What Political Party are you?

[PKRWUD]

Originally posted by Mr 5 0
What I would like to see is Roe v Wade overthrown and the issue put before each state's voters to decide. Some states will vote for abortion to be legal and some won't but that will be the will of the people, not the will of nine men. This is how it was until 1973. Abortion law - pro or con - was decided by the individual states (10th amendment in action), enacted by legistators who were elected by the citizens of that state. Representative democracy in action, all nullified by one probably unconstitutional Supreme Court decision.

That's how I feel about drug laws. You would be amazed by the history of how and when pot became illegal. Completely criminal. My reference to Reefer Madness wasn't to say that most people believe such propaganda, but there are some who do. Pot was very acceptable until Nancy Reagan opted for Just Say No as her crusade. By the end of the 1980's, there were mandatory minimum laws in effect that made the sentences for minor drug offenses harsher than those for rape.

I agree that one more mind altering substance is not a good thing, but new ones are introduced, legally, all the time. Many are currently available, and are legal, with no restictions at all, including caffene, and with minor restrictions, including tobacco and alcohol.

Marijuana is non-toxic. There hasn't been a single reported death due to an overdose of pot, ever. Caffene kills between 1000 and 10,000 in this country every year. I won't dig out the numbers, but they go on and on. I just don't understand why pot has such a bad rap. I understand your gateway drug philosophy, but I feel alcohol is much more of a gateway drug than pot is. Most people relax when they're high. Most people that I've met, anyway, become more adventurous and daring when drinking. It's like a bottle of courage. A person is more apt to try anything when drinking as opposed to when high. Again, that's been my experience.

The last subject I disagree with you about is whether or not being legal would increase usage. Would you get high if it became legal? Do you know very many people who would? I don't believe there are very many people who would actually decide that they wanted to get stoned just because it was no longer a crime. Everyone I have ever met that wanted to get high, got high. It's easier for high school kids to buy pot than beer. I don't believe that legalization/decriminalization would really make an honest, measurable difference in the amount of users. I know that alot of the kids I grew up with were drawn to it in part because of it's "outlaw" image. Take that away, and you remove some of the appeal. In other countries that have decriminalized drug use, the number of users and the number of crimes that were "drug related" both went down.

Just a little more food for thought.

Take care,
-Chris