Posted on 07/05/2005 9:30:27 AM PDT by Sensei Ern
For many years, I have been a strong opponent of legalizing drugs. As you read this, remember that I am still against drug legalization, but I have more sympathy for the opposing argument.
The reason I have been opposed to drug legalization is to protect children. I grew up in a home that was one step up from a crack house..at least we had heat and food. I know first hand what can happen when a child lives in those conditions.
As a counter, I have always felt that use of tobacco and alcohol should be legal for those of a responsible age.
The reason I am considering a change is because of the pain I went through this last month. Four weeks ago, I had a root canal done on a tooth...it was Friday. Once the Novocain wore off, I was in serious pain because the doctor was inexperienced and left a partial root. I experienced pain worse than listening to Rosanne Barr sing the National Anthem. He forgot to write a prescription.
I called the emergency number only to be told I could see the doctor on Monday. TWO WHOLE DAYS IN EXTREME PAIN! I had some 800mg Ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet. That only took away enough pain to convince myself to not commit suicide to stop the pain.
On Monday, I was given a prescription of Tylenol 3 with Codeine and an antibiotic. That took away the pain. Until it ran out. Again, extreme pain. Another dentist did another root canal...and again did not get the whole root. I made sure he gave me a prescription for the pain, before I left the office.
Finally, when that ran out, and another dentist completed the root canal, the pain has subsided.
To be in the kind of debilitating pain I was in, cannot be described. Bill Cosby once talked about taking your bottom lip and pulling it over your head...that comes close.
I have always been an advocate of personal responsibility. That conflicted with knowing that some of the drugs offered today are so dangerous that they needed to be regulated. Then, I thought back about how things were a hundred years ago. The doctor prescribed a treatment, and you either made it yourself, or went to the pharmacist, who mixed up the more potential drugs.
Back then, the only regulation was, could you afford the cost? Drugs were available, and the pharmacist would determine whether you were abusing. If you OD'd on a drug from abuse, you died and life went on for others. But, you could get drugs if they were needed, and you did not have to wait until Monday. You didn't need to wait for approval from anyone to use a drug.
That is enough about that for the moment.
If drugs were to be legalized, they should be regulated like alcohol and cigarettes...have a legal purchasing age. Also, if you do harm to another while under the influence of anything, you should be held personally responsible...to the fullest extent, especially capital punishment for causing a death. If you are taking drugs to get high, strap yourself into a chair and sleep it off.
If drugs were immediately legalized, we could expect some immediate effects. For one, the drug addicts would run out and by everything, and we would have a rash of overdosing for about a month. The rest of us could then go on with our lives, only mourning the loss of a relative, instead of daily living with the horror of a drug addict in our lives.
Currently, I believe law enforcement should be stronger. But, I could be moved to undecided if I heard good arguments for the opposite.
--Pray for our troops --Pray they have wisdom to do the right thing --Pray they remain courageous --Pray they know we love and support them --Pray they get the equipment they need to do the job --Pray for their safe return home to a hero’s welcome
3 million overdosing? No way. You essentially have access to any drug you want now, if you want it bad enough, and there are not that many people who OD. As for the need for painkillers, I am one of those who has medical problems and sometimes I need the good stuff just to function. So i wish all the anti-drug people could be in the same situation - oxicodone worked great but I doubt I could get any now. 20 tablets got me through 6 months, so it isn't like I'm some user, just the WOT has negative consequences on many levels.
Are you for a free society or one where the government dictates your every move? Free societies allow men and women to decide things for themselves. Totalitarian governments so not.
No he doesn't. Liberals are the ones who want the government to get involved in every aspect of our private lives, restricting our freedom "for our own good." Conservatives are the ones who want the government to butt out and leave us alone, to let us exercise our freedoms, to choose our own risks, and to do what we want unless we harm a nonconsenting other. Or at least that's the way it's supposed to be.
oooops, that would be WOD not the WOT, sorry.
When I got my head kicked in by a bunch of drunks, I took great solace in the fact that at least they weren't on illegal drugs.
As far as I know, every state in the union allows the use of deadly force to defend oneself from assault. Where do you not have the right to shoot junkies (or, for that matter, perfectly sober people) dead on the spot if they assault you or yours?
Dude. You don't want to hear what he has to say about alcohol.
"When your sister has been raped and thrown out a window by someone who is high, let me know."
Gee, if the war on drug money had been devoted to taking violent offenders, rapists and thieves off the street for good, don't you think your sister wouldn't have been raped and thrown out that window because the police had already incarcerated the miscreant?
Sure, then he'd have a vested interest - it wouldn't just be theoretical at that point.
What if his sister had her home burglarized by a desperate addict forced to pay prices that are inflated several orders of magnitude by the war on drugs, can he have an opinion then?
Are you claiming that 'desparate addicts' will work to buy their drugs instead of stealing if drugs are legalized? I doubt that.
What if his sister was a judge in Colombia, executed by powerful and exceedingly well-funded organized criminals, then can he have an opinion?
Do you think the drug lords are going to become model citizens if drugs are legalized? I doubt it.
Suppose his sister is going broke paying higher taxes both to pay for this insane civil war and to make up the shortfall from billions of dollars flowing through the entirely tax-free black market, is he allowed to have an opinion then?
Do you think taxes would go down if drugs were legalized? Do you think the druggies wouldn't have to be sought out and arrested from some other crime committed while they were high? I doubt that.
If his sister's best friend died of an accidental overdose because her drug of choice was not labeled for potency like alcohol is, then does he get to have an opinion?
If his sister was this girl's best friend, she'd be working to get her off drugs, not to legalize them.
Drug prohibition has not prevented it.
And legalizing drugs will only make it worse.
Before I'd buy that, you'd have to present proof of long term model citizenhood of former bootleggers on a wide ranging scale, not one or two stories. And not a short term drop in crime.
The little guy on the street is isn't the big problem, it's the source. I'd rather have the cops going after that.
Are you being purposely dense or is this your natural state?
I happen to be in the decriminalizing.. Jails need the rooms for Child Molestors and viloent criminals..
When you can show me the rate of fat people having car accidents because of their fat is as high as the rate of violent crimes committed by people who are high, then we'll talk.
Try blaming the a##hole - not the drugs.
Funny, this a##holes rap sheet is full - and it's all related to drug use. He doesn't have one crime in his rap sheet prior to his first bust for violent behavior committed while he was high.
Every offense on this guy's rap sheet was committed while he was high. But I guess you had to give it a shot.
That argument falls apart when you consider our socialist welfare agenda. You will have to pay for his hospitalization, care and ultimately...his funeral.
I wouldn't be opposed to making alcohol illegal - but you may have already figured that out.
How so?
I think you dulled your pointy head by thinking too much.
I don't abuse drugs. I saw first hand as a child what drug abuse can do. I want no part of that as an adult. I also have no tolerance of drug abusers.
I did not say I don't use drugs because I do use codine when prescribed, for the ease of pain. I also use aspirin and other normal medicine, in appropriate manners.
I definately do not appreciate you calling me a liar.
I did not make it up. I go to the same dentist as I always have. But, the dentist who has worked on my teeth for the last five years has seen his practice grow substantially. He has hired some other dentists to assist him and he has moved more into the administration of the practice rather than the actual drilling.
He is excellent in doing root canals. He did emergency dental work in an emergency room for ten years prior to openning his practice(he explained that in an emergency room, he did dental work on patients who were in car accidents and other such emergencies where dental damage was present).
Now, his assistants range in talent from the best in their field to rank amatuers. The first guy, I was his first live, out of school root canal. Hence, all the screw ups...not completing it, forgetting the prescription. The reason I was told by my main dentitst that the second dentist did not get it all was that the first one mangled the root canal so bad that the second missed some of it.
This is a lot of information, but I doubt it will convince you I am telling the truth.
I am sure you will ask why I did not bring a malpractice suit. I am just not one to do that. My dentist is a friend.
With the info aside, explain to me why, in a conservative arguement - not a "that's the way it is and provide examples of other ways we regulate behaviour" arguement, as to why we who are capable of controlling our behaviour must be hindered due to the irresponsibility of others.
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