Time to legalize drugs

First, I’d like to state that I am against recreational drug use.

In my lifetime, I’ve watched the war on drugs do very little except keep the price of drugs high. We have headlines in the newspapers about the latest drug shipment that has been seized or stories about how drugs are ruining the lives of people. But from my point of view we are approaching the problem all wrong.

First, I think that all drugs should be legal for people over the age of 21. Providing drugs to someone under age should carry a huge jail sentence.

Why should we legalize drugs? Currently, there is no shortage of drugs. Virtually anyone who desires to obtain drugs can do so with little effort. All that the war on drugs does, is artificially hold up the price. Most drugs are virtually worthless. They are cheap to produce. So if you take the crime away from drugs, the cost will fall to virtually nothing.

If it costs almost nothing to get your fix, then drug users won’t have to break into my home and steal my stuff to get their next fix. Organized crime, which imports most drugs would virtually be eliminated overnight. There would be no money to be made.

Opium poppies, a cash crop in Afghanistan would also dry up. It would be like any other crop if the price were not artificially help high by making opium illegal. This would help to break the financial back of terrorism.

The government could spend about 10-20% of what they spend on law enforcement instead on treatment centers for those who are addicted and wish to change their life.

The police could focus on real crime not on substance abuse.

What are your thoughts?

I agree 100% and I am sure quite a few people in the U.S. do as well. In fact, I would say a majority do. Mind you, that is MY opinion. But, legalization of drugs in this country would stir up the system so bad everyone in power is afraid to do it. I believe this needs to be done slowly, one step at a time over a number of years.

1st step... Legalize industrial hemp. How this hasn't been done already is beyond my understanding.

Alternate 1st step... Smack people upside the head until they forget that pot is EVIL!!! seriously though... Some kind of proper education on the substance.

The hard stuff... The stuff people steal to obtain. That may take a long time to become legalized though. To many Americans have the big brother mentality. in my opinion.

I also think that if you take the money out of drugs that you'll also take the glamor out of drug use. People will no longer see the local drug seller with his/her big car and hangers on.

Take away the glamor take away the money. You'll still have some drug users but I think that in time even the percentage of people who get into the durg lifestyle would decrease.

I like your idea of starting with industrial hemp. It's a great source of many materials.

i specifically decided not to go into law enforcement in the 70's because of the war on drugs. it's a smoke and mirrors thing to get more control there is no war on drugs just a war people, civil forfeiture ( look that sweet deal up ), swat teams in every small town, more money for the gangs ( coc aine is only worth .97 in actual value ) more crime to excuse more laws and control. and before you make any assumptions about the win ability of the war on drugs, we have a major drug problem in the prison system, where a guard can stick a finger up your butt to check for contraband with no warrant or warning so how can drugs be fought on the streets with out your rights being completely disregarded. drugs are not the problem ( there have been drugs forever ) the excuse of the drug war to remove our rights is the problem, after all it was the cry wolf of drugs that allowed tanks into the branch davidians compound in Waco TX. i am a big time libertarian in the real since i feel you should have the right to do almost anything that does not endanger others: guns, drugs, I'll go as far as accordion playing . this right carries the most important right that the phony liberals have ignored, the right to bear the consequences for your actions ( not your possessions).
as to the use of drugs in a public space such as driving under the influence of pot or what ever, the charge them just like driving under the influence of alcohol. i have looked at the historical evidence that is available. dangerous drug act of 1934 and before.

www.irishstatutebook.ie...

to be honest drugs are not good or good for you because they damage you, but the drug war is not good or good for us because it kills and damages people who don't use drugs. as a side note it was posted some where that you are much more likely to be killed in a mistaken drug raid in Calif than to win the lottery, well that's probably true but you are probable more likely to be hit by a white shark falling from a UFO piloted by Elvis than win the lottery.

key is moderation, as long as you control it and not the other way around more power to you, but if you blow it and go down well that's your problem i don't need a swat team in my house because someone has a personal problem with their recreation time. if we spent 1/2 the money on rehab as we do on swat and the like then the cops could go back to regular patrol and the gangs would go broke. look at prohibition
drug laws are in many ways very like gun laws they stop no one who is willing to break them and there fore they empower the criminal element. drug crime by and large is not about drugs it's about money, money that is only available because of the illegal nature of the drugs. if you look at a very similar situation in the 30's with prohibition. prohibition stopped almost no one from drinking, it created as atmosphere of disrespect for law and authority, it funded gangs that till that time had been small time punks with little resources, and when it ended most of the overt violence in the gang controlled areas disappeared. here is a point to ponder when people say legalization would lead to more abuse, if heroin or whatever was being given away free would you use it?

