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A Disaster Of Megalithic Proportions.


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I see what is going on in this country with Marijuana and I think it marks the end of our civilization. I do have experience with it, having had a Medical Marijuana Card to relieve pain, I have experience with it. I say that in my opinion it is completely bogus.

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I see what is going on in this country with Marijuana and I think it marks the end of our civilization. I do have experience with it, having had a Medical Marijuana Card to relieve pain, I have experience with it. I say that in my opinion it is completely bogus.

Being a non-member child of the sixties myself, and a former rock musician and singer as well, I can speak with some authority on this subject and say without hesitation marijuana use is a bad thing. Use the stuff long enough and the user begins to think the only way he can enjoy life is to be high on the stuff. I understand today's pot is much stronger than the stuff that was floating around in the 60's, and it's upsetting to think this potent, mind-altering drug is on its way to general legalization and societal normalization. I also understand the Attorney General has said the US government is no longer going to enforce its existing laws against pot.

 

The main thing I have against this stuff is that it can easily become an all-consuming passion in many users lives; a passion that leaves little room for motivation to pursue the things of the Spirit. In fact, strange as it might seem. the counterfeit "joy" marijuana produces can become a perverse sort of substitute for spiritual enlightenment. I'm quite sure the adversary is rejoicing over this trend toward normalization because it's effects are a potent impediment for a person to seek a joyous genuine relationship with the living God. 

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Humans have long had a strong desire for recreational drug use.  In the early 1970s, the President's Commission on Drug Abuse carefully studied the problem and came to the conclusion that alcohol was by far the most dangerous drug and that it killed more people and cost more money overall that all other drugs combined.  Of course, the President who appointed that commission was himself a lush, and having a drunken president is not helpful to governance.  Fortunately he resigned his Presidency before pressing the launch button.

 

Well-meaning and righteous people concluded in the early part of the 20th century that it would be a good idea to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcohol, followed by statutes and a Constitutional Amendment to do just that.  Prohibition cost a lot of money and put lots of people in prison, but it completely corrupted the legislative, judicial, law enforcement, and executive branches of govt, and helped organized crime (and Joseph P. Kennedy) to make big bucks with illegal alcohol.  It was a disaster in that it did more harm than good.  Simply put:  One cannot legislate morality or human nature.

 

The current "War on Drugs" in America (and elsewhere) has done exactly the same thing.  As Milton Friedman showed in the Wall Street Journal many years ago, with graphs, all we have done with our drug war is to become the nation in the world which puts more people in jail and prison (the Chinese Communists don't have as many people in prison as we do), mostly for non-violent drug offenses.  Yet we have not diminshed the availability of drugs at all.  The business of illegal drugs is very lucrative, and organized crime has actually diversified their billion dollar businesses with large-scale human trafficking (there are more slaves now in the world than at any time in history), weapons, kidnapping and extortion.  Most of the killing which goes on in America (and elsewhere) is drug-related.  At great cost, we have accomplished virutally nothing.

 

 It costs over $30,000 a year to house a prisoner in any given prison.  Meaningful programs to treat drug-addicted persons cost far less than that, and taxes on drugs would defray a lot of those costs -- just as alcohol and cigarette taxes bring in significant revenues.  Is it a good thing to make recreational use of marijuana legal in Colorado?  Which is the lesser of the evils?

(1) street gangs terrorizing neighborhoods, murdering innocent people and enemy gang members, and forcing your kid to join the gang or else, or

(2) manage the drugs and collect taxes, thus reducing incarceration rates and costs by half, and get the addicts into treatment.

 

Criminalizing drug use has gotten us nowhere, but to increase the crime rate and spend money which we cannot afford.  Surely there is a  more humane and charitable answer to the problem.  Ideology runs this drug war currently.  We need to be more practical and results-driven.

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Humans have long had a strong desire for recreational drug use.  In the early 1970s, the President's Commission on Drug Abuse carefully studied the problem and came to the conclusion that alcohol was by far the most dangerous drug and that it killed more people and cost more money overall that all other drugs combined.  Of course, the President who appointed that commission was himself a lush, and having a drunken president is not helpful to governance.  Fortunately he resigned his Presidency before pressing the launch button.

