Posted on 02/15/2006 2:22:52 PM PST by MRMEAN
that's what they all say dude.
ps using my logic doesn't mean prohibition again. what it means is we shouldn't be adding more fuel to a fire that isn't being controlled now.
...a few people I know who even used to steal from friends and neighbors to obtain drugs, have stopped within the past 15 years. I don't know any people personally have have picked up the habits in their place...
Maybe it's me.
"So I don't see how the war on drugs can be going that badly."
Well that part can be explained easily. We've spent TRILLIONS of dollars on the problem, over the course of 30+ YEARS. The problem has not significantly changed, in fact in many ways it's getting worse. The WoD has also been used as an excuse to increase government powers, including widespread confiscation of private property and cash.
Not only is good money being thrown after bad, thousands of lives are being ruined for no good reason. It's a travesty.
Agreed, but you left out the EEOC, EPA and GSA. The Department of Education could also be included.
And you weigh, what, 75 pounds?
This libertarian would be happy to see the "war" on drugs ended, immediately after the welfare state is dismantled. I'd rather finance the war on drugs than finance the colossal medical and "rehab" bills, and all the cost of crime, incurred by people who freely choose to destroy their own (and sometimes other people's) lives with drugs (including alcohol), and then present themselves to the taxpayer, over and over again, with the plea "I need help".
"I don't know any people personally have have picked up the habits in their place..."
Oh, there's a whole new crop of college kids, now. :)
I've seen that too. People who, when we were younger, did the stuff. For whatever reason or other most just seemed to out-grow it.
Did you know that Ronald Reagan called libertarianism the "heart and soul of conservatism"?
Yes he did...my how things change over time.
Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Enslaving disenfranchised addicts will only create activist anarchists upon release.
I don't see the the reason to finance any of this. With prices so cheap were certainly making no effect on supply.
Decriminalize the crap ...but hang the dealers. ...and when people hit bottom.
AA is free.
It's pseudoephedrine, and much of the objection to regulation came from ordinary users of this very inexpensive, very effective, long-acting, non-prescription decongestant. I take it every single day and am not interested in having to get a prescription every time I need more. Most of the pseudoephedrine used by meth-makers is purchased off the shelf at drug stores, not in bulk from manufacturers.
"We must protect our fair daughers from the black jazz musicians and the Mexican migrants. They smoke that pot and go on murdering, raping rampages! It turns them into MONSTERS."
If you have a daughter, you should protect her from methamphetamine.
What changed?
Adam Smith - The Invisible Hand Speaks.
The short answer is called capitalism. The drug trade is capitalism in its most raw form. Supply vs. Demand.
The demand is reletively constant in terms of the percentage of the population that will use drugs. The more successful the war on drugs is in restricting supply, the higher the price the available drugs will fetch.
The higher the price, and therefore the greater the potential profit, the higher the inducement to enter the drug trade as a supplier. The higher the inducement, the greater the risks that will be hazarded to engage in it. The higher the risks involved, the Greater the extremes those in it will go to protect it (bribery, murder, etc).
[is anyone seeing a pattern yet?]
The argument, "what about the war on murder, etc." is invalid. There is no profitable, widespread demand for murder or most other crimes with possible exception of burglary (much of which is committed to pay for expensive drug habits).
The argument that totalitarian governments are successful in stemming drugs is also invalid. They are no more successful than free countries, they just have harsher punishments, which require greater bribes to public officials to avoid. Even certain countries in Asia that execute drug dealers have drug problems (which they do not admit to).
Any conservative that understands the basic precepts of capitalism and supports the current war on drugs is suffering from cognitive disconnect. They are no different from liberals that believe welfare programs will solve poverty.
The only solution that works on either problem is instilling in people the idea that they are responsible for their own actions. Responsible people are much less likely to use drugs or end up on welfare.
As for the rest, punish and jail them when or if they commit other crimes. Double the penalty for the crime if it is determined that they were chemically impaired at the time.
It's an educational battle that must be fought every generation.
IMHO.
Not Irish, therefore have a lower alcohol tolerance threshold than others. ;-)
Tobacco prohibition is next. The handwriting in on the wall.
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