What about this freeing drug users?
Posted January 11th, 2008 by GalacticWacko
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The press and other candidapes are going to have a field day with that one?
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I say good riddens to the drug war
......
drug war has always been a joke
At best, all it has done is increase prices for the drugs. This, of course, does not diminish demand but pushes the desperate to commit more desperate acts to get money to buy the stuff. Hence, more crime against the innocent.
Alot of the drug war is for show. Nothing like TV news coverage of a SWAT helicopter team descending on a marijuana field, big special ops action, burn it all down, claim progress is the "war", while semi-trucks of "vegetables" from Mexico laden with kilos of heroin slip on through.
The basic point is that a certain percentage of people are attracted to these drugs, whether legal or not. If heroin were legal tomorrow, would you or I suddenly go out and start shooting it? Of course not.
This is a medical problem, period.
The thing that makes me so
The thing that makes me so mad is the fact that our own CIA has been caught smuggling the drugs over the border to us. There has been former CIA agents that have talked about that in interviews. I don't know why the media wouldn't want to make that a headline. Oh, I forgot that the media already knows about it, but doesn't know how to report the truth.
that is such a minor issue, even if true
so some government contractors bring some dope into the US to make some bucks. It happens.
Most drugs really are smuggled in by large scale Colombian and Mexican cartels, so get real.
CIA drug trafficking
A CIA plane that was used to transport inmates to Guantanamo crashed in Mexico 3 months ago and 4 TONS of cocaine was on board.
This topic is above ground info and has been for some time.
PLEASE watch these 3 videos about this (the first one is about the 4 tons found in Sept.)
http://www.brasschecktv.c...
Also check out the book Dark Alliance to learn about this serious issue.
drop in the bucket
to what comes in daily through the tunnels between Mexico and Arizona....drop in the bucket even if true. Which I doubt. Much of this reporting over the years has been grossly exaggerated.
I was just trying to make
I was just trying to make the point that it is all about money.
that it is
and the sooner we remove the profit out of it, the sooner we reduce the problem. I'm with you on that!
Freeing drug users
He mentioned it on CNN when being asked about the racist letters. In defending himself he declared he was the most anti-racist by wanting to end unjust discrimination on blacks through War on Drugs, which was disproportionately arresting blacks (14% of drug users, 65% in prison) for drug use.
If he decriminalized the social and medical problem he would have to pardon them.
Freeing drug users?
Have not heard that one before, Ron Paul believes that drug enforcement should be the duty of the state, not the federal government. This is what he means...
The federal Government sets standards for sentencing and requires states to follow them by using threat of money over their heads. this gives the states no choice but to sentence some users very heavily although they do not deserve such a harsh judgement, then the federal Government gives little of the promised money and cause the state to pay the rest.
Solution let the state and the people keep their money and the state will set punishment standards that work for their needs, not one blanket for everyone. Ever tried to share a small blanket with someone, one of you gets cold.
So far
I haven't seen or heard anything, with the exception of Dr. Paul even talking about this. He mentioned it about 6 or 7 months ago, perhaps a few times since then. I'm a minister, BUT, I agree with Dr. Paul on this issue. Why? My cousin lived with someone who had written a hot check and when the police came to serve the warrant (for missing a court date) on his roomate, they found a tiny piece of a marijuanna cigarette in his ashtray. He was arrested and put on the p-farm for 3 years. Because there was no room in the inn, so to speak, criminals who committed more heinous crimes were able to walk with probation and suspended sentences. This is absurd.
My cousin was a quite fellow, and minded his own business before his forced vacation at the P-farm. While there, he became mean and hateful, because of all the abuse by the inmates and the guards.
The moral of the story is that there are worse crimes and worse criminals that deserve that bed he had at the P-farm. In fact, I believe the p-farm should be reserved for those violent criminals. Non violent offenses could be dealt with in an easier way..i.e. fines, community service...That would save the city, state, and federal govt. money anyway, I would think.
