The war on drugs is a failure. Its time to find another way. Prohibition didnt work and neither is this farce. Perhaps we should start arresting all the old timers. Have you every seen the drugs they have in their homes. The difference, a doctor prescribed them!

Well superdave I’ll give you credit where credit is due, you actually have a rational approach to this subject. Good form. As Mr. Gonzales’ problem and the rest of the country’s problem with the war on drugs, there is obviously something behind the scenes that is keeping this propped up. Some very large money interests have a lot to lose if the war on drugs is not funded. I mean the excrutiatingly obvious facts of just legalizing cannibis and the benefits from it, i.e. just the money saving/making benefits alone should be enough to persuade anyone with a shred of common sense. Between the money not spent on incarceration and prosecution and then add to that the huge tax revenue that could be obtained, you’d think they be chompin at the bit to get at all that money for their other special projects they want to do. Unfortunately too many people think that pot would just completely ruin the fabric of our society and cause our youth to head into a death spiral and thus the end of the world. News flash for anyone who is concerned about medical or otherwise legal marijuana getting into the hands of your children….IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING. And just look, the sky isn’t falling, and there are not riots in the streets, or kids knocking over liquor stores or robbing grandma to go get their pot fix. If they want some now, it’s not exactly that hard to get a hold of. I know lately they have been much more geared toward prescription drugs, you know, the ones that will actually kill you, unlike cannibis which has never killed anyone. The industrial use of hemp is what should really be talked about, but that is another story and a whole other reason why other big money interests want to keep it illegal. I’m thinking California really doesn’t have much choice at this point; they could have a very serious increase in revenue and job creation if they legalized it tomorrow. I mean, why can’t we just try it out in Cali and then use it as a rubric for the rest of the country? Release all of the non-violent marijuana offenders and start treating all the rest of the drug offenders properly. But really, how often does common sense actually influence anything?

This is the beauty of our justice system. Fruitcakes and nutballs in the Missouri Leg can pass laws against whatever they want. They can stiffen penalties, and pass minimum sentencing requirements. Then they go take their Rush approved Oxycontin, repent on Sunday, and get back to the business of making sensational that which has been used safely for thousands of years. I’m talking about Cannabis and the jury system.

It’s already starting. Juries across the country are beginning to realize the power that they have. The jury has the authority to make a law laughable.

Jellio:
You are correct, and it is time juries across the land stood up and said that pot laws are bad laws. If we refuse to convict. the offender goes free. Do it enough times and the laws will be changed. If I were to every be busted with weed, I would refuse anything except a jury trial. Of all of the potheads in prison I will bet you 98%$ of them plea bargained. I believe you would be hard pressed to find a jury who would convict an average Joe for possession. I have smoked pot most of my life. I have a job. Run my own business, own my home, 2 cars, and raise my way to smart son. Who by the way is 4 years old, and has been reading for 4 or 5 months now. It is long past time that the failed War on Drugs was put aside. The people’s whose lives were destroyed given their freedom, and in most cases I’d say pardons would be in order. The legalization, would contribute 1000’s of jobs nation wide. Plus billions in new taxes. Our new motto should be “Legalize and tax, NOW!!!”

Marijuana, and maybe a few other recreational drugs, might be legalized soon! It hinges upon display of mature behavior, though. Alcohol users are bad enough, with their DWI/DUI misbehavior, but tobacco smokers are worse. Tobacco use, though legal, angers a lot of people when a few stink up the air for the many. If only they could prove responsibility for keeping their smoke and stink out of the air that others breathe, then maybe, just maybe, marijuana could be legalized, regulated, and taxed.

But NO! Tobacco users continue to demonstrate lack of maturity and an inability to control themselves. They figure “it’s legal, I can pretty much smoke where I please, as long as there’s other smokers around and no authorities telling me to stop.” As long as “adults” behave that way with that kind of attitude, authorities are extremely unlikely to legalize another pungent irritating smoking substance.

I would like to see pot legalized, a few others, too. Not that I care to use them myself, but just so people can make a choice and consume an intoxicating gift of nature without fear of imprisonment. But people are going to have to show they can consume intoxicants responsibly, first, and smokers and drinkers continue setting a very poor example.

On a very narrow scope I can, for once, agree with the liberal extremists. The war on drugs should end. Drug abuse should be decriminalized. Government should stop trying to interfere with those who choose to abuse personally harmful substances.

However, government must simultaneously stop the taxpayer funded social engineering programs and handouts that enable drug users. Fail your drug test; lose your benefits. No rent subsidies, Medicaid, food subsidies, SSI cash, or other goodies from people who work while you get high. Drug dependency will no longer automatically qualify you for taxpayer dependency. Steal or kill to support your dope lifestyle; go to jail. No plea bargains, no parole, no suspended sentence. Go to jail. Choose life or choose drugs, but don’t expect society to pay for your choice.

Of course the Left would never stand by and see people suffer the natural consequences of their own actions. Instead they prefer to encourage more of the same behavior in the next generation and garner more worshipers for the government church.

A#, when did I become a liberal extremist? You are really going to piss off some of the Socialist liberals who hate me. LOL

Hey, we have to face reality. The war on drugs is not only lost but actually pretty stupid. People will continue to use. We can all agree that nearly anything anyone uses to extreme is not good. You have people eating until they look like they are going to explode and then they end up on some type of disability which we all pay for. Every time I see a fat kid I want to slap mom and dad. However, usually Mom and Dad are the ones that are ready to explode.

