's about the only positive aspect of marijuana legalization.
"I would really like to take all the JBTs off pot enforcement ..."
But wouldn't they remain for the other drugs?
"... and put them on the border"
According to the ONDCP budget, half their money already goes towards overseas drug interdiction and domestic border control (the other half being drug treatment, education, and anti-drug advertising).
Special status? You can grow your own vegetables, herbs, flowers, even tobacco. You can brew your own beer and wine. You can also bake your own bread, and raise your own dogs, cats, sheep, horses, cows, and other animals. You can grow your own trees, and use them for lumber, or make your own charcoal. What are you talking about? There are very, very few things that the government insists it absolutely must have control over, pot is one of these very rare exceptions - it's just the opposite of what your question implies.
Do you think the legalization of pot will ever get enough votes (from Congress or the people) without taxation? That's about the only positive aspect of marijuana legalization.
Not in the immediately forseeable future, but I don't know the future and you don't either. As it is, a significant number of states has gone for medical MJ, but SCOTUS claims that preserving the statist quo of the drug war is more important than restricting the "interstate commerce" clause to mean things that are either interstate, or commerce, let alone both.
But wouldn't they remain for the other drugs?
Sadly, they would, but fortunately, some would have to be laid off, because those man-hours expended on pot would no longer be needed.
According to the ONDCP budget, half their money already goes towards overseas drug interdiction and domestic border control
LOL! Yes, we've sent many hundreds of millions of dollars to regimes like the Taliban - yes, that Taliban - to support their anti-drug efforts. Money wisely spent, no doubt. Not a dime of that was spent to give scholarships for bright young men to take pilot lessons in the US, I'm sure. As for border control, I wish they would go after illegals coming north as they do for people with an ounce or two of pot.
(the other half being drug treatment, education, and anti-drug advertising propaganda).
There, fixed.
Yes. A regulated substance that is not heavily taxed.
Cows do not fall into this category.
Good point ... no surprise bobby ducked it.
Learn to read.
"Addressed" by an unsupported claim.
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.