Legalize drugs, yes or no?

[Blarf]

What do you mean by decriminalize, but not legalize? Are you talking about making it a civil infraction with a fine? I may be able to live with that for offenses involving sale, distribution, and use because I hear what you're saying about wasting tax money storing drug addicts [[victims) and petty criminals in prison. However, keep criminal penalities for import, large growth, or manufacture. If the addicts are the victims, which I believe they are, then the importers and manufacturers have to be the perpertrators.

You basically got it. Similar to what Mexico has just implemented.

[Django]

A large portion of the drugs being brought in is done so by our government. The rise of crack cocaine in the 80s was the effect of the, Gannon help me out here, I believe the CIA and Contras. I know of special ops folks who used to regularly bring in cocaine from Colombia. From what Ive gathered its a fringe benefit for Navy Seals, Rangers, and Green Berets to fly where they want and bring back what they want with no customs checks. I dont think jailing the suppliers is the answer either. People need to check themselves and not get involved with the drugs in the first place, especially if they have an addictive geno. Whats the point of putting smugglers in jail but not the users? At which rung of the ladder do you start jailing folks? We could start at the poppy growers in Burma making $600 a year or the buyers of the opium, the para military who get the opium to the labs that process the opium to heroin, the guys at the lab, the other army that then transports the now heroin to wholesalers in Bangkok, then you have the smugglers who get it to the rest of the world. Of course the rungs in the ladder dont stop there and this whole process marks the drugs up from $600 for the 5 kilos of opium to about $1,500,000 for the kilo of heroin it produces and makes on the street. You cannot stop something that has a markup value like that. There will always be ppl who are willing to risk going to prison to get a piece of that action.

I believe the best deterrent is to take the money out of the equation and make it legal. Let the proper ppl process the shit so kids wont die of overdoses. All the ppl I know who have died did so because they were buying on the street and that is basically like playing Russian roulette.

I could go on and on.

I didn't mean to try and answer for Blarf, I just had to jump in.

[Blarf]

I'm not really surprised Prop. 19 didn't pass in California.

However I am very surprised that the Obama Administration releasing the statement that they would "vigorously enforce federal drug laws against Californians who grow or sell marijuana for recreational use even if voters passed the legalization measure."

If that reported statement is true, than Obama is among many things, a complete hypocrite.

As an admitted [[but never convicted) drug user, if Obama were to have gotten busted with possession of narcotics during his youth, the drug laws which he now supports would have prevented him from ever having the chance to run for President.

It's a funny and ironic world we live in sometimes.

[Ravine]

You travel more than I do. Grieve me as it does, I live in this one all of the time.

[mjs]

Drug czar on CNN this hour regarding legalizing pot.

[Django]

I agree Blarf, it does seem hypocritical. Obama did tell the feds to stay out of medical marijuana issues some months back. Recreational use is a whole different matter, and something that could bite him in the ass down the road if he does not enforce federal guidelines. Everyone in the two party system is trying to pander to the other side.

I really have a hard time believing that Ca. didn't actually have enough votes to pass prop 19. but after Boy George won another four years nothing surprises me. Higher powers than Obama must have been involved.

Wish I had cable to watch the new Czar tonight on CNN. Ill stream it later.