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Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 4:21 pm
(July 12, 2015 at 3:54 pm)Dystopia Wrote: (July 12, 2015 at 3:51 pm)KUSA Wrote: I think it would be cheaper to fund public assistance for people with drug problems than what this war on drugs costs.
I don't support wars on drugs - But I live in Europe, so I've never really seen that. There's a difference between war on drugs and just plainly legalize everything. At the least, I see no reason drug users would prefer the government's drugs to their usual everyday dealer - Why should they? If I did drugs and bought them from some dealer, I wouldn't start buying them to the government, specially with the damn taxes.
I never said they had to get them from the government. Drug usage should be decriminalized. The DEA should be disbanded.
If the government wants to get involved they can work the mental and physical health side instead of policing everything.
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:04 pm
(July 12, 2015 at 3:54 pm)Dystopia Wrote: I don't support wars on drugs - But I live in Europe, so I've never really seen that. There's a difference between war on drugs and just plainly legalize everything. At the least, I see no reason drug users would prefer the government's drugs to their usual everyday dealer - Why should they? If I did drugs and bought them from some dealer, I wouldn't start buying them to the government, specially with the damn taxes.
You wouldn't? At least with the government you know it's safe, regulated and you're not going to have some scummy drug dealer trying to rip you off, or worse.
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:11 pm
How do you know that? Are you a former drug user? Why is it safe? Because it's regulated and there's a stamp saying "safe product"? Tobacco is regulated by the government, but it's full of dangerous chemicals. People are used to do things their way, so if someone buys from a dealer and the price is good, there's no reason to go to the government's shop.
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:16 pm
Make everything legal, regulate it to produce less harmful variants than those sold by your common or garden alleyway dealer. Cripple the revenue incomes of drug lords by taxing the approved, cleaner, regulated drugs.
If anyone is found to drive or work under the influence of any drug, throw the fucking book at them. Encourage use to be kept private and out of public areas. Use the massive boost in tax revenue to fund NASA's manned Mars missions and establish a foothold in the solar system.
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:18 pm
It's funny how people think the average drug user would actually want to pay the damn extra taxes... Right?
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:31 pm
(July 12, 2015 at 6:18 pm)Dystopia Wrote: It's funny how people think the average drug user would actually want to pay the damn extra taxes... Right?
Well, some of the extra revenue that does come in at first could be siphoned off to rehabilitate those tests that are further down the road in their addiction.
Just as Prohibition before it, the drug war has been a never ending carnival of clusterfucks, and has caused far more harm than good. At this point, it really couldn't hurt to try something new...Right?
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:39 pm
(This post was last modified: July 12, 2015 at 7:32 pm by IATIA.)
Back in the day, the 'zero drug' policy damaged the marijuana importation (easy target, bulky and smelly) and a lot of my friends switched to the other drugs. IMHO there are more people on the more dangerous drugs because of this attitude and if they just legalized everything, most would either still not use drugs at all or stick with the lighter ones. IMHO, most people that want to use drugs, are. The laws do not deter most, the laws only raise the price, lower the quality and cost the taxpayer billions instead making billions.
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:50 pm
(July 12, 2015 at 6:18 pm)Dystopia Wrote: It's funny how people think the average drug user would actually want to pay the damn extra taxes... Right?
How many people do you know who buy " bathtub gin" when they can buy a regulated product that is taxed?
I personally drink alcohol, and there is no way I am going to start buying stuff that is unregulated when I can get things in which there is some safety and quality control in place.
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 6:58 pm
(This post was last modified: July 12, 2015 at 6:59 pm by Dystopia.)
Does bathub gin, as a general rule, make people addicted and harm them significantly? How so? Are you addicted to alcohol? Maybe not (I'm guessing) - But if you were, don't you think you would prefer to buy a cheaper version even if it is lower in quality (Unless you're bloody rich)?
You are going the wrong way - It's not if people who already buy regulated products will start buying illegal ones, but the other way around - Why should people who buy illegal products start buying regulated ones? I don't know how many folks realize this but: First, I'm not arguing for prohibition and wars on drugs, I'm just saying fully legalizing (meaning that the State would sell drugs to people) heavy drugs is not as simple as it looks - Marijuana is not that expensive (I speak from experience) but heavy drugs, when sold illegally, cost a shitload of money - Drug dealers make profit, but they don't pay taxes, or import taxes, or anything like that - So it's not a big deal. Imagine all the taxes that already exist on heavy drugs - A pack of cigarettes where I live is already expensive as fuck, my parents, middle class people, are smoking illegal tobacco because they don't want to pay the government more money - Imagine, considering the price of manufacturing heavy drugs, import, etc (plus the fact there's supply and demand) + the taxes all over it.
The EU has a tax named literally "Special consumption tax" - Basically it affects every product that either is or may be harmful - This means that tobacco, alcohol, fossil fuels, drugs and any other product (maybe prostitution) that can endanger or hurt somethig or somebody has an extra heavy tax, not to mention there's already the import tax (in the EU) and the regular consumption tax every product must pay - Now if you account for all these taxes and obviously the cost of manufacturing heavy drugs, imagine how high the prince would be, and possibly a reason why any sane drug user should just go to the dealer who makes it cheaper.
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RE: Drug Policy
July 12, 2015 at 7:08 pm
(This post was last modified: July 12, 2015 at 7:09 pm by Napoléon.)
(July 12, 2015 at 6:11 pm)Dystopia Wrote: How do you know that?
It's a reasonable guess.
Quote: Are you a former drug user?
Don't see how that's really relevant.
Quote:Why is it safe?
Regulation.
Quote:Because it's regulated and there's a stamp saying "safe product"?
I think you're trying to misrepresent a bit here. Do they put labels of "safe product" on bottles of Grey Goose or packets of Marlboro?
Quote:Tobacco is regulated by the government, but it's full of dangerous chemicals.
It's a bit different to lining tabs with poisons intended to actually kill people because the people who made the tabs are sadistic psycho fucks you've met on the street corner. The additives included in cigarettes are added for a wide variety of reasons and I won't pretend to know them all, but it's a bit silly to compare tobacco (that has naturally occurring toxins within it anyway) to other drugs that are manufactured in an entirely different way and are entirely different substances in their own right, many of which have discernable levels of purity that can be regulated by the government.
Quote:People are used to do things their way, so if someone buys from a dealer and the price is good, there's no reason to go to the government's shop.
By your logic then there'd be absolutely no use in buying a car from a reputable dealer instead of a backstreet garage. Or getting an uncertified electrician to come round to your house instead of one who's got all his credentials. Or buying, as Pyrrho says, "bathtub gin" (whatever that is) when they can buy a regulated product...
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