[Joe Bonforte]

The light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps? The last paragraph says it may be so. When even pro-Drug-War congressmen start to see the insanity fo the War on Drugs, something must be about to change.

[widowithfoursons]

Boy, Dan Burton making sense? Boggles the mind.

[Billy_bob_bob]

No, no no. We must pursue the war on drugs with a new fervor! We must put cameras in every room of every home to make sure that nobody is using drugs! We must put informants in every school and workplace to make sure that nobody even thinks about drugs! We must put more police on every street corner to search every person who passes by to make sure they don't have drugs! We must have compulsory body cavity searches on every American citizen twice a day to make sure they don't have any drugs! We need to get rid of the fourth amendment to make us all save from drugs! We need to get rid of all of our rights if we are to fight the war on drugs! We must turn America into one giant prison to get rid of the scourge of drugs! All citizens will be given a place of residence (cell) and a new identity code (number) to expedite their daily drug screening.

Once we have accomplished all of this, then we will have arrived at our holy, drug-free paradise, comrades!

[Texaggie79]

First, let me say that I do not support a FEDERAL WOD. I believe it is a state issue. Specifically, I believe pot should be legalized, but I still believe hard drugs such as cocaine, heroine, pcp, meth, ect should remain illegal.

To examine the proposition by Libertarians, and now Mr. Burton we must look at the entire picture, and the end result.

You are correct to assume that, in accordance with the nature of supply and demand, by reducing the supply, you increase the demand and by increasing the demand you raise the value of said product or service.

So, yes, by reducing the ability of hard drugs to find their way to the US, you increase the market value of those drugs. By doing that, you raise the motivation of dealers and producers to produce and send more drugs to the US. In contrast, by legalizing, you will indeed cut the legs out from under the cartels and dealers.

However we must also weight the effects of said action to the consumers of these narcotics. While the mean ol' cartels would likely go out of business, the consumers of the legalized substances would have more motivation to use. The product would be more readily available, for a cheaper price, and with a virtually nill likelyhood of getting a bad product.

So, while you may have remedied the supply side, killing off the cartels and giving the job of production over to corporations, you INCREASE the motivation of users and non users to use MORE.

I don't see that as a good thing.

[narby]

No. No. We can't legalize drugs.

People might get the idea that they have a right to control their own body. They might think that they have a right to buy medical drugs without a perscription.

Then where will the Doctors and insurance companies be? Broke, that's where.

What will happen to all those lawyers. The prosecutors and defenders?

Oh, no. We can't let that happen. We must continue to destroy people's lives so we can have high paying jobs.

[Wolfie]

Maybe his kid got busted again.

[tracer]

The explanation for this is simple: Danny no longer can afford the street prices in Indianapolis......... 8~)

[MrLeRoy]

Wod_list ping

[ThinkDifferent]

ping

[Grut]

I'm in favor of legalization, but I see one big problem nobody else seems to have considered; what if the drug cartels won't allow it?

After all, they kill people routinely already, so it shouldn't be much of a surprize if Pfizer's Vice President for Recreational Drugs goes up in a ball of flame in the company parking lot: or Ma and Pa Smith get wasted in their convenience store the day after they start carrying marijuana.

I don't have a solution, but we ought to recognize that the cartels have an interest in maintaining an artificial shortage, and the means to do so.

[Cyber Liberty]

"A kid can’t be driving a brand-new Corvette when he lives in the inner city of Indianapolis in a ghetto. You know that he has gotta be making that money in someway that is probably not legal and probably involves drugs."

Hoo boy. Wait'll the race hustlers get through with Neville Lott. They'll have a field day with this one.

"So, a kid driving a vette through the ghetto must be a crook if he has money, huh?"

[bvw]

Hooray! Just to get past the "what if" to the "make it so!"

Stamped and taxed, sold hrough registered outlets to adults above a set age, like tabakky and alky.

[swarthyguy]

Financing the WaronTerror with the proceeds from potsales! Irony, smoke a joint, buy a clip or a chip for the USA.

Take out the Twin Pillars of Profit and Procurement and you have increased resources available for more important and pressing tasks.

[jmc813]

WOD Ping

[jmc813]

So Burton is a George Soros loving liberdopian, right?

[hove]

It's absolutely amazing how long it takes commen sense and logic to creep into the minds of some men. It's simple economics. If you want to destroy the drug trade....you legalize drugs and give them away. It will completely destroy the entire underground drug economy. And it would save billions of taxpayer dollars wasted on the war on drugs. That is the solution. Yes there would be a percentage of the population stupid enough to stay addicted....but they seem to be doing that anyway. The drug war has been a boondogle and complete failure. It's time more of our leaders get a clue...as Burton is starting to...and deal with the real drug problem once and for all!

[Cultural Jihad]

Keep the faith, comrade. The worker's revolution to cast asunder the chains of wage-slavery is just around the corner, too, O fellow true believer!

[jmc813]

I think it's quite telling that the only anti-legalization/decrim posters who showed up on this thread were the intelligent ones who give thoughtful response when challenged (TexAggie, Chemist Geek, etc.), as opposed to the usual gang (Dane, Kevin Curry, Roscoe), the only exception being Cultural Jihad who couldn't resist throwing in a quick jab, but then retreated when posed with a direct question.

[IMHO]

The light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps? The last paragraph says it may be so. When even pro-Drug-War congressmen start to see the insanity fo the War on Drugs, something must be about to change.

Nah, he just wants to outlaw drug profits...

[Oberon]

Paging the Kevster... Paging the Kevster... they're advocating legalization again, Mr. C. Come in and defend your territory.

[heyhey]

thank you Dan Burton for trying to get the TRUTH OUT