Thread: Legalize Pot... ?

Tobacco is legal, yet there is still a large amount of 'chop chop' or tax free tobacco to be had if you know where to get it. That's not so legal, and is simply a case of the legal stuff being taxed like it is.
I see the same issues would arise with legal weed. The illegal stuff would be out there, and cheaper than the legal stuff.

Mick

Addictions are addictions,be it booze,drugs, cigs or candy.
Are millions of perfectally functioning,intelligent,contributing to society, heroin addicts in this world,The drug in pure form at a known dose has no deleterous effects even long term on the human body.
I choose not to do drugs, tho in my youth I tried most of what was available in the 60s.I chose to stop drinking to excess many yrs ago because I cannot function at my best peak levels with chemicals on board.
I choose not to eat candy and dring softdrinks to excess because I want to maintain a normal wgt.
To me the whole drug issue is all about freedom of choice,is no diff than the abortion issues in this country that women face,it's my body,let me control how it functions.
I think the best thing america could do for those that choose to be addicted is to provide them with pure, clean,known doses of the drug of choice and de-criminalize the entire issue,all the crime would go away overnight.
We all have the choice to use or not use drugs and alcohol,the govt should stop telling us what we can and cannot do.Rant over.

Originally Posted by earcutter

Hey I am not trying to be funny, but it sounds like you are so disenfranchised that you have just about given up! Not that I don't get that, but well that black hole you call education in my opinion is America's only saving grace and a hole we need to continue to throw money at!

As for not legalizing it - I get that - that's your opinion but talk about throwing money down a black hole!! Policing the drug war is costing you way more than education! For the love of Pete bro - don't give up!

I haven't given up but for what is obviously not working. In the case of education, I have given up on pouring money into it with the expectation of improving it. The reasons are many. First you might say that we're getting our a$$es kicked by many eastern countries in education. Is it because they outspend us on education? No, quite the opposite. And why would education cost as much as it does? If you think about it and try to justify the cost of a college tuition, you'll be hard pressed to justify the costs....not in terms of its value to you but in the cost to provide it. My belief is that it costs so much because there is simply too much easy money available to throw toward it. Between Pel grants, gov't funded student loans, direct gov't funding, and the Lotto, there is a glut of easy money available for education yet our children seem to be getting dumber by the day. Why? More money does not seem to be the answer. In fact, it seems as though its always the argument to better our education. If we could simply get just a little more money we'd get there. Think about that. If you brought your car in for repair and you kept dumping money into it and the mechanic kept telling you every week that if you just give him a little more money he might be able to fix it. Would you put up with that? But if thought that he could continue to get you to pay him week after week, the car would never get fixed would it? There's more money in keeping it broken than in fixing it. And this is the same with much of gov't spending. So I've given up on the idea of feeding it more money since giving it more only leads to the demand FOR more.

And as for legalizing drugs, I'm completely against it. But I'm also against legalizing for the purposes of taxing it. The gov't has sucked up enough resources they don't need more. The gov't needs to make better use of what it gets. And I believe it needs less, not more. Its like giving a fat man a doughnut in the hopes that he will finally have the energy to get off the couch and get some exercise. Its no wonder we are struggling to recover from this economic nightmare. But policing the drug war is like picking up the trash. Simply because the trash collector comes by today doesn't mean that we are forever done with trash. No tomorrow there will be more. But what do we do? Stop picking up the trash because it hasn't gone away? No, we continue to pick it up week after week. We might say that we are just as successful with winning the war on drugs as we are with the winning the war on murder or crime in general. But just because we can't stop every driver from speeding we don't tear down the speed limit signs. No, we continue to enforce the laws the best we can and continue to have standards as a society.

I am anything but disenfranchised. But I'm through with sugar coating anything. Its time to call a spade a spade. In doing so, my opinions on these kinds of matters cut a little close to the bone.

Well OCD - I respect what you are saying. Truly I do... I just don't agree with your opinions on education I guess. At least not higher education anyway. Most university students take loans. Those that get grants are the poor - and I support promoting a level playing field when it comes to higher education -> it's what makes America great!

As for the University's themselves, well they aren't government run, and in my opinion, are still the best in the world.

When it comes to the way lower schools are funded in America, yeah I have a problem with that too. Part of it is a function of funding and part of it is a function of American society.

The whole myth of Chinese kids, or Indian kids or whatever kids being better educated or smarter than American kids isn't that their schools are that much better... it's the culture. With the populations there and competition being what it is in those country's, they have to be more competitive and the whole family gets involved in the kids education there. Here in the states, if I want my kids to work hard but don't want to be as involved -> I pay to send my kid to private school. And that's usually a function of how hard I have to work...

Anyway - again - thanks for your post. I see what you are saying. I just don't know if I have bought in yet.

I agree w/ earcutter on education. It seems it is a "blackhole of sorts now". By that I mean for the ones trying to "get" an education. We are one of the only nations that actually "pay" people to come from other countries to get educated here; when there are millions of americans who can't afford it, or don't want to be in debt for the next 40 years in loans (I made that mistake). So by legalizing and taxation, oh and stop paying other damn people to come get a free education then bail, give US the education and let US take these damn jobs, the black hole would no longer be a bottomless pit, but a slowly filling one over time, putting people in jobs and giving AMERICANS educations! but it needed to be said.

Originally Posted by tiddle

I agree w/ earcutter on education. It seems it is a "blackhole of sorts now". By that I mean for the ones trying to "get" an education. We are one of the only nations that actually "pay" people to come from other countries to get educated here; when there are millions of americans who can't afford it, or don't want to be in debt for the next 40 years in loans (I made that mistake). So by legalizing and taxation, oh and stop paying other damn people to come get a free education then bail, give US the education and let US take these damn jobs, the black hole would no longer be a bottomless pit, but a slowly filling one over time, putting people in jobs and giving AMERICANS educations! but it needed to be said.

What are you talking about tiddle? Who do we pay to come here and get educated? I have never heard of such a thing?

Foreign exchange students. It doesn't get announced to the locals in the Universities, but I have had a few friends that were. They received reduced, or free tuition, money for books, housing at reduced cost or free; an allowance of sorts for food transportation or whatever; all the while mom and dad were sending money as well. The universities are required to "provide" a certain number of these "scholarships", unless they are a private institution. Any state or federally funded school has to do this, else they can loose their funding that comes with these "scholarships". This came from someone I know who worked for 20+ years in the bursars office, and financial aid office at the University I went to.

Wow - the University I go to make a killing on those foreigners! They pay twice the tuition, and have to supplemental the schools health care and food program.

That's crazy!

See there's the catch, they came to the states to go to school, therefore they pay an out of state tuition and fees, but if they apply and are awarded scholarships, then instead of one of us getting an education for free or reduced cost, they bring in people from out of country and provide one to them. That's what is BS, these scholarships could go to Americans, and help put more Americans to work reducing the unemployment rate, getting more people off of the unemployment train, and reducing debt to those who have to take out 10's of thousands of dollars in loans to go to school if they want; freeing up more money for these people who in turn spend it and buy stuff...economic stimulation. They had talked about federal student loan forgiveness at one point, but that's not gonna happen, b/c of all the money, interest, and penalties these "3rd party" lenders get that actually make up FICA and SallieMae.