This is pretty embarrassing for a major city... (Houston, Sanctuary: sales, crime rate)

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

Making drugs legal won't solve this kind of problem, I'm afraid.

Why not?

[hsw]

Agree....legalize all drugs and tax 'em; will cut out many wasted law enforcement/prosecution/prison costs

Far more embarrassing are the $150K+/yr cops and prison guards in NYC and CA....yet no material difference in crime rates where taxpayers actually live/work, despite TX's more rational gvt pay/pensions and income taxation

Perhaps need to prosecute/imprison sanctified "small businessmen" who employ illegals...and their "look the other way" customers who want "cheap" prices at their rathole, 3rdWorld stores/restaurants of choice...ultimately, other taxpayers subsidize those who consume illegal labor

Wouldn't have much of an illegal drug or illegal immigrant problem without willing, paying consumers in US...

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by hsw

Wouldn't have much of an illegal drug or illegal immigrant problem without willing, paying consumers in US...

We agree on next to nothing around here, but in this case...yes, this is the way it is. It's capitalism. And it's the only law that matters.

Drug prohibition is an expensive failed social engineering experiment. We have absolutely nothing to show for it other than drug cartel violence outside our border and even inside of it, and overcrowded jails and prisons.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by DJboutit

It should depend on how much you have if you have 1 joint they should give you a $500 ticket & if you have more than that then you goto jail. If our country cracked down harder on drugs within 10 to 20 yrs the drung problem would not be much of a factor any more. I am some who strongly thinks drugs should not be legal if you do make them legal them middle school age children are gonna start getting hooked on drungs not a message we want to send the rest of the world

It's a little too late to try and save the middle schools. Drugs is already an issue within that community.

[jfre81]

It's always about the children. Why are the children getting these drugs? It's because they're easier to buy when they're illegal than when they're legal.

Ever hear much of kids selling booze at school? Hell, when I was 18 and old enough to die for the country but not to buy a beer, I had to get somebody else to buy that for me. But I could go score a bag of weed whenever I wanted to. There are no IDs required in the underworld....in fact if nobody knows too much about anyone, then all the better.

[rightsofar]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

It's a little too late to try and save the middle schools. Drugs is already an issue within that community.

Amen to that. And as to sending the right message to the rest of the world, as someone above stated that we should do, it's time we do the right things for the benefit of our country, rather than worring about a "message" that no else seems concerned with getting.

[vertigo5110]

Originally Posted by DJboutit

It should depend on how much you have if you have 1 joint they should give you a $500 ticket & if you have more than that then you goto jail. If our country cracked down harder on drugs within 10 to 20 yrs the drung problem would not be much of a factor any more. I am some who strongly thinks drugs should not be legal if you do make them legal them middle school age children are gonna start getting hooked on drungs not a message we want to send the rest of the world

Okay. I think that PARENTS are the first and best line of defense to children become mixed up in not only drugs but alcohol and sex at an early age. I personally think legalizing drugs with the most outrageous tax you've ever seen would be alright...at least with me.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by vertigo5110

Okay. I think that PARENTS are the first and best line of defense to children become mixed up in not only drugs but alcohol and sex at an early age. I personally think legalizing drugs with the most outrageous tax you've ever seen would be alright...at least with me.

Great idea. You would solve several problems: raise federal revenues and lower federal costs several ways (prison reduction, legal costs, parole costs, policing costs, etc). The horribly brutal Mexican drug cartels would be negatively impacted, saving lives on both sides of the border. People with a drug addiction could be treated easier. Young people's lives would not be ruined because they were caught using a minor amount. Our last three Presidents had experiences with drugs - Clinton/grass (yeah, he inhaled, for crying out loud); Bush/cocaine; and Obama/cocaine. The crime doesn't seem to be the drugs - the crime is getting caught.

[EEstudent]

How are overcrowded jails an embarrassment to Houston? I think alot of places have these types of problems.

Honestly, I believe that weed should be legalized however, this sets a horrible precedence and could possibly lead to legalization of even harsher drugs.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by EEstudent

How are overcrowded jails an embarrassment to Houston? I think alot of places have these types of problems.

Honestly, I believe that weed should be legalized however, this sets a horrible precedence and could possibly lead to legalization of even harsher drugs.

Well, no, this isn't just a Houston thing. It's more like an embarrassment to the entire country.

You know, legalizing a drug that had been made illegal earlier has been done before. That precedent was set nearly 70 years ago. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened. We want to talk about a "message" we're sending? Right now it's "well, we have every reason to believe our policy, despite our best efforts, is causing more trouble than it's solving, and we can't even really point to any problems it is definitely solving. But we'll continue, just to avoid having to admit we're doing it wrong." Sounds like a great lesson for the kids right there.

Nobody, not even the DEA, can prove that drug prohibition is solving anything. They can make vague claims, but there's no beef. As for "cracking down" - what else can be done, and what do you do with them? Throw them in prison? Been there, done that, got the overcrowded prisons to show for it.

Should we just establish a police state and start executing people? Yeah, let's be like China. But then we won't have any grounds to lecture them on human rights anymore, and we've pretty much forfeited any claim to being a "free country." Basically, America is dead at that point. But gawshdurnit, we're drug-free.