 

Well-meaning and righteous people concluded in the early part of the 20th century that it would be a good idea to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcohol, followed by statutes and a Constitutional Amendment to do just that.  Prohibition cost a lot of money and put lots of people in prison, but it completely corrupted the legislative, judicial, law enforcement, and executive branches of govt, and helped organized crime (and Joseph P. Kennedy) to make big bucks with illegal alcohol.  It was a disaster in that it did more harm than good.  Simply put:  One cannot legislate morality or human nature.

 

The current "War on Drugs" in America (and elsewhere) has done exactly the same thing.  As Milton Friedman showed in the Wall Street Journal many years ago, with graphs, all we have done with our drug war is to become the nation in the world which puts more people in jail and prison (the Chinese Communists don't have as many people in prison as we do), mostly for non-violent drug offenses.  Yet we have not diminshed the availability of drugs at all.  The business of illegal drugs is very lucrative, and organized crime has actually diversified their billion dollar businesses with large-scale human trafficking (there are more slaves now in the world than at any time in history), weapons, kidnapping and extortion.  Most of the killing which goes on in America (and elsewhere) is drug-related.  At great cost, we have accomplished virutally nothing.

 

 It costs over $30,000 a year to house a prisoner in any given prison.  Meaningful programs to treat drug-addicted persons cost far less than that, and taxes on drugs would defray a lot of those costs -- just as alcohol and cigarette taxes bring in significant revenues.  Is it a good thing to make recreational use of marijuana legal in Colorado?  Which is the lesser of the evils?

(1) street gangs terrorizing neighborhoods, murdering innocent people and enemy gang members, and forcing your kid to join the gang or else, or

(2) manage the drugs and collect taxes, thus reducing incarceration rates and costs by half, and get the addicts into treatment.

 

Criminalizing drug use has gotten us nowhere, but to increase the crime rate and spend money which we cannot afford.  Surely there is a  more humane and charitable answer to the problem.  Ideology runs this drug war currently.  We need to be more practical and results-driven.

Whether this drug is obtained illegally, under the current set of laws which were intended to limit and reduce its use, or whether it's obtained legally, under a new set of laws intended to eliminate the problems associated with the criminalization of the drug's usage, the negative effects upon the people who use it will remain the same.

This destructive substance, that saps the moral strength and cripples the spiritual yearnings the human soul, cares not at all how its dirty work is accomplished. It will efficiently perform its labor of spiritual destruction of the children of God whether it's furtively exchanged for a wad of cash on a grimy city street or purchased in an squeaky clean drug store with a credit card.

As always, the only real cure for the world's vexing problems, such as this one, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Either that or the government authorities will eventually throw their hands up and legalize even heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine. And by the time that happens, this nation will likely be near fully ripened in iniquity -- a society committing spiritual suicide with the go ahead signal coming from the officials of the government.  

Edited by teddyaware
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Whether this drug is obtained illegally, under the current set of laws which were intended to limit and reduce its use, or whether it's obtained legally, under a new set of laws intended to eliminate the problems associated with the criminalization of the drug's usage, the negative effects upon the people who use it will remain the same.

This destructive substance, that saps the moral strength and cripples the spiritual yearnings the human soul, cares not at all how its dirty work is accomplished. It will efficiently perform its labor of spiritual destruction of the children of God whether it's furtively exchanged for a wad of cash on a grimy city street or purchased in an squeaky clean drug store with a credit card.

As always, the only real cure for the world's vexing problems, such as this one, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Either that or the government authorities will eventually throw their hands up and legalize even heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine. And by the time that happens, this nation will likely be near fully ripened in iniquity.

So your solution is more of the same failed policies?  The "War on Drugs" has been on now for over 40 years, shows no sign of success, and indeed shows signs of destroying us by costing us too much, creating too much crime (half of all crime is drug related), and sending non-violent offenders to prison where they learn how to do crime from professionals.  We have enriched the drug cartels, which have enough power to rule some states of Mexico now and may soon take over completely.  Those Mexican drug cartels operate freely in this country and do not fear arrest or incarceration (its the price of doing business).

 

No one I know in law enforcement is saying that the War on Drugs is a success, nor that it is likely ever to be a success.  So, is that what you want to continue?  Is that what a cost-benefit analysis shows you?  Instead of getting treatment for the addicts?  Just lock em up?  WWJD?

