(The irony that taxing anything leads to bigger government; yet taxing dope is OK seems to escape them.)
But.... Free Republic is very liberal with respect to moral issues. And Libertarians rule this place.
So I'll stand down and allows the libs to bring on today's insults.
Having both legalized marijuana and the food police is like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in a room at the same time.
Oh really?
Satire? FR is a Conservative site, not a Libertarian one.
On drugs, the US had legal drugs up to 1909, we did okay.
Now we have our friend to the South on the verge of collapse. Joy.
This libertarian wants to see an end to the failed drug war, not new taxes.
Well, considering that the Fed’s are not going to be going after pot anymore, they BETTER legalize it or we will have Mexican gangs living in our national forests growing weed. THAT is NOT something we need. If they don’t legalize it and regulate it we will have Mexican drug wars HERE inside our borders and no one will be able to go into the forests.
I have to wonder if these artards EVER think things all the way through. For certain, not enforcing the laws is going to lead to violence if they don’t regulate it.
Its taxed and going to go higher.
Smoke?
Taxes are going up also if you can find a place to smoke.
Liberals, Libertarians and Conservatives can find some areas that are a bit mushy finding a few from the other side in their corner.
Me? The big problem with legalizing drugs will be the great number of “victims” added to the roles of SSI.
A lot of people who aren’t Libertarians are for legalizing marijuana too. Most people who are for legalizing marijuana are not for legalizing all drugs.
Personally, I am in favor of legalizing marijuana. It’s not a bigger public health problem than alcohol, and we allow that.
If you tax it, you make it more expensive to produce legally, thus helping the drug cartels (or so we hear)
I’m ok with people growing for their own use but I don’t want to pay for the rainbow of new laws that would be enacted to deal with that.
For those who claim to want it legal to end cartel violence. You’re lying. If you really wanted to end the cartel violence you would quit smoking it. I did and I survived just fine. Changing laws takes years and sometimes never happens, quitting only takes an instant and achieves the same result much faster and cheaper.
Perhaps if drugs are legalized, we'll see fewer SWAT teams busting down peoples' doors on trumped up drug charges.
Government isn’t our nanny. We should have the right to be stupid.
Once government becomes our nanny we are screwed.
One hundred years ago there were no laws restricting drugs. The original stimulant in Coca Cola was cocaine. Then they had to add caffeine because cocaine was made illegal.
Those of you who are against legalizing marijuana and consume an occasional beer or a glass of wine, I have only one word to describe people who have that attitude - hypocrites.
Moral strength and fortitude, clean sober thinking and morality is what gave this country it's greatness in the first place. In other words, you can make a pig into bacon, but you can't make bacon back into a pig.
Any argument to the contrary is pure insanity and has no merit.
If all libertarians care about is dope right now, screw them. There are more important things to be concerned with. How about real and actual FREEDOM?
The are just a big squeaky wheel but they have no real power. You need to learn to ignore them more.
This may be a way to soothe the pain of all the new taxes we are going to be hit with out here.
That being said, if some fool wants to waste his life stoned on a salad green I don't like, that's his problem. I am not willing to part with tax dollars to protect fools from their folly.
I am unconvinced that usage or availability would substantially increase if it were legalized. Alcohol was readily available during prohibition and anyone who really wanted it could get it. If marijuana were legally available tomorrow, I would avoid it as I do alcohol and tobacco now. I think most people would as well.
My ideal would be a repeal of federal drug laws and a selective, non-uniform application of relaxed state drug laws to nuisance users and to violent criminals (in the latter case, to keep them in jail longer), but a “look the other way” policy regarding individuals who enjoy their vice in private and can handle the “side-effects”. No more drug raids on homes, getting the address wrong and shooting grandma and the dog. Or PDs wasting money on buying equipment to detect heat signatures.
I realize drugs “cause” problems, and I fully support the elimination from society of those members who cannot handle their chit. Criminalizing the drug is a poor substitute for properly, permanently dealing with real crimes - the equivalent of banning guns because of gun-related crimes, or pencils because of spelling errors.