Originally posted by NY Madman: You are assuming that if pot were legalized, total usage by the population would not increase. I tend to disagree with that assessment.
How would you know? How many pot smokers are there in the United States? Has a conclusive study ever been produced?
Quote:
There would also be no "boost" to the national economy as a whole. Maybe some small farming communities in the South would see some more jobs, but it would not be a boon to the national economy.
Oh, so besides being a research scientist and a doctor, you're now an economist? Where do you get all those degrees?
Quote:
The proliferation of gambling casinos across the country was full of the same promises..."It will help the ecomomy". It hasn't helped shit. Many said it would help the local economies. That hasn't happened either. Have you ever been to Atlantic City, NJ? Casinos were supposed to revitalize the entire town. That has never happened in the almost 30 years gambling has been allowed. It is beautiful in the casinos. Walk one block to the west of the boardwalk and you are in an urban blight shithole.
Gambling is not pot. Pot is not gambling. Stay on topic.
Quote:
If pot were legalized, the cigarette companies would jump right into the business. Marijuana would also require a license to grow and market. It would be similar to how tobacco is currently handled. You would not be allowed to grow your own pot in your backyard and sell it. You can't grow your own tobacco and sell it under current law.
Oh, so now you're a judge too? Wow, you're one multi-faceted motherfucker, Madman!
You wouldn't be able to grow your own weed? Just like I can't grow my own vegetables and herbs, because they're not FDA Approved? Oh wait, I do those things. Shit. There goes that argument.
Quote:
Any tax revenue that is derived from legalized marijuana sales would disappear into the general funds of various governments and would most likely be offset by the expense of more government run drug dependency programs and healthcare costs to treat problems related to increased pot usage.
What problems? The pot addicts and their marijuethadone? What the fuck are you talking about?
Quote:
I don't even know if you can calculate the loss to the national economy from the prospective loss of productivity. Some claim that business loses billions a year because of office web surfing and the loss of productivity that ensues. Legalized pot would most likely be far worse as far as overall productivity losses.
Are you saying that the internet has done more damage to the GDP than help? Are you fucking kidding me?
Yeah, and that's what I want my laws based on. Not an ethical test, but whether or not it helps people work harder. "Sorry, you're under arrest. Your unhealthy habits are causing irreperable harm to your individual generation of federal revenue."
Quote:
So, you are saying you want to make it MORE widely available.
He was stating a fact. Pot is easier to get in schools.
Quote:
Don't parents have a hard enough time trying to keep their kids away from drugs? Now you are advocating government sanctioned availability of a drug.
Legalization does not preclude endorsement. Yet another of your fallacies you like to pull out, the slippery slope.
Quote:
It also seems that you may be in denial that pot is a "gateway drug".
Gateway drug. I like that. That's a good one. Is stupidity a gateway drug? A lot of drug addicts are pretty stupid. Should we just round up the stupid people and charge them with Possession of an Defective Brain with Intent to Congregate?
Quote:
How many drug and substance abuse counselors advocate the legalization of pot or any drug? Most of them are formers drug users. I don't think you find very many.
Yeah, the guy whose job it is to sell people on the idea that he can help people beat drug addiction thinks drugs should stay under the jurisdiction of law enforcement, the very group that uses substance abuse counselors to sell people on the idea that drugs should stay illegal. Am I with you?
Quote:
No "war on drugs" propaganda has ever been shoved down my throat.
Oh no, Madman, we'd never assume that you're the fervent adherent of a flawed and unrepentantly, grossly mistaken philosophy of liberty and law. No, you've never led us to believe that you're a willing shill for authoritarian mentality. Never.
Quote:
I remember having similar conversations with friends as a 19 year old even while I was smoking a joint. Even while smoking pot I always thought it was the right thing that it was illegal. I never thought my desire to smoke a joint overrided the best interests of society as a whole.
So, you're a hypocrite, too? Jesus, where do you get off? If you thought it was the right thing that pot was illegal, why didn't you turn yourself in? Do you feel like you committed a crime? Doesn't that, by your own reasoning, make you a criminal? A bad person?
And while we're on the subject of society as a whole, while you were voluntary relinquishing your right to choose what you imbibe for the "good of the society" (gee thanks), did you ever wonder where that line would be drawn between what's right for the individual and what's good for society? The question is rhetorical, I know damn well you didn't.
Quote:
You are correct. I don't think people should buy into everything they read and gather information from multiple sources and decide on their own.
Oh yeah, you're a regular one man Freedom of Information Act. :rolleyes: Good Ol' Unbiased Madman, that's what we call you behind your back. Yep.
Quote:
However, regarding drugs... that includes marijuana... I think the government is on the correct side. I believe in fighting the good fight and I believe fighting against all narcotics and marijuana is the good fight.
So, all those marijuana users in prison, and that's "the good fight", huh? Glad you could smoke that joint and feel okay that what you were doing was getting other people decades behind bars, away from their families, and never having hurt another soul.
Glad you feel so good about all that. Glad you're out there fighting the good fight. 'Cause you're such a good guy, after all.
Previous Topic
Index
