SMOKE TOBACCO - BAD
It also gives me the chance to put forth, as an outsider, a proposition for a seperate peace to the War on Drugs. It's based upon this assumption: What's really biting is not drug illegalization itself, but the assault on civil liberties that have been caused by the War on Drugs.
One of the side effects has been the corruption of law enforcement. As Radley Balko explained on Fox News, the Drug War is associated with lying to get a warrant (eroding the Fourth Amendment) and even planting drugs on innocent suspects. Less luridly, but more decisively, several precedents have been established that have eroded U.S. civil liberties such as:
In my own 'umble opinion, it's the anonymous-tips provision that's most lethal to civil liberties. It means a snitch can use the cops as private muscle to get back at someone he or she dislikes. It's how the Stasi operated in East Germany.
Here's the proposal I would like to put up for discussion: instead of repealing the Controlled Substances Act, Ron Paul should make an effort to introduce a "Civil Liberties Restoration Act of 20xx" that would crack down on the civil-liberties abuses of the Drug War - like clamping down on those items listed above. Police overkill has been sanctioned by earlier judicial overkill.
Then, leave it up to law enforcement. They would have to go back to the way drug laws were enforced in the 1950s. Drug decriminalization should be considered only if the drug laws prove unenforcable. The reason why I'm suggesting this approach is because a lot of the Drug War opponents have little interest in drugs but a great interest in their civil liberties.
My Canadian two cents' worth.
Ron Paul is a NUT! This “law” would prove destructive to the very moral fabric of the nation and would result in the destruction of multitudes of lives and untold misery resulting in further lawlessness, wickedness and ungodliness.
“a lot of the Drug War opponents have little interest in drugs but a great interest in their civil liberties.”
Amen to that. Legalize it
Well said. The assault on our liberties is far more corrosive to society than the drug.
Why are you suggesting more legislation to solve the moral problem?
Simply take away the Federal laws. With the growth of Federal laws and regulations, we will simply have more criminals.
If someone wants to abuse fried chicken or a controled substance. That's on them. At the current nanny state rate, Colonel Sanders will be the next OBL.
I am not a smoker but the way the government has gone after “grass” is remarkable considering its effects.
I think substance abuse is akin to the gun issue. Killers will find a weapon. Addictive personalities will latch onto one thing or another. Marijuana seems to one of the least destructive substances they could abuse. In moderation it appears to be helpful for many conditions.
A conservative does not support federal drug laws. A conservative understands the feds are granted no authority by the constitution to so legislate. This is a matter for each state to handle as it deems fit.
Legalization would certainly cut down on crime levels, and could put many of the Mexican drug gangs out of business in no time flat (I don't think the South American criminal cartels who control the cocaine trade and the Asian criminal cartels who control the opium trade want the Mexicans as competitors!). And it would would actually save lives, because by imposing FDA/BATF safety limits there would be less of a threat of people being poisoned by unknown additives in the cannabis (remember the paraquat scare from the early 1980's?).
But the biggest benefit would be the legalization of commercial hemp plant production in the USA, which would mean a large amount of hemp available for clothing, biofuel mass and even as fiber material to make structural materials that are just as strong as carbon fiber but at WAY lower production cost. For example, an automobile now weighing around 3,000 pounds could lose as much as 250 pounds if many of the body panels and other structural parts were made from hemp fiber-based materials, which means potential major gains in fuel economy.
Liberal Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who introduced the bill with Paul, also blasted federal policies on the substance. “Criminally prosecuting adults for making the choice to smoke marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources and an intrusion on personal freedom,” he told reporters.
“I do not advocate urging people to smoke marijuana. Neither do I urge them to drink alcoholic beverages or smoke tobacco,” Frank added. “But in none of these cases do I think prohibition enforced by criminal sanctions is good public policy.”
Legalize ALL drugs.
Will be hard to legalize any kind of dope. It would put all the drug dealers and three fourths of the cops out of jobs. Big crimp in the prison industry, rehabilitation clinics, local government budgets, etc.
Have a little mercy, jackbooted thugs got to live too.
I think legalizing this particular drug would benefit the country in many ways. Taxation, freeing up courts, etc
It has little more effect on someone than alcohol.
I am not in favor of harder drugs, but this one can be regulated like cigarettes with sales to minors with safety.
It will also take away billions of dollars in drug cartel activities. Stemming the flow of violence all along the boarder.
SMOKE TOBACCO - BAD
Any poster decrying the effect of pot on the “moral fabric” of our nation must first consider the effect on the moral fabric when government proceeds to clearly exceed its enumerated powers.
The “moral fabric” is degraded every single time government tramples on the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. What signal do we send to young people when we teach them the Constitution but they are increasingly unable to reconcile what government allows itself to do with the plain words of the text.
It says that government is corrupt and what it says has nothing to do with morality. In may cases, such as federal drug laws, those laws themselves have no basis in the enumerated powers.
The various States do have police powers according to their own Constitutions. However, when some of them legalize pot and the federal government then almost gives them a pass, what message is sent? That the law is pliable and subjective.
Corrupting the rule of law is a far greater sin because it affects everyone, including Turbo-Tax Timmy. Pot only affects those who want to get stoned to such an extent that they ruin their lives.
Tenth Amendment ping!