April 28th, 2010
02:00 PM ET
2 tons of opium confiscated
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan authorities on Wednesday seized more than two tons of opium during a patrol, officials said.
The huge cache of drugs was found in the Reg-e Khan Heshin district of Helmand province, according to a news release.
A joint Afghan-international patrol approached several vehicles whose drivers attempted to flee, authorities said.
One of the vehicles became stuck in the sand. Inside, the Afghan Border Police found 4,600 pounds (2,090 kilograms) of raw opium and approximately 24 pounds (11 kilograms) of a substance believed to be heroin.
Authorities also confiscated a satellite phone and a two-way radio. Two men were arrested for possession of the drugs, the news release said.
Has anybody ever realized that it would be cheaper to simply BUY the drugs from these people rather than spend billions to take away their livelihood? The drugs they buy could be diverted to the legitimate drug trade.
The war on drugs is a civil war plain and simple. We are at war with our own people, and it must stop. Some of the most brilliant minds of our time smoke weed. Richard Branson for one, guy is a billionaire that started from nothing. Or how about Carl Sagan, yeah the guy who figured out the temperature of venus, built robots for nasa and predicted the climate of one of jupiters moons. Barack Obama smoked weed, and Michael Phelps. Ted turner grew pot in his College dorm room. We've got Steven King and Montel Williams to add to the list. Last but not least Michael Bloomberg smoked the weed when he was younger and said he enjoyed it. So if you really thing drugs are the bane of society, maybe your just jealous of the success people can have while doing drugs, while you aren't near as successful and don't do drugs. Jealous much? Now i agree people can take it overboard, but we are supposed to live in a free society. Its your own choice to do what you want as long as it doesn't affect me, so if you wanna do your drugs in the privacy of your home, what should I care. Ohh and the cia has been bringing drugs into the country long after vietnam. They supported black ops in nicaragua in the 80's through drug sales in the united states. Oliver North even went in front of congress, and now he's a correspondent on Fox News. So we lock up our own people for doing the drugs, but put the people bringing the drugs into the country on the news with high paying jobs? Seems a little out there to me.
There are only two groups that matter when it comes to legalization and harm reduction, the governments involved and the cartels/organizations/dealers, guess why neither want drugs legalized.
Vitamins and natural medicine is better then any man made medicine anyways yes hallistic medicine is better then them fake man made drugs like herion and opium and cocaine. Go watch Dr Richard becker 242 fios get off your lazy arse and work for aliving.
Poops upside your head Poops upside your head how about them vapors
Dr DRE music sucks, Biggie music sucks more , 2pac hate music ,Plies the false testiment sucks , all your hate music sucks why do you think people dont buy it anymore it fell off the same time snoop slingin poop fell off years ago hes been trying to recover and just cant seem to do it.
Hands of goverment= Hospitals for people that need pain relief amputies etc
hmmm a bump is on your lip or nah thats just a staff infection
Yeah sure legalize them never. If you people cant tell by all the deaths from herion and opium in your own countrys obviously your a terrorist. Drugs have claimed more lives specially opium,herion and alcohol. Ban all the hard drugs. Save lives stop people from terrorizing the poor moms that loose there children. They should be controlled by the Goverment never to be in the hands of people. Back yard pharmacists are terrorists lazy people that dont want to work for a living. Back yard pharmacists are terrorists, stop em all. Keep your hateful rap music it fell off anyways after eminem stole the mic from you lazy backdoor drug lords.
I thought George W. Bush, the retarded pervert from Crawford doesn't like heroin, but cocaine. I wasn't told about this change. I think I'm going to have to change peddler.
regardless of how you feel about drugs, The war on drugs has been the biggest waste of our countrys money yet! To think we are doing anything to stop the flow of drugs into this country, get a clue. To keep spending billions on eratication, interdiction and encarseration is just crazy. We have to do somehting different, The war was lost years ago.
