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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (651564)	4/16/2012 1:24:53 PM
From: i-node	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1580821

>> I have to wonder what is wrong with people that get a 4th offense in a state like that? While you and I may agree that it was stupid for the guy to keep selling pot after being caught three times, the reality is that after the first time he was unemployable at most other jobs. It is probably all he knew how to do and he made the judgment he would roll the dice. Most drug dealers aren't among the brightest people on earth; however, that's no justification for for putting him in prison for 50 years at a cost to taxpayers of maybe 100k/year. And it certainly isn't going to affect marijuana sales in New Orleans. I think the idea of allowing states to try different things makes sense and I, too, was surprised CA didn't pass the proposition. There is a serious movement there to regulate marijuana like alcohol and that might make it. Then we would start to get an idea whether there is a benefit to be had via legalization (or whatever you call that). But the federal government, if the current administration is any indication, may not go along with it. They have not respected the CA medical marijuana rules. >> I think the idea of letting states try differe Some people, correctly IMO, feel their right to live their life as they see fit without government interference in their personal business. I would argue that the "emotions" are out of control amongst those who believe marijuana should be banned. A lot of it stems from the 1930s & 40s hysteria that was literally a lie spread by government. There continues to be an irrational misunderstanding in spite of years of science disproving it. There are plenty of laws on the books dictating moral behavior that I think should be removed, and this is just one of them. But most of the others aren't destroying lives and sending people to prison. >>> I guess I can't see them as innocent little victims and I don't share your outrage at their plight. Right, and most people don't share the outrage because once someone is in jail nobody much gives a shit. It is the same reason we don't care that prisoners in the US often can't get adequate health care or anything else. They're prisoners, they deserved what they got, so fuck them. The prisoners at GITMO are far better treated than many Americans who are in jail for far lesser offenses (such as drug possession). >> >I guess I can't see them as innocent little victims and I don't share your outrage at their plight. I can assure you I have no such "cravings". But having used marijuana and other drugs many years ago I do have a perspective on what is potentially dangerous versus what is not. Regulated marijuana is safer than alcohol or cigarettes either. For many years I maintained that the world just doesn't need another legal intoxicant. But I've come to understand that the war on drugs destroys more lives (by a rather wide margin) than the drugs ever did. In addition, it has corrupted many of the principles of law that our Constitution established for us (like unreasonable search and seizure) as the courts have given law enforcement ridiculous power to involve itself in people's affairs in pursuit of drug offenders. You have to admit it has gotten ridiculous when law enforcement agencies are fighting EACH OTHER over who makes a given bust in order to be able to claim the unaccounted for slush fund money from drug seizures -- in multiple cases, resulting in the deaths of innocent individuals. Surely, you cannot support this kind of nonsense.