tokeofthetown

This is definitely the nicest news i heard in a long time!

Finally a politician waking up to the insanity that is the war on drugs. This is good news, thanks for sharing.

Well, I agree.

Why is it that only former-[insert whatever here] talk about legalization ? Its like they suddenly get reasonable out of power.

Dont get me wrong, Im glad at least they do speak but it kinda makes me angry that its always after they could have done somethign that they start talking about it.. Like the ex president of brazil, FHC, same thing. So many people got arrested and had their lives f-ed up because of unfair drug laws that were maintained during his mandate, and then suddenly when he's off, he starts talking about it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.. Is it hypocrisy, lack of courage, or is it sudden change of thoughts due to heavy conscience, or is it that when being in power one has to make too much concessions and therefore cant talk about something so politically dangerous. or.. ?

People only have the balls to commit political career suicide when their political career is already all but dead?

^^Yeah I guess it's kind of a pointless gesture really.

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama did the same thing with marijuana, the day he leaves the white house

Although I agree in part on this, mainly because it would be more convenient to myself, but I can't help but think about what the underground drug market would move onto if that business was no longer viable to them. I'm thinking mainly weapons and human trafficing. I sure can't see them getting jobs in starbucks that's for sure.

They should be interns at pharmacies...just kidding I think weapons would indeed be a possibility, but the thing about weapons is that people aren't 'addicted' to them. As compared with the drug trade, people wouldn't be as ready and willing to return consistently because you'd buy a weapon, and then what? I think that market would collapse on itself or at the least be no where near as successful as the illegal drug economy. As for human trafficking, I'm not so sure about this one either. Maybe the big drug cartels could get into that, but what about on the more personal drug dealer level?

The small time drug dealer just feeds off the bigger fish so really they're one and the same. I certainly haven't heard of many folk growing coca and poppies in their basement, mainly because they'd have to have a huge basement.

Weapons do come with their own problems that can in a way be like addiction in the eyes of the salesman. For someone with a use for a weapon it's important for that weapon not to have been used as that implicates them in all kinds of shit, especially with modern forensics and what not. So once a gun has been compromised, a new weapon must be obtained.

I can see the advantages in terms of correct substance control and treatment of addiction, but I'm not too convinced it would cut the crime as significantly as people would think.

I just thought I'd throw that up there because I hear so much "wooh! LEGALIZE MAN!" and it's good to check out either side of the fence.

There is not nearly as large of a market for weapons and people as the market for drugs. The legal weapons trade is already huge enough. Human trafficking sickens most people (as it should) and is something pretty much everyone agrees deserves law enforcement effort. So I don't think gangs would have that many options. Sure they would try all sorts of new tricks but most of those new tricks would be less profitable. So sure I'm sure some gangbangers would maybe go on an armed robbery spree but that wouldn't last long and it wouldn't sustain the gang. I do think there would be a significant decrease in crime with drug legalization.

My opinion is drugs should be legal and regulated. In order to use them you should have to get some basic education about addiction, dose, safety and whatever else is relevant. Then you could go to local chemist or pharmacist and purchase certain limited amounts per day or whatever time frame is appropriate for the substance.

I even think people should be allowed to be addicted to hard drugs like heroin or cocaine. Heroin users only become criminals because the drug is illegal and they can't support their habit without additional crime. With legalization it would be cheap enough and they could hold up jobs easier. Most heroin addicts OD only because the purity varies so much and many are not educated on safe dosages and tolerance. Treatment would also be easier to manage and provide funding for. If heroin were legal treatment wouldn't be associated with criminal justice and be far more attractive to an addict. Nearly all problems associated with opiate addiction could be solved by regulated legalization.

My main concern about stimulants is their potential to cause outright psychosis (amphetamine psychosis) which could be argued is a danger to society. I think this is one flaw with my plan that I haven't found a good solution too except limit doses for people who are using too much, which might lead them to commit crime to access drug? Any thoughts?

But do you really think that more people will start using cocaine/amphetamine if it becomes legal? SWIM and many of his friends have been offered numerous times here and there but they refuse (yes, even while in the highest highs of mdma) because coke- and amph- heads are already a bad example. I believe many in the drug community have been in situations where the usual cokehead behaves like a dick and everyone else around them is like wtf man....

Well I believe its only a minority of individuals who use cocaine or amphetamine who 1- get addicted and 2- go insane. So really I think the kinds of people who are going to abuse stimulants to the point where they go nuts shooting off shot guns at imaginary people in their back yard are probably already engaged in such behavior. Legal drugs if anything might make that less likely because of more education, availability of drugs to abort the symptoms, controlled supply, and possibility of intervention with the user without criminal proceedings (unless of course they really were firing off shot guns which makes them liable for penalty of a completely different crime altogether).

So yea I guess that sums it up. There is no good argument for the keeping these substances illegal. Does anyone have one? Even if just to play devils advocate for a while?

a funny thing i've heard is actually the oppisite. I've heard of statistics saying that prohibiting drugs leads to more use. Kinda like a kid, if you tell the kid he can't have something and give a reason that dosen't sit well with the kid, it rises interests it that which you say he can't have.

Legal or not though I think that schema's always going to be there. Kids f'n love that booze and them smokes.

But what is worse? Scheming some drugs of known purity from legal sources via some older friend or scheming drugs from drugs dealers with guns money and shitty drugs?

The argument that keeping drugs illegal 'protects' the children is one of the main arguments used by drug warriors. Its a total fallacy.

No one has mentioned the money made by govt's enforcing drug policy's on users (average citizens), or the payoffs made to govt officials to get the MASSIVE amounts of drugs into the country...

Keeping these things illegal is profitable to both sides!!
So I'm not going to hold my breath on this one....cause first we're gonna need a new power structure that isn't playing both side of the field for profit....
Do you forget the reports of American soldiers protecting poppy fields in Afghanistan? While police here at home arrest small time heroin users & dealers!!
Hell that's just like building guns & bombs to sell to smaller country's so they can wage war...then coming in once everything is destroyed & charging them to clean up & rebuild everything.....Oh yea, we do that too.


The talk of legalizing pot gives me hope that the population will see the falsehood of the "war on drugs".
But that's not where the money really is, it's narcotics like coke & heroin...that create a mental &/or physical need for the product that keep the customer base alive, even when that same customer base hates being involved with everything associated with the drug!!!


I think the time is coming when the mass population has had enough of our current bullshit governments & the lies their power is built on.
When that sentiment reaches a head, everything...not just drugs...will become legal, because there will be a revolution.
I can't wait!!!


rant over...
WS

I'm not really opposed to this, I just really like my fence.

^^ I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean like a limit on drug availability?