Bill O defends the drug war

[Tom]

"There are millions of people in jail who have only used drugs, but never sold them.."

In the past 40 years, I dont think I've met anyone who uses drugs who "never" sold them.

 

[sandorski]

alcohol is legal. Alcohol contributes a great deal to bloody violence.

So how would legalized drug use reduce violence ?

btw, other than violence, your post has no argument for changing the staus quo, genius.

2 things come to mind:

1) It's not as Violent now as it was during Prohibition
2) It's one of the Effects of Alcohol. It is not the only Drug to cause that, but that's another issue.

 

[CallMeJoe]

alcohol is legal. Alcohol contributes a great deal to bloody violence.
So how would legalized drug use reduce violence ?
btw, other than violence, your post has no argument for changing the staus quo, genius.

Junkies wouldn't needs to rob citizens to support dollar-a-day habits.
Drug cartels wouldn't kill to protect the market for $25/ounce cocaine.
With the outrageous profit removed from illegal drugs the cartels would collapse and Mexico and Colombia would be able to reestablish peaceful governance and might actually be able to reestablish healthy economies, lessening pressure for illegal immigration to the United States.
With the outrageous profit removed from illegal drugs the Taliban would be unable to support itself from the opium trade.
With drugs legalized, the State and Federal governments would be able to establish a reasonable sales tax which left drugs far less expensive than they are today and would still reap Billions in revenue.
With drugs legalized the State and Federal governments could stop wasting Billions on ineffective drug prohibition efforts.

I could go on and on...

"There are millions of people in jail who have only used drugs, but never sold them.."
In the past 40 years, I dont think I've met anyone who uses drugs who "never" sold them.

In the past fifty years, I've known many more drug users who didn't sell than who did. I've also known a lot of drug users, since I worked in a drug rescue/shelter in a Midwestern college town.

Note I do differentiate between selling and sharing drugs.

 

[LumbergTech]

"There are millions of people in jail who have only used drugs, but never sold them.."

In the past 40 years, I dont think I've met anyone who uses drugs who "never" sold them.

what does that have to do with this? if they were not caught your point is completely useless

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Buffalo, NY ... a city of 260 thousand or so had one murder a day in the early 90s.

 

[Tom]

Junkies wouldn't needs to rob citizens to support dollar-a-day habits.
Drug cartels wouldn't kill to protect the market for $25/ounce cocaine.
With the outrageous profit removed from illegal drugs the cartels would collapse and Mexico and Colombia would be able to reestablish peaceful governance and might actually be able to reestablish healthy economies, lessening pressure for illegal immigration to the United States.
With the outrageous profit removed from illegal drugs the Taliban would be unable to support itself from the opium trade.
With drugs legalized, the State and Federal governments would be able to establish a reasonable sales tax which left drugs far less expensive than they are today and would still reap Billions in revenue.
With drugs legalized the State and Federal governments could stop wasting Billions on ineffective drug prohibition efforts.

I could go on and on...

I was discussing reality, not wishful thinking. If your logic worked we could solve all the worlds problems by making all crimes legal, we could just tax them.

 

[nonlnear]

The thread title needs to be changed to "Tom defends the drug war".

 

[CallMeJoe]

I was discussing reality, not wishful thinking. If your logic worked we could solve all the worlds problems by making all crimes legal, we could just tax them.

Exactly! I think society would benefit greatly by repealing the especially stupid laws (like drug prohibition) that generate more harm than good.

 

[bamacre]

I was discussing reality, not wishful thinking. If your logic worked we could solve all the worlds problems by making all crimes legal, we could just tax them.

 

[irishScott]

Pretty big issue. Billions spent incarcerating druggies. Thousands of lives lost in drug trade. Untold insurance loses from theft related to acquiring expensive drugs. Gangs like Prohibition but much worse. Whole area in Arizona and Mexico people fear to tread. etc etc etc

/whoosh

To rephrase: Who cares what Bill O, or any other pundit for that matter, says about anything. At best they're all broken clocks right twice a day.

 

[JSt0rm]

I was discussing reality, not wishful thinking. If your logic worked we could solve all the worlds problems by making all crimes legal, we could just tax them.

you know when conservatives and liberals on this board are both fighting you on this issue you have lost. Sorry your war failed and everyone knows it. Get on unemployment with the rest of America, its over.

 

[woolfe9999]

Oh yeah, it's always about the children. O'Reilly, what a hack.

