Posted on 06/25/2011 1:50:46 AM PDT by danielmryan
It also gives me the chance to put forth, as an outsider, a proposition for a seperate peace to the War on Drugs. It's based upon this assumption: What's really biting is not drug illegalization itself, but the assault on civil liberties that have been caused by the War on Drugs.
One of the side effects has been the corruption of law enforcement. As Radley Balko explained on Fox News, the Drug War is associated with lying to get a warrant (eroding the Fourth Amendment) and even planting drugs on innocent suspects. Less luridly, but more decisively, several precedents have been established that have eroded U.S. civil liberties such as:
In my own 'umble opinion, it's the anonymous-tips provision that's most lethal to civil liberties. It means a snitch can use the cops as private muscle to get back at someone he or she dislikes. It's how the Stasi operated in East Germany.
Here's the proposal I would like to put up for discussion: instead of repealing the Controlled Substances Act, Ron Paul should make an effort to introduce a "Civil Liberties Restoration Act of 20xx" that would crack down on the civil-liberties abuses of the Drug War - like clamping down on those items listed above. Police overkill has been sanctioned by earlier judicial overkill.
Then, leave it up to law enforcement. They would have to go back to the way drug laws were enforced in the 1950s. Drug decriminalization should be considered only if the drug laws prove unenforcable. The reason why I'm suggesting this approach is because a lot of the Drug War opponents have little interest in drugs but a great interest in their civil liberties.
My Canadian two cents' worth.
Ron Paul is a NUT! This “law” would prove destructive to the very moral fabric of the nation and would result in the destruction of multitudes of lives and untold misery resulting in further lawlessness, wickedness and ungodliness.
Without Arab intoxicants taking us over, then how can we ever close the curtain on Western Civilization?
“a lot of the Drug War opponents have little interest in drugs but a great interest in their civil liberties.”
Amen to that. Legalize it
You obviously know little about the subject, but your knees do jerk quite well!
Not only that, there will be a massive uptick in marijuana junkies raping white women and listening to negro jazz music!
Well said. The assault on our liberties is far more corrosive to society than the drug.
Why are you suggesting more legislation to solve the moral problem?
Simply take away the Federal laws. With the growth of Federal laws and regulations, we will simply have more criminals.
If someone wants to abuse fried chicken or a controled substance. That's on them. At the current nanny state rate, Colonel Sanders will be the next OBL.
Please read the 18th amendment and then explain how Congress actually has the Constitutional authority to ban marijuana.
The same thing was said about alcohol before prohibition. I say legalize it, but it won’t happen. Too much money made in keeping things the way they are.
I am not a smoker but the way the government has gone after “grass” is remarkable considering its effects.
I think substance abuse is akin to the gun issue. Killers will find a weapon. Addictive personalities will latch onto one thing or another. Marijuana seems to one of the least destructive substances they could abuse. In moderation it appears to be helpful for many conditions.
Because I'm a cautious Canadian :)
Seriously: the kind of legislation I was suggesting is aimed at restricting governmental overkill. You can think of it as an armistice for the Drug War.
Canadian law illegalizes the same substances that U.S. law does, but there's little to no overkill in Canada. That's because there's been no erosion of civil liberties in Canada.
Actually, a Cato report complimented the Prohibitionists for their respect for the Constitution!
then they will want to legalize kiddie porn, open the border, abolish the idea of citizenship itself, abolish the age of consent
all of these ideas come from libertarians too
they are all nuts
“The same thing was said about alcohol before prohibition. I say legalize it, but it wont happen. Too much money made in keeping things the way they are.”
Bingo. Among the most vocal opponents of legalization are the dealers themselves, and the politicians who are purchased and maintained with that money. That said, I hate vague, bewildered potheads just barely a tic less than I hate mean drunks.
“With the growth of Federal laws and regulations, we will simply have more criminals.”
As intended.
Not only that, expect an ongoing shortage of Twinkies & Ice Cream.
A conservative does not support federal drug laws. A conservative understands the feds are granted no authority by the constitution to so legislate. This is a matter for each state to handle as it deems fit.
Legalization would certainly cut down on crime levels, and could put many of the Mexican drug gangs out of business in no time flat (I don't think the South American criminal cartels who control the cocaine trade and the Asian criminal cartels who control the opium trade want the Mexicans as competitors!). And it would would actually save lives, because by imposing FDA/BATF safety limits there would be less of a threat of people being poisoned by unknown additives in the cannabis (remember the paraquat scare from the early 1980's?).
But the biggest benefit would be the legalization of commercial hemp plant production in the USA, which would mean a large amount of hemp available for clothing, biofuel mass and even as fiber material to make structural materials that are just as strong as carbon fiber but at WAY lower production cost. For example, an automobile now weighing around 3,000 pounds could lose as much as 250 pounds if many of the body panels and other structural parts were made from hemp fiber-based materials, which means potential major gains in fuel economy.
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