Sorry Ms. Raich, the drug war is more important than your life

If you want to see how the drug war has affected firearms rights, there is a really good way to do it.

First, read Alex Kozinski's original opinion in the Stewart case (about homegrown machine guns). It's a great opinion, and I agree with it. Many of you will, as well.

Now, go and read Alex Kozinski's opinion in the Stewart case after the Supreme Court told him to apply the reasoning used in the Raich case.

If you liked the Court's decision in Raich, you should also learn to love Kozinski's revised opinion.
 
People need to give a very well thougth out argument as to why they should restrict X and not accept restrictions on activities that harm others while using X. (In whatever way X is used.)

"We should ban alcohol, people drive drunk".
"Then ban driving while drunk. No need to bother those who don't drive drunk."

"We should ban guns, people get killed by guns."
"Murder is already illegal, we need stiffer punishments for those who murder others. No early release for them. Lets enact stiffer punishments for criminals who use a gun in a violent crime as well"

"People could work on an airplane while stoned, we must keep drugs illegal."
"Employers already forbid employees from working while impared by drugs. The legality of the drug they are impared by is irrelevant."
 
Besides, talking on a phone is a momentary distraction. Stop work. Get done with conversation. Back up three steps. Continue work
Click to expand...

Good theory. C'mon down to I-95 and look and see how many drivers are jamming the shoulder to have their conversations. I tell you, you can hardly have a flat tire anymore because of it <cough>.

Then, after you are done with that, look in your rearview mirror at the driver tailgating you at 3 feet going 75 MPH and there's a cell phone in their ear every time.

I'd just as soon have a drunk behind me or a pot smoker with a joint hanging out the window. At least after ten minutes of it they get tired and change lanes.

Now as far as ending your conversation and getting back to work as usual, that somewhat depends on what the call was about and how mad you were at the end of it, and how long you remain preoccupied with it while working or even overdosed on adrenaline while working.

The point being that a lot more than just whether or not someone's taken an illegal drug goes into the safety of what you do every day. How about the legal ones sitting in bottles on desks all over the place? Phone calls from kids stuck at school without a ride? Having to clean up your work area in a panic, while doing your work, because the FAA is visiting tomorrow? The list is never-ending; the world's not a safe place.
 
No, not necessarily. The USA is listed by some as the worlds leading producer of marijuana. Hard to believe but it is true.

I read a report (while I was an LEO produced by the DEA) back in the 90's that said that more tons of marijuana are seized and destroyed in the USA every year than the total amount produced in most other countries. The USA's production was estimated at the time to be around 15,000-20,000 metric tons of marijuana a year. Mexico was rated as the second place producer.

I also read a report not too long ago listing marijuana as the highest grossing cash crop produced in Oregon. Since it cannot be listed as a legal cash crop landscaping plants get listed as number one.

If this is even close to be true today there would be absolutely no need to import marijuana from an outside source.

And as a side note...I have known a lot of pot dealers in my day. Marijuana is to difficult to smuggle because of it pungent nature. It also takes up alot of room. It is pretty hard to get enough of it into the country at a time to make it worth it. Most distributers produce their own (often on public lands) and sell locally. It is just much easier to start a crop in a field and sell that than it is to import it. Chances are, if you buy a pot in Oregon or Cali or any state you are doing your part to support the local economy.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this was true pre-NAFTA, but post-NAFTA, most marijuana sold in the US is grown in Mexico, and smuggled into the country in 18 wheel trucks. It comes in, in multi-ton loads at a time. A lot of hydroponic marijuana comes from Canada, where it is easier to produce without getting caught due to their much more lax enforcement.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't know if this was true pre-NAFTA, but post-NAFTA, most marijuana sold in the US is grown in Mexico, and smuggled into the country in 18 wheel trucks. It comes in, in multi-ton loads at a time. A lot of hydroponic marijuana comes from Canada, where it is easier to produce without getting caught due to their much more lax enforcement.
Click to expand...
Curious, where did you get this info and how are 18wheelers full of pot getting past checkpoints? Surely they are not going cross country with semi-trucks. :)
 
Fed.gov ought to get out of the gun control and drug business, period.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, that's like saying microsoft should get out of the computer business. The gov't (local, state, and federal alike) makes a fortune because of drug and gun laws. The single best way to upset the gov't is to interfer with its money... Not happening under current circumstances, unfortunate as it is.
 