There’s just too much to accomplish and our resources can be put to better use. Actually if drugs aren’t illegal then that takes away from the crime rate right away.

I would go even farther: legalize ALL drugs, establish a strong (but not extreme) tax on the stronger ones, and use the money exclusively for treatment, education, and prevention.

Yes, I said ALL recreational drugs, including crack, heroin, and meth.

Not because we should be taking these drugs; we absolutely should NOT. But they’re illegal now, and look at what’s happening.

Legalize and educate, and take away the moral stigma, and what happens? drug use goes down, and more importantly, CRIME goes down. And not just here.

What do you think will happen in Mexico, Colombia, Afghanistan, etc., when drugs are legal, and taxable by the state? How much support do you think the cartels or the taliban will have at that point?

Plus we can spend less domestically on prisons and law enforcement, and more on, oh, I don’t know, maybe ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT or HEALTH CARE?

recreational drug use can be terribly destructive, and I absolutely discourage it. But that doesn’t make it immoral or illegal. Cars can be (and frequently are) terribly destructive too, but noone seems to be banning autos because of traffic fatalities or drive-bys, are they?

A little common sense would go a long way.

Did I just see a winged pig fly by my window?

Jimmy Russel and Superdave on the SAME SIDE of a question?

I agree. The war on drugs is a stupid waste of resources. There are so many bizarre laws that target specific groups within it all…and many are blatantly discriminatory to boot…

I’d suggest it work like this:

The “recreational users”: Tax it and leave them alone.

Addicts: treat them

Hard core pushers, meth manufacturers, etc? We’ve got a lot of trash that needs to be picked up on the streets. Have them do something useful.

However…don’t you realize that if you release all the non-violent drug offenders, you’ll have to close some prisons, and you’ll create economic hardship in small towns because of it? Remember, a prison is an economic benefit to the communities that house them. Personally, I’d like to think that there are creative people in those places who could find ways to do better, but what do I know?

“However, government must simultaneously stop the taxpayer funded social engineering programs and handouts that enable drug users. Fail your drug test; lose your benefits. No rent subsidies, Medicaid, food subsidies, SSI cash, or other goodies from people who work while you get high. Drug dependency will no longer automatically qualify you for taxpayer dependency. Steal or kill to support your dope lifestyle; go to jail. No plea bargains, no parole, no suspended sentence. Go to jail. Choose life or choose drugs, but don’t expect society to pay for your choice.”

Absolutely.

“Marijuana, and maybe a few other recreational drugs, might be legalized soon! It hinges upon display of mature behavior, though. Alcohol users are bad enough, with their DWI/DUI misbehavior”

I’m not picking on you, I’m just clearing up a few misconceptions you have. There are a LOT of pot smokers in this country alone. Pot is the number one cash crop in this country and none of it gets taxed. Of course the inflated price due to the black market has something to do with that too but the huge amount of consumption is just as much. So in effect, how much would really change? It’s not like its that hard to get a hold of anyways, and most people that want to smoke it pretty much do. I know many different people who catch a buzz and you can’t tell them really from either state of being. And really, how often do you hear of someone driving down the wrong way on a street and taking someone out cause they were high? I’m not saying it should’nt be restricted just as alchohol, but we all know those don’t do a very great job of keeping kids from getting a hold of it, yet we don’t change them, right? And then this statement:

“…but just so people can make a choice and consume an intoxicating gift of nature without fear of imprisonment.”

If it has to be processed with chemicals, it’s not gift of nature, it’s gift of chemistry. Very few drugs fall into this realm compared to the highly addictive choices like heroin, oxy, crack, coke, meth, just to name a few. But, I’d rather see them legal and kept track of and treated than to stay Illegal and maintain the status quo, which isn’t real f’n great. Hell maybe if they just start with pot everyone will just forget about the hard stuff and go for the cheaper, safer, legal approach when they actually have something to weigh it against. Maybe just wishfull thinking, I know there would at least always be a fringe of hardcore users.

And Hs, all of your points are not lost on me. I know at first it’s gonna hurt. But not even for the sake of the economy am I prepared to take a chunk of someones life away for something so harmless. I like to think that the economic spurt from the legalization would help to counteract any impact, but again, maybe just wishfull thinking.

Jimmy, my tongue was firmly in cheek on the prisons comment…

As far as the “hard stuff” goes (and less so for pot) the question of how to regulate sales is one that will take some work. I know that some states (Ohio and New Hampshire are two that I know of) only allow sales of hard liquor (anything distilled, pretty much) at State stores. Maybe that is the easiest way. That way, the excise tax would be paid directly to the agency that would try to collect it.

By the way, one of the biggest problems with street meth, for example, are the impurities from basement manufacture. If it was manufactured under controlled, sanitary conditions, I’d suggest that a lot of the really bad problems would vanish.

I can’t really disagree with you anywhere in that Hs, but you know as well as I do if we have State run convienence stores selling us booze and drugs, the republicans will cry conspiracy that the evil liberal oppression is just dumbing us down even more for our imprisonment and eventual world uniformity.
But let em, I’ll just smile and laugh while I’m playing my guitar.