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"The truth is, marijuana probably isn't going to make you kill people. Most likely isn't going to fund terrorists, but pot makes you feel fine with being bored and it's when you're bored that you should be learning a new skill or some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you're not good at anything." - South Park

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I personally would treat drug use along the lines of Portugal. Decriminalize, but not legalize, every type of drug. If caught with less than 10 days supply, the subject is given a fine (between 50-250 euros). The subject can either pay this fine, or erase it by going to a public office, and meeting with a social worker, an attorney, and a psychiatrist, who will frankly explain the social, legal, and health related risks associated with drug use. A free, voluntary rehabilitation program is also offered on top of the interviews. If the subject is involved in a profession where the lives of others is put at extreme risk (a doctor, tax driver, etc), then they also risk losing their licence, as well as any privileges to own and use a gun.

 

This has resulted in declining drug use among youth, more successful rehabilitation, and a significant drop in the drug trade. Drug use is therefore changed from a legal issue, to a health issue, and a dangerous stigma is removed.

 

I think this is the more intelligent route, and one more in line with Christ's teachings.

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So your solution is more of the same failed policies?  The "War on Drugs" has been on now for over 40 years, shows no sign of success, and indeed shows signs of destroying us by costing us too much, creating too much crime (half of all crime is drug related), and sending non-violent offenders to prison where they learn how to do crime from professionals.  We have enriched the drug cartels, which have enough power to rule some states of Mexico now and may soon take over completely.  Those Mexican drug cartels operate freely in this country and do not fear arrest or incarceration (its the price of doing business).

 

No one I know in law enforcement is saying that the War on Drugs is a success, nor that it is likely ever to be a success.  So, is that what you want to continue?  Is that what a cost-benefit analysis shows you?  Instead of getting treatment for the addicts?  Just lock em up?  WWJD?

Did I say that more of the same failed solutions are the answer. No, I said the gospel is the only answer (or I could say, at very least, a nationwide return to traditional morality and standards). My intent was to say that except for a widespread embrace of traditional values, the kind I grew up with in the 50's, there is no answer. Sometimes all that can be done is to try your best to influence for the better those within your own sphere of influence and then stand back, like Mormon, and with lament and intense sorrow watch the whole system come crashing down.

 

There are times when peoples seem to develop a national death wish, not unlike the unhinged mindset of a desperate drug addict, and won't be satisfied until everything and almost everyone hits rock bottom. Conflating freedom with license, and with the bullheadedness of an ungrateful, petulant and willfully blind 16 year old, they carry on in their wickedness just for the "fun" of it, enjoying the sight of their authority figures as they cry and scream in frustration. This path of national self-destruction is inspired by the spirit of the devil. That spirit induces a state of mind that cause people to want to gleefully overturn all that is good, and to trample underfoot all that is holy and sacred. I presume you believe the devil is a real, proactively evil spirit intelligence, as described in the Book of Mormon? 

Edited by teddyaware
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The trouble is... as with alcohol... there will always be those who will be abusive and not simply use marajuana "in their homes" for recreational use... it isn't enough we have to worry about drunk drivers?? Now we will add to that those who are driving while stoned, with impaired senses and judgment.  Perhaps you can argue that the majority will be responsible... just as the majority of drinkers are responsible.  It's that minority that have caused countless lives to be affected... countless families to lose loved ones... all because they chose to drink and drive... the same will be with a certain percentage of pot smokers.  So add the two together... irresponsible alcohol and pot users who refuse to believe the rules apply to them... 

Most of the financial gain by gov't by legalizing marajuana will be offset by the families of victims of those who misuse... in the same manner as done with alcohol...

 

GG

 

 

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......Use the stuff long enough and the user begins to think the only way he can enjoy life is to be high on the stuff. ...

 

The main thing I have against this stuff is that it can easily become an all-consuming passion in many users lives; a passion that leaves little room for motivation to pursue the things of the Spirit. In fact, strange as it might seem. the counterfeit "joy" marijuana produces can become a perverse sort of substitute for spiritual enlightenment. ...

 

And how is this different than alcohol and even caffeinated drinks?    Yes their use is problematic because it undermines agency and gives control of bodily functions to chemicals.    But which chemical is inappropriately used to the user's downfall shouldn't really matter, should it?

 

 

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