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General Discussion (Everything Else) Discuss anything that doesn't belong in any other forums here. |
View Poll Results: Should Louisiana Legalize Drugs? | |||
Marijuana only, and only for adults. Still a felony to provide to minors. | 26 | 48.15% | |
Marijuana only for adults, reduced penalties for access to minors. | 5 | 9.26% | |
Legalize all drugs for consenting adults. | 6 | 11.11% | |
No changes to current Louisiana drugs laws. | 15 | 27.78% | |
Reduce penalty for first time marijuana users: no jail time. | 2 | 3.70% | |
Voters: 54. You may not vote on this poll |
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#21
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#22
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Food taste good * typing too fast over here.
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#23
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I was hopin you meant *good taste gooder
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#24
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How many saw Sanja Gupta apologize for furthering marijuana ignorance in the past and then he came out with that documentary that just aired on CNN.
Game changer IMO. |
#25
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Albert Einstein. A Pure math genius smoked opium. As did many folks in that time .
MJ may be Psychologically addictive to someone w/ an addictive personality. But so would / could eating twinkies ,playing video games etc. But i have never seen a physical addiction to marijuana. |
#26
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If weed was legal Hostess wouldn't have had to file Bankruptcy !!!!
woulda saved the business. |
#27
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Just put weed In the Twinkie. Problem solved.
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#28
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#29
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Dang....did we change mg's mind?????
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#30
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Thank you for starting a new topic in regards to this subject, I agree it does merit it's own discussion. I will post this response on the previous thread as well just for some continuity.... but will keep any further discussion on this thread.
Before addressing some of the things below, I want to clarify a bit. When i referred to "legalization" I am speaking of drugs which are considered to be "Soft" i.e. Alcohol, Nicotine, Cannabis / Weed / MJ etc, Mushrooms and like. So now we can proceed. Quote:
To be blunt here MG, there is no comparison between shoplifting, child prostitution, legalized murder or any other violent crime / crime against another person that you care to use as an example.... if you ask why? its because "soft" drug use is a personal decision that can be made by an adult and does not in and of itself cause any harm what so ever to anyone else. Every other example listed involves one human either physically or monetarily harming another. Quote:
Although the current AG has proposed sweeping reforms to how non violent drug offense crimes are handled (by seemingly fast tracking them into treatment programs rather as an alternative to jails) I am viewing these actions as a stopgap attempt to continue the "war" on drugs, and just changing from prison punishment to one where drug counseling programs will be the new benefactors of a massive federal cash infusion. It will kind of make for a somewhat "perfect" storm ... drug war and it's associated cost's will get to continue, and the drug counseling programs will get a huge present under the tree this christmas. If this goes thru expect to start seeing a lot of commercials for "compassionate care for your loved one's suffering from addiction." Quote:
The making and enforcing of laws to cover vehicle use, while under the influence have already been done. Therefore they are no longer a challange, IMO it's very similar to Alcohol. You administer a field sobriety test, if the person fails said test they are then required to submit to a drug test to determine THC levels in their sample. Case closed, book 'em Danno. On subject #2: Again the exact opposite of what your stating has been scientifically studied and proven in test bed countries like Portugal and the Netherlands, as well as many many studies here in the states. The Netherlands experienced a static level of drug use after legalization of "soft" drugs. After removing the increase in drug use seem by drug tourism. They actually saw a significant reduction in drug use of the local population. Portugal decriminalized and has not even gone so far as to begin regulation. And they have shown a significant downturn in all (not just soft) drug use. Incidentally HIV infections due to infected needle sharing have all but disappeared. on Subject #3: Study has shown that making a drug illegal has at best no impact on teenagers desire and ability to obtain the drug. In point of fact most studies show that teenagers tend to rebel rather than conform. I have to ask you here MG, If you are the guardian of a teenager who is choosing to rebel without your permission. Would you prefer that said teen purchase their weed in a enviroment that's controlled and regulated to ensure safety. Or would you prefer that said teen purchase the drug in the "Black Market / Gang Underworld" as they do now. If you feel that the second option is the better of the two, please in detail explain to me how you feel that it would be the better option. If it's a case of an "adult" straw purchasing the drug for the minor, please answer the same question in regards to whats more beneficial (legal purchase vs black market) Quote:
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I jest a little, but really. The sky will most certainly not fall and everyone will most probably not go completely slap insane if soft drugs are all legalized. Quote:
I do certainly espouse some "libertarian ideals" But i have learned my lessons well in life, and i do know this. What's right is right, And you should always "Aim small, Miss small" (ie Aim for the stars, when you make it to the moon it won't be a dissapointment) |
#31
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Also i would like to note that we are solely focusing on possible negatives here, There are many many known positives that will occur with "soft" legalization.
