Okay...maybe I should clarify or rephrase myself on this. I am referring to the drug dealers. I really don't see a legalization of weed really doing anything. I still feel like what goes on now would continue. Maybe I am way off base here.

People would (presumedly) stop buying weed illegally, and much of the drug violence would end. Although I'm really not sure how much violence comes out of marijuana trafficking.

People would (presumedly) stop buying weed illegally, and much of the drug violence would end. Although I'm really not sure how much violence comes out of marijuana trafficking.

 

Marijuana is still a huge chunk of what's coming across the border with Mexico. If it makes money, there are guns behind it.

If it makes money, there are guns behind it.

That's a good point. Heck, even the goldmine we call BGP has guns behind it.

I have to ask...which ones?

Honestly? Most of them, a victimless crime IMO.

After reading through this thread, I have a question for you guys which hasn't been addressed yet...

 

Say weed is legalized, what's stops people from continuing to grow it on their own? I don't partake in it, but if I did why would I buy it at a liquor store or whatever, would I still want to buy it the same way that I always have because it would be cheaper for me? I would think a majority of people would still grow their own and it might not really cut down anything.

Quality. It's like brewing your own beer vs. buying brewed beer.

You do realize that prohibition created organized crime in the United States don't you? It may have been here before, but it was never very lucrative until prohibition.

 

Do you think having laws banning alcohol or drugs stop people from using those substances? During the prohibition years many people continued to drink alcohol via speakeasies.

 

If you outlaw something and a large number of people still want it, they will get it no matter what.

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Honestly? Most of them, a victimless crime IMO.

 

Nice.

There are many other things that are illegal that are still happening. Should we legalize them too because criminals won't stop doing them.

 

Drunk driving rules sure haven't stopped drunk driving. Legalize it.

How about outlawing murder. That sure hasn't stopping murders. Legalize it and tax it for the revenue. You murder someone and you have to pay a tax. You could make a killing off of it.

 

 

While we're at it we should also outlaw stupidity and restrict who is and isn't allowed to have kids in order to keep inferior breeds of intellect from further diluting the gene pool.

And replaced with deaths from drunk driving.

And who can say how many drunken beatings, rape, broken marriages, and abuse cases could be traced to the legalization and easy access to alcohol.

 

You legalize something like drugs and it ain't going to make everything roses.

 

 

 

Legalizing some drugs certainly won't make everything all fine and dandy, but frankly we are inherently flawed creatures who are going to mess up pretty often. Of the substances that we imbibe those that are not particularly harmful IN AND OF THEMSELVES should be legal. I have no desire to use them, nor can I really understand it however I don't think it should be illegal.

You do realize that prohibition created organized crime in the United States don't you? It may have been here before, but it was never very lucrative until prohibition.

 

Do you think having laws banning alcohol or drugs stop people from using those substances? During the prohibition years many people continued to drink alcohol via speakeasies.

 

If you outlaw something and a large number of people still want it, they will get it no matter what.

 

 

And...we...have...a...........................................................................

 

 

 

WINNER!!!!

After reading through this thread, I have a question for you guys which hasn't been addressed yet...

 

Say weed is legalized, what's stops people from continuing to grow it on their own? I don't partake in it, but if I did why would I buy it at a liquor store or whatever, would I still want to buy it the same way that I always have because it would be cheaper for me? I would think a majority of people would still grow their own and it might not really cut down anything.

 

I'm not sure there would be a problem with growing it on your own. However I'm sure a lot of people would much rather just go to the store and buy it rather than take the time and effort growing it.

 

People would still grow it on their own, the same way moonshiners still make corn likker. Last time I checked, moonshinin's still illegal. Why? It hasn't been taxed.

Criminalizing drugs has created a sub-culture similar to what HB mentions with organized crime during the prohibition. Criminalizing drugs has done the following:

 

Created an illicit aura that appeals to a certain segment of our population...a "coolness" for lack of a better term.

 

Created a culture where the illicit sale of drugs is so lucrative that it's worth the risk of death.

 

Created a culture that operates largely outside the norms of society, with it's own set of "laws".

 

I don't know if I want drugs legalized. But, I definitely can see the effects of criminalizing them. I hate that there even has to be this debate, but I definitely abhor the degeneration I see on the "streets" and the destruction of families. It's a really complicated issue, and it's more complicated by the decades and even generations of criminals created.

Edited February 14, 200917 yr by rockmom

"In 1980, before the Reagan-era wars on crime and drugs took off, the total jail and prison population was 540,000, or about one-quarter the size it is today. Drug offenders accounted for a measly 6% of all prisoners, compared to nearly one-quarter today. By 1989, the Reagan revolution -- with the aide of a Democratically-controlled Congress -- had doubled the inmate population to a million, and made the turn of the century, the figure had doubled again to two million -- all in an era of declining crime rates."

 

It's obvious it is not working , but I don't really want to drive on the streets with anymore of them than we already do. I also believe a lot of those involved are responsible for the misuse of firearms, thus the cry for more gun controll.

 

Below is where I found this. It's a couple of years old.

 

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/437/overathousand.shtml

Nice.

Care to add something more than just "nice"? If you disagree, fine, but let's hear why.

Are you telling me it isn't a victim-less crime?

Are you just not happy with my post?

Do you feel I'm being unfair in some way?

 

:idunno:

Criminalizing drugs has created a sub-culture similar to what HB mentions with organized crime during the prohibition. Criminalizing drugs has done the following:

 

Created an illicit aura that appeals to a certain segment of our population...a "coolness" for lack of a better term.

 

Created a culture where the illicit sale of drugs is so lucrative that it's worth the risk of death.

 

Created a culture that operates largely outside the norms of society, with it's own set of "laws".

 

I don't know if I want drugs legalized. But, I definitely can see the effects of crimalizing them. I hate that there even has to be this debate, but I definitely abhor the degeneration I see on the "streets" and the destruction of families. It's a really complicated issue, and it's more complicated by the decades and even generations of criminals created.

Well stated, rockmom. :thumb: