Indiana Republican Lawmaker Actually Gets It

[BrianJacobsen]

Again, respectfully disagree. When you say it isn't the government's place to prohibit? Uh, last time i checked, we're the gubmint, no? Aren't we a government by and for the people? And I'll just repeat that my understanding is that a lot of the drug laws came about precisely because drugs were legal and caused a hell of a lot of problems and damage. See my earlier comment about OTC products in the twenties.

I find the whole decriminalization/legalization thing kind of odd. I used to be a musician back in my younger days and I saw a lot of lives utterly destroyed and or lost due to drugs. Yep, even marijuana. But to hear y'all talk it should be next to the chewing gum at the Kroger. Color me perplexed.

I've yet to hear a Libertarian argument against drug laws that I found all that persuasive.

 

[giovani]

Again, respectfully disagree. When you say it isn't the government's place to prohibit? Uh, last time i checked, we're the gubmint, no? Aren't we a government by and for the people? And I'll just repeat that my understanding is that a lot of the drug laws came about precisely because drugs were legal and caused a hell of a lot of problems and damage. See my earlier comment about OTC products in the twenties.

I find the whole decriminalization/legalization thing kind of odd. I used to be a musician back in my younger days and I saw a lot of lives utterly destroyed and or lost due to drugs. Yep, even marijuana. But to hear y'all talk it should be next to the chewing gum at the Kroger. Color me perplexed.

I've yet to hear a Libertarian argument against drug laws that I found all that persuasive.

I can't say that you are wrong, but what about alcohol, it ruins many lives but is still down at the Kroger store.

 

[Lex Concord]

I've yet to hear a Libertarian argument against drug laws that I found all that persuasive.

If that's true, I would guess that you either haven't heard many arguments or you disagree with the core libertarian principle of self-ownership and, therefore, aren't very open to persuasion.

If you accept the premise of self-ownership, then there is no effective argument for prohibition.

If you reject that argument, there are no effective arguments against the prohibition of anything.

 

[rambone]

Again, respectfully disagree. When you say it isn't the government's place to prohibit?

Because prohibition infringes on personal freedom, property rights, and privacy.

Uh, last time i checked, we're the gubmint, no? Aren't we a government by and for the people?

After this year I no longer believe that.

And I'll just repeat that my understanding is that a lot of the drug laws came about precisely because drugs were legal and caused a hell of a lot of problems and damage.

There are more drug addicts today than when there were no drug laws. And still we pay out the nose for no benefit to society.

I find the whole decriminalization/legalization thing kind of odd. I used to be a musician back in my younger days and I saw a lot of lives utterly destroyed and or lost due to drugs. Yep, even marijuana. But to hear y'all talk it should be next to the chewing gum at the Kroger. Color me perplexed.

Notice how the laws didn't save them. Prohibition is an expensive, intrusive, waste of time.

I've yet to hear a Libertarian argument against drug laws that I found all that persuasive.

Trillions of dollars in debt, and we continue to throw money in a hole to chase around college students and to terrorize people growing plants in their homes. The drug war is pure tyranny.

 

[BrianJacobsen]

I can't say that you are wrong, but what about alcohol, it ruins many lives but is still down at the Kroger store.

I ask this question in good faith: do you really find them equivalent?

I don't and though I do drink I've never done drugs but I've been around it (drug use) a fair amount. It never seemed the same to me, but I could be wrong.

 

[rambone]

I ask this question in good faith: do you really find them equivalent?

I don't and though I do drink I've never done drugs but I've been around it (drug use) a fair amount. It never seemed the same to me, but I could be wrong.

Alcohol is a far more potent and damaging drug, and also addictive. I have watched alcohol ruin lives of people I am close to. But I recognize addiction as being a medical and family issue, not a government concern.

 

[giovani]

I ask this question in good faith: do you really find them equivalent?

I don't and though I do drink I've never done drugs but I've been around it (drug use) a fair amount. It never seemed the same to me, but I could be wrong.

I would agree alcohol from what I have experienced is worse than pot.
Marijuana, which is what the OP was addressing is all I am talking about, not other drugs.
And I use none of the above.

 

[SERparacord]

Cool, besides drunk drivers we can now dodge those high on pot.

 

[88GT]

It's a step in the right direction.

Now where have I heard that before?

And, in a state like Indiana, it's about the best we can hope for till a lot of older people die off.

To be replaced by what?

 

[Designer99]

Cool, besides drunk drivers we can now dodge those high on pot.

You already do. People have been driving around high for years. Has it caused much of a problem for you?

 

[Designer99]

To be replaced by what?

Laws that are up to date with our culture and not based on deeply ingrained fears like Refer Madness where people jump out of windows and black guys rape all white women.

 

[jrogers]

I've said it before: Legislative consistency dictates that we either legalize (not decriminalize) cannabis or criminalize both alcohol and nicotine.

I've yet to hear a Libertarian argument against drug laws that I found all that persuasive.

Consider this non-Libertarian argument: The dubious public health benefit of cannabis prohibition is dwarfed by the costs thereof. The money spent enforcing these laws and potential tax revenue foregone thereby is significant. The lives destroyed because people are caught choosing cannabis over the massively more dangreous alcohol are a tragedy.

Cool, besides drunk drivers we can now dodge those high on pot.

You didn't bother to read the article or any of the thread did you?

 

[bigo334]

I think it's a good thing there's no point in some college kid or adult, getting a felony over getting caught with marijuana twice and receiving a felony. I see no problem with what he's trying to do. I have a younger brother and I don't want to see him get caught doing something that isn't the smartest and him get in a lot of trouble. Just my input

 

[Denny347]

I smoked Marijuana once and it was like

 

[ATOMonkey]

I smoked Marijuana once and it was like

lolz....

 

[ATOMonkey]

Again, respectfully disagree. When you say it isn't the government's place to prohibit? Uh, last time i checked, we're the gubmint, no? Aren't we a government by and for the people? And I'll just repeat that my understanding is that a lot of the drug laws came about precisely because drugs were legal and caused a hell of a lot of problems and damage. See my earlier comment about OTC products in the twenties.

I find the whole decriminalization/legalization thing kind of odd. I used to be a musician back in my younger days and I saw a lot of lives utterly destroyed and or lost due to drugs. Yep, even marijuana. But to hear y'all talk it should be next to the chewing gum at the Kroger. Color me perplexed.

I've yet to hear a Libertarian argument against drug laws that I found all that persuasive.

Drug laws came about due to various lobbies using the government to squeeze out the competition. Hemp was made illegal due to pressure from the Cotton Lobby, as an example.

Also, more trouble has always been the result of prohibition, rather than the cause of it.

Alcohol prohibition lead to the LARGEST increase in organized crime in the history of the country.

Prohibition of other drugs only gives black market revenue to black market people.

Stupid people are going to do stupid things regardless of legislation. I believe you'll find, with little effort, that taking away one substance just pushes people towards another, and often more dangerous alternative. Example, bath salts, Meth, etc.

 

[giovani]

More laws are gona save us all.

 

[Bunnykid68]

I smoked Marijuana once and it was like

You know how hard it is to type while my hands are moving around like that?

 

[bigo334]

I smoked Marijuana once and it was like

If it was bath salts he'd be chewing on someone's face

 

[CathyInBlue]

was once in a room with a bunch of other people who were passing the pipe and it was like

(It didn't give me a contact high. It gave me a contact headache.)

The solution to the problem of bad laws (prohibition by whatever name and in whatever guise) is not more laws. It's less laws.