KYLE,
You are the stupidest son of a bitch to walk this planet, probably a bastard descendant of George W. Bush
Sorry guys. I just realized i was posting all of that when I was stoned out of my skull. I'm honestly just don't really understand this argument. Enjoy your evening everyone. I'll be spooning with my boyfriend.
Recess is over but Kyle is being made to stand in the corner for eating Elmer's Glue.
I miss Kyle. Is recess over?
Legalize all drugs?? Are you guys serious? You must be smoking crack when you wrote that.
I agree...let's recall that 60 Minutes broke a story years ago that the CIA was flying in Cocaine to the US from the Columbia coast with Pablo Escobar supplying the drugs. Then about 2wks later the CIA executes Pablo as the Sacrificial lamb to justify their drug ring once exposed. The CIA made the excuse you had to do these deals in order to get close to the bad guys. Amazing timing on 60 minutes part to have caught the CIA just as it was about to kill Escobar. The CIA was using drug money to fund "black ops" so Congress never would know since they didn't have to appropriate money.
Prohibition of drugs will NEVER HAPPEN here. Our own government is corrupt and makes too much profit by aiding smugglers!
Where's that idiot Kyle today? Did he finally go away?
The idea of legalizing and taxing drugs sounds great but has never worked in the past. People simply sell untaxed drugs on the side or don't pay taxes honestly because they aren't what you call upstanding citizens. Drugs should be legalized and given to stupid people so they can over-dose and die. We need to stop interferring with natural selection and cull the species. If you think that drugs are the answer to the financial problems in this country, I'd like to give you a free ounce of cocaine and/or heroin – oh, and a loaded hand gun. By the way, Portugual legalized all drugs and after large numbers of deaths and overdoses, the drug problem disappeared.
If the Afghan culture requires growing drugs, why not help them switch to hemp, which the world could buy massively for industrial use of all kinds. Many investors might be willing to go to Afghanistan, to set up industrial hemp-processing plants. As for the opium, there is a great need of that in world hospitals. Why not buy the crops in advance, so that the Taliban can't buy them? The west is not so much fretting about drugs, as it is about the drug proceeds that fuel the juhad.
My guess is that the drivers are the ones who will really pay the ultimate proce.
Now who get"s to keep and make profit from the drugs? The president of Afghanistan? Who really checks on where it goes after it got busted?
Well that cancles my weekend entertainment. I could've had so much fun.
Kyle;
Come on out of the closet dude, we know you are really a figment of South Park's imagination.
Why should they convert the poppy fields to crop fields? Competitive advantage theory model suggest that they grow poppy plants and import food products. This is standard business module used world wide, only the product is different.
International sections, invading and or eliminating the product by force only effects the worker in the field and because of loss wages promotes animosity toward the local government and the international community
The only way change the model is to eliminate or reduce the desire for the product thus forcing a change in the business product line or an influx of international capital that makes a different product more desirable.
Not saying its right just showing that is business
no name calling here,no stones to throw.but ifthere was not a demand for any drug would anyone be growing/making it? supply and demand. as long as there is someone somewhere wants to get high? there will be a supplier.to think other wise is absurd.our prisons are full of non violent offenders, with drug charges, while pedophiles,rapists and murderers are released into the public. if i had a choice, id live next to the pot head every time.after prohibition was lifted violent crimes went down.obviously the lesson in this was not learned.
I thought the farmers were aloud to grow poppy. What else would it be used for besides opiates and heroin. Rediculous.
" you morons we dont have any control to tax drugs in afganistan"
International treaties which the United States bullied other countries to sign are the reason for the global war on drugs. The American initiative was undertaken by a racist morphine addict named Anslinger.
Every time a nation, state, or NGO suggests legalizing and taxing all intoxicants, the US threatens them with the sanctions specified in these treaties. A lot of times, we tie our foreign aid in with cooperation for overflights, deforestation, and other abuses.
