Noan Finley says, "Legalize Drugs"

**gnome** · April-09-09, 05:33 AM

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...n+the+drug+war

Mexico's drug-fueled lawlessness is surging over our border. More than half our prison inmates are in for drug crimes, contributing to the shameful fact that Michigan spends more on Corrections than we do on colleges.
Detroit and other big cities have been dismantled by the drug gangs.
And the number of addicts remains constant.

This is a classic military quagmire. We respond to losing by deploying more troops instead of questioning the mission's viability. In 1986, Congress escalated spending, with the goal of ending the narcotics trade in 10 years.
And now we're about to undergo another major escalation to keep the anarchy in Mexico from destabilizing parts of our country.

Why not try something new? Take away the crime, and get rid of the criminals.
The drug cartels wouldn't have a market for their contraband if we legalized drugs. They'd be as obsolete as the Purple Gang.

Well, a conservative republican comes out in support of the legalize-it crowd. Better check on the temp in hell, I get the feeling it is pretty chilly.

With pot, cocaine and heroin legal ... can you imagine how much money won't be spent controlling the uncontrollable?

**East Detroit** · April-09-09, 05:51 AM

What makes him think the Purple Gang is obsolete?

**Crumbled_pavement** · April-09-09, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

With pot, cocaine and heroin legal ... can you imagine how much money won't be spent controlling the uncontrollable?

My question is this: if those drugs were legalized, would something stronger come out and continue to fuel the drug war? New drugs come out all the time.

**gnome** · April-09-09, 01:21 PM

I should have put the ellipses in a better location.

with pot, cocaine, heroin and ... legal

But you are correct, folks will dream up new ways to get blurry. It is the human condition. For some reason we like blurry.

I guess, my point with starting the thread was to point out that a mainstream Republican opinion maker/influencer had touched a third-rail for the law-and-order crowd. Granted Nolan stated view is not new, but within the Republican Party it is new. One could view his opinion as an appeal to the Libertarian wing [[get Government out of my personal business) of the Party, hence I wonder if Nolan's view will find any traction within the Repub powerbrokers.

If the Republican Party would take up the five-leafed flag, I wonder what collection of supporters they would find in their tent.

hmm, Gannon, Lowell and Django voting a straight Republican ticket? Surely, the seas would turn to fire, cats and dogs would marry, as the GOP becomes the Gram Ol Party.

**Sstashmoo** · April-09-09, 02:08 PM

Can't control it, so do away with the laws? Where do you stop that practice? Following that same logic, Rape is really just sex anyway. And murder? we all gotta go sometime.

Start enforcing the laws. Ever wonder why people rarely rob post offices? Stiff penalties.

**Gistok** · April-09-09, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by Sstashmoo

Can't control it, so do away with the laws? Where do you stop that practice? Following that same logic, Rape is really just sex anyway. And murder? we all gotta go sometime.

Start enforcing the laws. Ever wonder why people rarely rob post offices? Stiff penalties.

Sstashmoo, sorry to have to call you out on this but you are using the classic Slippery Slope fallacy in arguing your point... the same type of argument that law enforcement and governments use to try to prove their point.... but it's still a fallacy that does not follow logic.

Slippery Slope

Definition:

In order to show that a proposition P is unacceptable, a sequence of increasingly unacceptable events is shown to follow from P. A slippery slope is an illegitimate use of the "if-then" operator.

Examples:

If we pass laws against fully-automatic weapons, then it won't be long before we pass laws on all weapons, and then we will begin to restrict other rights, and finally we will end up living in a communist state. Thus, we should not ban fully-automatic weapons.

**mclark** · April-09-09, 03:01 PM

It seems like the slippery slope is routinely employed in the argument against legalization. I don't know if full legalization/regulation of harder stuff like cocaine and heroin would be the way to go, but I think anyone with much common sense can realize that spending as much as this country does to prosecute pot crimes and lock people up for possession isn't doing any of us any good.

**Crumbled_pavement** · April-09-09, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

If we pass laws against fully-automatic weapons, then it won't be long before we pass laws on all weapons, and then we will begin to restrict other rights, and finally we will end up living in a communist state. Thus, we should not ban fully-automatic weapons.

