Posted on 09/04/2003 11:25:57 AM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:03:04 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The Institute of Medicine is not "my side."
I think this is true for a relative few idiots, but for most people I think there's a cost-benefit calculation that keeps them from doing hard drugs. The facts back this up -- there are millions more people who smoke pot than who do heroin.
Who know? Who cares? Who's calling for that? Don't change the subject.
"If so, that in no way changes the fact that sellers' total incentives would have changed in the direction of discouraging sales to kids."
What are you talking about? If marijuana were legal and sold like booze, the seller has as much reluctance selling marijuana to kids as selling alcohol to kids. And 50% of the kids are drinking.
But I'm talking about the drug dealer who, in addition to selling every illegal drug, will continue to sell marijuana to kids at the same price he did before legalization. And why not?
Actually, you've made his job easier since you can't bust him for possession with intent to sell. Gotta catch him in the act now.
Who know? Who cares?
It's central to your claim that youth use alcohol and cigarettes weighs against my argument that relegalization for adults disincentivizes sales to kids.
If marijuana were legal and sold like booze, the seller has as much reluctance selling marijuana to kids as selling alcohol to kids. And 50% of the kids are drinking.
Alcohol is used not quite twice as often as pot among 6th-to-12th graders; among adults the ratio is about 10 to 1. The legal drug is proportionately less used by kids than the illegal drug.
But I'm talking about the drug dealer who, in addition to selling every illegal drug, will continue to sell marijuana to kids at the same price he did before legalization.
Just like he now sells them liquor?
Despite your "personal experiences", they are NOT less addictive.
My inderstanding is that crack exploded among people already doing/prone to doing hard drugs because it's cheap and potent. My guess about X is that people have no idea how dangerous it is. My proposed solution: shift the federal government's anti-drug effort away from an incarceration-based apporach to an education and treatment-based one (but treatment with 12-step programs, not methadone). And per the 10th amendment, let states decide whether drugs should be legal, illegal, or non-criminal offenses (and let the feds enforce only interstate drug issues).
If you disagree with my proposed solution, please explain to me why drug use went up in almost all age groups in the past decade, when we've jailed a record number of people for drug offenses? And also explain why we should pour more time and money into a government program that has produced results opposite of what they intended?
Irrelevant.
Also not true, especially with marijuana use which drops off after age 30-35.
I would love to see yet another companion survey regarding the home/parent situations of this kids who are thinking about suicide, carrying guns etc.
I still believe the root of the problem is the home, not so much the supply.
Irrelevant.
Wrong. The complete argument, which you butchered: "Alcohol is used not quite twice as often as pot among 6th-to-12th graders; among adults the ratio is about 10 to 1. The legal drug is proportionately less used by kids than the illegal drug."
Also not true, especially with marijuana use which drops off after age 30-35.
If so, the ratio climbs even higher for 35+, lending that much more support to my point that the legal drug is proportionately less used by kids than the illegal drug.
Who said quit? I just said they stopped doing marijuana.
As far as we know, the could have gateway'd to cocaine or heroin.
Having spoken with addicts & alcoholics in recovery, they claim tobacco is the most difficult addiction to shake, which is why most don't quit. (step outside any AA/NA/CA meeting and you'll see mounds cig butts and coffee cups) One who really stands out in my memory was a clean and sober former heroin addict who'd also kicked smoking.. he said that without a doubt, even with the horrible detox from herion, cigs were the toughest to overcome.
Just my experience, I have no data to back this up.
And please, never be fooled that alcoholism is ANY less a destructor of life and family then drug addiction, be the drug of choice legal or illegal.
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.