Police officers are just as dependent on illegal drugs as any cartel. Where would they get their tricked out undercover cars at if they couldn't steal them from drug dealers? How could they convince their communities to keep budgets at their current levels without a boogeyman to save us from?
Yet still two thirds of all rapes and half of all murders go unsolved. Hundreds of thousands of people die in preventable road accidents. Imagine what our world would be like if we actually had cops out on the streets instead of peering over our walls into the garden.
WOW, I can't believe I read the whole 275 post's.
I have been in Emergency Medicine for 11 years now & have seen first hand on the streets some of the things ya'll are worried about. I & a lot of law enforcement personnel will tell you that we would rather come upon someone who is high on pot rather than someone on chemical drugs or alcohol. I think pot should be legal but, not the hard stuff & many non-smoking people will agree as they have stated on this blog.
As for the 2 tons the Afghan authorities captured, I think it will end up being sold by one of them & pocketing the money themselves. I heard it said on this blog a couple of times & I agree that if we want this country, Afghanistan, to get educated, civilized & respect human rights we will have to occupy them for 20+ years & raise a generation of civilized citizens.
May GOD Bless & keep us all !!!!!!!!!!!!
People do drugs anyway.
Those who support their illegal status are risking their families lives by helping fund drug cartels and the Taliban, who kill Americans. Potentially someone you know. even a family member. For what reason? To protect drug users from themselves, who time and again reject the help.
We are forcing "help" on those who don't want help, all the while funding dangerous criminal organizations to provide the help.
This drug war is SO damn stupid.
kyle, prescription drugs kill more people than ALL illegal drugs combined, so all your arguments are mute.
They should be legalized, maybe the Mexican cartels will stop the murder rampage at our doorstep....lot's of tax revenue for gov....
As a parent of a daughter who "tried" heroin for 3 years and a teenage son who thinks marijuana is the answer, I believe legalization of illicit drugs would be a step forward. As my daughter expressed it, she would be going to an office during business hours for product instead of hooking up with a dealer somewhere in the middle of the night. Switzerland is an example of a country that legalized heroin with positive results.
This option doesn't solve the problem of any group using drugs to finance activities and it doesn't solve the problem of our institutionalized drug population or our addicted population. If 3% are addicted to illicit drugs, I'd like to know what percentages are addicted to legal drugs, smoking, or drinking. It's hard to find people who aren't addicted to something. It's like there are very large groups of people who feel depressed or trapped by what they perceive as their options.
Legalizing illicit drugs does not solve the problem of DEMAND which fuels the supply being created. How do we as individuals and members of a society create a world in which our kids, spouses, relatives, neighbors, and co workers feel empowered and choose life instead of escape with addiction?
Man I hope it becomes safe enough to travel there someday. Watch the dragon burn baby!
@Dawn – Dawn I'd like to expand on that convo point you brought up – email me @ cvp723 @ yahoo .com to continue, please
You do understand that the profits from the sale of opium are funding the Taliban, almost exclusively. It's not a "Drug War", it is a war on terrorism. The plight of the opium farmer is a sad story...grow opium or get killed. It's not as black and white as some believe.
I don't smoke at all but you'd have to be retarded to think that the only reason why people commit crimes to get drugs is because they are themselves on them. People commit crimes because they need money to pay the high prices for uncontrolled illegal drugs. Pot may be for "experimenting" kids and I personally think it's both a waste of time and money, but I don't see anything wrong with it. I do however see what is wrong with prohibiting it. If people want drugs they will get them, legal or not.
Drugs are simply a daily fact of just about everyones lives, illegal or legal. People will commit crimes no matter what to get what they want. Natural selection will take care of those people. Keeping drugs illegal is clearly working... lol
Agree, B Knight.
This is the way to defeat the Taliban. If we (US and Afghanistan) get serious about wiping out the opium supply, then we would severely damage the terrorists. This is a good start, hopefully we can keep it up.
