There's no way I could I could go through Fiscal Cliff week without sharing the following. We're desperate for funds? How about picking up the $72 billion a year that's going to criminal drug cartels? The United States accounts for only five percent of the world's population, yet we hold a staggering 25% of the world's prisoners, and it's all because of the ridiculous War on Drugs. Home of the free indeed. The following is a new documentary released six days ago which lays out the case for ending the War on Drugs and decriminalizing all drugs in America. The cost savings alone is reason enough to do it, even if you hate freedom like most of the people who support our draconian drug laws. Doug Stanhope said it best when he pointed out that there are only two kinds of people who are against drugs: people who have never done drugs, and people who suck at doing drugs. I challenge any of you to make a case for continuing this ridiculous prohibition. Enjoy:
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Well I'm hoping that the Marijuana regulation movement picks up. Have you watched the Union Eddie?
The argument I always hear against legalization is "But then everyone will do drugs!" This just isn't true. Other countries (e.g. Portugal) has decriminalized drug use, and use has declined. You are not going see Joe the Accountant suddenly deciding to try crystal meth.
I actually think we should go one step further and completely lift the medical industry's monopoly on (legal) drugs. Require risk disclosures, but otherwise allow consenting, informed adults to put whatever they want inside their bodies.
I, for the record, do not do drugs of any kind, and have no plans to start if they are legalized.
MILTON FRIEDMAN IS ALLIIIVEEEE !!
Man, coudnt agree more, especially for soft drugs. Tax the shit out of it like cigarettes, lower the price of drugs while doing so, thus removing financial incentives for drug lords to take extreme risks to run these drug smuggling operations. Its fucking great !
Ps: Ive lived in the netherlands, and quite frankly not everybody is on pot. Most dutch I met associated coffee shops with lower-middle class dutch persons or american / european tourists.
I read a great WSJ article on the effect of legalizing all drugs in Portugal. Actually I don't think they're legal, but just decriminalized. If a person is caught with a certain amount of drugs they are entered into a mandatory drug counseling program. In my opinion, this sounds a lot more effective than throwing them in jail.
With that said, I think there's a limit to what should be decriminalized or even legalized. Crystal meth, for example, should stay illegal IMO.
Ecstasy, blow, marijuana, and all that should be legal. Cocaine and marijuana legalization alone would devastate the drug cartels.
If ecstasy, blow, marijuana, and I'll add opium, were legal there'd be like three people doing meth in the entire US. Nobody would do garbage drugs if the good stuff were legal.
Just legalizing marijuana and taxing it would generate billions. My buddy has a conspiracy theory that the cotton industry continues to lobby hard to keep marijuana illegal because they don't want to compete with hemp (supposedly hemps much more superior fabric as well)
I'd say the abuse of pharmaceutical grade drugs is a bigger issue than drugs like cocaine and marijuana. The problem is cocaine doesn't have lobbyists, big pharm does.
Why stop at drugs, I think everything should be legal! Why should you have to go fishing around the internet for a nice prostitute, they should just be able to set up shop at your local Starbucks. Maybe reserve a little corner next to the place where they keep the sugar packets and wooden stirrers. $2 for cheap coffee, $20 for cheap sex. Both will probably give you a disease, but who cares? Do you want that to stay or to go? Govt can take a cut, Sbux can take a cut. Gets rid of the illegal prostitution cartels that are depriving government and businesses of gobs of free revenue just waiting to be had.
I think family guy summed up prostitution the best when they did a short skit on a guy paying a hooker for sex, the cops bust in saying he is under arrest for soliciting sex from a prostitute, he says no, i am paying her to make a porno with me and points to his video equipment. The cops go, oh, ok, well as long as you are filming it, it isn't illegal.
Hey sexy, you want sugar with Venti Nonfat No Whip Pumpkin Spiced Latte? Me love you long time. I no use video camera. Fifteen dolla. We go to bathroom on left.
Have heard a number of things about this movie, will have to check it out tonight. I believe it's produced by Sam Branson (Richard's son).
It raises an interesting point for sure, and strikes close to home for me out here in CO as we just legalized marijuana. I am all for legal and regulated weed/drugs, as I'm much of the mindset that too much of anything isn't good for you, and thus drugs are no different than alcohol, tobacco, etc.
Either way, drugs are going to come into the U.S. and be consumed, why not ensure cleaner production, eliminate/severely impact the cartels and put a nice wad of cash into the coffers of the U.S. Government every year? Additionally, I have a few friends that have medical cards and the weed they have access to is far cheaper for much higher quality product than its illegal counterpart. Seems like a win-win for both sides.
Looks like propaganda to me.
You mean like this?
"Wars are easy to start, but difficult to end."
Well said.
Have not watched the video yet. But smarter people than me say that the consequences of legalizing all drugs is absolutely unpredictable. There is no way we can foresee how drug consumption will change once legalized. It is impossible to predict impact on healthcare costs and taxpayer money going to unforeseen consequences.
However clearly the way we are tackling drugs for the moment is absurd.
I would strongly recommend reading Drugs and Drug Policy:What Everyone Needs to Know by Mark A.R. Kleiman, Jonathan Caulkins, Angela Hawken. Very insightful book on this topic.
Drugs are legal. If you have an education, a good job and some money you aren't going to jail unless you are smuggling a kilo of coke. The only people who go to jail are poor people and inner city people. This isn't about controlling drugs, it is about slavery and keeping low class people in line.
I could care less about legalizing drugs since the only people who would benefit should be reading a book instead of killing the last 4 brain cells they have.
Really? "slavery and keeping low class people in line?" There are indeed actors who benefit from criminalization of drugs (prisons making profit off high incarceration rates, bureaucracies like DEA, etc) . However, the actors wanting to maintain status quo are motivated by financial gains and not by the dream of social imperialism
Take a look at drug convictions by race and the disenfranchisement of people with felony charges. I stand by my comments.
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