sfgate.com — Now here's a moral question: How many Mexican police officers have to die because American parents believe that U.S. drug laws will keep their teenagers from doing something their kids may or may not do whether it is or isn't legal? Follow-up question: Will parents feel safer if the drug cartel violence moves north?
Mar 15, 2009 View in Crawl 4
mnmshowMar 15, 2009
So what if coke actually is dangerous? So is alcohol. So is smoking. People die from those things all the time. Prescription drugs kill more people than cocaine every year in the US. It is the prohibition of cocaine (and other drugs) that creates the profits and it is the profits that create the violence. You can only legislate human behavior so far. After a certain point people are going to do what they want to do. We have had laws against speeding in this country for decades, have we succeeded in eliminating it yet? Will we ever? Of course not. So how is it that people think making drugs illegal will ever succeed in eliminating their use?
clvngodessMar 15, 2009
"Now here's a moral question: How many Mexican police officers have to die because American parents believe that U.S. drug laws will keep their teenagers from doing something their kids may or may not do whether it is or isn't legal?Follow-up question: Will parents feel safer if the drug cartel violence moves north?"Answer Question #1:The people who influence teenagers the most, believe it or not, is the parental units. Teenagers do what they know, learn what they see, are influenced not by words but by the behaviors of the people they trust most, parental units. The question surrounding legalization and decriminalization laws and teenagers is almost ridiculous. It's not really about the kids if parents are plugged in. The bigger question is who is raising the kids and who is allowed to act as parental proxy if we have to worry about the pot smoking bogey man?Answer to follow up question:The cartel violence has moved north. What do think La Eme is and MS 13 is about? Google these if you don't know. Take a look at Los Angeles area newspapers in the past couple of weeks for the gang violence spikes. This is a grab for power and territory. Where does this come from? Drug trade. Simple. It was just noted on Digg and on Pacifica Radio that the cartels have now managed to reach into NoCal's pot crops. And dig a little deeper into the gang and drug violence of LA alone and you see they are targeting cops here as well. It's time to cut the head off the snake. However, I wonder if the US government will be willing to do so? Drug trade is a great way to fund guerilla wars, economic coups and such.
mockylockMar 15, 2009
If you've never done coke, you can never understand how dangerous it can be. Marijuana is a different story, but coke should never be legalized for any reason.The reason there are less deaths with cocaine is because it's much harder to get a hold of and would cost quite a bit to overdose on, unless you have an un-cut supply. Nonetheless, it's easy to head to your mother's cabinet and grab some vicodin, but it's still controlled and has a legitimate use. Cocaine doesn't... unless you have a toothache.Cocaine (and eventually crack), as well as herion, are extremely addictive and dangerous. A person (or group of people) will do coke until there's none left, they have no money.. I've never seen anyone overdose in person, but I guarantee if they had enough money or supply.. they would have. I've also known several people dying from heroin, but that's a given.The "war on drugs" is questionable. Marijuana will never kill anyone. I doubt that there are many huge wars over pot transfers compared to coke. But, it's still half the battle. Saying the "war" should be stopped, would be irresponsible. Adjusting the rules to cut half of the funds going into it, is another story. Legalize pot, you'll have more resources to deal with the rest.
Closed AccountMar 15, 2009
Legalize it.Don't criticize it.Legalize it.And I will advertise it.
bonestampMar 16, 2009
Lets stop these drug cartels before they move any further into the US. Legalize it!
benderflexoMar 16, 2009
There is no good reason for ANY substance to be illegal. If I want to drink myself to death, I can do that perfectly legally. Why shouldn't I be allowed to make choices and mistakes? It is my f**king life and I want the government to recognize that it is mine. Use does not always lead to abuse, but for some people use of anything can lead to abuse.
cheezinternMar 17, 2009
That's true and I agree with you. I, for one, would like lsd to be legalized:) But realistically speaking, my point was if pot was made legal, the cartels will just focus on other sources of revenue. Legalizing pot will not stop all the violence.