50% of local taxes go to jails – basically drug war jails. Is it really America’s number one priority to stop some one from smoking a joint or snorting some cocaine? Do you want to be enslaved to taxes to fund this counter-productive culture war? Many studies show that prohibition, not drugs, is the real cause of crime associated with drugs. It’s the Prohibition Law, stupid, that makes weeds ounce for ounce the price of Gold. Terrorists earn one third of their money from underground drug sales.

Nationwide we spend as much money ($90 Billion a year) on the drug war as we did the Iraq War.

With the premise of saving children we’ve made school yards the most likely place for children to be introduced to drugs. We’ve made children dealers. We’ve stolen the parents of many children by locking them up. We’ve destroyed the future of many children.

America is the proud owner of the World’s Largest Per Capita Prison population.

Since 1980, the Reagan Republican Revolution, if we would have only spend as much energy into becoming Energy Independent as we have building prisons we’d have solar panels on everyone’s roof – and no electric bills.

The only thing prohibition of some drugs prohibits is the reasonable regulation of those drugs.

But we don’t value education or energy independence, we value prisons because that’s what we spend our money on.

“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.”  —-   Albert Einstein, 1921 

on topic – Former congressman Tom Tancredo agrees the drug is a failure http://www.thedenverchannel.com/politics/19519306/detail.html

But I have to disagree with Michael and agree with Steve on the Marijuana position. Yes, it does in fact have some negative qualities, but unless you are a Puritan you do things on a daily basis that has more impact on your overall health than marijuana. That bag of chips? Bad. That can of Coke? Bad. That McDonalds cheeseburger? Bad. Everyone has a vice and everyone should be allowed to. Marijuana is ALOT less harmful that alcohol, and I will argue that and show you fact after fact until the day I die. If we are legalizing drugs because of their impact on our health, marijuana would be way above alcohol and cigs.

You may argue with this until you are blue in the face, and I invite anyone to show me PROOF that I am wrong, but marijuana has no PHYSICALLY addictive properties and it is impossible to overdose on it alone. Yes, you can get psycologically addicted to it, just like anything from gambling to sex, but you WILL NOT get physically dependant on it, unlike alcohol and nicotine.

Read up on why marijuana is illegal. It’s not a health issue. As a matter of fact, the Mormons and the timber industry had a lot to do with it, not to mention Anslingers need to make a name for himself. Marijuana was made illegal because the Mexicans who came over here to work smoked it and we were battling illegal immigration then as we are now. It was a political propaganda tool to drive the illegals out and to be able to arrest them for something. Also, the hemp industry was the biggest competition to the timber industry and guess who had the most lobbyist and the most money? The Timber Industry…

There is no good arguement as to why alcohol should be legal and marijauna shouldn’t be. People should look at the facts themselves and decide, not listen to the media or anyone else with an agenda who will lead you in a certain direction.

And again, we should be able to do whatever we want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. That is freedom. Whatever I do in the privacy of my own home is my business. Like it or not, that’s the truth.

I’m going to smoke a joint…

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/8096

And let’s be perfectly clear about nicotine, where we do kind of agree. It is not “probably the most addictive substance”. It is in point of fact “the very most addictive of all drugs, period!”
(do some more research on this one, there is no probably)

The problem with getting the facts on your gal Mary Jane is that she is a very illusive lady, often mixed with other substances when deaths occur and Marijuana deaths are falsely attributed to accidents.

alcoholism.about.com/b/2003/11/02/marijuana-causes-many-deaths-reported-as-accidents.htm

Some other long term studies are yet to reach a conclusion on smoking marijuana. But for what it is worth the first link above is probably accurate, since smoke of most any type damages the lungs when it is inhaled deeply enough and long enough and as we know when smoking Marijuana it is inhaled more deeply and held in the lungs longer than when someone is smoking a tobacco cigarette. In fact I watched a documentary over the weekend about this very thing and the doctor stated that after five years these Marijuana smokers that were under observation are known to develop COPD. So when the long term studies do reach conclusion expect to find Marijuana and Tobacco to be co-equal killers.

No my statement as to bootleggers is not ludicrous; bootlegging remains in fact a very lucrative trade. I made no comparisons of the amounts. That is something you chose to do Steve.

If it is all the same to you I’ll do my own research but if I ever need an understudy I’ll keep you in mind.

Meanwhile I’m not buying your legalize drug propaganda and the world will be wonderful, all problems solved.

And lets be perfectly clear about nicotine, where we do kind of agree. It is not “probably the most addictive substance”. It is in point of fact “the very most addictive of all drugs, period!”
(do some more research on this one, there is no probably)

The problem with getting the facts on your gal Mary Jane is that she is a very illusive lady, often mixed with other substances when deaths occur and Marijuana deaths are falsely attributed to accidents.

http://alcoholism.about.com/b/2003/11/02/marijuana-causes-many-deaths-reported-as-accidents.htm

Some other long term studies are yet to reach a conclusion on smoking marijuana. But for what it is worth the first link above is probably accurate, since smoke of most any type damages the lungs when it is inhaled deeply enough and long enough and as we know when smoking Marijuana it is inhaled more deeply and held in the lungs longer than when someone is smoking a tobacco cigarette. In fact I watched a documentary over the weekend about this very thing and the doctor stated that after five years these Marijuana smokers that were under observation are known to develop COPD. So when the long term studies do reach conclusion expect to find Marijuana and Tobacco to be co-equal killers.

No my statement as to bootleggers is not ludicrous; bootlegging remains alive and a lucrative trade. I made no comparisons of the amounts. That is something you chose to do Steve, for very crass obvious reasons.

If it is all the same to you I’ll do my own research but if I ever need an understudy I’ll keep you in mind.

Meanwhile I’m not buying your legalize drug propaganda and the world will be wonderful, all problems solved.

And do you have a clue as to the numbers of Americans who die from illegal drugs yearly?
I’ll give you a few hints, first of all, not a single person dies from pot, not this year, not last year, not any year. Next, most of those who do die from ODs of other illegal drugs, do so BECAUSE the drugs are illegal, thus unregulated, thus the purity & additives are unknowns.

In spite of all that, the numbers who die from these terrible, dangerous, illegal drugs don’t come close to the number who die from legal, Rx drugs, and are a drop in the bucket, of course, to those who die from the very legal booze & cigarettes!

As for legalization, your statement that there are still bootleggers of booze around today, is ludicrous. While there probably are a handful, you cannot compare a few backwoods stills to the Capone, Nitti, & other criminal Prohibition-era gangs, who wreaked havoc on society, killing & corrupting, until America wisely said NO MORE PROHIBITION!

Michael, I would seriously suggest you go to the website I first mentioned:
http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com and read from those who have first-hand experience on the “front lines” of this “war”, you’ll learn some real facts, instead of the “Reefer Madness” style propaganda/misinformation you’ve picked up….