RE: The War On Drugs
Elmo,
I believe a little light needs to be shed. I don't think Jeff will be able
to reply quick enough on this one, so I put my dogs in this fight.
1) Please don't point fingers; it isn't polite, and doesn't suit your
style, bro.
2) I am married; I paid income tax this year for the first time in my
life. Jeff, a home owner, pays taxes, too. I can hear him complain about it,
too, so please don't imply that we "like" to rent what we already own.
3) Let's hit the War on Drugs. First off, I have trouble believing the
reliability of the polls covering the amounts of drug usage. Think of this,
polls give projections from a small percentage. Do you think that ecstacy is
as popular in Murray as it is in San Francisco? Do you think heroine is as
popular in Kentucky as it is in New York City?
We won't ever be able to determine the success rate of the
"War on Drugs" for the simple fact that we will never know what things would
be like if it weren't there. Prevention of Drug Abuse is successful with a
one-on-one approach. If this program teaches kids about what drugs can do,
and is successful in doing just that, with 10 percent, then is the program
as a whole a failure? Heck, no! (I'm keepin' it clean for the kids, man!).
How much are you willing to pay for the chance of keeping this crap
(referring to drugs i.e. mary jane, heroine, crack, etc) away from your
children? Think about that before you respond.
4) I assume by the mentioning on $30,000 a year, you mean how much is
spent on the incarceration per prisoner...this is not a criticism, but a
point of clarification.
5) Jeff was diagnosed with ADD as a child, if my memory serves. But,
while we are on the subject of ridilin, I just want to say...don't change
the subject. This whole conversation went nuts on the subject of medicinal
marijuana.
6) I like to put the pink stuff into my iced tea. Since I quit smoking,
I have to get that bad boy feeling somehow. My Grandma tells me nobody used
to die of lung cancer "back in the day", but then again, people used to die
of old age back then (there was no diagnosis of what killed somebody 60
years of age about 40 years ago).
7) Why is medicinal marijuana stifled? Because, it will always be
associated with illegality and its old diagnosis that it would lead to usage
of "heavier" drugs. Marijuana is the most easily accessible of all illegal
substances. If a terminally ill patient wants it, then, he can probably get
it from his cousin who grows it for personal usage exclusively. The
government will not go against its own policy. By this, I mean that as long
as the policy says pot is illegal, then it will not be provided for
terminally ill patients, or anyone.
8) I agree with you totally on the potential of the hemp plant in
Kentucky's industry. My family is traditionally agrarian. I have seen too
many people lose farms because the crops grown can't pay the bills. Talk to
your congressman, is all I can say.
9) As far as cost goes for the War, the effort is enormous, and needs
to be simplified/ divided into several separate missions. This would
identify the process of scrutinization (of the process).
10) Black Market dealers...dude, these people sell whatever is hot. If
toothpaste was made illegal, they would switch to selling it if there was a
market for it.
11) Dealers know the risk when they start breaking the law. I do wish
that the money from the fines collected would be directed into one cause,
instead of the general fund. This would should exactly what kind of damage
is being done on the illegal market.
You want solutions? Everything starts with the home. The adage of
"...parents who use drugs have children who use drugs" is accurate. People
are free to do what they want with their lives; but, these same folks forget
that they touch other lives in the process of living freely. Example,
somebody wants to grow pot for personal usage (a plant or two). But, while
they are smoking, my son stops by, and lights up with him because his
friends are doing it, and he wants to fit in. Sound crazy?
As far as power amongst the states go, you ever heard of the Articles of
Confederation? Let's review. Before the Constitution, the country was run by
piece of parchment called the Articles of Confederation. It would probably
still be running the country today if not for the fact that it had no power
to raise money to fund the government's process. Look this one up for me
Elmo, what would our country be like if it were a Confederation, instead of
a Republic (which the United States is more of, than a democracy). The 10th
Amendment was probably created as a compromise to the states desiring more
individual freedom.
As far as Supreme Court Justices go, I think they put more thought into the
matter than you credit them for. Supreme Court Justices don't jump on the
trendy band wagon, since they know/see that what they do influences the
bigger picture (the future). The Supreme Court knows it is the check of the
government, and will flex its muscle if it has to. Get angry with the loss
in court by the plaintiff, if you want to blame someone that bad.
Click here to return to the previous page.
|
 |
