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Originally posted by alphachiohmy
I am not saying that law enforcement is perfect; its not. There are flaws in the system. But the idea of legalizing every drug is scary. I know I would not want people in my community able to get high of meth whenever they wanted too.
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But honestly, isn't that essentially the system we work under now, as far as "whenever they wanted too (sic)"?
Quote:
Originally posted by alphachiohmy
And it is not just these "stupid kids" that suffer. In these stories, anyone can see how drugs affect families, communities etc. There are too many drugs out there that completely impair people beyond the simple high of dope. The choices they made were simply to use drugs.
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OK - but as stated above, law enforcement is weak in this area. If people already make this choice, as you posit, why not have the choice made in the sterility and control of a government operation?
When was the last time you saw black-market cigarettes?
The bottom line is, this happens anyway, so why not MAKE money off of it, rather than SPENDING money in a vain effort to make you, your mom, my grandmother, and joe saturday feel like 'drugs is bad, we doin sometin bout it'?
Quote:
Originally posted by alphachiohmy
And drugs have a completely different hold on people than alcohol. The two are apples and oranges; you can't compare them.
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Why not?
Alcohol is just as addictive as many drugs, you can die of overdose, its effects are scary and can include violence, impaired judgement, and overestimation of abilities to perform critical functions (think driving) - and, in fact, alcohol IS A DRUG, by DEFINITION.
Where do you draw the line? Is ephedrine a 'drug'? Is pot a drug? How about morphine?
The positives outweigh the negatives, and that's without relying on any sort of "take away the mystique and the black market, take away the urge to do it" appeal to anonymous authority . . .