Hmmm. It's a little like the mob, isn't it?
Click to expand...

Well, considering the mob did gain a substantial amount of power as a direct result of what the Gov't has done with laws in the past (as in prohibition, and a few other little things), I could see where certain parallels could be drawn. Also, considering several members within high places of the gov't during the past (and possibly present) may or may not have ties to such entities, more parallels might be drawn in that direction based on the possibilities of influence by a private sector to bring profitable actions into legisletion.

It could also have something to do with tinfoil hats--and I'm not going to confirm whether I have one on or not... :D
 
Curious, where did you get this info and how are 18wheelers full of pot getting past checkpoints? Surely they are not going cross country with semi-trucks.


I am getting my info from the people who are doing it. And, driving it cross county in 18 wheel semi-trucks, among other vehicles, is exactly the way they are doing it. Google earth one of the checkpoints and look at how much traffic is lined up at the POE's. NAFTA allows trucks to be pre-cleared and to bypass normal Customs' checkpoints. Guess which trucks they are using to get through the POE's?
 
I think you might want to get a better source than "the guys that are doing it." I just don't see that scenerio working very well.

Give me an example of who you would consider a better source than the guys who are actually doing the smuggling, because you lost me on that response.

You know, this isn't exactly a secret.
 
Actually, some is grown in the US by Mexican nationals.
Up here in northern California, we get warnings anually regarding wandering about the national forests where we may encounter armed guards protecting the plantations.

This is another problem that would go away if marijuana was legalized.
But NOOOOOOOO, we can't have that!!!!
 
Hmmmm, maybe that would work for terrorism? Or Bank Robbery?
Click to expand...

Yes, because terrorism and bank robbery are completely analogous to private use of marijuana, either recreational or medicinal. Entirely. :rolleyes:

Hint: tell me who is deprived of any of their basic human rights when I grow some marijuana in my backyard and smoke it while watching cartoons.
 
Hmmmm, maybe that would work for terrorism? Or Bank Robbery?
Click to expand...

Let me try this s-l-o-w-l-y and LOGICALLY.

If bank robbery were not illegal, robberies would increase until all banks went out of business. The banks would go out of the banking business because there would be no profit in it.

If marijuana were legal, it would be grown on private property, not in the national forests. The crime cartels would be out of the marijuana business, BECAUSE THERE WOULD BE NO PROFIT IN IT!

Also, what JuanCarlos said.
 
Your point was that marijuana, and it's environs, would simply close up shop and move away. Making the world a safer place. NOT. The same people who today are guards at the hidden fields would become robbers of the newly renovated fields. You certainly don't believe that people will settle for a couple of plants each, do you? You just move the violence to a different place in the chain.

Just think, if we legalized Meth, Crank, Speed, Coke, Crack, Heroin, Ecstacy, and the rest of the illegal drugs, we wouldn't have any drug violence, right? No matter how cheaply it's available, it's addictive, and the same people would be using violence to obtain funds for it.

If we wish to do so, fine. However, tax dollars should not be used to treat addicts, and insurance companies should be allowed to limit, or refuse to cover, the costs of injuries sustained while using drugs.

I would think that, after the initial spate of those who think it would help lost their lives and livlihoods, things would settle right down. It could be a bloody decade or two, though.
 
Using tax dollars to treat addicts as opposed to incarcerating them for a few years is much, much better for society in general. Insurance companies are already allowed to refuse treatment for just about whatever the hell they want.
 
Your point was that marijuana, and it's environs, would simply close up shop and move away. Making the world a safer place. NOT. The same people who today are guards at the hidden fields would become robbers of the newly renovated fields. You certainly don't believe that people will settle for a couple of plants each, do you? You just move the violence to a different place in the chain.
Click to expand...

Doubtful. Marijuana is not difficult to grow, and is only expensive (and thus profitable enough to run the risk of prison time) because it's illegal. Make it legal and marijuana would likely be cheaper than tobacco.

It's called "weed" for a reason.

Redworm already responded to the rest.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top