Regarding Carolyn Short’s May 23 op-ed, not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don’t ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences.
Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn’t fight crime, it fuels crime.
Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war.
Robert Sharpe, MPA
Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
Arlington, Va.
Rational Human posted at 8:27 am on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
It is like I've said before, when you outlaw a substance you give all control over to drug dealers. This accounts for all substances. Until we all learn this simple fact there will be no way to control the drug epidemic. If some people wish to drug themselves into oblivion then I say make it as cheap as possible so that no one can profit off their misery and they don't have to commit other crimes to get their drugs. That would effectively end the illicit drug trade, and the associated crimes. There will be other problems to deal with, but once we have the drugs back under our control we can deal with them much more effectively than what we are doing now.
chatmandu002 posted at 11:46 am on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
Although marijuana is not in the same arena as cocaine or heroin, legalizing these stronger drugs will only transfer the cost of fighting and treating these problems from one account(DEA) to another(healthcare). The addicts will still have to rob, steal and or kill to feed their addictions.
drug war fighter posted at 12:23 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
Since the vast majority of all of our violent crime and property crime is caused by our drug prohibition policies, the common-sense solution is to re-legalize all of our now-illegal drugs. Then, the drugs can be sold in legal, regulated and licensed business establishments for pennies per dose.
Then, drug dealers, as we know them today, will disappear for economic reasons. Then, our so-called "drug-related crime" will be in our past--not our future.
Most people currently employed in law enforcement are against the re-legalization of our now-illegal drugs. That's because we would need far fewer law enforcement personnel if all drugs were re-legalized.
However, there is one organization made up of law enforcement personnel who favor the re-legalization of all drugs despite the fact that it's against their own economic self-interest to do so. That organization is called L.E.A.P. ( Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ).
I suggest the readers visit the L.E.A.P. Web site at: www.leap.cc.
Then, arrange for a speaker from L.E.A.P. to give an informative and entertaining talk about our current and past drug policies to any organization or group.
Most will arrive at the L.E.A.P. talk skeptical--most will leave convinced. Convinced that we must make major changes to our nation's drug policies.
VofReason posted at 1:02 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
I am not for this, but it is refreshing to hear someone come out and say it in this way. It is not sold as a bill of goods like the vote in AZ for pain patients. They should go back nationally and put it in the same way- upside-downside and all and then vote up or down.
Engaged Voter posted at 2:25 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
"I am not for this" <---Great! Then don't use drugs. Problem solved.
However, it seems you are like the anti-choice and anti-gay marriage crowd...YOU don't agree with it, therefore NO ONE should be allowed to live that way.
Against gay marriage? Don't marry a gay person.
Against legalized drugs? Don't do them.
BUT STOP TRYING TO FORCE YOUR VIEWS ON OTHER PEOPLE.
Thanks.
truth posted at 4:22 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
We are overlooking one major DRUG ABUSE legal prescription drugs.
Rational Human posted at 5:24 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
I think you miss the point chatmandu002. Legalize the use of cocaine and heroin and the price will go down so far that they don't need to steal to get their fix. If we gain control of who gets the stuff we can pretty much stop it from being sold to our youth in much the same way we control who gets tobacco and alcohol. There will be healthcare issues I admit, but I believe they will be much cheaper in the long run as the cartels will be out of business, and our prisons wont continue filling up with users and addicts who really need help rather than incarceration. The only point to jailing these people is due to the associated crimes that would be nullified by the drug being made legal.
Accuracy posted at 5:32 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
The Arizona medical-marijuana law, approved by voters in November, decriminalizes distribution, possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes under specified circumstances.
But marijuana is illegal under federal law and the U.S. government does not allow legal use of medical-marijuana – Even the Veterans Affairs Department in 2011 issued guidelines that don’t allow doctors in VA hospitals to prescribe medical-marijuana.
So, the questioned now is whether people have a constitutional right to sell the drug approved by voters in Arizona and in other states. Authority to legalize what federal law criminalizes?
sockratties posted at 10:11 am on Sat, Jun 2, 2012.