As a minister, I still believe in individual liberty. It irks me that someone who has a deadly disease cannot smoke a little wacky weed to increase their appetite and take away some of the nausea. I don't believe there is any candidate that would permit medical marijuanna use, except for RP.
It's well past time for the government to stop thinking they are our moms and pops. I know I would rather smoke a marijuanna cigarette than take one of the prescriptions with all those crazy side effects...However, I need neither right now, so bless G-d.
Well, that's my two dollars worth.
The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. James Madison
I THANK GOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU!
It's so refreshing to know that some people can actually see the scope of real damage this STUPID Drug War has caused in so many lives!
GOD BLESS YOU!
Drug laws
Federal prisons that are enslaving workers for about $60.00 for a 40 hour work week (some manufacturing military supplies) with these prisoners being incarcerated by unjust drug laws that target minorities is indefensible. If this isn't slavery what is? Ron Paul needs to publicize the motivation for the U.S. to have a higher prison population then any other industrialized nation. Slave Labor!
There must be more enlightened drug laws...
but, once again, these are issues that require less emotion and more thinking...the opposite of how these campaigns are run. Solving the drug problem is complex, but we will be spoon fed one-liners instead.
Bill Clinton smoked pot but didn't inhale. What a joke. Anybody not inhaling around us in college days was automatically considered to be a narc. Maybe he was an informant, who knows.
Paul is bold, but he'll never be given the chance to fully explain his logic. Clearly, the current drug prohibition results in high prices for these substances and creates huge violent drug cartels that are currently running Mexico and exporting violence to this country. It's absurd.
Ron Paul 'The Truth' Is it
Ron Paul 'The Truth'
Is it true that all case workers are prohibited from voting Republican? I also heard something about Californians not being to vote Republican if they are independent too. Can anyone fill me in on this; If it's true, that is crap!!!
Well, the state cannot require case workers to vote
one way or another...really, that would be a winner in a court case.
In terms of the primary, it is a closed type, meaning no crossover voting. You must be registered Republican to vote in the Republican primary, registered Democrat to vote Democrat, etc. I am currently registered as an Independent and can't vote in any of them. I need to change this week...deadline is January 21 Californians!
THAT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, Closed Primaries!
I too have always been a registered Independent, but FL also is a closed Primary so I had to switch parties to vote for RP.
IF RP isn't nominated as the Republican, I will NOT on my life vote for any of the other CRIMINALS that are running in the party, I'll vote for an Independent or a DEMOCRAT first, EXCEPT HILLARY!
Sad too, because I've always wanted to see a woman President in the WH, but NOT THAT ONE!
not quite.
The US Constitution says nothing about primaries. Primaries only exist because of political parties. The primaries are basically just an upgrade on the back-room selection method for nominations that existed even in the days of the founders. Now whether Florida law has anything to say about it, I don't know. But basically the primaries are ultimately private, since the parties are private.
Sam Marsh
Musician
http://www.myspace.com/sc...
that is correct
Political parties actually are private institutions and can do whatever they want. Nothing to do with the Constitution.
drug laws
Historically governments were formed to protect the life, liberty and property of individuals. Mere possession of a substance does not violate the rights of others. That is why prohibition required a Constitutional Amendment. The "War on Drugs" is not within the jurisdiction of the Federal government. A consequence of this "war" is the annihilation of the Fourth Amendment which prohibits unreasonable search and seizures. There is a bigger picture. Non violent prisoners are used in prison factories as slave labor for multinational corporate fascist. Ron Paul with a pardon can free the prisoners who are unjustly enslaved for a medical problem that has been criminalized. This includes 1 out of 4 black men in some age categories. There is no question that Ron Paul is on the right side of justice on this issue.
Legalizing Drugs is Security
First it would lower the now illegal drug profits and criminal incentives when it becomes legal and out of a black into a controlled market. Some drugs would be like alcohol, others would be prescription only.
This would defund some terrorist org's that sell drugs to other countries that funds their terror.
Second younger kids wouldn't be able to get it on the street or school, or so easily accessible.
Lot of advantages to legal drugs instead of the opposite the"Drug War" which we can't afford anyway.
