Federal Legalization of Pot? Good idea...Bad idea?

[woodswise]

Make all drugs legal and tax theml, would save taxpayers billions every year. People who take illegal substances will find a way to get them. People who do not use illegal substances will not start using them just because its now legal......So tax the people who are the users.

Making drugs legal will also curb gang activity as they wont have anything to sell, they would actually have to go get a JOB. Crime rates will go down, which equals less money spent on fighting crime.....

This is my thinking exactly.

My friends who are opposed to legalization are afraid that drug abuse will increase with legalization. But the countries where drugs are legal apparently don't have a higher addiction rate than the US, so I think that shows drug abuse rates are independent of legality. Also there are other studies that show addiction is more a result of people feeling marginalized or mental illness, so the more alienated or depressed you feel or the more mentally ill you are, the morel likely you are to become addicted to drugs. The best counteraction to this is social services and mental health counseling.

So imagine this, we legalize drugs and instead of spending money on putting drug dealers and abusers in jail, we spend that money on social services, lifting people up, and mental health counseling.

 

[Fury]

I loved chin Chong movies expecially 'up in smoke'

 

[BigGameHunter]

This is my thinking exactly.

My friends who are opposed to legalization are afraid that drug abuse will increase with legalization. But the countries where drugs are legal apparently don't have a higher addiction rate than the US, so I think that shows drug abuse rates are independent of legality. Also there are other studies that show addiction is more a result of people feeling marginalized or mental illness, so the more alienated or depressed you feel or the more mentally ill you are, the morel likely you are to become addicted to drugs. The best counteraction to this is social services and mental health counseling.

So imagine this, we legalize drugs and instead of spending money on putting drug dealers and abusers in jail, we spend that money on social services, lifting people up, and mental health counseling.

Its worth a try WW.

 

[Regulator]

Seriously?

Am I missing something? Seriously? Do you think it's a drug? I mean go ahead and put Tabbacco as a drug if that's the case.

 

[JR Ewing]

I think we should spend any federal govt money we save paying down the enormous debt - not on MORE govt programs.

I just don't think it's a good idea to make crank, crack, smack, angel dust, etc legal. I don't see how anything good can come from it being condoned, and it wouldn't surprise me to see junkies' ambulance chasers start suing the government for "damages" if we ever get to a point where junkies can buy these drugs legally.

 

[matthewk04]

What is wrong with each person (and the government) just letting other people live their own lives as they see fit as long as they are not hurting anyone else? I could give a fvck less if my gay neighbors get married or happen to smoke weed. None of my goddamn business if they do. Give parents the responsibility and legal authority to control and discipline their own kids, and end this government moral majority big brother shit once and for all. Just because little Johnny smoked too much weed and crashed his mom's car is no reason to eliminate the freedom for everyone else! If you (or little Johnny) hurt someone else by your poor choices, whatever they might be, then you must pay the price. But getting high, in and of itself, causes no harm to anyone but that person and is none of the government's business whatsoever.

This sums it up.

 

[SAD]

I don't mind the idea of full legalization of all drugs, because down here in the sunshine state, I'll be protected when I start mowing down crack heads who threaten the ground I stand on. Those of you in more liberal states should move before they do that, because you'll start looking like crossfitters from all the running your state requires you to do to get away from potential threats. Maybe an exaggeration, but it's fairly on point.

My solution would be to fully legalize pot and educate from an early age on its drawbacks and benefits. For everything else (hard drugs like coke and crack and meth) decriminalize and instead of throwing them in jail, "arrest" them and throw them in rehab. It worked for the Dutch...

 

[SAD]

Am I missing something? Seriously? Do you think it's a drug? I mean go ahead and put Tabbacco as a drug if that's the case.

As big a fan I am of a relaxing toke, I still can't agree with you here. Tobacco IS a drug. So is pot. So is peyote. So is salvia. All are natural as hell, and all can have negatives associated with their use.

 

[PillarofBalance]

I think pot should be decriminalized - if you want to smoke up in the privacy of your own home without endangering anyone else, you should be allowed. And it's a huge waste of resources when cops chase down some kid with $10 worth of weed.

Anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a big govt person - I am very much the opposite - quite libertarian.

But one of the very few functions of government should be to protect people from harm and fraud, and that includes protecting the general public and those who cannot take care of themselves FROM themselves... therefore, hard drugs such as PCP, smack, crack, coke, etc should remain illegal and definitely NOT ever be available OTC or anything - because those who use these drugs clearly need to be protected from their own stupidity, and the general public at large also needs to be protected from that same stupidity users of these drugs exhibit in using them.

Flame away...

Didn't figure you for a nanny stater. That's dissapointing.

 

[Realize]

I think we should spend any federal govt money we save paying down the enormous debt - not on MORE govt programs.

I just don't think it's a good idea to make crank, crack, smack, angel dust, etc legal. I don't see how anything good can come from it being condoned, and it wouldn't surprise me to see junkies' ambulance chasers start suing the government for "damages" if we ever get to a point where junkies can buy these drugs legally.

Thats why I support the idea of decriminalization not total legalization.
It's not like going in to the store and seeing a bag of meth right next to the candy bars...and the drugs you mention are actual drugs so I dont condone that at all.

 

[Jenner]

Great idea...get it done and lets move on to more important shit...............................................................................

 

[JR Ewing]

Didn't figure you for a nanny stater. That's dissapointing.

Not a nanny stater.

There are limits. You cannot yell "fire!" in a crowded theater. You cannot build a nuclear bomb or a meth / PCP / crack / smack lab in your basement, nor can you go buy these things at Walmart or a pharmacy. You cannot possess cyanide nor plutonium.

Please tell me why PCP, cocaine, heroin, and meth should be legalized? Would you want your kids going into the store and buying these things, having these things slipped into their drinks, or even just condoning your kids using these drugs in the privacy of their own homes?