Short list would include, 1) Rebirth of Hemp industry, estimated to be worth multiple billions in expected tax revenue alone. 2) Tax revenue from the legalized and regulated product.. God only know's how many $$$ 3) Reduced costs for the known downturns which will occur with a reduction in illegal drug use(reduction in costs associated with HIV infections would in and of themselves be profound) 4) The effective stripping of money and power from drug kingpins / cartels / etc. 70+ percent of their revenue / income comes from "soft" drugs. With that money gone they will not be able to continue the border wars that they have started. 5) to some extent drug tourism would come in play. (not sure how long this would go as quite frankly once the US legalizes i believe the majority of the world will quickly follow.) I'm sure that there are many more that i am not thinking of presently... but that's a good enough start. Last edited by AceArcher; 08-15-2013 at 10:15 PM. |
#32
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There is no simple answer to this. |
#33
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Let me play devils advocate here and tell you why weed is possibly a gateway drug. Currently you have to purchase weed from a dealer / gang member / addict. Even though weed itself is documented to be a non addictive drug by Both the Institute of Medicine, and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, It's the very fact that you need to purchase it on the black market that makes it a gateway. The people who sell it there, have it in there best interest to "give" free samples out to weed users of other "hard" drugs. Once hooked on them.....
So legalization, control, and regulation would effectively remove any chance that any "soft" drug use could lead to "hard" drug use. But i have no doubt that Dorito use would at a minimum double. Last edited by AceArcher; 08-15-2013 at 10:52 PM. |
#34
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"Sure you can abuse anything. People abuse the hell out of cheeseburgers,but you don't see them shutting down burger king"
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#35
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#36
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some links to relevant discussion on the topic. from wikipedia from business insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/portu...n-works-2012-7 cato institute: http://www.cato.org/publications/whi...-drug-policies all of the above relate to portugal, if you want to similar results for the netherlands just do a google search for "results of netherlands drug legalization" in regards to your questions about whether store bought can be undercut by the black market.. the answer is i'm sure it can. But if the store bout brand is priced accordingly to provide a solid profit margin for the growers / distributors, and to return a solid tax to the government it will make the sale of a "black" market version economically unviable. The cost's to do something illegal are always much higher, You have to hide everything you do, a large percentage of you profit goes out the door in bribes, and you will also loose a large percentage thru betrayal / police activity. Even our government should be able to effectively compete with drugs lords on weed pricing. Could probably even bring a fair chunk of change to the locally grown farming community (they have suffered a lot in recent years and could sure use a boost) The only real viable reason for caution in moving forward with wholesale legalization is the incredible amount of people and money who are currently in the "game" because the are "fighting" the war on drugs. We cannot afford as a country to have them unemployed, so they must be retrained and put to use building our nations infrastructure or something along those line. (not saying its going to happen.. just saying that it needs to) Have no idea what's going on in colorado or other states that have legalized, am sure there are still legal issues being worked on due to Federal involvement. So realistically it's still far to early to see how that's going to roll out. |
#37
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#38
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#39
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kind of tough to get more conservative than fox news.. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12...-eyes-lessons/
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#40
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Thanks Ace. You saved me some time with those links this morning.
Can a store be undercut by the black market sure it can but look at tomatoes. I can grow them better or buy from a friend who grows but like a high percentage of Americans I am lazy and I go to the store. I can also brew my own beer but I go to the store. Cannabis needs to 100% legal for adults over 21 ( it can stunt brain development in young children if they habitually smoke in early years , but so can booze and concussions but no body wants football illegal ) Decrim on hard drugs and start harm reduction like treatment and have a avenue once clean you can get it off your record and get a real job to better yourself. When 52% want it legal and 42% want those 52% in a cage I believe that's bad law. http://www.people-press.org/2013/04/...ing-marijuana/ |
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