Drug users are terrorists!
Well, that's what our current government seems like they think. Without giving full disclosure, i know a few people who have been arrested for dealing...
Funny thing... the government ALWAYS tacks on this one charge:
conspiracy. If you used a phone to call a dealer, with the intent to purchase drugs, both you and the dealer are engaging in conspiracy to commit a crime. Under the new homegrown terrorist act - you then could be labeled a terrorist.
We need President Paul more and more each passing day!
Only 1 that I dont agree with
But willing to overlook to get RP in office. When he says, "Non-violent" drug crimes. Does that includes Trafficking and Manufacturing? I don't care about the users, but the dealers and manufacturers need to be locked away fro selling to kids.
Lock up the parents, doctors, and drug companies...
while you're at it.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/p...
I really think he's referring to
simple users. I'm not sure his statement was well thought out on that one. He was also trying to deflect the racism charge, though, of course, he has historically been against the war on drugs and drug laws in general.
So many people are in jail just for using crack, you can view them almost nightly on "Cops" reruns. Just loser street people than could use more medical help than jail time. Or, since they are always going to be addicts, why not have a doctor oversee their drug use and get them away from drug cartels and committing theft to get money to buy their stuff.
Just look at the ads for drugs that are legal...."may cause sudden internal bleeding that may cause death"...and those are approved by the FDA. That does not even confront the routine use of mind-altering anti-depressants by the legal drug trade.
"drugs"
Dealers and manufacturers? Cool. Start with execs at Merck, Pfizer... those folks make some of the most deadly, addictive poison available. Ask any kid what the schoolyard drug of choice is (ritalin).
Hell, what about booze? Let's bring back alchohol prohibition to augment the drug prohibition that works so well! You can tell it works great, especially in the PRISONS we throw all those druggies into, because god knows, you CAN'T GET ANY DRUGS IN PRISON.
Oh and don't forget the coffee makers! And of course cigarettes, those pushers are an inch from a lockup as it is. What about sugar? Trans fats??? Throw away the KEY!
And you people freak out over the Patriot Act? It's been a police state in this country for 50 years - *especially* for people of color.
Drugs are bad, M'kay?
Drugs are bad, M'kay?
At the point that lazy parents are pumping their kids full of pills, why wouldn't you just let them smoke pot? The cost of marijuana would plummet if people are free to grow and harvest it themselves.
It's pretty obvious the War on Drugs protects pharmaceutical company profits by eliminating competition. Just another example of government coercion benefitting the well connected and screwing everybody else.
drug dealers
But what about the drug dealers who do NOT sell to kids? The ones that just sell to consenting adults?
It is also illegal to sell alcohol and cigarettes to minors. Of course selling to minors is an exception when people talk about legalizing drugs. And if I were in charge, I would probably make it illegal to sell hot dogs, and other garbage marketed to kids, that destroy your health .. before I would legislate against selling anything to adults. More people die in the US of heart disease than anything else, from eating all this garbage, e.g. with hydrogenated fats that clog up the arteries, yet we are all worried about drugs. It is also not illegal to smoke in front of children, why not?
Making drugs illegal for adults, does not focus on protecting kids .. if anything it creates a lucrative business by creating a black market. Of course dope pushers are going to try to addict kids, if there is a lot of money in it. Same thing that drives McDonalds.
The worst place to put drug users is in jail!
They will come out knowing everything there is to know about how/where/how much and are very likely to get even more entangled with it. It's completely absurd to jail drug users. They need treatment or death. Somewhere in-between they might find themselves again and get cleaned up.
JB
The MSM
will not acknowledge this, because if they did, and the average american sees it, Ron Paul would have a landslide victory in every state. Think about it. He would have the total minority vote. And the most important part about his statement is HE MEANS IT. A lot of lives have been affected and ruined by the War on Drugs. And a lot of Americans smoke dope.
No. The MSM are going to avoid this one. However, we must help it go viral.
