Guatemala to Legalize Drugs?

#27
#27
distrovol said:
I fail to see how a country with a fraction of the population and vastly different culture is comparable to this country's drug problem.

To RT: So people use drugs simply because they're illegal and not because it feels good to get high or makes perceived problems go away? I concede there is a certain allure to the forbidden fruit, but the fact is drugs are used because it feels good. Making them easier to get is not the solution. This is a moral problem, not an economic problem.
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When somebody says "it's a moral problem" it means that government doesn't have a solution.

You'd think enforcement would be easier in a smaller country. But they still decided enforcement wasn't worth the cost, and are finding that they made the right decision.
 
#28
#28
distrovol said:
Back on topic, these things might work in a banana republic or other small(ish) country. But the thought of legalizing all drugs in the the biggest drug-consumer nation? With our industrial might?

Seems this attempt at having legal but controlled access to prescription pills isn't working out so well. How would a US model for all drug legalization work anyway?
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What makes us different? Why wouldn't we see similar results? Maybe we are the biggest drug-consumer nation because they are illegal*.

*The theory is that without prohibition many junkies would actually be contributing members of society. Yeah they'd still use, but they'd use responsibly. As it stands, society shuns them. If you fail a drug test, lose your job, maybe go to jail, etc. your life can quickly spiral out of control. If legalized, there will still be irresponsible junkies, but the percentage of junkies who can control their habit will improve by a lot. FWIW, the guy who started Johns Hopkins was a lifelong addict.
 
#29
#29
Another theory is that legalization would lead to safer drug use. Current drug law actually makes harder drugs more attractive. Somebody who may be content with just smoking weed may choose a drug like heroin instead because you are a lot less likely to get caught using (Marijuana stays in your system forever, it's generally distributed with more bulk, and it has a strong odor).
 
#33
#33
What if you're wrong? What if it doesn't work when all drugs are legalized? It has never been done on the scale of a country this size and that consumes as much as ours does. If it's so obvious legalization is the right way, how come not one major industrial power has done it yet? It's because if you unleash that kind of a thing on a society that thinks it has a right to become an addict, you will get more addicts.

No one has said what legalization would look like yet. Seems the prescription pills method (legal but restricted) has only led to an explosion in pill addicts. How do you do it? And if it fails, then what do you do? No mulligans with this stuff.
 
#34
#34
distrovol said:
What if you're wrong? What if it doesn't work when all drugs are legalized? It has never been done on the scale of a country this size and that consumes as much as ours does. If it's so obvious legalization is the right way, how come not one major industrial power has done it yet? It's because if you unleash that kind of a thing on a society that thinks it has a right to become an addict, you will get more addicts.

No one has said what legalization would look like yet. Seems the prescription pills method (legal but restricted) has only led to an explosion in pill addicts. How do you do it? And if it fails, then what do you do? No mulligans with this stuff.
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Stress filled post
 
#35
#35
distrovol said:
What if you're wrong? What if it doesn't work when all drugs are legalized? It has never been done on the scale of a country this size and that consumes as much as ours does. If it's so obvious legalization is the right way, how come not one major industrial power has done it yet? It's because if you unleash that kind of a thing on a society that thinks it has a right to become an addict, you will get more addicts.

No one has said what legalization would look like yet. Seems the prescription pills method (legal but restricted) has only led to an explosion in pill addicts. How do you do it? And if it fails, then what do you do? No mulligans with this stuff.
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There's no support for that notion, but it is widely believed.

425412_364999516851197_192214550796362_1373527_1901412147_n.jpg


We already have legalized certain drugs. Alcohol is a drug, and its usage frequently results in negative consequences, admittedly. What we can learn from Portugal and Holland is that post-legalization, alcohol has proven to be more socially destructive than traditionally banned drugs.
 
#36
#36
Legalize it and tax it.

Please tell me the overwhelming evidence it is worse than alcohol or tobacco
 
#39
#39
nbakerld said:
There's no support for that notion, but it is widely believed.

