Bowyn Aerrow Wrote:I see, so you are willing to throw people away.
Here in America we talk a great talk about a Government FOR the people, of the people by the people....
But we really fall short of meeting the needs of the people. Big time fall short.
Besides which, if the government is going to be taxing these problems, there is no reason why taxes from that can't be used for rehab and medical support.
Of course the politicians on the hill will use that money for all sorts of things and make a huge fuss at a seeming lack of money to take care of the people.
It is up to We the People to make those politicians do the right thing and help our needy, in whatever need they have.
If life in current society is so horrible that people cant deal with it sober and need drugs to get through everyday life I think that the problem is something else and the solution isnt making drugs legal. Just my opinion.
Yes, legalize it, and other street drugs as well. I could post a list of reasons but, it boils down to the simple fact that legal or not, people are going to use drugs. The tax dollars of every working man or woman in this country are going to provide medical care for addicts and, fight a long since lost war to eradicate drugs.
Legal, taxed, at least the drugs will provide some of the dollars needed to provide the medical care addicts and other users need and maybe, just maybe some of the war money can actually go to taking care of our own here instead.
Hardly right that the honest man can't even get decent medical care while the addict gets that, all manner of public aid and more, yet the guy that worked, paid taxes, and was unfortunate enough to get injured, have cancer, AIDS, diabetes, whatever so can't work now, gets nothing. At least get some of the drug money that is out there going where it's really needed, not trying to stop what can't be stopped.
My choice is to decriminalize and treat drug addiction as a health problem rather than crime (and with the many billions of dollars saved from the failed war on some drugs per year it should even be easy to fund via government). But if I had to choose between full legalization and current prohibition I'd choose the former over the latter as it's best when not on the black market (even fully legalized with full rights to advertise put some pressure to keep the product fairly safe, at least more than when it's controlled by criminals). But if I had my druthers, it would be decriminalized, and at the same time no aggressive advertising or glamorizing its use to sell it (I want the same restriction on alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs as well).
When criminals control the markets and peddle it to our kids then it spreads (kids can get pot easier than they can get alcohol), and imprisoning people who offend us for getting a buzz makes it harder to put in REAL threats (sometimes even murderers & serial rapists have been let out of overfilled prisons so someone could serve their mandatory minimum sentence) as well as turning people into burdens on society when they otherwise would not have been (complete with criminal training & connections, connections that include people on the outside of prison, while also finding it near impossible to find real work once getting out, and they've been hardened as well, oops society has now become more dangerous thanks to hardline prohibition).
And that's not even getting into the medical side of it, the dying cancer patients hauled out of sick and death beds at gunpoint to die choking on their own puke in jail because they're denied what their doctor prescribed. How does that make society safer?
And here a judge against pot explains the other reasons why it needs to be decriminalized:
And what happened in Portugal after they decriminalized (despite predictions that they'd become the next Amsterdam, it pretty much worked out like that conservative judge claimed decriminalization would do):
Buffylo Wrote:No. I willing to give them one chance (hence the rehab). But if we just tell them they can do whatever they want and big government will support them no matter how much they eff up, they will abuse it.
I would much rather spend the money helping those who are truely helpless than those sticken by their own hand.
If we sell it then tell them we will take care of all their problems, we are enabling them.
Look at it this way... if the government said we could kill ourselves and they would pay funeral costs, is thatt not a form of enablement?
Need is something not self inflicted. We dont pay unemployment to people who quit their jobs. So we dont need to pay medical expenses for people who abuse drugs. There is. A fine line between use and abuse. People know what the drugs do. If they choose to use them and it ends up messing them up, they made the bed, they lie in it. Unless some charitable person or organization comes along and helps.
Contrary to popular believe, government is not designed to be a charitable organization.
Ok, its clear you have some perceptions about what addiction is, how it works and the underlying causes.
As a recovered alcoholic/drug addict I can tell you that one about of rehab just doesn't cut it in oh 95% of cases. I am what is called a retread, meaning I had lots of clean time broken up with bouts of massive use/drinking. Few people go in and get clean on their first try, the majority have to keep going back again and again.
Drug abuse for most (not all) addicts is secondary to other issues, other mental/emotional health issues. They use to feel good, they use to get over introversion, they use to deal with grief, sorrow, hypo-mania, abuse, PTSD
Addiction is an illness, a mental health issue, and should be handled as such. It is not always self inflicted, it is a consequence of other things
I believe I am my brothers keeper, meaning it is up to humans to take care of other humans, at home, in their neighborhood, across their nation and around the whole globe.