Wolf Blitzer tried to interrupt, but Paul wouldn't let him. In the end, Blitzer was almost apologizing for asking the question. Don't let the great-grandfather fool you - he is a brilliant politician and he completely trumped Wolf's hand. I doubt he will be interviewed about that damn newsletter again.
Also, Michigan needs to be aware of this pardon position, especially Detroit. Those poor people have suffered more than they deserve.
What about
the people who legislate the scarcity, control the monopoly, and never have to pay for THEIR crimes. It's only the salesmen who go to jail, never the importers. Why? Mena Arkansas, that's why. Support the fundraiser:
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
Addiction is a disease, not a crime!
You don't cure a disease by putting the sick in jail. You get them treatment.
Another argument: When did the government get the authority to decide what chemicals people put into their bodies? Caffeine has an extremely powerful effect, and has withdrawal symptoms that can be as strong as alcohol withdrawal - and there is caffeine EVERYWHERE these days. Last time I checked, nicotine was a fairly powerful chemical - but that's legal. Or alcohol. Alcohol is a poison, yet our government allows us to drink it.
So how come the government gets to decide which harmful chemicals are legal, and which harmful chemicals aren't?
And as far as the marijuana argument - it has MEDICINAL VALUE, for Christ's sake. I never met a doctor who wanted to prescribe nicotine to a cancer patient.
The real reason government doesn't want marijuana legal is $$$. Why, you ask?
1. If marijuana was legal - tobacco sales could/would most likely suffer. Big tobacco doesn't like that.
2. If marijuana was legal - the pain reliever market is HUGE for big pharma - they don't like that.
3. Hemp (Cannibus Rederalus -> no thc) can outgrow cotton 5 to 1 - in the worst of soils (it's a weed, remember), can make stronger paper, stronger clothes, and can be used to make Ethanol 80% more efficient than using corn. So big Oil doesn't like that.
Those are just my 40 cents. (2 cents in 1913, adjusted for inflation)
Yes, and don't forget that
Yes, and don't forget that the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp wasn't it? I read a couple of years ago that the real reason that hemp became illegal is because a large paper manufacturer felt threatened by the hemp growers and the politicians were paid off to ban hemp. Seems very logical to me with all of the corrupt government politicians and police departments as well.
William Randolph Hearst
Google him. There's been many essays written about it. Just another example of how government benefits the wealthy and well connected at the expense of everybody else. Also, it's suppose to be easier to make ethanol from hemp than it is from corn.
http://video.google.com/v...
ha
Haha! Funny inflation remark. I might try and pay my next phone bill in 1913 $.
But otherwise I don't agree with you re why the govt wants cannabis to be illegal. I think tobacco sales would go up not down (if my own experience is anything to go by). I have been told that cannabis for pain relief is hit and miss - it does alleviate pain in some and not in others.
I think it's just lots of older people who rightly don't like their kids using it and who don't understand it's not physically addictive (heroin is also not very physically addictive either apparently). And because the govt likes making and enforcing laws with a big show of force.
I also think the 'weed lobbiers' lie a bit sometimes. They talk as though dope is just fine and it isn't. It does greatly increase the chance you will have psychotic episodes, schizophrenia and so on. And other mental problems. Trying to say it's not a bad drug is wrong imo. Not that you were saying that. I really believe people trying to argue that do NOT help RP there.
But yeah, people are mistaken to think the govt can have a 'war on drugs' and otherwise leave us alone.
You're missing the point...
And the FDA approved drugs don't do any of those things? ALL drugs are hit and miss. Some hit and miss more than others. BTW, all the "legal" pain killers that actually work are opium based. Afghanistan has poppy forests. You know what else grows in Afghanistan? Rocks. Opium based pain killers should be dirt cheap.
