   Canada makes a good call
This is such a good idea.People are always going to be doing drugs. In the U.S., the laws have remained extremely rigid, because the government makes a huge amount of money off drug busts.Canada, apparently, is a little more concerned with trying to help its suffering citizens than lining its already-overflowing coffers.*applause*   EDIT: I mean, of course, that Canada's coffers are overflowing with gold harvested by mounted leprechauns, lest there be any confusion."Last time, I asked: 'What does mathematics mean to you?' And some people answered: 'The manipulation of numbers, the manipulation of structures.' And if I had asked what music means to you, would you have answered: 'The manipulation of notes?'" - S. Lang [edited by - Zorodius on August 3, 2003 3:05:02 AM]
  uhm, would you like to support this theory that the US government makes money off drug busts?because the truth is, we are spending millions on the "war on drugs" and are losing misserably.If the government legallized drugs, THEN they could make money off of it, by regulating and taxing the sale of the product.but, we have learned from experience that this leads to widespread addiction. A hundred years ago, many narcotics were perfectly legal. Studies were finding, however, that a large percentage of people were addicted to narcotics.It''s not unreasonable. Just think if people used heroine and coccaine like they used alcohol and nicotine. Hell yeah we would have TERRIBLY widespread addiction problems.I''ve never been addicted to anything, so I wouldn''t know, but I would wager that being addicted to narcotics is a lot worse than being addicted to nicotine or alcohol.   Do you use your powers for good or for awesome?My newly updated site | The Cutter Project | Association of Computing Machinery;  I''m very very happy with the new drug policies the various Canadian governments are taking, wasting billions of dollars on keeping the prohibition on most of this stuff is stupid.  The reasons why these drugs were made illegal in the first place are fairly frightening in the first place, racism being the favorite...  The predictions about rampant addiction are just absurd, there are countries around the world with legal use of many substances that are not allowed in North America and not suprisingly there isn''t widespread addiction problems.;I am not condoneing the use of any narcotics at all but the legalization of illegal could solve more problems than one would think.First of it would take the distribution out of the hands of criminals, alot less people would stop being killed over territories and what not.Secondly it would allow the sale of clean narcotics, not crap cut with anything that could be even more deadly.    Thirdly it would free up the prisons for use of harder criminals such as murderer''s, rapists, and thieves, instead of filling them with addicts who are jailed for the simple fact they were addicted and got caught.    And last the money for the "War on Drugs" could be spent on education and rehabilitation where people could be treated and educated instead of jailed.As I said before I am not condoning the use of narcotics in any form or manner. I personally know that there is no one drug that is more addictive than another, that its just there are drugs of choice. People who choose to use drugs will do it whether it is legal or not and people who choose not to do it won''t, but education is the key to get people to decide not to, not the law and its rigid chains.;  I think the US should at least legalize marijuana and enforce the use of it the same way they enforce alcohol. If you get caught driving under the influence then you get a DUI, and they take your license. Also all these tobacco farmers that are losing money because the government is putting all these taxes on tobacco and people are quiting could turn into marijuana farmers and the government could tax it and make lots of money. Selling of marijuana on the streets would crash because the government could afford to undersell the drug dealers and people would buy the pot from stores. What do you all think? ;  like I said, the predicitions are based on the past and the widespread use of legal drugs like alcohol and nicotine.however, I do think legalizing narcotics is a good idea, BECAUSE by legalizing them you can regulate them. The drug can be standardized, and produced safely, with proper instructions on avoiding overdoses. By making narcotics a product, it makes it safe.Interesting economics aspect, making narcotics illegal actually makes the trafficing of such product MORE profittable, because there are no taxes, and no regulations, and the product is not standardized. Also, the user and dealer are engaging in a risky venture, so the dealer demands more money for the product.legallizing drugs would elliminate them as the "get rich quick" scheme of the black market. Fair competition would open up new markets, and drive prices down. People wouldn't have to beg, cheat, and steal to get enough money for their fixes. Reputable business would take over where thugs and criminals rule. There would be no "gang turf wars", because there would be no "turf" to fight over to sell drugs on.   Do you use your powers for good or for awesome?My newly updated site | The Cutter Project | Association of Computing Machinery[edit] concurrent posts   [edited by - capn_midnight on August 3, 2003 3:28:06 AM];  I agree capn_midnight, as long as governments work on education about substance use and don''t do something dumb like tax them so they cost more than the illegal versions.  Just the advantages from keeping the cash out of the black market or if you believe those American anti-drug commercials, out of the terrorist''s hands. ;  the anti drug commercials about money going to terrorists are true. it may not be ISLAMIC terrorists, but terrorists nonetheless.the Taliban actually held a near monopoly on opium. ;  Opium?  Hardly a big ticket item in Canada at least.  If you're looking for the big money, look at some of the other drugs, especially cocaine (harder because you have to import it), but pot is extremely easy to grow and for a little more difficulty magic mushrooms, which have more value.  The mind boggling part is you can buy marijuana seeds and mushroom spores legally while the end product is illegal...  I wonder about these politicians sometimes. EDIT: Oh and BTW you will find is you research the sucject for a while that much of the price of illicit substances actually comes from the many local handlers.  The original people, which doactually benefit from more product getting seized as more has to be sent through, don't sell for anything near the market value. [edited by - cavemanbob on August 3, 2003 4:16:59 AM];  They have made it legal for Canadians that need marijuana for relieving pain to grow it/smoke it without regulation.They have decrimminalized marijuana for the average citizen so if they''re caught with a little bit, they''ll most likely let them pass./me loves living in Canada   "Few creatures of the night have captured our imagination like vampires..." Godsmack: Vampires.(c) 2003 DigiAC - My solo company in progress. 