Drug Decriminalization

[bbyrd009]

I am for decriminalization of everything,
and believe that personal responsibility
is the only way.
We are taught in rehab that the exact
same percentage of rehab people
as those who do not go thru a formal rehab
defeat their addictions, for the simple reason
that it is when one decides to get clean that they get clean.

Being as how I can get anything "illegal"
from someone in High School, this seems
to effectively negate any war on drugs, to me.

My war on drugs involves the position that
if you are addicted to something, you are
going to pay a price that I am not willing
to support you in.

[Dedicated Mind]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

How does america makew money off illegal drugs? Also explain how its racist?

titus2woman covered it pretty well. huge contracts go into feeding and housing criminals. more fines, lawyers fees and court costs. it actually costs america more money and is a burden to the system than to have rehab programs. blacks use more crack and whites use more cocaine, but the penalties for crack are greater than for cocaine even though it is same drug. more minorities are targeted for drug possesion than whites living in affluent neighborhoods even though usage percentages may be the same. studies have been shown to prove this. even conservatives like george will favor decriminalization because it costs the state too much, but the prison contracts are raking in big bucks. more minorities with felonies means less voters and less job opportunities keeping non violent minorities oppressed.

[jediwill83]

Im for decriminalization....I think its a racket...when we are building more prisons and people are making a killing the more prisons that are built and the more prisoners they have in those prisons and also when pot users have harsher sentences than violent offenders...somethings wrong with that picture...if they aren't a hardened criminal when they go in...you can be sure they probably will when they come out.

[Aquila]

And anyone who has ever smoked MJ normally asks, "What's the big deal? Why is this so illegal? Dude, that picket fense is funny!!! Pass the Doritos..." lol

[Truthseeker]

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

titus2woman covered it pretty well. huge contracts go into feeding and housing criminals. more fines, lawyers fees and court costs. it actually costs america more money and is a burden to the system than to have rehab programs. blacks use more crack and whites use more cocaine, but the penalties for crack are greater than for cocaine even though it is same drug. more minorities are targeted for drug possesion than whites living in affluent neighborhoods even though usage percentages may be the same. studies have been shown to prove this. even conservatives like george will favor decriminalization because it costs the state too much, but the prison contracts are raking in big bucks. more minorities with felonies means less voters and less job opportunities keeping non violent minorities oppressed.

So the gov doesn't want to decrease prisons because it cost so much, prisons have pull to keep them open? When a robbery is reported in my area seems like 90% of suspects are minorities. I don't know of one minority that didn't want to make it or do right that didn't.

[Michael The Disciple]

So those for legalization think about the people who are now going around trying to eat other people. Multiply that by many thousands of times. Also Marijuana is not as harmless as some people think. I smoked hundreds of times as a hippie and yes it can certainly be addictive and cause mental damage and is a gateway drug if nothing else. Society would be better off without it.

[AreYouReady?]

Originally Posted by Aquila

And anyone who has ever smoked MJ normally asks, "What's the big deal? Why is this so illegal? Dude, that picket fense is funny!!! Pass the Doritos..." lol

Why is it that Doritos always seems to be the food of choice when a pothead gets the munchies?

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

So the gov doesn't want to decrease prisons because it cost so much, prisons have pull to keep them open? When a robbery is reported in my area seems like 90% of suspects are minorities. I don't know of one minority that didn't want to make it or do right that didn't.

I am really not sure what to say to this... although it's easy to say that someone who really wants to make it will and make it sound like fact it is a fallacy.

60 minutes did a show several years back. In it they filmed two college friends who were from nearly identical backgrounds and had similar educations. Both were attractive, the same age, height/weight proportionate, etc. Both were intelligent and articulate. Difference: one black, one white.

They secretly filmed themselves applying for jobs, trying to find housing and shopping. Time after time the black man was told that an apartment was already rented, a position already filled etc. and the white fellow following behind him was offered shelter and employment. More than once the white fellow was offered help when shopping and the black man was ignored or worse yet followed around as if he were going to steal something.

As a person who always believed that 'anyone who wants to can make it' I was horrified... and still am. I am not sure what you consider 'wanting to make it' but I believe that most people, not able to house themselves or feed their families would be inclined to consider crime as an alternative. And many people who have 'made it' have not always been angelic... they just were not caught.

Very grey...

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple

So those for legalization think about the people who are now going around trying to eat other people. Multiply that by many thousands of times. Also Marijuana is not as harmless as some people think. I smoked hundreds of times as a hippie and yes it can certainly be addictive and cause mental damage and is a gateway drug if nothing else. Society would be better off without it.

Yeah maybe... but I've never known someone to smoke a joint and beat the snot out of their wife, start fights with neighbors, beat their kids, vomit all over themselves, wreck cars, etc. like they do on alcohol, yet it is legal. The biggest problem is that they seem to lose motivation... not a huge problem in a generation where video games, tv and overeating are how most people spend their free time anyway... I not sure that being stoned is a hindrance to any of those things.

[Michael The Disciple]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

Yeah maybe... but I've never known someone to smoke a joint and beat the snot out of their wife, start fights with neighbors, beat their kids, vomit all over themselves, wreck cars, etc. like they do on alcohol, yet it is legal. The biggest problem is that they seem to lose motivation... not a huge problem in a generation where video games, tv and overeating are how most people spend their free time anyway... I not sure that being stoned is a hindrance to any of those things.

I was also a drinker for some years and I actually agree with your analysis between pot and alcohol. Nonetheless speaking for the education of those who may not know Marijuana can be very dangerous. Not always but you never know what you are getting hold of till you do it.

I stopped one day to buy a lid off a guy on the way to work. It was Jamacian and I thought I will just take a few hits to test it out. Within just a few minutes it felt like I was tripping. Then I had to drive to work and face several hours of the worse time I ever had on the job. I was so glad when I came down. Due to my altered perception I could have been killed or killed someone else there.

Because I know the potential of how hard a Marijuana stone can be I certainly dont see it as just a small thing.