Why is taking vicodin more socially acceptable than smoking opium in a den? Is there really any wonder why healthcare and drug costs are out of control?
huge waste of time and money...
www.leap.cc
get above the ignorance
abovetheignorance.org
I don't smoke dope (anymore)
I don't smoke dope (anymore) Haven't in many many years.. Damn I miss fondue. However, I can say I have met many people that smoked pot. None of them were violent. Only mellow and stoned. On the other hand, alcohol, which is LEGAL has shown me more violent assholes than I can count on all of our hands combined. (I have nothing against either but I do not condone alcohol related violence. People need to control themselves while indulging and also need to face the consequences for failing to control themselves during their indulgence.). So go figure... lol
WONDER HOW MANY IN WASHINGTON ABUSE ALCOHOL?
And how often do you hear of someone who's stoned (smoked pot) causing massive deaths in auto related accidents? Personally, I've heard of exactly NONE! What we put into our own bodies is our business, not governments!
My son got caught many years ago growing 3 plants for his own use and now he has a felony record in FL that will (and has) haunted him; he can't vote; can't put his name on an apartment lease, etc.- NEVER HURT anyone but himself!
For unknown reasons, (too many horror movies?) he has had terrible nightmares where he thinks someone is trying to kill him and when he smoked pot, this doesn't happen! Strange but true!
It lead to harder things--like law school.
I agree about the alcohol. I see alcohol causing much more damage--DWI, domestic violence, and outright belligerence.
Funny statistic
You are actually statistically LESS likely to get into a automobile accident when you are Both drinking alcohol and smoking weed, then you are just drinking.
(which really just means that less people get caught smoking and drinking than just drinking because more people out there ONLY drink - but don't tell anyone that.... I like to use that stat as if it really means something!!!)
And I think most Americans would agree it's a WASTE!
It's a waste of time, energy and money-- the "war" on drugs.
My brother has worked in law-enforcement/narcotics for years and his story is the same as most who have worked with the DEA and other such agencies. Drug "dealers" are one thing, as they prey upon and exploit the weaker of our population, but not so with the actual "users." I know many who fall into this category and whose lives have been ruined without the unnecessary insult of legal ruin as well.
I have looked at those who abuse both alcohol and those who abuse narcotics a good bit of my life (I grew up around a drug culture for the most part) and have to say I've seen more barroom fights, more highway fatalities, etc from alcohol abuse than drug abuse. Ask the average cop who goes on domestic abuse and/or child abuse calls which they encounter more often. If we're going to continue this ridiculous "war" than let's at least go after the more dangerous enemy. Fair's fair.
I say legalize drugs and let the criminal elements for once see a decrease in THEIR profits!
It's a war on Americans.
WTF?
Yea...
Keeping drug addicts in jail doesn't help them any. They jump right back on when they get out.it HAS to be a personal choice.
bingo....AND THE WINNER IS...
"it has to be a personal choice"
" You cannot regulate morality", My GrandFather, and , I suspect, Our Fore-Fathers?
The message has to be brought mainstream.
The people need to hear from regular joe's what a crock the war on drugs is.
A Sensable, Compassionate Solution
If you look at the history as to why Hemp was made illegal, it stems from disempowering American Farmers, and empowering Dupont, and others, which got its patent for nylon in 1937, the same year that the first "Prohibitive Tax" was placed on Hemp.
There are tens of thousand of uses for hemp that have been beneficial for millennia.
Just google it. Among the reasons that the prohibitive taxes were first placed on it, were its threat to the wood-pulp paper industry, its uses as fuel, composites (similar to fiberglass), clothing, machine lubricant, etc...
Also don't forget the rise in the creation of Jazz in an era where "Jim Crow" laws were still in effect.
The Constitution, so easy even a Caveman should know it...
debate drugs
maryj
Ron Paul has pointed out that the people most often sent to jail for drug use is extremly high comared with whites.
He did not say so but as you study information on the web you will learn that
Bill Clinton and wife, George Bush, and brothers, and father use, sell and abuse drugs.
But the elite do not get punished. that is not right.
Why are methadone users not jailed? Oh yeah,
it's because the government sells it to them. The War on Drugs is a joke. I know more drug addicts that are on prescription drugs than other hardcore drugs. Drug dealers must go to jail, drug addicts need help. I have one whole side of my family addicted to methadone, and pain pills. I would give anything to see them healed.