You support robberies and assaults on innocent people.
The
high prices of drugs caused by prohibition force many drug addicts to
turn to robbery in order to pay for their drugs. Legalization would
drop drug prices. Drug users would no longer need to rob/assault innocent people in order to support their drug habit. This violence against innocent people would end if drugs were legalized.
- You support clogging our prisons and jails with nonviolent people.
- Nearly
50% of all people in prison and jail are serving time for nonviolent
drug charges. There are thousands of people in prisons for 5, 10, 50
years--even life--for possessing marijuana or cocaine! The average
rapist is set free after serving only 3 years in prison, the average
murderer is set free after serving only 9 years in prison! To house
just one prisoner for one year costs the taxpayer $40,000! The result
of these harsh penalties? Drug use has increased! (Tough laws have not stopped me from using marijuana--nor will they ever!)
- You support organized crime and drug cartels.
- Huge
drug cartels and criminal organizations thrive off the enormous profits
caused by drug prohibition. These organizations are responsible for thousands of murders! Many of people killed or hurt are innocent people who get in the way! These violent organizations will never be put out of business--unless drugs are legalized.
- You support environmental destruction.
- Underground
cocaine and methamphetamine labs use toxic chemicals to produce those
drugs--the wastes are recklessly dumped in forests and streams. These
highly toxic chemicals are causing major environmental damage in South
American rainforests and now in the U.S. This environmental destruction
will stop only if drugs are legalized.
- You support drug dealers and street gangs.
- Drug dealers and street gangs fight over drug territories. Thousands of people are murdered and assaulted because of this fighting--many are innocent people who get in the way. This violence is another result of the huge profits caused by drug prohibition.
- You lure thousands of young people into quitting school.
- It is a fact that thousands
of inner-city youths drop out of school to make enormous profits by
selling drugs. That incentive to drop out of school would end if drugs
were legalized.
- You do nothing to keep drugs away from kids or out of schools.
- In spite of what you may believe, keeping drugs illegal does not lessen Drugs in School. Drugs would still be illegal for minors. Keep drugs away from children by taking away the profit on illegal drug trade! Drugs are easily obtainable in almost
every high school in America. Legalizing drugs would put schoolyard
drug dealers out of business!
- You subsidize criminals by letting them reap huge drug profits without paying taxes.
- Since
drugs are sold anyway, wouldn’t you rather have them heavily taxed so
it would reduce your tax burden? You are giving criminals a free ride
and it’s coming out of your own pocket. Working people pay 100% of all
taxes for the drug dealers! Why do you want to pay taxes for drug
dealers?
- You advocate punishing millions of harmless drug users (like me) at an enormous cost to society.
- If
you believe drugs should be illegal, then you advocate spending your
tax dollars to arrest/jail/punish millions of productive, honest, and
harmless working people (like myself). Why? We hurt nobody! Who benefits from this policy? Nobody but the jail industry & Undertakers! Who loses from this policy? Everybody!
Drug
users can only hurt themselves. But the drug war harms/kills hundreds
of thousands of innocent people and burdens you--the taxpayer. The drug
war costs you hundreds of dollars every year! The drug war has not reduced drug use!
Prohibitionists
claim drugs must be illegal because they harm people. Why are
prohibitionists so concerned about what other people do to themselves?
Why do they feel it is their responsibility and right to control the
lifestyles of other adults? The prohibitionists tell stories of people
who hurt themselves with illegal drugs. So what? For every one person
who has been harmed with illegal drugs, there are dozens of people who
have used illegal drugs and were not harmed. For every one person who
has been harmed by illegal drugs, there are 1,000 people who harm/kill
themselves by deliberately choosing these harmful lifestyles...
- Being overweight
- Smoking cigarettes
- Watching too much TV
- Eating high-fat/high-cholesterol diets
- Eating too much meat
- Participating in dangerous sports/activities
- Drinking alcohol
- Eating too much sugar
- Eating too few fruits/vegetables
- Drinking too much coffee
- Getting little/no exercise
Why don’t the prohibitionists advocate banning all of the above harmful
lifestyles? The prohibitionists tolerate people who hurt/kill
themselves with tobacco, alcohol, poor diet, or no exercise, but they
refuse to tolerate people who harm themselves with cocaine. Why?
