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It would leave quite a few drug law enforcement types jobless. Also make some prisons empty...fewer correctional and construction jobs for new prisons.
It would leave quite a few drug law enforcement types jobless. Also make some prisons empty...fewer correctional and construction jobs for new prisons.
See I disagree. There are plenty of crimes out there to worry about than to continue to worry about something as trivial as possession of pot.
It would leave quite a few drug law enforcement types jobless. Also make some prisons empty...fewer correctional and construction jobs for new prisons.
This is true. Unfortunately, it is all about the love of money. In the USA, building prisons is an industry, rather than a way of rehabilitating criminals. People often make money from building prisons, probably more so than from selling marijuana. Alcohol and tobacco industries make money from selling their products. If marijuana is legal, then people will buy less cigarettes and beer. Alcohol and tobacco loses money. Legalizing marijuana would be good for individual persons in this way. The jails would start to empty. People who sell marijuana can do so legitimately. The quality will go up. You can put taxes on it. Not to mention, you can use the cannabis plant for other things, such as making cloth, paper. There are so many things you can do with the cannabis plant. It can be used as medicine. Unfortunately, no one wants to think of this, especially if they make money going against it. When jails are built, people make money. It is easier for a government to collect money from building prisons than it is to tax marijuana. It's the love of money. The "family values", and other "fear" issues are just a smokescreen in my opinion. Same with heroin. When Portugal legalized heroin, the crime rate went down. HIV infection rates went down, heroin addiction rates went down. I am not advocating the recreational use of heroin, but I am making the point that making heroin illegal won't curb crime. The USA doesn't seem to see this. Much of our prison population is there because of drug related issues. Drug addiction is treated as a criminal behavior in the USA. Why? More money is made putting people in prison than treating them. It's about the money in many ways. The real reasons for making certain substances illegal have never really been about "safety" and "family values". It has been about the money.
Last edited by green_mariner; 12-07-2010 at 09:39 AM..
Is there a single reason pot should not be legalized?
It would essentially decriminalize a segment of our population and, as an after effect, the prison population would correspondingly plummet, as pothead arrests would plummet leading to a layoff of prison staff, and possibly Sheriff personnel thereby contributing to unemployment in our country. Sales of hostess cupcakes would skyrocket and a national munchie craze would sweep the land thereby increasing the prices of all sorts of junk food. We could also reasonably be sure that the speed limit would decrease since most pot smokers drive slower than the posted speed limit, but firmly believe they are flying down the road. Bottled water sales would also have a noticeable jump as cotton mouth would become nearly epidemic.
I don't think that's true at all. It's not that they think they are flying down the road. It's that they are looking at the scenery or thinking about something else, until all of a sudden they get that jolt that says, "Oh crap! I'm driving!" that makes them pay attention again for a little while.
This is true. Unfortunately, it is all about the love of money. In the USA, building prisons is an industry, rather than a way of rehabilitating criminals. People often make money from building prisons, probably more so than from selling marijuana. Alcohol and tobacco industries make money from selling their products. If marijuana is legal, then people will buy less cigarettes and beer. Alcohol and tobacco loses money. Legalizing marijuana would be good for individual persons in this way. The jails would start to empty. People who sell marijuana can do so legitimately. The quality will go up. You can put taxes on it. Not to mention, you can use the cannabis plant for other things, such as making cloth, paper. There are so many things you can do with the cannabis plant. It can be used as medicine. Unfortunately, no one wants to think of this, especially if they make money going against it. When jails are built, people make money. It is easier for a government to collect money from building prisons than it is to tax marijuana. It's the love of money. The "family values", and other "fear" issues are just a smokescreen in my opinion. Same with heroin. When Portugal legalized heroin, the crime rate went down. HIV infection rates went down, heroin addiction rates went down. I am not advocating the recreational use of heroin, but I am making the point that making heroin illegal won't curb crime. The USA doesn't seem to see this. Much of our prison population is there because of drug related issues. Drug addiction is treated as a criminal behavior in the USA. Why? More money is made putting people in prison than treating them. It's about the money in many ways. The real reasons for making certain substances illegal have never really been about "safety" and "family values". It has been about the money.
I support the legalization of pot. In fact, I think it will be mostly legal in the US in 10-20 years. I know an elderly rightwing retired doctor that has even come full circle on the topic having witnessed it's effectiveness with a chemo patient.
The heroin topic is interesting and I think that even if you made hard core drugs like heroin, meth etc. legal there is NO company in the US that would make it given the serious health and medical risks. That would leave us having to order it from fly-by-night companies with nothing worth suing them for.
Well, I'm surprised that the measure didn't pass in California.
Maybe there are LOT of pot dealers there who vote! After all, they don't wanna watch their $ empires collapse.
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Also make some prisons empty...fewer correctional and construction jobs for new prisons.