I don't think that was what Sstashmoo was saying at all. I think he was attacking the logic that says if you can't stop someone from doing something then quit trying to stop them. If we follow that logic in regards to rape and murder then we see that it should be legalized too. Of course, that's crazy talk. To me, legalizing drugs is crazy talk as well - especially when we're talking about meth, crack, heroin, and other hard drugs. Marajuana should stay illegal as well, but enforcement should be minimal. Like driving 5 miles over the speed limit is illegal, yet most police officers won't even bother to pull someone over for that. We also need a different way of tackling the drug issues in this country. Too often we attribute the failure of a system to idea of the system itself and not how the system was implemented. The drug war may not be failing because we dare to fight a war on drugs, it may be failing because of how we choose to fight the war on drugs.

**ghein** · April-09-09, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by Sstashmoo

Can't control it, so do away with the laws? Where do you stop that practice? Following that same logic, Rape is really just sex anyway. And murder? we all gotta go sometime.

Start enforcing the laws. Ever wonder why people rarely rob post offices? Stiff penalties.

Anybody who's ever met a pothead knows their crime is about as dangerous as jaywalking, yet you equate it to rape and murder. Riiiiiiight.

You know, Ann Arbor recently made jaywalking legal as long as you're not impeding traffic. Oh no! They're not enforcing the law! Legalized rape and murder is sure to follow! Avoid A2 at any cost!

cheddar bob · April-15-09, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by Sstashmoo

Start enforcing the laws. Ever wonder why people rarely rob post offices? Stiff penalties.

What about laws that require service to the military? Should draft laws be enforced, sstashmoo?

**Sstashmoo** · April-15-09, 01:23 PM

You must be busy, I figured you'd pick up on that 3 days ago.

Apples and Oranges, has already been explained.

**rb336** · April-09-09, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

My question is this: if those drugs were legalized, would something stronger come out and continue to fuel the drug war? New drugs come out all the time.

If pot were available legally, and if other drugs were decriminalized [[treat it for what it is, a health problem) there would be little incentive for the other designer drugs. they will be around, yes, but the impact would be minimal. most people I know who tried "harder" drugs did so because they could get them easier than pot or booze.

virtually ALL the bad crime that goes with drugs is a result of their illegal standing rather than the drug use itself

**thecarl** · April-09-09, 03:58 PM

what drugs would be legalized? marijuana, cocaine, mushrooms, pcp, lsd, ecstasy, heroin? do we have examples of countries where use of these drugs is legal, and this is regarded as a healthy practice - with no concerns over personal and public safety, or productivity? tobacco and alcohol are legal in the united states, and have a tremendous impact on people's health, productivity, and public safety.

**Sstashmoo** · April-09-09, 04:10 PM

Think this country needs another legal drug? I don't.

Like our society isn't screwed up enough as it is. The last thing we need is another enabling avenue for good men to become lazy-boy slouching zombies. Divorce rates are through the roof. You can handle your drugs you say? Good for you, the reality is, the majority of the people cannot.

We need stiffer laws and enforcement.

You want legal drugs? Find a country that has them and move there. I don't want legalized pot, I'm a US citizen I have a say in it.

I know people that smoke dope like cigarettes, all day long. There would be many doing this.

**Bigb23** · April-09-09, 04:39 PM

But you are correct, folks will dream up new ways to get blurry. It is the human condition. For some reason we like blurry.

There was a documentary about 20 years ago about fruit trees in Africa, where the fruit would ferment and produce alcohol only after they hit the ground. All the local animals, including tree climbers and giraffes, would wait patiently until the fallen rotting fruit had produced alcohol, to party. Funny video on drunken animals, but it shows that this behavior goes beyond mere humans.

DetroitDad · April-11-09, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by Sstashmoo

We need stiffer laws and enforcement.

You want legal drugs? Find a country that has them and move there. I don't want legalized pot, I'm a US citizen I have a say in it.

Please be aware that Americans aren't really allowed to give up their citizenship anymore. I dare any one of you to try and give up your citizenship. You and I are Americans for life, whether we like it or not.