If you support keeping drugs illegal

[Primo832641]

if all drugs were legalized there would be a new elite group of people who have been using all along or can handle drugs better than others which would soon rise to the top of society...i could see corporate execs and stock brokers railing lines of blow or popping some adderals for a week completely giving them an inhumane leg up on their competition allowing them to destroy anyone who can't handle the drug or refuses to use on ethical grounds.

[Ars moriendi]

Originally Posted by Primo832641

if all drugs were legalized there would be a new elite group of people who have been using all along or can handle drugs better than others which would soon rise to the top of society...i could see corporate execs and stock brokers railing lines of blow or popping some adderals for a week completely giving them an inhumane leg up on their competition allowing them to destroy anyone who can't handle the drug or refuses to use on ethical grounds.

so? if someone is better at math or has a higher IQ is that somehow an unfair advantage? fuck no just because the use of chemicals aids ones climb up the social economic ladder means fuck all it's not my fault one dude is a burn out skid and one is able to handle 2 weeks without sleep working his ass off for a big paycheck 'n jealousy doesn't and shouldn't come into play if said skid is somehow hurt by the fact that he's an unproductive loser with respect to roids and uppers allowing anyone in a given sport advantage...if it's legal they all can take 'em and if they choose to fail by not keeping up then thats on them

[pistol-whippen]

Originally Posted by Subnoize_Stoner

You support robberies and assaults on innocent people.

The high prices of drugs caused by prohibition force many drug addicts to turn to robbery in order to pay for their drugs. Legalization would drop drug prices. Drug users would no longer need to rob/assault innocent people in order to support their drug habit. This violence against innocent people would end if drugs were legalized.

You support clogging our prisons and jails with nonviolent people.

Nearly 50% of all people in prison and jail are serving time for nonviolent drug charges. There are thousands of people in prisons for 5, 10, 50 years--even life--for possessing marijuana or cocaine! The average rapist is set free after serving only 3 years in prison, the average murderer is set free after serving only 9 years in prison! To house just one prisoner for one year costs the taxpayer $40,000! The result of these harsh penalties? Drug use has increased! (Tough laws have not stopped me from using marijuana--nor will they ever!)

You support organized crime and drug cartels.

Huge drug cartels and criminal organizations thrive off the enormous profits caused by drug prohibition. These organizations are responsible for thousands of murders! Many of people killed or hurt are innocent people who get in the way! These violent organizations will never be put out of business--unless drugs are legalized.

You support environmental destruction.

Underground cocaine and methamphetamine labs use toxic chemicals to produce those drugs--the wastes are recklessly dumped in forests and streams. These highly toxic chemicals are causing major environmental damage in South American rainforests and now in the U.S. This environmental destruction will stop only if drugs are legalized.

You support drug dealers and street gangs.

Drug dealers and street gangs fight over drug territories. Thousands of people are murdered and assaulted because of this fighting--many are innocent people who get in the way. This violence is another result of the huge profits caused by drug prohibition.

You lure thousands of young people into quitting school.

It is a fact that thousands of inner-city youths drop out of school to make enormous profits by selling drugs. The incentive to drop out of school would end if drugs were legalized.

You do nothing to keep drugs away from kids or out of schools.

In spite of what you may believe, keeping drugs illegal does not keep drugs away from children! Drugs are easily obtainable in almost every high school in America. Legalizing drugs would put schoolyard drug dealers out of business! There would be less drugs in our schools if drugs were legalized. Drugs would still be illegal for minors!

You subsidize criminals by letting them reap huge drug profits without paying taxes.

Since drugs are sold anyway, wouldn’t you rather have them heavily taxed so it would reduce your tax burden? You are giving criminals a free ride and it’s coming out of your own pocket. Working people pay 100% of all taxes for the drug dealers! Why do you want to pay taxes for drug dealers?

You advocate punishing millions of harmless drug users (like me) at an enormous cost to society.

If you believe drugs should be illegal, then you advocate spending your tax dollars to arrest/jail/punish millions of productive, honest, and harmless working people (like myself). Why? We hurt nobody! Who benefits from this policy? Nobody! Who loses from this policy? Everybody! Drug users can only hurt themselves. But the drug war harms/kills hundreds of thousands of innocent people and burdens you--the taxpayer. The drug war costs you hundreds of dollars every year! The drug war has not reduced drug use!

Prohibitionists claim drugs must be illegal because they harm people. Why are prohibitionists so concerned about what other people do to themselves? Why do they feel it is their responsibility and right to control the lifestyles of other adults? The prohibitionists tell stories of people who hurt themselves with illegal drugs. So what? For every one person who has been harmed with illegal drugs, there are dozens of people who have used illegal drugs and were not harmed. For every one person who has been harmed by illegal drugs, there are 1,000 people who harm/kill themselves by deliberately choosing these harmful lifestyles...

