End the War on Drugs [Ron Paul]

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., 14th District ^ | 2009-03-30

[cripplecreek]

We all know that George Soros is just looking out for your freedoms. LOL

http://www.nationalfamilies.org/guide/gsoros.html

[mommya]

I guess the same people who let their kids ride with someone who’s had a cocktail or beer.

[GLDNGUN]

Addiction to cocaine and opiates was substantially higher in 2000 than it was in 1900 when they were still legal, if the usdoj is to be believed

And just to make sure I understand you what you are saying...we have a serious drug problem in this country...and if make drugs legal and cheaper...we'll have fewer addicts. Is that truly your argument?

[OCCASparky]

Sorry, but how would the DOJ know when no standard definition of drug addiction even EXISTED then; ergo, no way to define, identify, and treat drug addicts?

[SoCalPol]

and both are idiots

[bamahead]

You’re the one who prefers no freedom over a step toward freedom.

Hey bud...I never said anything about not takin' baby-steps...I would be fine with Decriminalization as a HUGE step.

A decade ago the mantra was there there was no violence associated with marijuana. Guess the agenda has changed and the talking points reflect that.

The violence is associated with money, not marijuana.

And how do you remove the money from the equation? Because you're never going to be able to remove the marijuana...something called demand.

[Trailerpark Badass]

There WERE drugs in America—opiates for one were very prevalent, not to mention destructive.

Yes, but then the public was much more ignorant as to the effects of chemicals on the body and addiction. People were taking those "medicines" generally in good faith to cure some malady, real or imagined. I doubt but a few of them began taking them with the intent to get high. I also doubt very many of them even actually knew what it was they were putting in their body, and most of them would probably have been ecstatic to have a safer alternative like ibuprofen. Aspirin was just coming on the scene, but again, the study of these substances and their effects was in its infancy.

I doubt you can find too many people nowadays who don't know that smoking crack or shooting heroin are bad for you.

[Sunsong]

I think it’s time to decriminalize pot. It would not be a panacea - but I’d like to see what kind of impact it has on Mexico.

[divine_moment_of_facts]

Yes.. End the war on drugs.. Let them kill themselves.. no rehabs.. no welfare.. no nothing if you choose to do drugs.. done and done!

[cripplecreek]

and both are idiots

Yup and I know what I'm talking about because I used to be a regular drug user and alcoholic. It's amazing how clearly we see when we grow up and clean up.

[ChrisInAR]

When drugs are made legal again I’m sure they would look @ other criminal activities to go after since drugs wouldn’t be profitable to them anymore.

I myself don’t care what direction the states go re: drug policy. I would like to see 50 state policies that range from continued prohibition in conservative states to outright legalization in liberal states. The people should be free to decide this issue, by using their right to vote as well as their right to move to the states that suits their fancy on this issue. Just get the feds out of it (w/ the exception of protecting our borders)!

[Trailerpark Badass]

I wonder who will volunteer their son or daughter as a passenger in a car driven by a pot head drunk.

What an odd comment.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Do you think that the drug lords would just disband, quietly go get respectable jobs, and become law-abiding citizens, were drugs legalized? I suspect drugs are merely the target of opportunity, and there would just be a shift to a new lucrative, illegal, and violent line of business. I find the fight-crime-by-legalizing-whatever-criminals-do rationale a bit weak.

Well, they might have to go back to crimes in which their "victims" weren't quite so willing.

[SoCalPol]

When you see the news and the items about people high on drugs or booze and kill innocent people which happen here all the time.

[mommya]

I guess I am an idiot then. My family, my husband, myself my boys and their grandparents all went out for dinner the other night. My Mother in law had a glass of wine and my hubby and his dad had a beer - we all made it home OK/ sarc.

Jeez - do people on this board live in reality? Sometimes I wonder.

[ChrisInAR]

The violence is associated with money, not marijuana.

You're absolutely right: the LAW increases the profit motive for the dealers, not marijuana itself. Violence is one of the LAST things me & my friends are interested in when we smoke....unless we are fighting for the last slice pf pizza, LOL

[philman_36]

I’d love to ask Ron where the meth should come from to be sold in the “coffee-house dispensaries”.
I love the ignorance!
"Meth" is legal. Meth is prescribed. Meth is given to (sharp intake of the breath) children for ADHD!
"Meth" is called Desoxyn (Methamphetamine Hydrochloride) and is prescribed all of the time! It's not hard to fake the symptoms of ADHD, since the tests are subjective psychological tests and not physiological tests, and receive your very own prescription.

While it isn't in "coffee-house dispensaries" it is available from "in and out" therapists/psychiatrists/psychologists.

[SoCalPol]

You know exactly what that means.
Would you want your son or daughter in a
car driven by a pot head

[Ken H]

Do you think that the drug lords would just disband, quietly go get respectable jobs, and become law-abiding citizens, were drugs legalized? I suspect drugs are merely the target of opportunity, and there would just be a shift to a new lucrative, illegal, and violent line of business. I find the fight-crime-by-legalizing-whatever-criminals-do rationale a bit weak.

The cartels have already branched out into other illegal activities.¹ They are conglomerates of crime, and marijuana provides nearly 2/3 of their revenue according to the ONDCP.² Legalization would be a severe blow to the cartels.

______________________________________

¹ The men and women who form part of this network likely number in the thousands. They operate a range of illicit businesses from the regular extortion of street vendors to charging other groups for passage through their territory, to gun and drug smuggling, human smuggling, kidnapping for ransom, money laundering and the operation of a vast network of illegal businesses.

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?id=97554&lng=en

²John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said marijuana, not heroin or cocaine, is the "bread and butter," "the center of gravity" for Mexican drug cartels that every year smuggle tons of it through the porous U.S.-Mexico border. Of the $13.8 billion that Americans contributed to Mexican drug traffickers in 2004-05, about 62 percent, or $8.6 billion, comes from marijuana consumption.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/022208dnintdrugs.3a98bb0.html

[Trailerpark Badass]

Sorry, but how would the DOJ know when no standard definition of drug addiction even EXISTED then; ergo, no way to define, identify, and treat drug addicts?

Prior to the Harrison Act, doctors were beginning to understand the dangers of opiate withdrawal and its ramifications for breaking the addiction cycle. They had begun having some success weaning addicts off through maintenance and reduction. That treatment was made illegal, and addicts had to either quit cold turkey or turn to criminal suppliers.