I will agree with you to an extent. I think "hard" drugs shouldn't be legalized. Plant-type drugs, I'd rather use the term herbs, should be legal though. Being more natural and, for the most-part, less harmful. Vaporization is the key for no harmful effects. Atleast with the one herb that should be legalized before all other drugs. Peace

Here's apost from the threadTruck-load of Marijuana Abandoned on California Highway

Originally posted by khunmoon
Here's a few facts from the illumati-news.com link.
The Marijuana Conspiracy - The Real Reason Hemp is Illegal

* In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. Plans were in the works to implement such programs; Department of Agriculture

* Quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil until 1937. 58,000 tons of hemp seeds were used in America for paint products in 1935; Sherman Williams Paint Co. testimony before Congress against the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act.

* Henry Ford's first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the CAR ITSELF WAS CONTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, 'grown from the soil,' had hemp plastic panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel; Popular Mechanics, 1941.

* Hemp called 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars; Popular Mechanics, Feb., 1938.

Why then did it never get there... legally?

Because of William Randolph Hearst, the media tycoon, who also owned the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division of Kimberly Clark and vast acreage of timberlands. The Hearst Company supplied most paper products and stood to lose billions because of hemp.

Citizen Kane was Hearst, the actual model for Orson Welles classic movie. He created 'yellow journalism' and used his news corporation to discredit the innocent herb by publishing horror stories about it, and his influence in Hollywood resulted in propaganda movies like 'Reefer Madness' (1936), 'Marihuana: Assassin of Youth' (1935) and 'Marihuana: The Devil's Weed' (1936).

Hearst's newspapers ran stories emphasizing the horrors of marijuana. The menace of 'marihuana' made headlines. Readers learned that it was responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality.

All done by a weed called "marihuana", a word he didn't exactly coin, but promoted to distort the fact it was nothing but the good ol' hemp, the wonder-plant promoted by US governments for decades.

In fact the ignorance was so great that when the American Medical Association in 1937 testified to the House Committee in favour of passing the Prohibitive Marihuana Tax Law they didn't knew it in fact was the medical herb, known for its hundreds application, revered since Hippocrates, they testified against. The AMA understood cannabis to be a MEDICINE found in numerous healing products sold over the last hundred years. Too late they learned it was the same herb that had been demonized as MARIJUANA.

Also in 1937, Dupont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of Dupont's business.

Congress banned hemp because it was said to be the most violence-causing drug known. Harry J. Anslinger was appointed head of the Drug Commission and was the drug-czar for 3 decades, persistently promoting the idea that marijuana made users act extremely violent.

Today, our planet is in desperate trouble. Earth is suffocating as large tracts of rain forests disappear. Pollution, poisons and chemicals are killing people. These great problems could be reversed if we industrialized hemp. Natural biomass could provide all of the planet's energy needs that are currently supplied by fossil fuels. We have consumed 80% of our oil and gas reserves. We need a renewable resource. Hemp could be the solution to soaring gas prices.

Today the propeganda scam is wellknown and regonized as such, beside the medical and enviromental properties being throughly documented.

Question is, why don't we do it then? Legalize it.


[edit on 12-3-2007 by khunmoon]

Read The Emperor Wears No Clothes, it is the hemp bible. Everything you want to know about hemp history and why it is illegal. Peace.

I agree with most of what you say, Wildbob77. I think drugs should be legalized for many of the reasons you mentioned. People are doing them anyway and the law (enforcement and justice system) is bogged down with drug cases when it could be addressing more important issues.

And if people want to kill themselves with meth, I say, let them! The world doesn't need more meth heads.

And people aren't staying away from drugs because they're illegal. It's not stopping anyone.

Finally, pot is no more dangerous than alcohol, and many say it's less dangerous. I've never heard of anyone dying from pot consumption or getting in a violent bar fight because they were stoned.

My husband has some gorgeous, hardy hemp shirts that will last forever.

It's ridiculous!

These things take time, though. Eventually, we will be talking about the prohibition era once again. Only it won't be about alcohol.

I believe that since the 80's when Cocaine became so big ... this is the only way that they found that they can get it into this country ... there is not enough need for Just coc aine. As certain people are apposed to this drug. YET, almost everyone loves the good ole' pot. Hence the reason it was determined the "GATEWAY" drug it is the gateway to all those illegals who need alittle extra cash to get those other drugs where ever they were goin.

