Comments on One More Bit of Drug News

No, don't look behind the curtain!

Pay no attention to the truth!

All you people and your marijuana. Why, growing up in Indiana we didn't have any of those drug thingies. We had church. And high school basketball. And marching band. We were high on life, so to speak.

Feh, this is nothing new. Having small ammounts of pot has been legal in Oregon for years. And most of the people who smoke it are from my parent's generation. Sad, pathetic, OLD hippy's desperately clinging to their youth when they and pot were "cool".

Get your facts straight, commune boy:

Marijuana possession in Oregon carries a $500 fine or jail time.

Old people are, and have always been, in the minority of marijuana smokers.

And this is how to spell "hippies," you hippie.

Where can I get my hands on some delicious government-sanctioned meth?

At the pharmacy, John. It's called Adderall.

When legalization proponents emphasize that they want to tax and regulate drugs, it sounds like they are apologizing for their position. It sounds like "we agree that it should be controlled, just disagree on how it should be controlled." I think this apology encourages the prohibitionists by telling them that they are right on principle. A compromise that made pot legal, but burdened the sale or use of it with regulations to the point that lots of people still went to jail because of it wouldn't really amount to legalization. Then prohibitionists could point to the continued illegal drug trade as proof that legalization didn't work.

Life in general is taxed and regulated in the semi-socialist US of today, why single drugs out for special treatment? Do countries with less strict regulations on booze have more or fewer problems with booze? I'm thinking of Japan where beer is sold in vending machines.

My point is if you're going to advocate legalization advocate fucking legalization, don't meet the taliban half-way.

If ONLY it where available in vending machines.. and maybe laced confections too.(insert drooling Homer Simpson head here).

@7: Actually, Japan has big problems with alcoholism.

Um, hello, you're using an example from the UK, which has the some of the highest rates of binge drinking in Europe. And last time I was there, booze was legal. If the kids aren't smoking pot, it's because they've moved on to coke, e, and speed. Hit the party circuit in London any weekend of the year. Sketch central.

Legalization doesn't mean anything. Liquor has been legal in the U.S. for how many years? Does that mean there is no alcoholism, drunk driving or alcohol-related violence? No. It just means the government profits from it. I'm all for responsible drug use. But legalization is not a "disincentive" to anything. I have yet to visit a country where legalization of any intoxicant prevented or lowered its abuse. Spain, France, Italy, etc... the countries that supposedly have a "healthy" relationship with alcohol have just as many junkies, speed freaks, and alcoholics as anywhere else (thought I will say that French druggies are the most polite). So toke, shoot up, or down a shot, but stop blaming government regulations and take responsibility for your use.