This. Bringing up "the children" is the hoariest cliche in American political demagoguery. It's as if all one has to do is theorize that some stated policy might in some way harm some hypothetical child somewhere, and all logical arguments in favor of the policy fly out the window. It's so freaking tiresome.

- wolf

 

[Tom]

you know when conservatives and liberals on this board are both fighting you on this issue you have lost. Sorry your war failed and everyone knows it. Get on unemployment with the rest of America, its over.

yes, Im sure we're on the virge of legalized drugs..

lol

 

[woolfe9999]

yes, Im sure we're on the virge of legalized drugs..

lol

We're on the verge of legalized marijuana. I'd say we'll pass it in CA this November, and I'd predict it will be legalized in half the states within the next 20 years. Harder drugs, you're probably right. We're nowhere close.

- wolf

 

[CallMeJoe]

yes, Im sure we're on the virge of legalized drugs..
lol

The political popularity of drug prohibition doesn't make it right or even intelligent. A century of drug prohibition and four decades of a declared War on Drugs have failed to eliminate illegal drug use. There is little evidence that prohibition has done anything significant to limit the availability of street drugs. If anything, the prohibition has been the greatest direct subsidy possible for the Drug Cartels.

 

[Tom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom
yes, Im sure we're on the virge of legalized drugs..
lol

The political popularity of drug prohibition doesn't make it right or even intelligent. A century of drug prohibition and four decades of a declared War on Drugs have failed to eliminate illegal drug use. There is little evidence that prohibition has done anything significant to limit the availability of street drugs. If anything, the prohibition has been the greatest direct subsidy possible for the Drug Cartels.

It doesn't make it wrong or unintelligent either.
Nobody expects enforcing drug laws would eliminate drug use.
There isn't any evidence it doesn't limit availability.
Drug users subsidize drug cartels.

 

[Tom]

We're on the verge of legalized marijuana. I'd say we'll pass it in CA this November

A new poll shows that 20% of Californians who support legalization aren't sure if it's Tuesday.

 

[sandorski]

It doesn't make it wrong or unintelligent either.
Nobody expects enforcing drug laws would eliminate drug use.
There isn't any evidence it doesn't limit availability.
Drug users subsidize drug cartels.

Even Druggies know of your Fail.

 

[Zstream]

Ok I am confused... Most of the people here want drugs legalized because it reduce the amount of crime and money used to treat people. So, why is it that when gun owners want less regulation that the SAME people say it's a bad idea?

 

[nonlnear]

Ok I am confused... Most of the people here want drugs legalized because it reduce the amount of crime and money used to treat people. So, why is it that when gun owners want less regulation that the SAME people say it's a bad idea?

The people on the "right" who want drugs legalized do nothing of the sort.

 

[CallMeJoe]

The people on the "right" who want drugs legalized do nothing of the sort.

Even some of us on the "left" believe in the sanctity of all the Amendments, including (and especially) the Second.

 

[dank69]

A new poll shows that 20% of Californians who support legalization aren't sure if it's Tuesday.

Do you think the government should be allowed to regulate what you (as an adult) can or cannot put in your body?

 

[nonlnear]

Even some of us on the "left" believe in the sanctity of all the Amendments, including (and especially) the Second.

Admittedly there are some, but the mouthpieces claiming to speak for the "left" rarely acknowledge your existence. Then again the mouthpieces on the "right" have their own insanities...

I've got to pull out of this exchange because using the left/right labels is killing me. I only used "right" the first time because I was going for brevity. I would rather not carry on a real conversation using the wacky labels that are thrown around by pundits. I'm sure you feel the same way, being that you apparently hold opinions that don't fit either of the silly nametags as they are commonly used.

 

[nonlnear]

It doesn't make it wrong or unintelligent either.
Nobody expects enforcing drug laws would eliminate drug use.

So what then do you believe the purpose of enacting a regulation is? If reducing a behavior is not one of the goals, then how is it substantially idfferent from just making the unpopular kid miserable?

There isn't any evidence it doesn't limit availability.

Wut?

Drug users subsidize drug cartels.

Subsidize. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Directly supporting an organization by purchasing their product with an intent to consume (or even further distribute) said product is not a subsidy. The only subsidy the cartels receive is from the government, which induces artificial scarcity and inflated margins by prohibition.

 

[CallMeJoe]

It doesn't make it wrong or unintelligent either.

Would you settle for insane?
According to Albert Einstein, Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Sounds like the Drug War to me...