I am all for the legalization of all drugs, not because I imbibe in them myself but because I believe that it would eliminate the profit for everyone involved in their (illegal) production and distribution.

Violence on the street would diminish and there would be less demand on the law enforcement community. Drug related shootings would cease as well as the health care costs associated with it.

In addition, I believe all the hard core drug addicts would soon overdose and no longer be of a concern.

And the CIA, well... they'd be very upset.

Originally posted by LostSailor
I agree 100% and I am sure quite a few people in the U.S. do as well. In fact, I would say a majority do. Mind you, that is MY opinion. But, legalization of drugs in this country would stir up the system so bad everyone in power is afraid to do it. I believe this needs to be done slowly, one step at a time over a number of years.

1st step... Legalize industrial hemp. How this hasn't been done already is beyond my understanding.

Alternate 1st step... Smack people upside the head until they forget that pot is EVIL!!!

seriously though... Some kind of proper education on the substance.

The hard stuff... The stuff people steal to obtain. That may take a long time to become legalized though. To many Americans have the big brother mentality. in my opinion.

I could not agree more. A lot of 'normal' (no pun intended) just buy the story that weed is bad. Come on people. There is just too much money wasted on this plant. Wildbob77, I love how you worded your opening post, about how drugs are only expensive because they are illegal. Those statements are dead on in my opinion. When will everyone wake up and realize how stupid this war on drugs is? I'm in awe how the sheeple just let the government waste their money, make insane laws against a plant, imprison innocent people for carrying a bag of flowers while ruining entire families in the process.

Hello people, quit hitting the snooze button, and WAKE UP!

A long time ago, I worked with a person who referred to pot as poor man's tobacco. He smoked it as a kid when he couldn't afford to buy real tobacco. It was legal then and grew wild beside the roads.

It was considered inferior to tobacco because, as he described it, it made you feel funny. That's why he called it poor man's tobacco.

I do think that it's time to take the glamor and money out of drugs. It's just such a waste of time and resources.

Legalization should include prescription drugs as well. This would reduce health care costs by allowing individuals to medicate themselves without the need to obtain written permission from a doctor, thereby eliminating the excessive charge for the associated office visit each time a person needs a particular drug. Removing these many doctor visit billings would result in an incredible savings to the health care system and to the individual.

In many countries you can go into a pharmacy and purchase many of the drugs that here in the states would require a prescription.

IMO one of the main messages being sent by Doctors the legal system is that personal decisions for one's self are to be made by others, not the individual him/her self.

This fosters dependency on control sources and diverts personal responsiblity and consequences for choices made.

It keeps people umempowerd instead of personally empowered and accountable.

I am just as able to choose for myself as John Q Public is to choose for me, thank you.

its a shakey tight rope to walk... although pot may be an exception to the rule and it is really ok to smoke it ALLLLL DAYYYYYY EEEVVVERY DAAAAYYY...

heroin, crack, coc aine, etc are all legitimately really really bad for you and they really do ruin lives. because the heroin costs less just means that its easier to do more of. and guess what, when whoever runs out of his last $1.00 to get crack, he'll come shoot you for $0.50 anyway. legalizing drugs like that wont keep you safe, it will just mean you get killed or robbed for less.

you want your kids on a school bus where the bus driver has been snorting his legal coke all weekend?

you want to get on a plane where the pilot has been shooting up in a dark heroin bar a day before the flight?

you want your food made by a guy who drools because hes missing all his front teeth from doing legal crack?

i dont.

just cause its legal doesn't make it any better for you. its not the price that causes the problems, its the drug.

[edit on 3/22/2007 by bokinsmowl]

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I agree with most of what you say, Wildbob77. I think drugs should be legalized for many of the reasons you mentioned. People are doing them anyway and the law (enforcement and justice system) is bogged down with drug cases when it could be addressing more important issues.

And if people want to kill themselves with meth, I say, let them! The world doesn't need more meth heads.

And people aren't staying away from drugs because they're illegal. It's not stopping anyone.

Finally, pot is no more dangerous than alcohol, and many say it's less dangerous. I've never heard of anyone dying from pot consumption or getting in a violent bar fight because they were stoned.

My husband has some gorgeous, hardy hemp shirts that will last forever.

It's ridiculous!

These things take time, though. Eventually, we will be talking about the prohibition era once again. Only it won't be about alcohol.