Legalizing drugs wil NOT solve problems. Drugs will not be a once-in-a-while "treat". They'll be like alcohol - becoming part of daily life for lots of people. Excess will become acceptable and even desirable. People will sit around the table trying to one-up each other about who did the most, got the highest, and did the stupidest things, and other people will think that's cool.
Drugs will be increasingly used by those who are vulnerable to adddiction. Since drugs aren't free, addicts who can't afford their drug of choice will continue to commit robberies and assaults in order to get enough money for their next fix.
We're still trying to reverse the damage done by the legal promotion of tobacco as a lifestyle choice. Let's not fall into the same trap again.
Luckily it's been a slow night for me. I guess everyone was able to get their fix.
Mankind has and always will self-medicate for whatever reason they choose. Drugs are used in every culture. Keep it illegal.. seems to be working isn't it?
Wow, if I could think at this moment, I would say something witty about dawn's comment. Unfortunately, addiction is not that simple. While the addictive value of marijuana is not nearly as high as the poppy plant, it is not accurate to compare all plants equally. Remember coroners say the person died of respiratory failure, not because the opiates depressed the respiratory system to the point of lung collapse. They normally don't put down opiate overdose.
Our Civil War made America a drug culture with extensive use of narcotics by army medics to help soldiers survive. Families mailed morphine and heroin to their soldiers as needed, and pharmacies sold them over the counter, no prescription required and no questions asked. Yet, America survived very well without the DEA and mandatory prison sentences until a fanatic named Comstock convinced congress to criminilize drugs in 1910. He also convinced lawmakers that pimps kidnappped innocent white girls and sold them into slavery, leading to the infamous Mann Act. Too bad that the north won the Civil War.
Successful troll is successful.
These are plants. It is sad when you hear anyone say that plants NEED to be illegal or people NEEd to be watched so closely with how they use plants. How ridiculous that men are out there with guns watching if anyone partakes of plants. Who cares if people want to use plants for whatever. If we all support a healthy loving society and help each other grow; people will make healthier choices and opiates probably here and there are good for ones health since they are natural. It seems that there are a lot of good in the plants that the ignorance of Man; mostly stemmed from ignorant religious brainwashing to call people whom know medicinal herbs names and prayer is the medicine not plants because they don't realize we need plants to live on this earth. We need medicinal plants. People enjoy being around each other with mind relaxing herbs and that is ok, people can have good and bad experiences but it is OK to have those experiences. I think that it is ok to legalize, support with education, and if the government wants to make their own for the poor and charge a low fee or the ones who cannot make it themselves fine then they tax it otherwise we can all just add it to our garden and enjoy life the way WE want to. There are too many laws and they are too impossible to always follow or even understand. Saying human beings don't have the right to partake of plants provided to us by whatever means but that cann be quite helpful in many ways, is ignorant and damaging to human kind for humans need healing. The alternative has not worked. People are more ignorant, less aware of how to heal themselves, health prices are sky high, and people are more and more mental illness from the lack of medicinal plants or understanding how to use them to stay loving and in the moment because we live in a tragic sick world.
@Sentinal2012 – I think that would depend on the purity levels – to make all the pain Killers our country gobbles up they have to start with REALLY pure grade stuff – but that's one of the best ideas on this board!
@Clint – Your right – watch some old school kung-Fu movies and every now n then you'll see a master that smokes too much and his buddies get him off it, so so funny! LOL
I thought China has always had opium?
Could we get China or India to buy the opium for their pharmacutical (spel.) needs? It would bring in some money to the coffers and indirectly to the local hospitals, schools, food pantries.
+10 for Kyle is Right
$100 on Fred
They have huge deposits of Uranium, Coal along with other natural resources along with drugs. Remember drugs is the biggest money making industry right now in our country and maybe in the west. Believe it or not go look it up. Also its strategically located to mess up china with use of their Muslim population to start a separatist movement and hinder cino-muslim alliance that was foreseen by Huntington and then there is Pakistan-India conflict (although India has more Muslims) to hinder progress there. Its quite sad what some of our elites do to stay in power.
