Posted on 04/26/2004 2:22:46 PM PDT by neverdem
Your defense of alcohol and criticism of pot smokers (I'm limiting this to pot, since that's what this article is about) is so selective and biased as to be pure propaganda.
You would have us ignore those who endanger society by drinking to excess and have us only think of those who drink responsibly and in moderation. At the same time, you would have us believe there is no such thing as a responsible pot smoker who might use in moderation and infrequently.
Many people drink to get drunk and those people are far more dangerous to themselves and the rest of society than pot smokers are, by far. If you won't acknowledge that, your input in this debate is completely worthy of dismissal.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Tell that to all the alcoholics and their families. Did you know that In 2002, 17,419 people were killed in crashes involving alcohol, representing 41 percent of the 42,815 people killed in all traffic crashes, according to NHTSA data.
Did ya? Tell their families that alcohol can be used "responsibly".
The only purpose of drug alcohol use is to get high drunk and getting high drunk is a negligent act that endangers innocent people.
Sounds about right. I refer you to the above statistic.
Decriminalizing marijuana in other left-wing nations like the Netherlands has resulted in all drug use dramatically increasing as well as an increase in crime and the loss of innocent lives.
I got news for you. Most of the crime in U.S. is related to drug trafficing and dealing.
Only left-wingers and drug-using drunks libertarians want to legalize drugs alcohol.
Check the following and see if you want to stand by your claim--
"The number of addicts in the Netherlands has been stable - at 25,000 - for many years. Expressed as a percentage of the population, this number is approximately the same as in Germany, Sweden and Belgium. There are very few young heroin addicts in the Netherlands, largely thanks to the policy of separating the users markets for hard and soft drugs. The average age of heroin addicts is now 36."
Source: Netherlands Ministry of Justice, Fact Sheet: Dutch Drugs Policy, (Utrecht: Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, 1999), from the Netherlands Justice Ministry website at http://www.minjust.nl:8080/a_beleid/fact/cfact7.htm.
There were an estimated 980,000 hardcore heroin addicts in the United States in 1999, 50 percent more than the estimated 630,000 hardcore addicts in 1992.
www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs07/794/heroin.htm
This works out to about double the rate of heroin addiction in the US as in the Netherlands.
"The prevalence figures for cocaine use in the Netherlands do not differ greatly from those for other European countries. However, the discrepancy with the United States is very large. The percentage of the general population who have used cocaine at some point is 10.5% in the US, five times higher than in the Netherlands. The percentage who have used cocaine in the past month is 0.7% in the US, compared with 0.2% in the Netherlands.*"
Source: Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Drug Policy in the Netherlands: Progress Report September 1997-September 1999, (The Hague: Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, November 1999), p. 6. The report notes "*The figures quoted in this paragraph for drug use in the US are taken from the National Household Survey 1997, SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, Washington, DC".
Now check out he figures for Singapore--
"According to the Straits Times, Singapore is treating 7,700 addicts (up from 5,700 in 190). Assuming improbably, that these are the only ones, Singapore still has an addiction rate 12% higher than the U.S."
www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/50/098.html
Looks like Singapore has over twice the heroin addiction rate as the Netherlands.
Note-- those are for 1995, the latest year's figures I could find.
Also, the "up from 5,700 in 190" must mean 1990. No other year makes sense. It is also consistent with the rise in US figures over a similar period 1992-1999.
NOW we know the author's REAL agenda has nothing to do with marijana.
I agree. Pot is much more fun when it is illegal.
Oh, so I guess you think terrorists wouldn't engage in anything so immoral as illegal drug trade to obtain funding for their operations. Think again.
ROFL!
Oh, so I guess you think terrorists wouldn't engage in anything so immoral as illegal drug trade to obtain funding for their operations. Think again.
I don't have the numbers, but isn't the MJ consumed in the US primarily grown in North America?
No doubt the Islamists are getting some of their funding from the opium/heroin trade, but are you sure MJ is a significant source of money?
In the case of the Netherlands, doesn't most of the money from the MJ trade go to the small, regulated retailers and the government? Can't imagine there's much of a black market there for pot.
A black market provides an opportunity for terrorists and other unsavory types to make money.
I don't doubt pot is big business (I know it's easier to get and more widely used than opium/herion) so I wouldn't be surprised if terrorist organizations were in on the action.
Of course. Without question.
I hope I don't sound insensitive, but what are you trying to convey to your average pot smoker, that you too could end up dismembered by Colombian coke dealers? That's a little silly.
That can't be true as a general rule, since the number of people who have used pot is vastly greater than the number who have used all other illegal drugs combined.
Yes and I also saw this story posted this morning, on the effects of excessive pot smoking.
Hey, our goobermint leaders are too busy busting bong suppliers to mess with illegal aliens. After all, those glass pipes are far more dangerous than the criminal illegals that account for 90+ percent of LA's most wanted list.
The WOsD is utterly stupid.
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