and
" Originally Posted by GUMPY THE HAT!!! View Post
Weed has been proven to be less harmful then alcohol and cigarettes, respectively. Hash is another story, as it is heavily treated with chemicals, but even then it isn't too bad, so the big deal is not over medical issues. The big deal is that the selling of pot is used to finance terrorists and by making weed illegal it lowers an insurgents capital."
First, Gumpy, you are completely, utterly, incorrect. A Marijuana joint contains more tar than a pack of unfiltered cigarettes. Lucky Strikes, unfiltered... think about that. Second, if you mean SOCIAL HARM, then Marijuana is less harmful than Alcohol, but physiologically, Marijuana is full of free radical chemical agents and other neurologically important variables that we just DONT know what the hell they do. To say Weed is "Safe" is the understatement of the year, because there is not sufficient research on it. As for the remainder of your statement, Slavic has the win here, as the "terrorist funding" BS is pretty much the "War on Drugs" getting lazy with advertising, and paying their idea-men.
As for Virus: You need to go buy a tin foil hat bro, your statement is flat out stoned if anything. Pharmaceutical companies, even if marijuana WAS legalized would either incorporate it into their list of sale items, or not even feel a bump due to the new market entry because they do not treat the same thing. The fact you consider marijuana a panacea drug that "solves X or Y" pretty much invalidates your opinion, as well as the remainder of the statement. I'm bored though, so I'll nit pick:
Cost of legalization in Healthcare costs, infrastructure changes to deal with newly required paperwork for jobs, clearance issues, and treatment of marijuana and now illicit drug related conditions will completely overshadow any tax revenue gained.
Additionally, you must consider the 500,000 plus people working for the DEA, subsidiaries, and other organizations and agencies that have employment due to the drug war. Granted, imprisonment for the possession of SMALL amounts of marijuana should be a ticketable offense, if at all proscribed by law. Imprisonment for marijuana possession in small amounts is counterproductive to the current economic conditions and our attempts to reintegrate offenders into society successfully.
The legalization of drugs controlled by the Controlled Substance Act in GENERAL, as piecemeal is an entirely foolish premise. Drugs like Heroin, Cocaine, PCP, and other related drugs have no reasonable societal use, nor a medical use that cannot be achieved with a less addictive, less socially destructive and physiologically damaging substance. This is why we have Fentanyl as an anesthetic and painkiller now rather than Heroin, and why new medicines that are not Opiate based are now taking a larger share of Pharmaceutical prescriptions for pain, surgery prep, and in-surgery anesthetic use. These substances are a PROBLEM. Which is why they were nailed in the first place. Hallucinogenics are socially destructive because people cannot carry out daily activity on them. Crack, Meth, and its derivatives are COMPLETELY medically irrelevant and serve no purpose than make black people and rednecks into punchlines. This being the case, a reasonable person cannot possibly come to the conclusion that our fellow man, retarded as he is, can possibly stand having these substances to their disposal, at will, on the premise that "its his body"... that sounds like a Paultard statement, which my friend, I am not.
Unfortunately for you, you miss the whole point of correlation and causation... correlation just points a GIANT FUCKING SIGN at causation, its the warning shot for the intelligent, and at worse, a pre-shock to the great big earthquake in a situation.
Drug use is inextricably linked to problems with fetal development in lung function, brain patterns, and reaction timing with "low level drugs" and in utero addiction and death/miscarriage at the highest levels. If you've ever seen a crack baby, you would know just how ridiculous and wrong your entire point of view is. Put it this way: It is more likely that Sean Penn can successfully teach astrophysics than any of your points be remotely correct.
Its cool though, kids/young people like to argue for drug legalization... mostly because they don't think anything more than "the man" and "drug", there are a LOT more factors that go in then "d00d just tax it and well be like r0xx0rs maaaayn". While drug possession cases will go down, parental neglect cases will go up, and MY ass, not yours, has to deal with the family fuck ups who traded baby Jameriquai because momma tamika needed to get her fix... and Tamika is indigent, so I get paid shit for it.
Its the same idiot kids who argue this who have the audacity to call Bush a murderer and wear a che guevara tshirt to a college full of cuban kids.
Let me put it simply: drug legalization is a bad idea across the board. The lowering of reactive justice and punitive measures (thats "punishment" for you illiterate types), is warranted, where the costs incurred do not outweigh the benefits gained from the action.
You, Gumpy, and about 86% of people at SG/ZM are a total detriment to the identity and reputation of recreational drug users... DAMN you people can sound stupid sometime.
+ rep to red. for basically saying the last line.