I think Kyle and Fred should fight eachother on PayPerView and have all the proceeds goto After School programs... If we have safe fun places for our kids to go after school we reduce so many more problems than not
@Fred
There is nothing to debate. You believe marijuana should be legalized and I don't. Nothing I could say will change your mind and nothing you could say will change my mind. I agree to disagree. You accuse many on these posts of not responding to your "points" regarding the use of caffeine, tobacco, etc. Bottom line – these substances are legal now. I agree that they have effects on the human body too. Still can't argue with the effects of marijuana on the body and brain though. You just point your finger at the coke and redbull and say, "what about them?" What kind of debate is that?
With legalization Natural Selection will take it's course.. just push it along already...
I know I am getting pretty tired now, but I wish we had a reset button. That way when narcotics are legalized we can hit the reset button when society degenerates to a cesspool of addiction and death we can go back to a more rational time.
@Kyle is Right Lol – So many crazy pot smokers out there we should be worrying about. Maybe the justice systems are overburdened by the simple fact they waste more time trying to stop something they never can... I should have paid a bit more attention to my wording as FACTS is a loose term. The FACTS are IT WILL NEVER STOP.. people will always get what they want and at just about any cost.. but keep it illegal longer and see how things don't change.
There seems to be A LOT OF pent up anger on this board.... Anyone want to play some Call Of Duty MW2?? I'm on xbox live – budz420
Kyle, why are you such a pussy?
The Taliban actually outlawed opium farming. These farmers will not change their crops unless they are paid more than what they make farming opium. The thing to do would be to have the major drug companies buy the opium off of them instead of other sources. Or they could just ignore it.
Kyleisright, while you can go back and pick at spelling (after you did open your mouth in yet another generalization about "I am tired of this ridiculous arguement. Intelligent, clean and sober individuals do not support the legalization of drugs."), it still does not hide the fact that when pushed back on your opinion, you cave to personal attacks and essentialism. It would not surprise me if you were, in fact, the artist formerly known as Kyle in an attempt to try to clean up your language and make points. Sadly, your second bout of personal attack on Fred again countermanded your credibility. If you do not think that the statement I quoted from you is not condescending, you're (did I use it properly?) a bigger hypocrite than Kyle...
Let the Opium flow!!
@ PointlessOne
I have researched and presented information on the social implications on legalizing marijuana and also how it will overburden the treatment and criminal justice systems. I don't need to cut and paste facts, but what difference does it make anyway? You admit that they are facts, so how does pasting them in this forum make me less informed? At least I know where to find them and the basis for the research. Perhaps you should read some of the research so you can be more informed as well....
Kyle you must be a tea party ass
I've been looking all over eBay and can't find it any place.
Ahh, I figured that would come up. Typos get the best of us some times. I think if you'll review the rest of my posts, you'll see I used the proper words in most cases. I'll take the one mistake.
Interesting that even though you're tired of this ridiculous argument, you're still here. Nevermind the fact that you didn't address any of the points I raised, but hey, what fun is actually debating the points right? Then you might actually have to have a discussion instead of your own little diatribe. Much easier that way isn't it?
No doobies for me tonight, I'm out till the weekend. It's been several days now, shouldn't I be getting irritable, hungry, unable to sleep, and craving the drug more? Interestingly enough, I am none of those things. My appetite is somewhat decreased though, perhaps I should worry. Then again, it could have something to do with having just had dinner. Well, it's good to know that after 20+ years of use, I'm still not addicted to marijuana. Caffeine? Check. Nicotine? Check. Yet no marijuana addiction. It must take more time for that addiction to develop.
@Kye is right Lol – cut and paste facts from a website really shows you're informed..
