Originally posted by WajomaHow about a government program that instead of prison offers drug offenders the chance to learn to grow opium (etc) for the government drug program? Kind of Hotel California idea...
I sure don't want to be paying for some waster to get numbed out, which is what the situation is now when the guvamint hands out free methadone treatments.
Originally posted by WajomaI'm generally liberal, but I have to disagree.
oooooo, that's like sarcasm isn't it.
There needs to be age limit, but when it comes to adults, it aint your business what they do with their bodies.
As part of a society everyone has a resposibilty towards that society. Drugs have a massive effect on society. There has to be an element of governmental control.
As with most things i believe that taxation rather than prohibition is the best way to regulate.
Originally posted by petrosianpupilSo that only the rich can afford drugs?
I'm generally liberal, but I have to disagree.
As part of a society everyone has a resposibilty towards that society. Drugs have a massive effect on society. There has to be an element of governmental control.
As with most things i believe that taxation rather than prohibition is the best way to regulate.
My view is that there are 2 aspects to this problem.
There's the effect on the individual and the effect on the wider society.
A major problem is that people are co-erced from relatively safe soft drugs (cannabis and the like) onto more dangerous hard drugs. This is done by drug-dealers (as any free-market entrepeneur would do), to increase their income - if you come round once a month for a quarter ounce of cannabis, then you're not a great source of income. If they can get you onto heroin, you'll be round once a day for the rest of your short life. Basic supply and demand capitalism.
If we accept that many people are now using soft drugs, how do we prevent them from getting access to harder drugs? I'd say that a way to do this is to legalise cannabis etc, so that we get it out of the hands of drug-dealers.
If we treat heroin addiction as an illness, things would change for the better too. Herion addicts wreak havoc in many communities because they are forced to commit crimes to finance their habit. If their addiction is properly treated, including providing them with heroin in a controlled environment if necessary, and managing them off it in managed way, then they're less of a danger to their community. They wouldn't have to steal a pensioner's purse to get money to get heroin.
A simple cost benefit analysis would no doubt suggest that while the treatment cost would go up, the wider costs in terms of crimes and loss of lives would more than compensate.
Originally posted by scottishinnztried it once, reckon if we could get the taliban to smoke it, they wouldnt have the energy to hold their AK47s
Opium production in Afghanistan is at it's highest levels ever under the current US occupation.
This has been linked with increased incidences if drug overdoses in Europe and the Middle East.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6410263.stm
Originally posted by Bosse de NageYeah. That's what I meant. Only bleeding hearts care about kids.
Maybe you think drug consumption by children is just a problem for bleeding-hearts...Do you take drugs?
Only bleeding hearts treat them like cult objects to be over-protected at any and all cost. Usually that over-protection leads to some seriously sally boys.
We're getting off track. Clearly if European kids may or may not take more heroin and more over-protected Euroweenie kids may or may not overdose, the U.S. military is to blame.
Bah. Get a clue. Go ahead and blame the U.S. military for some Eurotrash overdosing if you want. You're wearing your ars as a hat on this one.
Originally posted by MerkI haven't blamed the US military, who are simply obeying orders, for any such thing. Simply pointing out that your comment about personal responsibility was a little arse-about-face...
Bah. Get a clue. Go ahead and blame the U.S. military for some Eurotrash overdosing if you want. You're wearing your ars as a hat on this one.
--What are sally boys, if I might ask?
Originally posted by Bosse de Nagenancy boys, wolly woofters! boys called sue.
I haven't blamed the US military, who are simply obeying orders, for any such thing. Simply pointing out that your comment about personal responsibility was a little arse-about-face...
--What are sally boys, if I might ask?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6410263.stm
Talk about biting the hand that fed it. The British established the opium trade in Burma and India to help with its balance of payments in trade with China. Talk about state sponsored terrorism!
Now it seems opiates have come home to roost and present itself as a problem for the west because of the income stream it promises to any would be drug lord/baron.
The British had knowingly encouraged the Chinese to accept payment in opiates because of the way it would ensnare the populace and erode their ability to stave off British influence.
Funny how the wheel turns. Kharma can be a real biaatch.
Originally posted by WajomaIs there anything your self interest will acknowledge, as important enough to preserve, that will encourage you to contribute to for the greater good and the continued personal freedom that you can personally enjoy and exercise your self interest.
I sure don't want to be paying for some waster to get numbed out, which is what the situation is now when the guvamint hands out free methadone treatments.
It seems that the more insular you become, paying scant regard for those who dont 'get it', the general health of the whole society eventually suffers, such that when the cracks and fissures of social malaise and dysfunction finally appear, the very freedoms that you took for granted will quickly erode as your user pays paradise crumbles under the weight of its own carelessness.