Posted on 06/17/2010 7:52:51 AM PDT by pissant
Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday night that law enforcement should not focus its energy on the “minimal problem” of marijuana.
Palin made the comment during an appearance on the Fox Business Network with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
The libertarian Paul said enforcing marijuana restrictions specifically and war on drugs more generally is a “useless battle,” a point Palin somewhat agreed with though she was clear that she does not support legalization.
"If we're talking about pot, I'm not for the legalization of pot,” Palin said. “I think that would just encourage our young people to think that it was OK to go ahead and use it.”
“However I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts,” Palin added. “If somebody's gonna to smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems we have in society.”
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
That's because of the EXTREME profits of an illegal business. I own a business, if I didn't have to pay any taxes on my income, I'd be bringing home a LOT more money. Keeping it illegal feeds the criminals, allowing them to operate in an underground economy that has NO restrictions.
We need to get back to people being accountable for their own actions. What you do in your private life should be no one's business but your own - as long as you are being a responsible, productive member of society. We should all be unfettered to pull our own weight, and be left alone as long as we're not infringing on someone else's well-being.
I agree. I’m actually not trying to pick on her too hard. I give her credit for leaning in the right direction. I agree she’s being practical. That’s what ignoble prohibition laws do to otherwise good people. They turn them into hypocrites.
LOL. And the guv would distribute the drugs cheaper and better? Look at Tobacco. With all the taxes and regulations on it cigarette smuggling is still a huge business.
Druggies better hope the drugs aren’t legalized. The prices will go way up.
Hang all the dealers and pretty soon your problem will be seriously diminished. Recruiting new ones becomes a problem.
In the meantime entire generations of black city youth go down the path of ultimate destruction.
You've seen too many Cheech and Chong movies. I know MANY pot smokers that are self-employed and very hard-working people. They unwind during the rare times they are not at work by smoking a joint. Like anything else, the people you hear about are the ones screwing up - you never hear about the MILLIONS of ordinary people that don't have a problem with it.
I think pot is far healthier than a lot of these anti-depressants that people take, for a lot of people it's healthier to them than taking to alcohol. It's a freakin' herb that one can grow easily in their own backyard - bypassing the pharmaceutical companies and tax-grabbing governments - THAT'S WHY IT'S STILL ILLEGAL.
Not if the people obtain and retain the right to grow their own herb. That will keep the price down. And it's insane to possess one right without the other. Either you retain the right to grow and smoke this plant, or you don't. At best it should be a local zoning issue.
It doesn't take an addict to do harm, it only takes a drunk. Just because someone isn't an alcoholic doesn't mean they won't beat up their kid/spouse (or some random person who looked at them wrong), or crash into someone on their way home, when they do get drunk.
My nephew got hooked on heroine while living in europe at 15 yo.
I'm sorry to hear that. But as a parent, how can you NOT notice that your kid is doing heroin?
It’s an issue.
Funny how there has ALWAYS been another producer/importer/dealer/user to replace them.
Entire generations of black city youth are ALREADY on the path to destruction, but through IMPRISONMENT. We’re creating a problem for ourselves and we haven’t made a dent in the drug trade.
I knew a guy who used to take a few tokes before the end of night cleanup where he worked as a line cook. He felt it added to his performance. You've never seen such spotless stainless steel in your life, so he told me.
This was a good kid, too. Out on his own, fresh out of high school, paying his own way and determined to find his way. And not scared of working.
History proves you wrong.
During Prohibition, booze was insanely expensive and now look how cheap it is.
“something had to be done, something soon and something draconian so it would work. They ended the problem in one generation.”
As a side note: Right now there are progressives saying the same thing about you and me.
“I’m not aware of anyone in Singapore ever being hanged for dealing marijuana because the amount they would have to have is so large as to render this draconian penalty moot.”
The law creates a presumption of trafficking for certain threshold amounts, e.g. 30 grams of cannabis. It also creates a presumption that a person possesses drugs if he possesses the keys to a premises containing the drugs, and that “Any person found in or escaping from any place or premises which is proved or presumed to be used for the purpose of smoking or administering a controlled drug shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been smoking or administering a controlled drug in that place or premises.” Thus, one runs the risk of arrest for drug use by simply being in the company of drug users. The law also allows officers to search premises and individuals, without a search warrant, if he “reasonably suspects that there is to be found a controlled drug or article liable to seizure”. Moreover, Section 31 allows officers to demand urinalysis of suspected drug offenders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_(Singapore)
The minimum threashold for hemp possesion to result in a manditory death sentence is a half ounce.
Just because they arent hanging them left and right doesnt mean they cant by law...they usually face LONG prison sentences..
You can soft peddle it all you want ..singapore is a “police state” with draconian laws that have no business in a free country.
I suggest that if you want to live in singapore...you move there rather than bring it here.
Better not litter though..
Thanks.
Let’s start by deregulating Tobacco and see how that works
I suggest we put the Federal Government in charge of the cultivation, packaging and distribution of marijuana. Personal harvestors should have to obtain a goverment permit ...
That should dry it up! LOL
That is because the sheeple are okay with persecuting one group, as long as it is not their own.
Government should never have the kind of power to be able to control behavior based on whatever incentive they deem appropriate. That is the point that so many who are okay with the cigarette taxes fail to see.
If it is okay for the government to go after one activity, they will eventually come after yours, too.
As or tobacco and marijuana, in terms of basic human rights, they should be treated the same.
“Hang all the dealers and pretty soon your problem will be seriously diminished.”
But the Govt hangman is a Union worker who cant be put out of work when the well runs dry..so the hanging offenses will be expanded...Ad infinitum.
And most of the cost is TAXES.
Besides...you can make your own beer and wine now too...
Oh the HORROR!
That is the fault of the parents who decide to raise their children in those areas. The mentality of the inner city populations is the problem, not drugs OR government.
Hanging is a lot cheaper and the recidivism rate is ZERO.
I have no problem killing people who sell drugs to children.
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.