@jeffallan – Totally agree my man, i was going to include that in my earlier post – He's correct – what crops can grow in the desert with little to no water? i'm sure if you gave them the seeds they wouls all become cactus farmers..... LOL
Kyle, please understand that threats made on the internet have been successfully prosecuted. No post is anonymous.
Well that is probably the real reason we are in Afghanistan, much like our oil wars. Stop our opium supply will you! We need to keep our people pacified, drugged, and confused; they may start to ask questions!
The afghan people have been bombed so much that their soil cant produce normal crops. Which is why being one of the poorest country in the world it relies on opium. Although taliban completely stopped it when they were in power but it has been growing back as soon as our military went there.
@Fred
From your post to Kyle earlier:
"For the record, the fact that your ignorant makes you ignorant"
Intelligent people know the difference between "you are" or "you're" and "your".
Being a condescending ass doesn't make you right. In fact you sound somewhat "ignorant".
Go smoke a doobie and go to bed old man.
If illegal drugs became legal, then what would happen to big pharma and their narcotics. I'm sure they would push to release restrictions on their pharmaceuticals. Then I could see big pharma regulating all the newly legalized substances. I guess in one way you are transferring power from one cartel to another.
Here's a question people, Have any of you thought that maybe, just maybe this is another underminded scheme of our capitalist minded conservative politicians to make a few more bucks than they are making with KBR, Haliburton, Black Water and other domestic corporations with defense contratcs and connections to the highest levels of government? The proof is brazen and evasive. Don't get lost in the clouds of dust on this one, somebody is going to have to end up being the fall man in the end. I'm predicting a military official with a stellar record, but discontent for this war. Survey says...
People are always going to do what they want when they want. There is no stopping it, no matter how hard you try. By keeping drugs illegal you make a lot of people willing to risk the consequences of our current legal system very, very wealthy. If drugs were legalized it would almost make those cartel fella's honest business men. Either way the product will be arriving in a State, City or next door to you right NOW.
The University of New South Wales also does research on the negative effects of marijuana.
Look I'm all for reducing penalties to free up some space in the prison system for REAL offenders, but full blown legalization of every drug is just not the way to go. Yes i think initially the effects would be positive like they have been in Portugal, but eventually all the lives saved from decriminalization would be overcome by severe addiction and traffic accidents alone. I've done PLENTY of drugs all thru high school and college but i never had a problem saying enough is enough and i realize now that i'm in the minority... look at alcohol... sure once prohibition ended thing were good... for a while... now we have millions of families where alcohol has negatively effected kids and wives and husbands and WAY too many DWI's... alcohol is by far the drug that damages THE MOST AMERICANS and we striaght legalized it!! there's all this propoganda about weed yet it's not HALF as bad as alcohol is.Period. I don't have the answers.... I wish i did... But think if we all put the energy we use into arguing on these blogs into finding a viable solution maybe we would make some progress. And until "Johnny" gets less time in prison for selling weed than a child molester a truly evil individual.... we will keep doing this useless dance
The inhalation of any kind of smoke is damaging to the body...Fact.
Wow, a government website citing "proof" of the harmful effects of marijuana. Not going to be ANY spin whatsoever on that website. Nope, none at all.
"I am tired of this ridiculous arguement. Intelligent, clean and sober individuals do not support the legalization of drugs."
Sure they don't. And intelligent people don't misspell argument. I can make generalizations too!
I think I hear Nero playing a violin
Anyone that truly believes that opiate addiction only affects you, is wrong and shows their ignorance on the subject. They also may be addicts that are in denial of the facts, and not worth arguing with.