Oh I know. I completely agree! I think that drugs will become legal one day in the US though. It's just common sense!

Among my peers, about ... 40% of them regularly smoke pot. Why? Because it's cool to break the rules. It's extremely saddening to think that if marijuana was legal, I'm sure they wouldn't touch the stuff because they're way too smart for that rubbish, but they get pressured into absorbing themselves into a drug lifestyle.

1. How can we gradually introduce an America where drugs are legal?
2. What drugs should be legal and what drugs should be illegal?

- 9 out of 16 countries (15 EU Member States + Switzerland) consider drug use as an offense in their Criminal Code.

- And it is not considered an offense in 7 countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain). In the UK also, because officially only the opium use is prohibited.

- www.rism.org...
Let's take The Netherlands for example...

...the limit of the "for personal use" clause is 5 cannabis plants per person for growing, or possession of 5 grams of hashish or marijuana per person. However, to be prosecuted one would need to possess considerably higher quantities than that. An example of a sentence in 2004 for possession of 360 grams: confiscation and a fine of €750.

- Wiki

Also, in the article, it says that coffee shops are allowed to sell "soft drugs" openly.

3. Would the classification of soft/hard drugs be beneficial in the US?
4. Should a limit be put on how much marijuana one person may possess? If so, how much?

Just thought I'd ask a few questions to fuel more discussion.

I love this subject!

[edit on 22-3-2007 by Paresthesia]

I think that there would be less drug usage if all drugs were legal. If you look at the statistics from the US civil war there were many people that were addicted to morphine after the war.
Heroin was tauted as a cure for morphine addiction.
THat didn't work out too well.

Many people knew that grandpa was in the war and was addicted to Heroin. Heroin was legal at that time. Heroin addiction rates were decreasing.

Yet when it became illegal, people started using more. Why. I think that it's the stigma of doing something that is illegal and also the potential to make money.

Personally I think that it woud lose its glamor and would be less appeal. No one sets out to be a junkie.

You could also institute mandatory drug testing for certain jobs where public health and saftey is an issue. ie Bus driver, Airline pilot etc.

Originally posted by Paresthesia

- 9 out of 16 countries (15 EU Member States + Switzerland) consider drug use as an offense in their Criminal Code.

- And it is not considered an offense in 7 countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain). In the UK also, because officially only the opium use is prohibited.

- www.rism.org...
Let's take The Netherlands for example...

...the limit of the "for personal use" clause is 5 cannabis plants per person for growing, or possession of 5 grams of hashish or marijuana per person. However, to be prosecuted one would need to possess considerably higher quantities than that. An example of a sentence in 2004 for possession of 360 grams: confiscation and a fine of €750.

- Wiki

Also, in the article, it says that coffee shops are allowed to sell "soft drugs" openly.

3. Would the classification of soft/hard drugs be beneficial in the US?
4. Should a limit be put on how much marijuana one person may possess? If so, how much?

Just thought I'd ask a few questions to fuel more discussion.

I love this subject!

[edit on 22-3-2007 by Paresthesia]

Though you are right about the easy going on pot in the countries you mention, they are still an offense to their criminal codes. The practical stance from law enforcement is determined by the political climate. In Denmark --which I can speak for-- it used to be quite easy up until 10 years ago when we got a black, neocon government. Now they'll prosecute people for as little as 0.1 gram when it fits their agenda.

What is most my concern would be --and I'm talking about soft drugs, pot, hashish only-- the underground classes of wealth, control and power it creates, because the only and real damn wrong thing about it all, is what a poor 3rd world farmer produce at the cost of 80-90 cents and sells for a dollar costs thousand dollars for the end user. That's more immoral than what any pharmaceutical company or big oil does.

I'm a user of cannabis and if it has done any harm to me, it will be it has lowered my material ambitions. I never ended up in any rat race for position or career. Some times I wish I could have made it better, but that's not what it is about, it's about you can look yourself in the mirror every morning. And I can do that, but a lot of former friends I just can't stand anymore, because they're in the drug bizz and have gotten fat from it.

It's not out of envy or my own inability to compromise my conscience I fell like that. It is because it so dead wrong to profit on anyone's desires. The double standards of the issue makes me sick, and there is only one way to get done with it -- legalization. Of a herb -- never hard drugs.

BTW, it would send the signal to young people, it is NOT the same. Like it is now it all slides into each other -- which is exactly what authorities want to keep up the myth, pot is the gateway. It never was, the social environment prohibition creates is.