Lumping marijuana in with drugs like cocaine and heroin is painting the problem with too big a brush. MJ is no more addicting than cigarettes and probably causes less health problems. It has effects on driving and operating of machinery similar to alcohol. It could be regulated in the same way as beer and liquor, thus creating a revenue base for control through taxing. This would also regulate legal age and driving use, plus help control when and where it could be used, as is done with tobacco and alcohol. While it would still be misused as are tobacco and alcohol, appropriate use by responsible people would be decriminalized and it would no longer contribute money to criminals.
“Hard drugs” are a different problem entirely. Cocaine and heroin are seriously addicting even though users delude themselves into believing they can stop whenever they want. Drug cartels around the world finance and leverage other crimes including murder, political corruption, prostitution, pornography and thievery with the drugs and the money the drugs generate.
Opium based drugs have been a bane of society as long as they have been around, even before they were outlawed. They destroy the essence of what makes a person worthwhile; self determination and character. A junkie will spend every waking hour planning on the next fix. I’ve known some very good people who thought they were immune before they destroyed their families and their lives. Cocaine, heroin and a variety of synthetic “designer drugs” must remain illegal and controlled substances. They are too dangerous for recreational use and have no medical value.
Dale Whiting posted at 5:45 am on Sun, Jun 3, 2012.
War on Drugs. War on Poverty. War on Terrorism. Vietnam. What do they all have in common. We lost!
Let's cut Pentagon spending by 50% and see if we can win there!
Rational Human posted at 7:32 pm on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
SockRat have you seen the statistics on tobacco and alcohol use? Cigarette smoking is widely recognized as the leading preventable cause of illness, disability, and premature death in the United States. Today one in five deaths is cigarette-related! This accounts for more than 430,000 deaths each year. Half of all regular users will be disabled or die as a result of smoking. Heroin and cocaine as used today is harmless compared with these figures. Heroin causes absolutely no physical harm to the body other that it's addictive problem. I'm not talking about making these dangerous drugs available to the degree tobacco and alcohol are, just decriminalizing its use and making it a controlled substance. No penalty for use, but the death penalty for smugglers and dealers. Actually, I would do the same for tobacco. Tobacco, heroin, and cocaine have no useful qualities at all. A small amount of alcohol wont hurt you, but I still abstain. Ya Dale lets all turn our guns into plows and see how long we last.
sockratties posted at 6:30 pm on Thu, Jun 7, 2012.
RatHum – It may serve to “decriminalize” cocaine and heroin if it is tied to a recovery program. These drugs have a strong addictive component that is not present in Marijuana. A recovery program is required because the cocaine and heroin addict is a criminal just waiting to resort to crime to earn the next fix. Perhaps the program could be a three strikes and you’re out program or something. I know a few people who are always “going back” to try recovery again, for their whole life. Society can’t afford to babysit these people forever. Meth should be on our list too, but at least that’s one product that’s still made in the good old U.S. of A. Theoretically cocaine and heroin are controlled substances, we just haven’t been able to get the job done. As for the manufacturers and dealers, I agree: Death by acid bath!
Regarding your assertion about physical harm caused by Heroin, check out the following.
• Cocaine short and long term physical and psychological effects:
Feelings of anxiety, insomnia and depression, which may last for weeks, cardiovascular effects, including disturbances in heart rhythm and heart attacks, strokes, or convulsions within an hour after use, those who inject the drug are at high risk for AIDS and hepatitis when they share needles, bizarre, erratic, and violent behavior, tremors, vertigo, muscle twitches, paranoia, or, with repeated doses, a toxic reaction closely resembling amphetamine poisoning, chest pain and respiratory failure, and gastrointestinal complications, including abdominal pain and nausea, weight loss and malnourishment. The mixture of cocaine and alcohol is the most common two-drug combination that results in drug-related death.
• Heroin short and long term physical and psychological effects:
Nausea and vomiting, collapsed veins, thrombosis, loss of local circulation, infection of heart lining and valves, pneumonia, decreased liver function, general body abscesses, uncontrollable itching and skin infections, restlessness and inability to focus, insomnia, depression episodes.