Lesser politicking - bad billsFollow

Crack is whack.

The reasoning behind this disparity is obvious.

When these guidelines came out, crack was the junk of choice for poor urban black men, whereas cocaine was the nectar of rich successful white men. Lawyers whose lunch consisted of a martini and a bump had no problems with prosecuting a Lateef or Rashan who just blew half their face off with a pipe.

Who would fight over it if you could get your crack on sale from Wal-Mart?

Edited, Mar 22nd 2010 1:06pm by Sweetums

Proof that if you keep it off the streets and the front pages, no one really gives a sh;t about drugs, so we should legalize them all immediately.

I'm sure it would also tickle Moe's "let's watch natural selection in progress" senses.

Legalizing drugs would accomplish 4 things

- Ease prison overcrowding
- Give Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson something to agree with the religious right about
- Virtually eliminate the welfare class
- Put a, how did Samira put it, "metric fUck ton" of money in the state's coffers.

Legalizing drugs is probably a good move.

The Law of Unintended Consequences > The Law of Gravity > Any legislation.

And yep, for all of MoebiousLol's reasons, and then some, decriminalise all drugs.

See, sane Dems and Republicans CAN see eye to eye on some issues.

Legalize marijuana and tax the **** out of it. Legalize crack and tax the **** out of it. Bam, prison overcrowding solved and healthcare paid for.

If people are allowed to give themselves cancer with tobacco, then everyone else should be allowed to get a little high once in a while.

Lol. yeah if it were that easy.

If marijuana becomes legal, on what grounds do you justify taxing it anymore than say, herbal tea?

If it is legalized on the basis of it's health benefits, you'll be hard pressed to tax it at all.

While I have no issues legalizing the smoking of a naturally occurring substance (pot), I don't know if I feel the same way about cocaine, especially crack cocaine. You can't make your own booze because it's dangerous to have stills in your house or garage and moonshine can be deadly if not properly distilled. Crack cocaine is made in a similar process but add in pressurized ammonia. Cocaine does not provide any recognized health benefits.

So, ok, Cocaine is made and sold by licensed companies to insure it's good clean stuff and made safely. Now we 'tax the sh*t' out of it. Again, how do you justify taxing the sh*t out of it. If it's legal it's just another product - you could probably justify taxing it at the same level as booze or cigs.

Keep in mind now you've put a product on the market with an extremely regressive tax on it. Not only will it require lots of legislation and oversite, but it will probably not be affordable by the people that are hooked on it. So the trade remains underground.

Mostly, I'm not for legalizing cocaine because not only is it dangerous to make, but also to use. If it was deemed just another drug to be put into pill form and doled out to the public through prescriptions...well so be it. But to legalize it simply to ease the stress on law enforcement is not enough of a reason, imo. Also, Pulp Fiction has scarred me for life.

The word on the street is that legalizing pot will not create a huge tax stream, and what it does bring in will be spent up regulating the stuff.





Edited, Mar 22nd 2010 10:05pm by Elinda

Yeah. Going to jail for being stoned on 'pot' seems rather silly doesn't it.

I should be arrested for being jacked up on caffeine.

Also the prison industry. Powerful lobbyists, and so manly and virtuous, and ****.

Tobacco is a "naturally occurring substance." It's not very difficult to grow, either. We still "tax the sh*t out of it."

Unaffordable? Cigarettes have a tax of about $1.50 per pack here. That's just the state tax. If you haven't noticed, the poor still smoke the @#%^ out of cigarettes. Despite the tax, it would probably be cheaper overall since you get rid of the black market overhead.

Legalizing it would make it more difficult for minors to get. As it stands, it's pretty easy to procure illegal drugs if you have an interest, especially compared to alcohol (unless you are of age). If an adult wants to do it, who am I to tell them that they can't @#%^ up their life if they get addicted and don't get help? I don't see anyone going to jail for being an alcoholic.



Edited, Mar 23rd 2010 7:40pm by Sweetums