Big Drug War News (Congressman Dan Burton on the drug war)

The Agitator ^ | 17 December 2002 | Radley Balko

[PaxMacian]

"I have sworn upon the altar of Almighty God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."--Thomas Jefferson

[tacticalogic]

I will probably have a beer this evening and feel a slight buzz, with no major change in my personality or feeling.

I've got some oxycodone left over from a back injury, and I could go crush one up and take just enough approximate the effect of one beer. Would that be close enough to the test that you proposed earlier?

[PaxMacian]

"...if the society were 'smoking the herb' in his day, he'd have tried that, too."

First of all, it is a proven fact they were smoking it at the time and long before too.

Secondly,
GOD MADE HERB
GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD
GOD GAVE IT TO MAN

Genesis 1:11
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.

Genesis 1:12
And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:29
And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

[Sparta]

But why would a good wodier let a little something like the truth get in the way?

[Sparta]

With all due respect, TxAggie does says he opposes the Federal WOD. However, the silence of the usual statist suspects is deafening.

[Texaggie79]

I believe, on the state level, legality directly influences social acceptability.

[Texaggie79]

I could take super small amout of cocaine, or the tiniest whiff of an 8ball and probably do the same. We are talking practicality here. If legalized, cocaine could not be used as casually and harmlessly as alcohol. Same for any hard drug.

[jmc813]

With all due respect, TxAggie does says he opposes the Federal WOD.

I'm aware. Actually, I wish more people on "the other side" would be like TexAggie. RobertPaulsen also, to a certain extent. While I may not agree with them, they put up some darned good arguments and not the usual BS rhetoric heard from others.

[Texaggie79]

Does that mean that God wants me to injest poison ivy??

[PaxMacian]

Poison ivy is not an herb.

[Texaggie79]

It's a result of getting beyond emotion and utilizing logic and facts. When I first saw the effects cocaine did to my step-sister, I would have cursed out any advocate of legalization.

I simply couldn't understand how anyone besides a user themselves could defend legalizing drugs.

However, one I put aside my emotions and took the argument on strictly with logic, I started to see that advocates actually had a good point. However, I have never been able to understand the benefits of all out legalization.

[Texaggie79]

HERB - A plant whose stem does not produce woody, persistent tissue and generally dies back at the end of each growing season.

[PaxMacian]

Exactly, so Ivy is not an herb.
though in every definition of marijuana
it is an herb.

[Texaggie79]

Eh? Ivy doesn't Die? Or it has a woody stem?There are plenty of herbs that are poison.

[tacticalogic]

If legalized, cocaine could not be used as casually and harmlessly as alcohol. Same for any hard drug.

I'll agree that in many cases it wouldn't be, but to say that it couldn't be seems to be something of a stretch. There is still the unanswered question of where the line is drawn for hard drugs. The nature of prohibition is that it forces to the market the most potent, concentrated forms of drugs - cocaine, heroin, crystal meth. I've read that many users of meth and cocaine got addicted initially not by using the drugs recreationally, but as a stimulant to work longer hours. Do you think the availability of lower potency drugs would keep some people from getting involved with harder drugs?

[Texaggie79]

Look, I support legalizing it, I have smoked it many o time, but never would I suggest that God wan't us to be stoned.

[PaxMacian]

There is no commandment
Thou shalt not smoke herb.

[Texaggie79]

Tough question. Thing is, if people start looking to chemicals to help a problem they have that isn't chemical to begin with (such as depression, or bloodpressure) then they would tend to gradually use more and more amounts of it.

I know a buddy that took (I can't think of the name, but it's a diet pill that no one takes to lose weight) and as he depended more and more on it, instead of getting more rest, he had to take more and more. So, I really don't know the answer. I don't like the idea of legalizing or criminalizing something just to affect how people live their lives. I think the legal question should only come into play when others are threatened. I believe that HARD drug users are a threat to their neighbors. Physically, financially, socially.

[SSN558]

"No, no no. We must pursue the war on drugs with a new fervor!"

The government was never serious about winning the drug war. Famous quote from retired DEA agent to his criminal justice class, "I sure hate to think I spent such a large portion of my life working on a useless enterprise but it sure seems that way."

Politicos get drug money in their campaign funds, even Ronald Reagan ask me. LE agencies local, state, and fed profit from the war on drugs. The prison industry, drug testing industry, etc...they all profit.

A better plan would be to wall off certain regions, LA for example. Then air drop in the hubba and crap pipes for a few weeks. Follow up with air drops of tec-9's.

[galt-jw]

shazam, what a concept....

Of course you all know, this is merely setting the stage for another tax revenue stream to be enacted, as in Canada. The governments have taxed the sheeple as much as they dare.

It's the same reason many former opponents are now pro gambling.