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Originally Posted by drivemusicnow
I personally think that since alcohol is legal, and smoking tobacco is legal... i can't justify having marijauna illegal.
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We sure have a lot of laws for a country that prides itself on being a free nation. You'd think that more people would be able to make the mental leap that if one mind-altering, or disease-causing drug is illegal, why aren't all of them?
The way I see it, we can either fail miserably and at great expense in enforcing stupid and mostly ineffectual laws which prohibit certain drugs, or we can fail to a lesser degree at a lesser expense in enforcing more rational regulation which allows certain drugs. The prohibition of alcohol was a dismal failure, and illustrates how attempting to curtail one problem can create much larger problems. It's a lessor of two evils equation.
One obvious problem is that the subject is rather explosive. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, agencies such as the DEA would not acknowledge that they are a waste of tax dollars. I don't know that they
are a complete waste of tax dollars, but it's certainly not in their best interest to admit it were it to be true. Politicians wax rhapsodic about the evils of drugs, but rarely does anyone explore the issue with any depth. Drug manufacturers, smugglers, and dealers love the big money that their product fetches. The reason for the high price tag is because they are illegal. People employed to enforce drug laws also love illegal drugs. Busybodies who simply need something to complain about love illegal drugs. For anyone directly involved with illegal drugs, the illegal nature of them is the appeal. It's really in their best interest that they remain illegal. The only people who don't like the fact that some drugs are illegal are the end users, and the consequential unintended victims of the illegal drug trade. Of course, the end users don't really have a voice in the issue, and the consequential victims aren't directly involved enough to associate why somebody would break into their house and steal their stuff with the need for money to buy illegal drugs.
Drug laws will probably not change for a very, very long time. Should they? Some of us think so. The simple problem is that the climate is not right. All the forces are pushing in the wrong direction. I've never used illegal drugs. I've never had a problem with anyone using illegal drugs. The only problems I've had with illegal drugs is from people stealing my stuff to afford illegal drugs. I can thank the government for making them so expensive that some people would have to steal my stuff. I can thank the government for spending billions of dollars, some of which are mine, and having absolutely nothing to show for it.
Nobody really knows if legalizing more drugs would improve anything, but since nobody is willing to try it we'll never know. I think the only reason tobacco and alcohol are still legal is because of the money backing the companies who produce the stuff. Nobody gave Manual Noriega any trouble until he stopped playing ball. Once he stopping being a useful asset to the US government, they hunted him down and locked him up. Cocaine dollars are just as green as tobacco dollars, but they're just not transparent enough.
Illegal drugs are an interesting topic, but ultimately somewhat fruitless to discuss. I'd love to see how it would play out if more drugs were legalized, but it'll never happen. Even if it did, the FDA would get involved and the prices would remain the same.
If the government had inflated the market with a different flavor of propaganda, instead of the "drugs are evil" shtick, they'd probably be eager to capitalize on it. Oops! Maybe next time.