The Battle to Decriminalize All Drugs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-newman/drug-legalization_b_3473098.html


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As a libertarian I whole heartedly support the decriminalization of drugs. It would help a lot with reforming our big business prisons, pump money (via taxes) back into the system, and take away some of the appeal of doing drugs. I know booze became a lot less interesting the moment it became legal for me to drink.

Off topic, but didn't Nixon also start the war on cancer? We haven't advanced much from that either seeing as it is also big business.

I wonder how drug laws (and sentencing) differs from european laws? Drugs are just as illegal here (EU) as they are over there(US), but the incarceration rates are significantly lower here.

edit: some states seem to be quite tolerant of (at least some) drugs, how do their incarceration rates compare to states that are very prohibitive?

Florida has a zero tolerance...possession of any amount of any drug is punishable by a minimum of 30 days in jail on a first offense but is usually negotiated to 1 year of probation and 120 hours of community service, plus court costs and probation costs....

Of course there is a current attempt to legalize medicinal marijuana...they've already removed glass pipes and bongs from all the stores that sold them...

Legalizing "pot" would definitely cut down on the use of spice (synthetic pot that is much more potent and toxic)

I heard that spice was recently made illegal...could be wrong, but they did it with Salvia (a plant). You could buy Salvia in the stores last year, but not this year.

It's weird in the US and varies from state to state. Like mushrooms spores are illegal in some state but not in others.

Yes spice is illegal in florida, the problem Is that because it's synthetic the makers just change their recipe to get around the ban...then the lawmakers have to ban the new recipe...there is currently a pretty long list of banned ingredients for spice that gets longer as long as there is a demand for it....legalizing pot would reduce that demand and maybe even eliminate it...plus if it was legalized they could sell a growers license that would need to be renewed each year and a distributors license....instant revenue for the government, and reduced expenses since they wouldn't have to waste money on incarcerating/prosecuting people for something so stupid....many of the laws applied to alcohol could be modified to also apply to pot....

Wendaline wrote: As a libertarian I whole heartedly support the decriminalization of drugs. It would help a lot with reforming our big business prisons, pump money (via taxes) back into the system, and take away some of the appeal of doing drugs. I know booze became a lot less interesting the moment it became legal for me to drink.

Off topic, but didn't Nixon also start the war on cancer? We haven't advanced much from that either seeing as it is also big business.

I also consider myself a libertarian, but at the same time, I am not sure of where I stand on drugs, even weed. I understand your example with the drinking age, but I think, with weed, it's different. Here in the USA (and elsewhere), weed is unique in that it is illegal (with generally mild penalties unless one is in possession of a huge load, is dealing, or has multiple counts of possession), but is very commonplace among all demographics, and is also, most importantly, socially acceptable.

Now we've all heard the pro-weed arguments, that it's natural, healthy, not dangerous, non-addictive. I don't mean to sound like the old man ready to birch all of you, but I have to be the party pooper and say that I have seen weed addiction firsthand. No, it doesn't have a long-term effect on your appearance, no, it's not particularly dangerous, and no, you don't lose teeth. I have, however, seen many people go without food, cigarettes, and other expenditures in order to buy weed. I know people with no car or job, but can spend $40 every few days on weed. That all reeks of addiction to me.

I think that we need to examine not the biological/medical effects of weed, but instead, the sociological.

As far as I know, weed can be psychologically addicting (you like feeling high, you need more to get the same high, etc), but not physically addicting (you don't suffer withdrawal). Honestly, I have no problem with decriminalizing drugs so that they can be regulated and taxed. Cigarettes and alcohol are addicting, but those are legal at a certain age.

Ah but weak willed/ weak minded fools can make ANYTHING an addiction....I've seen people waste thousands on shoes they only wear once...

My own mom is an alcoholic as is most of my aunts/uncles...I've seen firsthand how addiction works as well...

while working at compusa I've seen people spend a fortune on gaming while spending little to nothing on any other expense....

Abhaya Budhil wrote: As far as I know, weed can be psychologically addicting (you like feeling high, you need more to get the same high, etc), but not physically addicting (you don't suffer withdrawal). Honestly, I have no problem with decriminalizing drugs so that they can be regulated and taxed. Cigarettes and alcohol are addicting, but those are legal at a certain age.

A lot of people make note of this, but it should be remembered that alcohol and weed have totally different effects. Weed is not as physically taxing, which could lead to frequency of use. It would, if legalized, need to be age-restricted and controlled. That is another issue. It takes a bit of work to make one's own alcoholic beverages, whereas weed can be grown. I won't pretend to know the answer.