Inconsistent! Illogical! Irrational!
We now come to the real reason why marijuana, cocaine, LSD, and other drugs are illegal: Lifestyle control!
Prohibitionists fear that if drugs are legalized, the “drug culture”
will spread to the rest of society. Nobody can force others to use
drugs! Adults must take responsibility for their own health! Because
the prohibitionists have decided that drugs are wrong for them does not
give them the right to force their lifestyle on others. Prohibitionists
want government to play the role of parent. Prohibitionists believe
they must babysit adults. Prohibitionists are the lifestyle police!
In
the last 25 years, per capita alcohol and tobacco consumption has
decreased significantly. This was accomplished by education and
treatment, not by threat of punishment! Drug use/abuse would drop
significantly if we spent our resources on education and treatment
instead of law enforcement. No rational person would call for
imprisonment of smokers and drinkers in order to reduce tobacco and
alcohol use. But that method is exactly how we try to reduce drug use.
The savings to be had in ending the drug war could easily pay for all
the drug treatment and education programs we need. The drug war is a
failure! Education and treatment work!
If you don’t like a
culture or a lifestyle, don’t live it! If you don’t like alcohol,
tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs, don’t use them! But don’t ban my
personal lifestyle for fear it will poison your lifestyle. Adults must take responsibility for their own actions!
It is a flagrant violation of individual freedom to threaten others
with punishment just because they choose a lifestyle that is not right
for you.
I will continue to smoke marijuana and enjoy it! I hurt nobody! If others do not approve of what I do to myself in my own home, too bad! I may not care for the music you listen to, the food you eat, or the culture you have adopted, but I would never
advocate punishing you because I don’t like your lifestyle. If someone
violates the rights of others, the violator should be punished;
otherwise, people should mind their own business. Adults who use drugs
responsibly--whether they be tobacco, alcohol, LSD, or marijuana--cause
no harm to others! Leave us alone!
If you still believe
drugs should be illegal, answer this question... Why do you believe it
is good policy to punish me--and 20 million adult Americans like
me--because I choose to use marijuana in the privacy of my own home?
Who benefits from this policy and how do they benefit?
Total cost of drug prohibition
- Over 300,000 nonviolent people lose their freedom to prison/jail.
- Thousands of murders, assaults, and robberies caused by drug crimes.
- $20 billion/year in law enforcement costs.
- $10 billion/year in lost tax revenue (similar to alcohol tax).
- $5 billion/year in property losses due to drug-related crimes.
- $50 billion/year and 500,000 jobs lost because of no hemp industry.
Total cost = $85 billion/year = $500 per taxpayer every year!
Harmful Effects?
| Drugs | Most Harmful Effects |
|---|
| Alcohol |
- Liver damage, birth defects, kills brain cells, intoxication, can induce violent behavior
- Addiction: As addicting as cocaine!
- Overdose: Possible.
- Deaths/year (U.S.): 100,000 (Not counting drunk driving or crimes caused while intoxicated.)
|
|---|
| Tobacco |
- Lung, throat, and mouth cancer, emphysema, heart damage, premature aging of skin, underdeveloped newborn babies.
- Addiction: As addicting as heroin or cocaine!
- Overdose: Possible, but extremely unlikely.
- Deaths/year (U.S.): 400,000
|
|---|
| Marijuana |
- Slight chance of bronchitis in some users.
- Possible minor sperm count reduction, but unproven.
- Lung cancer remotely possible with extremely heavy use, but unproven.
- Short-term memory loss only while intoxicated--Not permanent!
- Addiction: less addicting than coffee, soda, meat, or sugar!
- Overdose: Impossible!
- Deaths/year (U.S.): 0 (Zero!)
|
|---|
From the talk.politics.drugs Usenet newsgroup
Comments?
Leave comments on the Negative Space Comments Page.
Jerry Stratton
http://www.green-aid.com.
