Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Nothing good can come of this...

"I would not go out and begin using drugs because they were legal and I do not smoke cigarettes. What could be better than taking the profit away from the killers and dealers." writes one commentor.
You might not use drugs even if they were legal, but alot of people would. Is there any doubt in your mind that many people are deterred from these things because there are criminal penalties attached to getting caught? You might not get caught, but then again you might. I have seen alot of examples of drug induced stupidity in the presence of police officers. There is no point in criminalizing things people never want to do. Murder, robbery, theft, etc. are illegal because if these things were legal, people would be more inclined to steal what they wanted or murder their fellow man just because the guy needed killing. Is there any doubt that theft or robbery would increase if made illegal. Look at the tax system thought the coercion of the IRS legally taking your money by force, and there is no stopping them.
Yes indeed, cigarettes and alcohol are legal. How much do you think other people's cigarette or alcohol induced chronic illnesses are costing you? The government pays disability to people who become unable to work. But even if there is no tax cost, how much of our insurance costs are to make up for the claims paid by smokers for oxygen tanks and alcoholics for liver transplants or any of the numerous other expenses the insurance company must cover due to someone's self destructive behavior. Do I really want my government to legalize more ways for Americans to disable themselves? Of course not, because when they do, Kevin and every other decent hard working American has to take up the financial slack in one way or another.
By the time people figured out how really bad alcohol was, it was a socially acceptable libation. Jesus changed water into wine to save a wedding celebration. Prohibition did work by to an extent, but once the genie is out of the bottle, it's hard to get back in. Alcohol enslaves people, I have seen it over and over again. Drugs enslave people worse.
The argument that people should be allowed to do whatever they want to their own bodies fails in light of the fact that the rest of us (including Kevin) have to pay in some way for their bad choices. Their bad choices don't just hurt themselves; they hurt alot of other people beyond their own families.
To think that the government will control it by taxing it is absurd. Taxes are for revenue raising. For a taxed thing or activity to create revenue, people must engage in the behavior and those relying on the revenue need them to do the activity in large numbers.
Do we really need more worthless potheads, crackheads, and methheads lying around?
And, with more and more people becoming unemployed, do you really want to put all of the police officers, prison guards, probation officers, parole officers, prosecutors, and defense attorneys out of work?
Yes, there are bad thing in our society that are legal, but it is a falacious argument that we should legalize even more bad, more destructive things just because some bad things are legal now.
It might be a good idea not to let all of the evil out of Pandora's box.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe you fear yourself.

Anonymous said...

Oh I get it. It provides jobs to keep fighting the so called war on drugs. Everything is a war. That's all we know how to do, fight. come on.

And your argument that people do bad things to their bodies and then we have to pay for it. I think we should have a war on fast food, a war on fried food, a war on cigarettes, a war on high heeled shoes, etc.

Jesus turning water into wine is a good story, but not TRUE.

You crack me up................

Michael in LH said...

Good Lord! Let's keep destroying families and lives and locking up people for consenual crimes just so that the police, DAs, defense attorneys and prison staff don't get laid off. That is sick.

Remote Controller said...

I agree the legalization of ALL drugs may not be the answer, but the legalization of Marijuana can be a prudent step in actualizing profit for the state. It would also lower the cases going through courts along with being able to focus on the more processed drugs (meth, coke, crank, etc.)
When we speak of marijuana we are not just speaking of the drug but also the industrial alternative to the drug. Industrialized Hemp will also be legalized (which is a form of marijuana without any THC in it) and could cause a multi-billion dollar industry in; fuels, clothing, construction, paper, plastics, toys, cosmetics and heck of a lot more.

You are also assuming marijuana should be classified the same a alcohol. That is comparing apples to oranges, they are completely different drugs with completely different implications. Also alcohol has been proven to be psychologically addictive while marijuana has been proven not to be.

Due to the high cost of pot and the impact of enforcement, people are forced to consume pot in its most harmful form; smoking. In fact, in other legalized countries the growing favorite form of consumption is vaporizing or eating which has proven health benefits and not detriments.

I agree there will be a lot of industries that fall if pot is legalized, but I believe we will receive at least two fold back from other industries. (Only my opinion)

I also agree there will be a period of transition in not only the judicial system but all sectors and there will have to be new rules for everything. But the rules we currently have in place now don't work and perpetuating a broken system under the name of tradition is broken in itself.

Anonymous said...

Amen Kevin

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, but you don't help conservatism by articulating such nonsense.

el chupacabra said...

Money?

A trillion plus (at least) and counting...