The War on Drugs has been raging for decades, and yet drug use, abuse, and sales are not on the decline. We spend billions of dollars a year on police, courts, jails, public defenders, etc. trying to pop drug dealers and users so we can lock them up. Why?
Seriously, why? What’s the point? The vast majority of drug users are not hardened criminals. Maybe they smoke pot to relax. Maybe they do crack because they enjoy the feeling. Maybe they shoot heroine because they the their life and it offers them a chance to escape.
Sure, that may be horrible for them. It may be bad for their families. Why is that the business of the Federal Government? Where in the Constitution does it say that Congress has the power to legislate and enforce moral behavior? Why would be ever want Congress, of all the immoral groups on the planet, to be put in charge of the morality of the United States
By crime rates will go up!
No they won’t. The majority of drug related crime, excluding the purchase, transfer, and sales of those drugs, is caused by people who are unable to find or afford what they ‘need’. It it were legal, you could go to the corner store and pick up something that is manufactured safely, guaranteed to be what you paid for, taxed, and much, much lower cost. It’s far easier to manufacture things like that when you don’t have to hide what you’re doing from the entire nation, which means the cost would go way, way, down. Not only that, but those things will still be crimes. If someone commits an act that violates your rights to life, liberty, or property, such as assault or theft, they will still go to jail.
But people will be out driving high!
Really? Do you think the rate of crack heads out on the streets will increase? Think about this. Frequently, when someone is high and wants some more, they have to head out and go find a source somewhere that has what they want. They may be driving all over town for hours looking for what they want, and then by the time they get home, their initial high is worn off. So they use their new purchase and then still want more. If they could just walk to the corner store to get it, they wouldn’t have to be out driving all over the countryside.
You can formulate any argument you want against decriminalizing ALL drugs and ending the War on Drugs, but unless admit to yourself that you’re just justifying legislating morality, from a Federal level which is even worse, then you’re still dead wrong. Now, if you think legislating morality is great, that’s a valid argument. Just keep in mind, it’s only great for you as long as it’s your morals being legislated, and I promise, it won’t always be.
Fully legalizing all drugs would create an entirely new market segment, which would create new markets for corporations to explore. That would create thousands of new jobs, from manufacturing to distributions, sales to stocking. In addition, all of these new products would be taxed in most any state, not to mention all the income taxes the Feds earned from these newly employed people or the Corporate taxes at both the State and Federal levels, which would generate a ton more revenue, while at the same time eliminating several billion dollars a year in wasted costs associated with the War on Drugs.
Also, reducing prison populations, since these druggies are now guilty of nothing and can be released. Some estimates I’ve seen shows the prison population to be roughly 75% non-violent offenders, and over half of those are in for drug possession or distribution charges. And we complain about the costs of housing and feeding all these people, and the lack of space we have in our prisons. There’s a reason why we have a lack of space We lock people up for nothing.
In business, if you come up with a plan that improves the quality of the work environment for everyone, while increasing revenue, decreasing costs, and simplifying operations, that’s called a win.
In government, that’s called a great idea that needs to be discussed (and forgotten about) in committee. This is why we’re in trouble in this nation.
End the selective “War on Peaceful People who enjoy something different than you think they should” now.
Seriously, why? What’s the point? The vast majority of drug users are not hardened criminals. Maybe they smoke pot to relax. Maybe they do crack because they enjoy the feeling. Maybe they shoot heroine because they the their life and it offers them a chance to escape.
Sure, that may be horrible for them. It may be bad for their families. Why is that the business of the Federal Government? Where in the Constitution does it say that Congress has the power to legislate and enforce moral behavior? Why would be ever want Congress, of all the immoral groups on the planet, to be put in charge of the morality of the United States
By crime rates will go up!
No they won’t. The majority of drug related crime, excluding the purchase, transfer, and sales of those drugs, is caused by people who are unable to find or afford what they ‘need’. It it were legal, you could go to the corner store and pick up something that is manufactured safely, guaranteed to be what you paid for, taxed, and much, much lower cost. It’s far easier to manufacture things like that when you don’t have to hide what you’re doing from the entire nation, which means the cost would go way, way, down. Not only that, but those things will still be crimes. If someone commits an act that violates your rights to life, liberty, or property, such as assault or theft, they will still go to jail.
But people will be out driving high!
Really? Do you think the rate of crack heads out on the streets will increase? Think about this. Frequently, when someone is high and wants some more, they have to head out and go find a source somewhere that has what they want. They may be driving all over town for hours looking for what they want, and then by the time they get home, their initial high is worn off. So they use their new purchase and then still want more. If they could just walk to the corner store to get it, they wouldn’t have to be out driving all over the countryside.
You can formulate any argument you want against decriminalizing ALL drugs and ending the War on Drugs, but unless admit to yourself that you’re just justifying legislating morality, from a Federal level which is even worse, then you’re still dead wrong. Now, if you think legislating morality is great, that’s a valid argument. Just keep in mind, it’s only great for you as long as it’s your morals being legislated, and I promise, it won’t always be.
Fully legalizing all drugs would create an entirely new market segment, which would create new markets for corporations to explore. That would create thousands of new jobs, from manufacturing to distributions, sales to stocking. In addition, all of these new products would be taxed in most any state, not to mention all the income taxes the Feds earned from these newly employed people or the Corporate taxes at both the State and Federal levels, which would generate a ton more revenue, while at the same time eliminating several billion dollars a year in wasted costs associated with the War on Drugs.
Also, reducing prison populations, since these druggies are now guilty of nothing and can be released. Some estimates I’ve seen shows the prison population to be roughly 75% non-violent offenders, and over half of those are in for drug possession or distribution charges. And we complain about the costs of housing and feeding all these people, and the lack of space we have in our prisons. There’s a reason why we have a lack of space We lock people up for nothing.
In business, if you come up with a plan that improves the quality of the work environment for everyone, while increasing revenue, decreasing costs, and simplifying operations, that’s called a win.
In government, that’s called a great idea that needs to be discussed (and forgotten about) in committee. This is why we’re in trouble in this nation.
End the selective “War on Peaceful People who enjoy something different than you think they should” now.
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