Posted on 07/29/2002 9:55:32 AM PDT by WindMinstrel
Do you think legalizing pot will cause the DEA to go away.? Will our jails be emptied? Our courts less crowded? They'll be after the illegal dealers cutting in on the feds action (read monsterous taxes that will make cigarette taxes look puny). I predict the DEA would grow.
It's called liberty. Every war ever fought was about some group trying to restrict liberty in one form or another. All those dead and injured sacrificed on the alter those wanting to control others seems like a pretty strong reason to advance liberty to the maximum.
Until you stop trying to decide what's best for me and others, we'll continue to have bitterness and confrontation. I know you think much of what the rest of us do is a big waste of time and we're ruining our lives, but that's what liberty demands. Or perhaps you prefer war to someone altering their mind for a couple of hours.
Nazi's enforced their laws. So did we when returned slaved to their masters. In order for society to benefit, the laws being enforced must promote liberty. Otherwise society will ultimately suffer.
And as long as you don't want to, you won't.
-- I'd like to see an argument why it is better for society to legalize yet another drug.I'd like to see an arguemnt as to why a pot smoker shouldn't use deadly force to stop yopu idiots from violating their natural rights.
Not exactly a Henry David Thoreau moment. More of a Heinrich Himmler thought you have there.
So is watching soap operas, tyrannt. Live you own life, there's much you can do to improve yourself. Try starting with gaining a respect for liberty.
Of course not, because you have absolutely no intention of looking for such.
But you say legalize pot and concentrate on the hard drugs. Now there's some drugs in between, aren't there? What about shrooms? PCP? LSD? Ecstacy? NO2? Amphetamines? Benzodiazepines?
I already made my position clear. There is pot, and then there are hard drugs. There is a basic legal and societial judgement system that evaluates the hazards of a certain action versus the benefits of enforcement against an action. A classic example is bungee jumping. Authorities used to just ban it. But that lead to more people being killed, as opposed to allowing it with certain structured guidelines. Another is DUI enforcement. Courts have granted exemptions against normal search and seizure provisions to combat the thousands of DUI deaths that happen each year.
But you have expressed no desire to explore this notion. You seem to think that pot smoking must be beneficial to society, i.e. YOU, to decide it should be legal. Legalizing pot doesn't have to cross that hurdle - it simply has to refute the notion that the enforcement efforts against pot stand in gross disregard to the limited public hazards that pot presents to society.
Do you think legalizing pot will cause the DEA to go away.?
No.
Will our jails be emptied?
No. Last I checked, there are still a few thousand other criminal statues that do not involve marijuana possesion. I'm really not sure why you even asked that question, unless you are trying to create an impossibly high standard for the benefits of marijuana legalization, which is a distinct possibility.
Our courts less crowded?
Yes. Fewer cases generally equates to less crowding, just as fewer cars generally equates to less traffic.
Why don't you instead stick to my basic argument - that the current approach to pot is stupid. Demanding the pot legalization empty jails is like demanding that Free Republic end liberalism. An absurd demand.
They'll be after the illegal dealers cutting in on the feds action (read monsterous taxes that will make cigarette taxes look puny). I predict the DEA would grow.
And now you are making really absurd arguments. I would suggest you exercise this on ALL concepts of taxation, not just any possible tax on weed (which I have not even discussed). I don't pay sales taxes on the tomatoes I grow.
Why don't you explain how outlawing it in the first place was beneficial to society?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are an early death, slavery to vice, and the pursuit of unneeded suffering..."
Woah! You had best double-check your Declaration of Independence, dude.
Because the slow-witted among us continue to insist a second wrong is needed to correct a first. We shouldn't be paying for those who wish to make idiots of themselves. Fight that. Stop using it to prop up your call for less liberty.
OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!
No seriously:)
The individual is not a slave to any society, nor is His identity, His mind.
What a...unique viewpoint. Would you also argue that re-criminalizing alcohol would result in *smaller* government?
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.