JAD_333

All good points. But everything you say might happen, is happening. No I wouldn't want an employee to show up for work high, but I don't allow him to show up drunk either, but alcohol is legal. You're assuming that people will get high all the time if drugs are legal. That's the same as saying they'll get drunk all the time because alcohol is legal.

I am saying that we ought to replace an illegal source of drugs with a legal one. I say if we decriminalize drug use (keeping non-gov't distribution illegal) we can deal with drug use better. Criminalization forces people to hide from government; you can't deal with addiction unless you know who the addicts are; you can't prevent bad drugs from killing people, unless you have quality control; you can't set social standards for when its ok and not ok to use drugs (such as we do with alcohol).

Will decliminalization end all drug-related problems? No. MADD and tough state laws still can't get all drunk drivers off the road, but the number has declined greatly over the years. Smoking campaigns have reduced tobacco use dramatically in the last decade, but tobacco is legal. Every attempt to
solve a social problem by criminalizing it leads to more crime. Prohibition in 1920's is a classic example of why criminalization doesn't work: people drank anyway and mobs grew rich selling illegal booze.

No matter who controls the drug market, the drugs will be around you. So, pick your poison. Gov't or the mexican drug cartels.

__________________
To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education. (Plato)

dark-alias

JAD,
you bring up some fairly goop points which i have not considered to much about. Maybe i am to closed minded to realize it could work but i just refuse to believe that it will. Maybe i lack the faith in the people to use things responsibly. But for sake of argument it could go either way, it could end up a positive in our social and economic system or it couldnt

jame$thegreat

I was the one that brought up prescription medication and said it is very harmful. I was saying that these "pharm parties" are not as popular as they are portrayed to be and for that reason not as statistically deadly.

About as stupid, if not ever so slightly more stupid.


You've got one.


Nope.


Nope.


On par.


Nope.


I am familiar withthat site and would recommend it to anyone who is dead-set on using drugs because it will at least keep them from taking potentially dangerous medications they know nothing about for a cheap high. Unfortunately very few teenagers read this information and think they know all they need to about drugs and can accurately identify pills by which ones are "the yellow ones" or the "the ones with the V." Sadly in many, many cases this is simply not so.

__________________
Sometimes things dont end up how they should, a son, a brother, a mentor, a teacher, a cousin, a nephew, a grandson and a god in my eyes.

Who knows what he more could have been...

Christopher Muzykant

April 9, 1976-November 4,2005

My Brother, Always and forever

dark-alias

Okay now Jame$, what do you think about legalization?

BTW I like your analysis of my respone, gripping haha!

jame$thegreat

I am a pretty outspoken pro-legalization advocate on this board, but I also support the legalization of most drugs, if not all. Unfortunately I do not think that the legalization of every drug is very practical in our society.

If you search maryjane or marijuana you may find some of the debates Tophatter, Dalem and I have had on the subject, but somehow neither side is ever swayed even the slightest bit.

dark-alias

No you are right it is not a very good idea. To be practical though, you could legalize some drugs as a sort of test, see how it goes with the mass public so you can have actual ifo to go off of to make your decsion on whether to do it at all, just for some, or no way in hell. The thing about alcohol is that i think people are about as willing to give this up as they are there guns. Its just not going to happen!

S-2

Most jobs won't tolerate you showing up at 0800 drunk or drinking during the day. The culture doesn't support it even where the law says it's legal to drink.

__________________
"This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski

JAD_333

James:

What's your plan?

jame$thegreat

For legalization of marijuana? Legalization and taxation. The government can tax it much like ciggarettes (which are $7.00 a pack here in NY I might add) and grow it for cheaper. People could grow their own crop or purchase it at their local corner store (for those over 18 of course). Cut out the drug dealer, stigma and legal reprecussions and there you have a less dangerous alternative to alcohol and ciggarettes as well as billions in taxes.

jame$thegreat

In theory I believe any man of age should have the right to use whatever mind altering substance he chooses if he can do so in a responsible manner. Unfortunately those who could handle such powerful drugs such as cocaine and heroin in a responsible and safe fashion are so far and few in between that such a plan in an open society would be outlandish at best.

Personally I am someone who enjoys trying new things, and has quite a lot of willpower. Stigma is something I have no problem with, but the legality of using drugs is what I have always and will always battle as far as personal use.

JAD_333

I agree, but I wouldn't stop with marijuana. It might be a good first step toward complete legalization of drugs (with the exception of particularly dangerous ones). The legalization side is easy. Government control of drug manufacture and distribution will be the hard part. Probably the best approach is for the USG to control manufacture and allow the states to handle distribution through state-run stores. It works pretty well for alcohol.

I would add one wrinkle and that is buyer tracking. To buy drugs you'd need to get a special photo ID card that you swipe with every purchase. I leave to your imagination the benefits of tracking.

Also, unlike alcohol, purchasers could buy only set quantities in any given period. The ID card tracks usage as well.

In addition all packages of drugs sold would have unique identifiers right in the drug so that police could find out the source of drugs found in the possession of minors.

Finally, there would be strict laws against reselling, gifting and so forth.

dark-alias

Sounds like a plan, but we all know the best laid plans sometimes do not work out. I know that it would be simple to abuse the "tracking" system, but of course its up to local enforcement to oversee that. I consider myself a very social person and am truly shocked at the responses here about legalization.

Am I caught inside of a twilight zone because i rarely hear about legalization in and amongst my area

jame$thegreat

I have my doubts as to how well this plan would work. Stigma would still exist with such identification cards. I don't like the idea of "tracking" people, beep, beep; next stop police state. Drug dealers would exist due to rising substance tolerances and quantity policing.

JAD_333

The move to legalization will be bumpy. Opponents will decry every glitch and twitch. It's like Iraq. We have to find the right formula for success and keep our eyes on the prize.

Tracking will not be perfect. Nothing is. But it has parallels to the Census; the idea behind it is to have info to target anti-drug programs, education, warnings to certain groups, and, of course to prevent overbuying.

dark-alias

I would applaude the effort, but IMO i cannot just see it coming to a serious consideration in the near future (10-20)