Liberals Want Drugs Legalized

[Mr.B]

I couldn't find the thread in question, but there were arguments back and forth about legalizing all drugs in order to "cut down on the crime rate". I suppose it would "cut down on the crime rate" after all...the people pictured in the following video sure don't look like they would have the strength or get-up-and-go to pull off a crime.......

Drugs won't turn you into a super model.

[neoplacebo]

Hmmmm.....I wonder if this works both ways; do unattractive folks become more physically attractive after a few years of meth use? Of course, we should discount the fact that meth would not even exist if folks could go down to CVS and buy as much amphetamines as they think they can handle. After all, there's just nothing like that edge of the seat, grit your teeth sort of feeling.

[Mr.B]

"After all, there's just nothing like that edge of the seat, grit your teeth sort of feeling."

You're thinking Ex-Lax aren't you?

[rstrong]

For those on the right who want drugs to be illegal, it's those liberals who want them legalized. For those on the right who want them legalized, it's those liberals who are keeping them illegal.

Oh, those gosh-darned liberals!

[Mr.B]

That made no sense.

[JTA]

If we legalize drugs we might as well just go ahead and legalize murder as well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zNG63rf9LQ

[O Really]

Liberals may want some drugs legalized, but so do Libertarians. But one doesn't have to be a drug user to see some value in legalizing the ones most responsible for increasing crime - just look at the history of alcohol prohibition in the US. Anybody want to claim that was successful or that it didn't create massive wealth for criminals?

[Colonel Taylor]

Drug problem is an easy fix and could be done within a year.
Every corner in America should have 55 gallon drums of cocaine, marijuana, meth, oxycontin, and a litany of others. You sign a disclosure stating you will take no guvmit money or free drug rehab and you can take as much as you want, get caught giving it away or selling you go to jail for 25 years. Problem solved!

[O Really]

Drug problem is an easy fix and could be done within a year.
Every corner in America should have 55 gallon drums of cocaine, marijuana, meth, oxycontin, and a litany of others. You sign a disclosure stating you will take no guvmit money or free drug rehab and you can take as much as you want, get caught giving it away or selling you go to jail for 25 years. Problem solved!

Silly as that is, it's better than the current "war."

[rstrong]

That made no sense.

There are people on the right who want drugs to be illegal. They complain that liberals who want them legalized. Most often the religious right, including the Reagan / Bush I / Bush II crowd.

And there are people on the right who want drugs to be legal. They complain that liberals are behind them being illegal. Behind the government "telling them they can do with their own bodies." Most often the libertarian right, including the Ron / Rand Paul crowd.

Ted Cruz and his associates court both groups, so they adapt their position depending on who they talk to. (Previously they wanted the federal government to take a stronger stand against both drugs and same-sex marriage. But once the federal government came out in favor of same-sex marriage, they declared it a states' rights issue and demanded that the federal government stay out of it. To avoid at least *some* hypocrisy, they've declaring pot legalization a states' rights issue too.)

[rstrong]

Drug problem is an easy fix and could be done within a year.
Every corner in America should have 55 gallon drums of cocaine, marijuana, meth, oxycontin, and a litany of others. You sign a disclosure stating you will take no guvmit money or free drug rehab and you can take as much as you want,

The "Needle Park" experiment in Zurich didn't turn out too well.

Illegal drug use and sales of all kinds were allowed. Police were not allowed to enter the park or make arrests. Clean needles were given out to addicts. Granted, part of the problem was that it attracted a lot of addicts from elsewhere.

Crime in the area skyrocketed, because addicts tend not to hold jobs but still need to eat. And so they stole to support themselves.

Emergency services were overwhelmed. Ignoring addicts wasn't an option: If called to a heart attack in a downtown apartment block, they wouldn't know on the spot whether it was drug related.

get caught giving it away or selling you go to jail for 25 years. Problem solved!

A great many addicts will quickly be penniless. Selling to others - other addicts, and students and Congressmen and anyone else who with good reason won't sign that disclosure - will be their only way to feed themselves. Non-addicts will provide the same service to make a quick buck.

And then all those 25-year jail terms would bankrupt the country.

Now if you replaced every 30th dose with a poison - being totally honest about it - and placed the same barrels within the prisons - costs would drop sharply before too long. Not something I recommend, of course. The ethics look worse, but the numbers look better.

[Mr.B]

"Crime in the area skyrocketed, because addicts tend not to hold jobs but still need to eat. And so they stole to support themselves."

"Emergency services were overwhelmed. Ignoring addicts wasn't an option: If called to a heart attack in a downtown apartment block, they wouldn't know on the spot whether it was drug related."

"A great many addicts will quickly be penniless. Selling to others - other addicts, and students and Congressmen and anyone else who with good reason won't sign that disclosure - will be their only way to feed themselves. Non-addicts will provide the same service to make a quick buck."

Thank you.

What you just posted shot holes all in Vrede's argument, which we pissed back and forth on, that drug legalization would cut down on the crime rate. Common sense tells you that the body's craving overwhelms clear thinking...regardless of how the source of the soothing stimulant is obtained.

[rstrong]

Thank you.

You're welcome. Vrede and I disagree on a few things.

I do support decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. That's where it's still illegal, but you get a fine rather than a criminal record. That way the courts and jails aren't clogged with petty pot possession cases, and students don't start life with a criminal record for it. For larger amounts - dealers and grow-ops - it would still be a criminal matter.

And of course I'm against legalization of harder drugs. Most crimes before the courts here, robberies, break-ins and assaults, tend to be drug habit related.

[Mr.B]

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Vrede and I disagree on a few things."
Your ass is grass....

I do support decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. That's where it's still illegal, but you get a fine rather than a criminal record. That way the courts and jails aren't clogged with petty pot possession cases, and students don't start life with a criminal record for it. For larger amounts - dealers and grow-ops - it would still be a criminal matter.
I as well support decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. Here in NC, there is a fine for less than a half-ounce, but fine and prison for over a half-ounce.

Recently, a man in our area was paying taxes to the state on the pot he was growing for medicinal use. Despite the state willingly accepting his money, he was busted, tried, and sentenced to prison for growing and selling his product...DESPITE the state's willingness to take his tax money on his "illegal" product.
(the amounts above and the complete accuracies in the above account may be questionable, I didn't go back and research the article in it's entirety.)

And of course I'm against legalization of harder drugs. Most crimes before the courts here, robberies, break-ins and assaults, tend to be drug habit related.
Agreed

[Vrede too]

... Vrede and I disagree on a few things....

You're a rotten follower.

[rstrong]

... Vrede and I disagree on a few things....

You're a rotten follower.

Have you considered installing a trailer hitch?

[Mr.B]

... Vrede and I disagree on a few things....

You're a rotten follower.

Have you considered installing a trailer hitch?

You have to have a hitch ball first.....

[Vrede too]

... Vrede and I disagree on a few things....

You're a rotten follower.

Have you considered installing a trailer hitch?

Got one, but I didn't realize that you're Canadian trailer trash.

[Mr.B]

"...... I didn't realize that you're Canadian trailer trash."

"Your ass is grass...."

I rest my case....

[O Really]

To identify the issues, it's necessary to get past the overly broad "legalize drugs." Obviously there are a lot of drugs that are legal, some of which get stolen and sold black market. The problem, as Vrede noted, is a public health problem arising out of addiction. And it's complicated by prohibition-style laws that have never been effective (right "if guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" people?)