Slashdot Mirror

the most potent destroyer of freedom in the entire history of mankind, by orders of magnitude, is no government, it is drug addiction

there is no stronger bars that the most depraved government can build then the bars the drug addiction place in your mind. a constant interrupt switch "get high... get high... get high" makes unable to work, maintain a relationship, think thoughts of philosophy, art, design, anything deep because of the pain of withdrawal

and this is the real story of the history of opium addiction, and "little or no social problems" from 100 years ago, you idiot:

http://opioids.com/opium/opiumwar.html

drug addiction as a tool to destroy a society you want to subjugate

i understand that people here detest government regulations and impositions on human freedoms. but why that means we have to accept a far worse form of freedom destruction, drug addiction, is beyond my understanding

Have a look here -- search for the phrase "non-addictive" and read the few paragraphs after that. It sounds like heroin was aggressively marketed as non-addictive / non-habit-forming, and as an effective cough suppressant. Whee. Makes Robitussin look wimpy, that's for sure.

Cheers,

They decriminalized everything.

No, they didn't. They stopped putting people in prison for using. That's a huge step forward, but not the same as "decriminalized everything".

Everyone caught using is suggested to go to a class (but it's not required.)

That's not what it says in your first link. These are the punishments it lists for criminally using drugs:

• Confiscation of drugs
• 900 pound fines
• Community service or detoxification programmes
• Take away your job

Also, trafficking in drugs is still punishable with prison, which no doubt leads to criminal gangs.

If only there was some country that had already experimented with this... Oh wait. There is.

In 2001 Portugal did just this. They decriminalized everything. and 7 years later it's working better than imagined.

Everyone caught using is suggested to go to a class (but it's not required.). Sure they're a bit smaller than the US, but there's no reason it couldn't work here.

Hey, That was a very interesting read m8, thanks.. i had no idea there was any such things in the move. As a casual smoker of weed, i for one would like our politicians to open they bloody eyes for once and realize we need some other approach than the current in ALL countryes.. not just USA or one or 2 european countryes. If not legalizing it, atleast decriminalize.. it makes so much sence!

So, what American Indian tribe are you a member of?

Choctaw. From what overpopulated shithole did you come to invade my country?

I am American, I'm part Iroquois.

Correct. They are, however, taking capital away. As I stated, this capital is being diverted to provide education and other government services for illegal immigrants and their many children.

They are also paying taxes.

Actually immigrants are more likely to start new businesses creating jobs than those born in the US. More jobs make for a better economy in general.

1. We're talking about illegal immigrants, not all immigrants. Who's being "racist" now?

You? I certainly aren't being racist, though I do admit to being biased. I try not to be but am.

2. If that were true, they would be doing it in their own countries. They aren't.

Some are but others find it easier here.

3. If true, illegal immigrants still don't create enough jobs to make up for their higher-than-average birth rate. Again, look at their home countries for perfect examples of this in action.

If it weren't for immigrants, legal and illegal, the US's population would be in slow decline. "U.S. Birth Rate Hits All-Time Low". While the birth rate, in developed nations, needs to be about 2.1 in the US it is about 2.09. Now I'm not saying it's bad, actually it's worse in Europe. As populations improve their education, economics, and equal rights they have fewer children.

4. More jobs absolutely do not "make for a better economy". Low unemployment, high wages and low resource costs make for a better economy.

With more jobs there is lower unemployment. Lower unemployment drives wages higher.

In fact, fewer jobs is the ideal economic situation

I call BS. Now I'm willing to admit I am wrong, so if you can provide a link to economic studies supporting your assertion I am change my beliefs. But you have to prove it to me first.

That's true. And most of the houses would likely have been built regardless due to poor Fed policy.

Yea, federal policies encouraged financial institutions to make bad loans.

Cheap illegal immigrant labor just ensured that vast quantities of capital would be transferred out of the country, or invested in a new generation of migrant laborers, in the process, rather than continuing to circulate in the US economy to ensure jobs and benefit Americans.

Immigrant labor period help the Third World more than foreign aid does. Immigrant laborers remit more money back to their home country than governments give in aid. You cut those remittances and they would be worse off. Now if you want to reduce immigration them you should oppose the billions of dollars the government gives in subsidies to businesses like Archer Daniels Midland, ADM, and Cargill. With all the subsidies they get, your tax dollars, they can buy and export corn to Mexico to sell it there for less than Mexican farmers can grow corn. If those Mexicans could make a living on their farms then they would stay there.