• Being overweight
• Smoking cigarettes
• Watching too much TV
• Eating high-fat/high-cholesterol diets
• Eating too much meat
• Participating in dangerous sports/activities
• Drinking alcohol
• Eating too much sugar
• Eating too few fruits/vegetables
• Drinking too much coffee
• Getting little/no exercise

Why don’t the prohibitionists advocate banning all of the above harmful lifestyles? The prohibitionists tolerate people who hurt/kill themselves with tobacco, alcohol, poor diet, or no exercise, but they refuse to tolerate people who harm themselves with cocaine. Why? Inconsistent! Illogical! Irrational! We now come to the real reason why marijuana, cocaine, LSD, and other drugs are illegal: Lifestyle control! Prohibitionists fear that if drugs are legalized, the “drug culture” will spread to the rest of society. Nobody can force others to use drugs! Adults must take responsibility for their own health! Because the prohibitionists have decided that drugs are wrong for them does not give them the right to force their lifestyle on others. Prohibitionists want government to play the role of parent. Prohibitionists believe they must babysit adults. Prohibitionists are the lifestyle police!
In the last 25 years, per capita alcohol and tobacco consumption has decreased significantly. This was accomplished by education and treatment, not by threat of punishment! Drug use/abuse would drop significantly if we spent our resources on education and treatment instead of law enforcement. No rational person would call for imprisonment of smokers and drinkers in order to reduce tobacco and alcohol use. But that method is exactly how we try to reduce drug use. The savings to be had in ending the drug war could easily pay for all the drug treatment and education programs we need. The drug war is a failure! Education and treatment work!
If you don’t like a culture or a lifestyle, don’t live it! If you don’t like alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs, don’t use them! But don’t ban my personal lifestyle for fear it will poison your lifestyle. Adults must take responsibility for their own actions! It is a flagrant violation of individual freedom to threaten others with punishment just because they choose a lifestyle that is not right for you.
I will continue to smoke marijuana and enjoy it! I hurt nobody! If others do not approve of what I do to myself in my own home, too bad! I may not care for the music you listen to, the food you eat, or the culture you have adopted, but I would never advocate punishing you because I don’t like your lifestyle. If someone violates the rights of others, the violater should be punished; otherwise, people should mind their own business. Adults who use drugs responsibly--whether they be tobacco, alcohol, LSD, or marijuana--cause no harm to others! Leave us alone!
If you still believe drugs should be illegal, answer this question... Why do you believe it is good policy to punish me--and 20 million adult Americans like me--because I choose to use marijuana in the privacy of my own home? Who benefits from this policy and how do they benefit?

Total cost of drug prohibition

• Over 300,000 nonviolent people lose their freedom to prison/jail.
• Thousands of murders, assaults, and robberies caused by drug crimes.
• $20 billion/year in law enforcement costs.
• $10 billion/year in lost tax revenue (similar to alcohol tax).
• $5 billion/year in property losses due to drug-related crimes.
• $50 billion/year and 500,000 jobs lost because of no hemp industry.

Total cost = $85 billion/year = $500 per taxpayer every year! Harmful Effects?

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ur a fucking moron, these violent acts will still happen for different reasons, drugs should be illegal, they cause this shit, it will not stop it will happen for other reasons, dont say it will stop simply by legalizing coke or crack or heroin(although never met a heroin addict that wasnt calm) and users will get worse, crank will become like pot and kids will be buying it instead of pot, besides your ignorance thinking all this starts over drug money makes you seem somewhat under age, no offense, not saying you are, but u sound it, granted yea some of this is caused by drug users but not all

[John_Galt]

Originally Posted by pistol-whippen

ur a fucking moron, these violent acts will still happen for different reasons, drugs should be illegal, they cause this shit, it will not stop it will happen for other reasons, dont say it will stop simply by legalizing coke or crack or heroin(although never met a heroin addict that wasnt calm) and users will get worse, crank will become like pot and kids will be buying it instead of pot, besides your ignorance thinking all this starts over drug money makes you seem somewhat under age, no offense, not saying you are, but u sound it, granted yea some of this is caused by drug users but not all

HOLY BLOCK QUOTE, BATMAN! Try not to quote the entire original post in yours. It takes up bandwidth and is just a bitch for our servers. Not to mention, hard to read.

The fact is, most of the violence is caused by gangs who fight over turfs to sell their drugs on. That's because the use of drugs doesn't cause crime, the sale of drugs causes crime. If you make something illegal, it becomes a black market commodity. that's what the black market is: the sale of illicit materials. the problem with that is that there is no way to regulate a black market and no way to solve disputes, except through violence. In a regular market, you can file a lawsuit or call the police. In a black market, you can't. Therefore, violence becomes your only solution for resolving disputes. It's just basic logic.

Now, some people will argue that legalization will increase drug use, which could cause violence by those intoxicated. That sounds like a valid arguement, except for one small detail: the United States is still #1 in drug use, despite it's legal status. Amsterdam doesn't even come near us in terms us drug use. We've got more than twice as many Marijuana users (42% vs 20%, used in lifetime), and eight times as many cocaine users (16% vs 1.9%). Countries in which marijuana use is legal have half of the drug use that other countries do. You could say that's a statistical fluke, but if you look at the studies, you will see that, very consistently, the countries with liberal drug policies have less drug use. (Edit: Whoops, forgot to cite my source. http://blog.norml.org/2008/07/01/were-1/ .)

[89 Vision]

legalize it

[manbearpigx]

i would say that "drugs" should stay illegal. weed isnt a "drug" its a plant that simple gives pleasure. The us would be a cluster fuck if meth and crach was legal... what needs to be done is have the addicts sent to a rehab or a place where people are going to help them instead of throwing them in jail...


drug addicts are good people in a dangeruous addiction, take away the addiction and they remain good people, so why throw them in jail?

[Ars moriendi]

^ judging by your post if weed isn't a drug it should still be illegal if everyone acts as daft as you bro

John_Galt hit the nail on the head

the black market causes the problems not the chemicals so all this talk of rehab for coke/meth/ect users is silly

if someone works their job better stoned/tweaked/coked out/drunk/what have you then it's not a negative

just because the system has demonized many of these chemicals doesn't mean a legal system of usage would somehow cause chaos