[jillianleab]

Drugs are NOT that hard to get. I've been able to find a connection for just about anything within a month of moving to a different state. I honestly, truly, completely think that drugs would be HARDER to get if they were regulated--which means legalized.

You make a good point here - I've read several articles where teens say it's harder to get alcohol than drugs. Legalize it and regulate it - make it just as hard to get.

[Allheart]

Vicodin is a legal drug that is now more readily available on the streets. Now, people are crushing it and snorting it. Great legal regulation. This drug was first put out for people who suffer with serious illnesses such as cancer, and now flows through the streets.

Just last night a documentary stated that over 50% of those arrested for violent crimes, test positive for drugs... meth being a front runner.

No reason to slap someone for having a different opinion.

Yes, I feel strongly about this issue, but feel this discussion is almost mute, as I don't see legalization happening, and it's quite not worth the upset caused.

[jillianleab]

Allheart, you're right that Vicodin and other prescription drugs are being abused by kids on the streets. A lot of that is caused by parents who don't keep track of their drugs. I have Vicodin left over from when I had my wisdom teeth out, as well as other pain killers right in my medicine cabinet. I don't count them every day, I don't keep them under lock and key. But then, I don't have kids in my house. That's not a problem the drug war can fix, only awareness and responsibility can fix that. You can bet that if I did have kids in my house, those drugs would NOT be laying around in my medicine cabinet! It's also caused by doctors who will sell the drugs on the street, or people who will fake illness to get the drugs to sell on the street. I'd rather see the drug war going to fight against those people than the pot head who smokes on a Friday night. But that's me.

Drugs cause a lot of problems. The violence you mention is one of them. But often times people commit violent crimes in order to GET MORE - if they were legal, I think you might see a reduction in that. Additionally, the drugs being pur out in the legal market wouldn't contain any additives which can cause other undesirable behavior.

It's a sensitive issue, and one nearly everyone has an opinion on. I don' think there is a "right" answer. Personally, I don't think what we are doing now is working and needs to change. Is the answer legalization? Decriminalization? Change in punishments? I don't know. I just know the current plan is costing us a lot of money, and it's not doing much.

For the record, I agree with you - I don't see legalization happening either!

[ordinaryguy]

Regarding pot specifically, the problem with "decriminalization" is that since there is no way to own it legally, as a practical matter, it's legal to steal. This leads to violence and vigilante justice.

Alaska has the only sensible pot law in the nation--legal to grow and possess, illegal to transport or sell. If it is legalized for commerce, we'll have the same problems we have with the tobacco industry--vested interests lobbying for advantage and advertising to increase demand. If it's legal to grow your own, but nothing more, it will remain more of a "cottage industry" which is the least objectionable situation.

[achampio21]

Okay I just want to throw my small opinion out there...

I think the gov will not legalize pot, cocaine,meth and other drugs for 2 reasons...

~ they give police officers and FBI job security. Without the drug war we wouldn't need half of the cops on the street that we have now which would lower the need for the extra money from the hard working citizens of this fine country.

~ and the gov only wants drugs that manipulate your mind into mush and turn you into a zombie legal. So they can brainwash you and keep you calm and believing that everything is totally okay in this glorious country. Now take a man of large stature on PCP and piss him off. I have seen this with my own eyes and the man took about 8 rounds to the upper body from a swat team and was still throwing them around like babydolls. The gov doesn't want that. Because if they can't bust down a mans house with 50 people in full body armor and bring down that 5'4" 170 lb man by themselves and highfive on the way out the door with the little guy beat all to hell from top to bottom and in full shackles with no shirt or shoes on and his little 45 then... they suck.

So the gov is slowly taking over this country. They have managed to control everysingle thing that we do and yet convince us that we still live in a free country. I can't smack my kid on the butt when he yells F*** you to me. But they beat the hell out of a man the says F*** you to a cop. I can watch porn in my home if I choose to but if I want to sell a book that has a detailed sex scene in it, well the gov wants to make you get an adult book store license and tax your a**. I can't drive my car without a seatbelt on (which only puts myself in danger) but a cop can drive 80 miles an hour to get Krispy Kreme hot out of the oven and leave his flippin car running while he goes in to enjoy it and my tax money puts gas in the damn thing! But you shouldn't let your car idle in the drivethru because it's bad for the ozone.

Okay I'm done.

[JimGunther]

It is obvious to me that the "drug war" is not working for at least two reasons: first of all there is a large demand for drugs-they are part of being cool, being in with your peers and not to mention the rebellious nature of kids who like to try anything that freaks out their parents.

The second reason is that it is extremely difficult to enforce a law that prohibits the possession of inanimate objects, particularly small objects. Police and other law enforcement agencies can only seize objects from people in very limited circumstances, such as in plain view, search incident to arrest, search warrant, etc.

We have the drug laws on the books because people want them there, if there were enough of a fuss raised by voters, they would be changed, and we see some of that going on now.

Having said all that, it is obvious to me, as others have mentioned, that alcohol causes far more problems for our society than marijuana does. It is also obvious to me that objects should be regulated, if at all, based upon their danger to society, but that is just me.