@Drew It's not all that ironic. I'm just not going to type every single drug I would ban. I am against legal and illegal substances. I do not like how pharmaceutical companies run the drug market and the tactics/laws they get away with influencing. If a person drinks they should use personal resposibility, and unfortunately it doesn't always happen. My fear is that if the harder illegal substances get legalized there will be more crime. The majority of illegal substances are illegal partially from their addictive qualities. Also, addiction effects many people not just the poor. Our social system would be overwhelmed in a very short time. I hear that the number of users won't increase, but how do we know? There are many drinkers now than when there were during prohibition. I know you have your views on drug use, but my views come from the other side of the fence, to put it one way. You may come from the drug using side, but I come from the side that sees the actual consequences working in the field. Maybe you don't see people acting crazy, but you would be amazed at how families keep the public from finding out their loved ones are addicted. There are people how work very hard at preventing their families from finding out. And no, most of the people I see are not "already messed up," whatever that means. Most of the people I have seen tried it, and became addicted and ruined their lives. Another percentage did have a family death or some other excuse and had the means and opportunity from "some friend". About 200 drug cases a month is a lot more than the statistics that Rachel posted earlier.
@ Clint
Surprised that you would not recognize research presented in Substance Abuse Medical journals and cited on the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It is not plagiarzing to post the information presented on the web site. If you are interested in reading more on the research here is the link to the website. http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html
I too work in the the substance abuse field and if the government ever legalizes drugs to "cash in on the money to be made" it will be a social nightmare. They may as well forward all of the profit to the treatment providers, ER's, and prisons because the populations there will explode.
I am tired of this ridiculous arguement. Intelligent, clean and sober individuals do not support the legalization of drugs.
What's with all the damn hostility? If any of the people who are reading and/or posting do in fact do smoke pot or do any other drugs..what's it to anyone else? It's their own decision, it doesn't make them any less of a person. If you don't agree with their actions, good for you. I'm personally straightedge.The more everyone argues with eachother, the less anyone actually gets done. All i hear is people bitching and moaning about problems and what the solution should be, if you feel so strongly abot, then freakin do something about it. I'm sick of everyone saying oh you're a liberal, or you're a damn conservative. If everyone worked together instead of against each other, shit would get done.
@Kyleisright– "Any ILLEGAL substance that has mind altering effects that have been RESEARCHED and PROVEN to be harmful should not be legalized just becaue some of you like to get high. "
So you believe that alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, not to mention the plethora of man-made chemicals out there with much worse effects, long and short term, are ok because they are currently legal? Or should they all be made illegal?
Well if and when I become terminally ill, I want a marijuana prescrition, and Dr. Kevorkian! The long, drawnout, horrific suffering by terminally ill people is something I would never, ever, want myself or anyone I love to go threw! Death with Dignity and a bong!
Actually, KyleisRight, this non-smoker is pro-legalization and you continue to use generalizations like that to weaken your argument.
@Clint– Ironic that two of the drugs you mention in your post are Dr. prescribed and man-made, and the other is currently legal.
Sorry, about the typo's in the last post I'm pretty tired.
@Drew I am against all narcotic drugs. I can see drug use terminal illness, but I am also an advocate assisted suicide.I would rather my loved one die quickly and painlessly if they chose to rather than suffer, or be so hopped up on drugs that they be a vegetable.
@ Drew
I did COME UP WITH THE FACTS.
Just because you can argue that other substances are harmful too doesn't create a valid argument for legalization. All you are doing is drawing comparisons, not presenting a valid reason. And by the way – comparing PTSD and marijuana use is ridiculous. PTSD is not voluntary use of illegal drugs!
Any ILLEGAL substance that has mind altering effects that have been RESEARCHED and PROVEN to be harmful should not be legalized just becaue some of you like to get high.
It is pointless to argue with someone who is addicted anyway. The point Kyle was trying to make – although rather uneloquently – is that only marijuana smokers argue for legalization. Non-smokers would not want the drug to be legalized.
