by Crazy151drinker 52 Replies latest jw friends
May I pose a question to spanner?
I'm curious, since you are so opposed to 'drug' use.
What is your position on alcohol and cigs? Do you smoke or drink?
I may be wrong, and terribly misevaluate your character, but you seem to be someone who would gleefully plunge us right back into alcohol prohibition, as well, given the chance.
*jumps into the discussion again*
The Dutch government is growing less defensive about its pioneering focus on reducing the risks that go with taking drugs: While drug possession is technically against the law, the government has chosen not to prosecute over small-scale consumption and to go after wholesale dealers and producers instead.
This is totally true.
You know, I had never used anything other than a cigarette and a drink before I went to the States. Lol, really, when I was there I was introduced to the finer forms of smoking. People there laughed their asses off cuz I do live in a country where I can go to the coffeeshop and get some weed. So, its legal here, I can get munchies and weed at the coffeeshop, for the harder stuff like ecstasy one needs to find a dealer. There aren't that many people here that do drugs, and the fact that there are coffeeshops in every little town does NOT increase the drug usage. It does however provides a relaxed environment where the people that smoke can go without being bothered. Its calm, its quiet, and I feel totally safe when entering a coffeeshop. Cops will not bother me 99% of the time when I am at the coffeeshop. What is being hunt down by the cops are the producers. Big farms where weed is grown are being terminated, or ecstasy labs will be shut down and the owners will be prosecuted. It works here. It really does, real addicts are being treated and helped, cuz those do have a problem, and throwing them in jail will not help them one bit.
Just my two cents. If you don't believe me, check out the stats for Holland.
Oh, and Spanner, thanx for the compliment
And this whole "they'll just find another crime to commit"- BULLSHIT. People sell drugs becuase they are lazy and STUPID. It makes alot of $$$$$$$$$$$. Other types of illegal activity are not as profitable and take BRAINS to pull off. And the real kicker is- They are all ready doing it. How can you sit here and say "Drugs are bad, I hate drugs, but dont legalize them because I dont want some ex-dealer to steal my car....."
I'm with you on the fact that the only person being hurt by drug use is the person using them (just like cigarettes, alcohol, or any other unhealthy product). And I'm not against legalizing them.
But I do think that a lot of the drug trade is from gangs and organized crime. People get into gangs and crime for several reasons and not because drug sales are a lazy way to make money. If you take away one product, there are others. The gang still exists. It is not going to turn into a social club and it is not going to disband to go find real jobs. The question becomes what takes the place of the lost income? Gang layoffs? Membership cuts?
Other criminal activity will no doubt take the place of the drug trade. What will that be? Gambling? Prostitution? Theft? Could be any of those. Can some of those crimes be violent? Certainly. In my opinion, it takes a lot less brains to rob somebody at gunpoint than to set up and run a laboratory for manufacturing street drugs.
And, because the gangs still exist, they will still fight over turf and other things that cut into their pocketbooks. The issue of violence is still money and taking away a source of income does not make that need for money disappear. I happen to think the gun violence will continue with or without legalized drugs.
