Alcohol accounts is directly or indirectly the cause of 50% of all violent
crime in America. Yet it is legal and the prohibition movement for it
obviously failed ( though parts of Texas still have it banned). There is no
more abused substance in America than alcohol.
Tobacco is a deadly product that we have expunged from our bars due to
its negative effects on users, 2nd hand smokers, and employees.
Marijuana is illegal - but its effects on crime (apart from using it) are
negligable. It may support gangs, but users most likely have less ambition
to go out and do something crazy. Users probably have a greater impact on
the snack food industry than any other single drug.
Crack - meth - all the rest basically I would group in a category of
foolish drugs to use. But if one examines the Netherlands - it is probably
safer to have certain drugs used under the supervision of others - and sold
cleanly and if they do not undermine the environment ( as Meth producers
do).
The drug war has spiraled exponentially in price since its innauguration
under the Nixon administration. Prior to 9-11, the biggest war fought by the
US ARMY. The US is still subsidizing the mass destruction of Columbian crops
of Coca( destroying their environment), while not finding a solution to our
home-grown addiction.
If we were to legalize many of the substances - we would see the benefits
of being a dealer diminish. I want to see the crackheads of my street - and
keeping it illegal is not helping them. If you control the substance - you
can also push for users to get some assistance in quitting. ( we ALREADY do
that with Tobacco ) You can also diminish the appeal if there is complete
information about each of these drugs where they are sold. Certain drugs
like Meth could never be sold - but when you buy your pot you could see a
big sign near the counter explaining why.
For those who think the war should go on - at LEAST support legislation
that will give the drug Bupe ( buprenorphine ) unlimited usage. This single
drug allows addicts the ability to quit using the harshest of drugs like
crack. It also does not have addictive qualities of methadone. It should be
given out much more freely than methadone - but it isn't.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/bupe.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buprenorphine
But if you think that NOT selling crack pipes and other paraphenelia
will diminish the sales of drugs - you are either delusional or smoking
something ( pun intended).
--
"The difference between truth and fiction: fiction has to make sense" - Mark
Twain
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