@Drew I think that he was citing, actually, copying and plagiarizing from a study from the University of New South Wales. I think that it is still technically facts, and you stating effets from other things in life does not disprove or lessen the effects of marijuana. I personally do not need marijuana, or any other drug. I am able to control myself, and understand personal responsibility. I know how to change the way I think, and I was able to accomplish this as a child before my education. This is the similar to the argument I give to christians who cannot understand how athiests are moral beings: If you feel you need drugs to control yourself and you have an external locus of control then go for it. However, we do not need you come to the ER because you are psychotic from drug use, or depressed and suicidal because you keep taking too many depressants like Xanax, Valium, or beer.
90% of the crimes involving illegal drugs, especially opiates (theft, murder, kidnapping, etc) DO NOT stem from those drugs being illegal and controlled by an underground black market. The crime stems from the lack of money to get more of the drug as the person starts to have withdrawals. Legalizing opiates as an uncontrolled substance is absurd and ridiculous.
@Drew– I always love when someone says "They obviously spin their research to support their arguments, but there is no denying the harmful effects of the drug." and then proceeds to quote some other research. As though only one side of an argument can be spun. Those who desire to keep a plant illegal (pharmaceutical companies, and textile companies), can spin "research" any way they want to. Would like to see some sources on that research.
The American Government says there are no medicinal uses for marijuana, yet there are 5 (I think) citizens of this country who are exempt from the federal laws and have marijuana provided for them by our government.
I'm sure many non-drinkers were in favor of ending prohibition due to all of the killing and senseless loss of lives that came along with that. History has proven, as many are saying here, that people WILL do what they want to do: legal or not. It should be apparent that even you could agree with that statement given the many responses you've read on this post.
By the way, I'm the one that invited you to "smoke a beer" earlier. A joke, of course, as things were getting a bit out of control.
I've been a casual pot smoker for 30 years and I'm also a recovering alcoholic. Alcohol all but ruined my life but weed has not caused me any problems. I have 3 grown sons and one of them also smokes weed and both he and I have jobs that pay over $100k per year. The only way that either of us have ever been affected is by the astoundingly stupid attempts that have been taken for us to test positive for marijuana but we've discovered ways around that so far. I've actually smelled alcohol on the breath of one person that was administering my piss test! ha! Ironic, but true.
Kyle, you're fighting a losing battle on many levels and the way that you're approaching it proves that with every response you make. Are you familiar with the term "red neck"? If not, you should bone up on that as you're acting like one since your response to anyone that disagrees with you is violence. You're not going to find a pot smoker among us that would actually stoop to the level of having a physical confrontation with you as the "drug" does not affect people that way. If you want to fight someone you'd be best to stick to your drinking buddies as after you knock back a few you'll be sure to find someone ready to kick ass just like you.
Who owns your body?
Wow! This little Kyle boy is a fart little smeller ain't he! I work in an Oncology clinic in the PNW, and what I can say from experiencing hundreds of cancer patients, marijuana is a god send to these people who have no further options. It acts as a pain reliever, stress reducer, sleep aide, appetite increaser, antidepressent, as well as a libido inducer. Kyle would have to take a minimum of 6 different drugs to achieve this. In addition, he would have to take at least 2-5 more drugs to deal with the side effects of the first 6 drugs. So now Kyle is taking 8-13 prescription medications, that are bought with his Medicaid coupon, (as in you and me the tax payer), at a cost of probably $500.00- 800.00 dollars per month, when he could just buy a bag of weed for $19.95 + tax. Kyle, you are really embarassing yourself, go to bed and choke your chicken!
@Pete. Very well said. I agree with most of your comment.
@Fred. Some of your comments I agree. As far as AL Cap. There will always be many AL's in this world. This will include for the Illegal drug trade and for the legal. Check out these big drug companies that force there drugs into the system. Do you agree with that? So your argument that, "prohibition created Al Capone, not the other way around." is half true in a sense. Like the question goes. What came first the chicken or the egg.
We can all come up with ways to prove our points wether your for legalization or your not. Thanks for your opinions.