This lack of being a keeper of our brothers is what has caused the extinction of so many people, and will, in your life time, lead to the extinction of a way of life that you now enjoy.
People are brain dead enough as it is, without any help from drugs!!
This gets legalized and the traffic accident rate will increase, traffic problems will increase, being lazy and stupid at work will quadruple, businesses will slow down, the economy will suffer.......
You go online and look at all the news stories about people finding glass, fingers, and bugs in their foods and drinks. Expect that to triple. Expect food poisoning to at least double. Potheads are not clean, they dont even think about washing thier hands, much less any other part of themselves.
The quality of products made is pretty miserable as it is....you get potheads legalized, the quality of anything and everything produced in this country will fall to a new low.
Its proven that potheads have much SLOWER reactions in dangerous situations and when driving a vehicle.
Potheads NEVER pay attention to detail, much less what they are doing at the time.
Potheads pretty much couldnt care less about anything at all....such as a small child running out in the street. They would either half assed yell "hey little kid, watch out" as the kid is mowed down by a vehicle, or sit there and giggle about it.
Legalizing a stupifying drug like this will cause more damage than anything else.
I know, my sister was a pothead for most of her life, and all of her friends were also. Ive seen all of this firsthand.
Buffylo Wrote:While I wont and dont use it myself, I think it (and all other drugs) should be legal; under the following circumstances....
No taxpayer medical aid for people suffering from Drug abuse, or a limit to the extent (I.e. one trip to rehab). This would prevent leaches in the system.
I disagree. tax it. Tax pays for health care... Or logically should.
Quote:Treat it the same way as alcohol (I.e. drunk in public charges, dwi charges) and if any crime is commited while under the influence, have an additional charge that will be a mandatory additional term in prison (I would like for prisons to be restructured too, but thats another thread)
I'd say treat as individual case. And Police need to be trained how to deal with people.
Quote:Treat it just like tobacco and alcohol. Must have licenses to manufacture and distribute (prices set federally) which would improve production quality (prevent really nasty stuff from reaching the market... in theory. In actually it would just reduce it) and increase legitimacy of distribution. Have it taxed like any other interstate commodity. Then at the state level allow additional taxation, which will allow states to basically set their "friendliness" level towards each drug, but while being too unfriendly towards a particular drug, the state could and probably would lose revenue.
As long as I'm allowed to grow my own n.n
Quote:Use this revenue to offset the looming healthcare costs (which wont be leached by the abusers) and fund research into our more deadly killers; cancer, heart disease, etc.
Thats my plan, up for reevaluation under consideration of better approaches.
sillyboy86 Wrote:3- Seems that the cannabis plant has others useful eco-properties, but them may damage other industries business...
Use Hemp (male plant) instead of cotton. It's stronger and better on the environment.
Cotton fields pollute the surrounding area. The earth I scorched for the fields to be panted. Cotton use something like 7x more water than hemp. So buy hemp instead of cotton guys n.n
People are brain dead enough as it is, without any help from drugs!!
This gets legalized and the traffic accident rate will increase, traffic problems will increase, being lazy and stupid at work will quadruple, businesses will slow down, the economy will suffer.......
Can't find anything to suggest this on the internet. Actually studies suggest that people are more aware of there surroundings while a little bit stoned.
Quote:You go online and look at all the news stories about people finding glass, fingers, and bugs in their foods and drinks. Expect that to triple. Expect food poisoning to at least double. Potheads are not clean, they dont even think about washing thier hands, much less any other part of themselves.
I'm unclean O.o But I just had a shower. And also it's just in my common sense to was my hands. Even when stoned I was leave a bathroom without washing my hands.
Quote:The quality of products made is pretty miserable as it is....you get potheads legalized, the quality of anything and everything produced in this country will fall to a new low.
How much do you know about weed?
Quote:Its proven that potheads have much SLOWER reactions in dangerous situations and when driving a vehicle.
Potheads NEVER pay attention to detail, much less what they are doing at the time.
Potheads pretty much couldnt care less about anything at all....such as a small child running out in the street. They would either half assed yell "hey little kid, watch out" as the kid is mowed down by a vehicle, or sit there and giggle about it.
Have you ever been stoned? My reaction rate is improved with a low dosage of bud. I'v proved this too myself by doing marital arts while stoned a bit.
Quote:I know, my sister was a pothead for most of her life, and all of her friends were also. Ive seen all of this firsthand.
Well I know a lot of pot smokers. Some who are chronic users and they are some of the smartest people I've ever met.