Posted on 07/05/2011 8:11:24 AM PDT by Nachum
Ten years ago this month, Portugal rejected the conventional approach to drug policymore laws, stiffer prison sentences, more policeand went the other way by decriminalizing all drugs, even cocaine and heroin. The drug warriors predicted a disaster. They said drug use would spike and there would be a public health crisis. That did not happen. As Glenn Greenwald showed in a 2009 Cato report, Portugal is doing better than before and in many respects is doing better than other countries in the European Union
(Excerpt) Read more at cato-at-liberty.org ...
As for peer review... if it ain't blind peer review I also call BS. There are peers, conferences and periodicals for just about anything now and that doesn't make everything more scientific. The social sciences will never be physics because there's no way the same kind of controls can be in place. That doesn't mean one shouldnt' try for rigor but there are limits to any study's external validity even if internal validty issues can be worked.
But this is a conservative site so I would expect people would respect the 10th amendement.
Yes, every bit as settled as the argument offered in the original article....
>>decriminalizing wont do this country any good....<<
Come on, give us your reasons why it won’t work here. Are you connected in some manner with drug enforcement or rehab work?
Yeah, and next they will tell us that gun violence is lower in Switzerland because “everybody” is armed.
Why are you being so cheap with other peoples money. I say give them everything, meth, crack, heroine, you name it and you can have as much as it takes to kill you.
I read the article... there was no intent to suggest anything was scientific. Regardless, I got it. You think drugs should be illegal. Then fighgt like hell for it in YOUR state legislature.
>>Isnt Portugal another one of those countries thats flat broke?<<
Careful now. We’ve been broke for years.
LOL, but we have the potential to turn it around.
Now if there is still enough of us to do it, is another question.
Obviously, this is why.
No, but I did alot of ....um....things in my youth....does that qualify?
No, but I did alot of ....um....things in my youth....does that qualify?
FWIW, Paul asserts in Romans 7:7-11 that a law, in his example “shalt not covet...”, actually incites disobedience. Perhaps Portugal is onto something.
No, I don’t think so. That’s just my opinion and it’s not worth much.
We shouldn’t forget the massive system we have in place to punish and treat drug users. A huge number of government employees would suddenly have nothing to do if drugs were decriminalized or even legalized. Whole courts would be vacant and the clerks that run them would be out of work. Then jails and prisons would have to be shut down. The DEA agents would have to be transferred to some other agency (ATF?) to keep them from being laid off.
It’ll never happen here.
You left out he part where its more than pot. Leaving parts out is comon in the pot argument.
“The most recent assessment by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, based on random roadside checks, found that 16.3% of all drivers nationwide at night were on various legal and illegal impairing drugs, half them high on marijuana. “
“In California alone, nearly 1,000 deaths and injuries each year are blamed directly on drugged drivers, according to CHP data”
More than just pot notice “drugged drivers” not pot smokers.
“Even the most cautious approach of zero tolerance is fraught with complex medical issues about whether residual low levels of marijuana can impair a driver days after the drug is smoked. Marijuana advocates say some state and federal officials are trying to make it impossible for individuals to use marijuana and drive legally for days or weeks afterward.
“A blood test showed he had high levels of active marijuana ingredients in his blood, but the jury heard conflicting expert testimony from toxicologists about the possible effects. “
A standard test will be positive for 3 to 5 weeks from one joint. Its not that I condone its use but rather don’t want my freedom taken in the name of anything. I can point out how many studies have shown pot smokers to be safer drivers, I can point out how a few words turn “drug users” into “pot smokers” for statistics, I can point out how many more die from alcohol than drug (total drug) impaired drivers, but like the AGW crowd most conservatives will just follow the leader on this one.
Many illegal users commit ridiculous crimes in order to support their habit. They will steal until they run out of "other people's money", much like the socialists.
I know of a man who stole an item worth more than $5000 and sold it for $50. He's doing years of hard time for grand theft for an amount he could have earned in about seven hours. He's a physical and mental wreck. Society would have been better off if he had fatally overdosed himself years ago.
It's sad, but sad things happen. When government gets involved, sad things become lifelong tragedies.
Having said that, we as Conservatives need to be open to ideas. There is no perfect solution and we have to weight the pros and cons. Legalizing drugs will create as many problems as is solved.
Having said that, we as Conservatives need to be open to ideas. There is no perfect solution and we have to weight the pros and cons. Legalizing drugs will create as many problems as is solved.
Having said the above, on reflection as a conservative, I would like to take this out of federal govt control, the problems don’t go away but as least we can deal with it on a state and local level.
It's doubtful quantifying "problems" can or will ever be done since there's rarely agreement on an operational definition for "problems". Some people see 'em and some don't.
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