425412_364999516851197_192214550796362_1373527_1901412147_n.jpg


We already have legalized certain drugs. Alcohol is a drug, and its usage frequently results in negative consequences, admittedly. What we can learn from Portugal and Holland is that post-legalization, alcohol has proven to be more socially destructive than traditionally banned drugs.
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:eek:lol: Cute

Alcohol has been ingrained in human civilization (like tobacco) for centuries. Moderen drugs are much more stigmatized socially. Much like your Portugal comparison, you like to compare apples to oranges.

So if we have enough problems with alcohol, why compound them exponentially with legalizing even more potent and deadly drugs. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

Still waiting to hear what US legalization would look like. :whistling:

Awful lot of addicts on "legal" drugs these days.
 
#40
#40
"...never been done on a scale such as the United States..."

So then let's make the first move, be innovators and ground breakers.


STOP TRYING TO FORCE YOUR MORAL BELIEFS ON THE REST OF SOCIETY.
 
#41
#41
distrovol said:
:eek:lol: Cute

Alcohol has been ingrained in human civilization (like tobacco) for centuries. Moderen drugs are much more stigmatized socially. Much like your Portugal comparison, you like to compare apples to oranges.

So if we have enough problems with alcohol, why compound them exponentially with legalizing even more potent and deadly drugs. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

Still waiting to hear what US legalization would look like. :whistling:

Awful lot of addicts on "legal" drugs these days.
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I told you what it would look like. You rejected it by saying "apples to oranges" without specifying why it would be different in the US and A.

You are asking me for support for my position, but the honest thing to do would be to find support for your position. You are the one calling for action. You want to wage a war on drugs....this is what it costs:

1 - $50 billion/year
2 - The lives of servicemen who've died fighting the war on drugs
3 - The theft, rapes, and violent crimes that would have been prevented had law enforcement not dedicated so many resources to the war on drugs
4 - The violent crime created by the black market for drugs

Here are the benefits of waging the war on drugs:

1 - Some people think it might curb usage
2 - The satisfaction of making a moral statement against drugs

There is absolutely no way to justify the cost.
 
#42
#42
distrovol said:
:eek:lol: Cute

Alcohol has been ingrained in human civilization (like tobacco) for centuries. Moderen drugs are much more stigmatized socially. Much like your Portugal comparison, you like to compare apples to oranges.

So if we have enough problems with alcohol, why compound them exponentially with legalizing even more potent and deadly drugs. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

Still waiting to hear what US legalization would look like. :whistling:

Awful lot of addicts on "legal" drugs these days.
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The word legalization is your hang up?

You honestly believe heys its legal now lets do it is pandoras box?
 
#44
#44
I'm pretty sure all drugs were legalized for oh, about half of the nation's history.

Hell, you could buy heroin from ye olde Circle K at one point.
 
#48
#48
VOLatile said:
"...never been done on a scale such as the United States..."

So then let's make the first move, be innovators and ground breakers.


STOP TRYING TO FORCE YOUR MORAL BELIEFS ON THE REST OF SOCIETY.
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I am doing nothing of the sort. When I say this is a moral problem, that means people become addicts because there is a breakdown in their own value system that allows them to place a higher priority on addiction as opposed to keeping a job, providing for ones family, or simply doing the right thing. And there are a lot of reasons why that happens. I'm not judging them.

So, you are not helping addicts by providing greater access to more and better drugs, as legalization would do. I do not thike it wise to trade more addicts for less black market-related crime. JMO
 
#50
#50
OrangeEmpire said:
The word legalization is your hang up?

You honestly believe heys its legal now lets do it is pandoras box?
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No, it's not. My hang up is that the model of legal but restricted access to hard drugs (pain pills) has not resulted in less addicts. Quite the opposite. It is not a stretch to extrapolate that if you add more quantity and potency to the choices of drugs for people to chose from then you will have more addicts.
 
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