Also, have you ever heard of trade? Those people receiving remittances from immigrant laborers can then buy American goods, which helps the American economy.

Legalize drugs and release those convicted of non violent drug offenses. Not only would this reduce the costs of laws enforcement but it would reduce drug violence as well.

I'm not really prepared to debate this, but I doubt you can back this up with anything resembling statistics or proof.

• "Portugal Decriminalizes Drug Use".

If only there was some country that had already experimented with this... Oh wait. There is.

In 2001 Portugal did just this. They decriminalized everything. and 7 years later it's working better than imagined.

Everyone caught using is suggested to go to a class (but it's not required.). Sure they're a bit smaller than the US, but there's no reason it couldn't work here.

Al Qaeda is known to have substantial capital

Reading this I rather got the impression that they were strapped for cash most of the time, and what they had they had got through legal dealings with the US of other Bin Laden family parts.

So would Afghan opium, which the Taliban has extensively invested in.

Blatant misrepresentation. By 2000 the Taliban had banned opium production and by 2001,

U.N. drug control officers said the Taliban religious militia has nearly wiped out opium production in Afghanistan -- once the world's largest producer -- since banning poppy cultivation last summer.

. -- http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html

One wonders how important that was for the US to start the war in Afghanistan, considering that a lack of Afghan opium would be a severe problem for the so-called "War on Drugs" in the US, a war that the government wages against its own citizens.

I said in a private offline conversation (so I unfortunately cannot provide a link) at Christmas 2001 that I expected the Afghan opium production to be back at the world's number 1 within five years, and lo and behold,

Illicit opium production, now dominated by Afghanistan, was decimated in 2000 when production was banned by the Taliban, but has increased steadily since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and over the course of the War in Afghanistan

-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium (follow the references)

Last year 80% of the world's opium came from Afghanistan and production is up over 239% since 2003, according to U.S. government estimates.

-- http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/2005_Afghan_opium_harvest_begins

"I don't need the government to tell me drugs are bad, I know they are. Your experience with pot is atypical, or maybe pot is an atypical drug, but not all drugs are the same. And they are all, in some level, bad."

It's funny how most people who say that drugs are bad also support the right of gigantic multinational companies to manufacture and distribute them as long as a government organization ensures that the right officials get their cut, and plausible-deniability can be established to prevent anyone getting their hands dirty with that icky liability stuff when the actual effects of long-term use become known.

It's worth noting that thalidomide, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, synthetic opiates and an assortment of more recent drugs that have had horrifying side effects or addictive properties were products of the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA has even recently approved a new benzodiazepine tranquilizer called Xanax for widespread use for a previously "underdiagnosed" condition called "General Anxiety Disorder", guaranteeing them a new source of users who will be addicted for life, reminiscent of Valium, Lorazepam and Ativan, it seems like only a matter of time until the FDA approves Fentanyl lollipops for depression...

That's what you get when you get rid of the Taliban. They had nearly succeeded in wiping out opium production.

To counter abuse, drug makers are developing ways to reformulate prescription painkillers. Purdue Pharma in Stamford, Conn., which makes OxyContin, is thinking of adding a second drug, called an opiate antagonist, that neutralizes the effects of the opiate.

The antagonist would be walled off using polymers or some other sequestering technique, said Dr. David Haddox, the company's vice president of health policy.

A patient who swallowed the drug would get full pain relief, as intended. But if someone tampered with the pills, the antagonist would be released.
...
A second approach is to mix in a chemical irritant like capsaicin, the main ingredient of hot chili peppers, said Dr. Woolf, who has a patent on the idea.

Because the esophagus and stomach do not have many receptors for hot peppers, patients could take the pills as prescribed and find relief, he said. But the lining of the nose and cheeks are loaded with pepper receptors, and anyone who ground up such a pill would get a burning feeling in the chest, face, rectum and extremities, as well as paroxysmal coughing.

Well, maybe that explains the enormous amount of trust that Rush Limbaugh has in the current administration.

if the government says it, it must be true!

And then there is good ol' pulp fiction (not the movie, but actual pulp fiction)