With the sweep of the House and Senate by the Democrats a new face has taken front center in the “War on Drugs”. Until now anti-drug warrior Rep, Mark Souder (R-IN) was the lead voice of House subcommittees on drug policy. That has just changed.
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich as been appointed as chair of the new House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee on domestic policy. This committee is in charge of US drug policy and new laws concerning such.
Kucinich is said to be a supporter of decriminalization of marijuana and a proponent of industrial hemp. He also wants to see medicinal marijuana legalized in the US. He is expected to receive much opposition from the White House.
but just trying to undertand. if you decriminalise it, why would you then need allowences for medical marijuana? If it was not illegal, you could use it as you saw fit, medical or recreational.
It is a giant waste of money and as long as their is a market for drugs, people are going to sell them. I happy to hear we are now heading in a more reasonable direction.
Decriminilizing means less harsh punishments for first time offenders. Say you got caught with a dime bag your first time you would get a fine and nothing on your record instead of going on your record and jail time.
All that making a drug illegal does is create a black market for it. If someone wants to get it, they still can; be it weed or coke. And all revenue goes to criminals.
Given that it (coke or whatever) has been illegal until now, and the availability is still very high, controlled distribution may be a wiser choice.
Tough to say if it would be better, but the drug war (prohibition) is a losing battle the way it is being fought now.
But maybe that is just the way "they" want it, eh?
When it comes to weed, it is pretty obvious to me that a simple solution would be to allow people to grow their own, but make sales illegal. That way, there would be no black market; one could just go to the backyard, or their greenhouse, and grab some "fruit" off their "tree".
But how come I rarely hear this solution discussed?
Like I said, maybe those in power don't want to fix this problem. It seems like they want it to remain illegal for financial/economic reasons.
Half of of US jails are filled with non-violent drug offenders. What would happen to the jobs of police, corrections, feds, etc, if those people were not in jail?
What would happen to all the bribes that are handed out to keep quiet, or to look the other way?
What about the economies of the places the drugs come from?
There are a lot of people makiing a lot of money off the black market, and I am sure they are happy to keep the system just the way it is.
Maybe, given time, the next several generations will see that getting high is a human condition, and that isn't evil or wrong.
Maybe, given time, those who make the laws will see the futility of these draconian laws and change things.
Maybe, given time, all those who believe the lies will wake from their stupor and demand change.
Until then, I will continue discussing it with those around me and hope that the message will spread.
agree with djdanx, there is no forseeable benefit in supporting the black market (and spending billions policing and incarcerating 'criminals'), and what is even more confusing is the way the US strongarms other countries into prohibition as well... It would be exponentially cheaper to provide all the junkies with free drugs.
Dennis Kucinich is a level headed man. I'd really like to see industrial hemp, it would save a huge amount of oxygen producing trees. Decriminalization of marijuana wouldn't be so bad either :P.
The police did testing on bank notes to see how many tested posistive for cocaine. It was about 85%, so 85% of all bank notes in the UK have been used to snort coke.
Is anyone still under the impression that drugs arent on our streets? How quaint.
If we legalise and monitor the safe drugs like marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy, we might be able to shut down the trade in the bad ones like Heroin and PCP.
If marijuana really is a gateway drug, the easiest way to control it, is to control it.
1: They cannot profit from it, since most are imported/smuggled, its untrackable, so therefore cannot be taxed
2: Some drugs can kill you, pot may not, but pot getting legalized means maybe something else might. Drugs killing people is bad for the government considering if you're dead, you're not paying taxes. The US is alot like the matrix, people left in the dark providing money to the all powerful machines.
They tried to do it with alcohol, but failed. They'll try to do it to pot, it'll eventually fall through. They outlawed Extacy, even though extensive tests have proven so far that it doesnt cause any harmful long term effects, however it can damage the brain, but said damage repairs itself over a period of not using the drug.
I myself am not for the decriminalization of pot, because it causes problems, more spacifically I speak of a mother who couldnt take care of her child because she was too busy staring at a wall, downing as many cookies as she could while listening to trance music. But anyhow, who am I? Not a drug rep. Just a blatent alcoholic, AHA!
1: They cannot profit from it, since most are imported/smuggled, its untrackable, so therefore cannot be taxed *********** Most hard drugs are, and only because its cheaper than growing them under the DEA's nose. Remove the prohibition, companies will be queing up to grow them and pay taxes
Who's going to buy cocaine off some guy in an alley when you can buy it from walmart? Even it costs more.
2: Some drugs can kill you, pot may not, but pot getting legalized means maybe something else might. ********** That makes no sense.
Drugs killing people is bad for the government considering if you're dead, you're not paying taxes. *********** Your also not going to be using medicare when your old and not paying taxes. Trust me, legalised drugs would be a cash cow.
The US is alot like the matrix, people left in the dark providing money to the all powerful machines.
They tried to do it with alcohol, but failed. They'll try to do it to pot, it'll eventually fall through. They outlawed Extacy, even though extensive tests have proven so far that it doesnt cause any harmful long term effects, however it can damage the brain, but said damage repairs itself over a period of not using the drug.
I myself am not for the decriminalization of pot, because it causes problems, more spacifically I speak of a mother who couldnt take care of her child because she was too busy staring at a wall, downing as many cookies as she could while listening to trance music. ************ Would you have minded if she was sat drinking vodka? And even illegal, she still got hold of it
GlaxoSmithKline could blow some dodgey E lab out of the water on costs, quality and accountability. Illegalising drugs hasnt worked, so why not legalise them and see how that turns out?
and there is a lot of talk about the timeline. Apparently the Dems don’t want to alienate voters before the 2008 presidential election so they are going to be planning for the next year and a half and doing little. After the Dems take over the White House and secure an even stronger grasp on the house and senate the changes will come fast and furious. With no one to oppose them they will bring the US out of the dark ages and into the light. I just hope its not all show and no go. Time will tell. We are watching.
