Re: And Now For Some Reality
IMHO, the vast majority of the instances you're referring to with adults 'giving' alcohol to children are actually people buying beer for underagers; it's most likely an arrangement such as "Here's some money. Will you buy me some beer?" That's illegal, and yes: giving or selling marijuana to minors should definitely be illegal too.
"Why do you think making an exceptional law for business entities will change anything?"
Well, look at it this way: thanks to legal billion dollar alcohol and cigarette industries, those two drugs are ubiquitous and continuously glamorized out in the light, not in the shadows as illegal drugs generally are. So if you say that we really have a problem with underage drinking and smoking... well, no wonder! People are generally sold on the things that they buy by those looking to make a profit. Eliminate the profit, and eliminate much of the marketed appeal as well as the incentive to encourage the public to partake in a particular thing such as marijuana.
"Now wait a minute. Aren't you the same guy that argued abortion shouldn't be illegal because it would still happen? So now you're saying that simply making mass production of marijuana illegal will suddenly cause the enterprise to vanish? Get ready because here it comes: you can't have it both ways."
Yes, I am the same guy, and yes, I can have it both ways. Making abortion illegal will create a black market for abortions; right now, that's not a problem. There's already a thriving black market for marijuana because it is illegal. Taking the profitability out of the marijuana black market will decrease interest in growing so much of it, thus reducing the amount of it readily available. Of course in both of these issues, good parenting and education would hopefully steer youth away from having abortions or taking drugs, but that's another topic. For most issues such as this, I'm for taking the illegal profitability out of selling and marketing harmful things, which would hopefully allow us to better guide the inevitable actions of freethinking humans, even those unfortunate and potentially harmful actions. I'm digressing, sorry.
Taking the profitability out of marijuana won't make it go away, but it will take the criminal attraction out of it, thus reducing the amount grown. Who would want to risk being arrested for buying marijuana when they could grow their own and not be arrested? Maybe a few, but a whole lot less than in today's situation. Demand for buying it would fall drastically, and those looking to make money via criminal activity would look for another business to get into. I don't see why you can't see the logic in this theory, or maybe you're just playing devil's advocate since you admit you're not much of a fan of the war on drugs, either.
Making something illegal does not make it cease to occur. Those who are determined to do something will still do it. The legal system exists to discourage those who would find the punishment not worth the effort and to provide the punishment for those who act anyway. The best the legal system can do is keep crime at bay, it will never eliminate it.
"If we wanted to really put a dent in our drug problem, the first drug we need to address is alcohol. As long as we turn our backs on that, anything else we do is just play-acting."
Yes, but that will never happen, I'm afraid. Too many Americans make too much money from the alcohol and tobacco industries. They also enjoy it too much to do so. I'm definitely not anti-alcohol or anti-tobacco, I'm simply pro-moderation. But people are hypocritical and/or misguided if they support the war on drugs and don't see that misuse (i.e. overuse) of both alcohol and tobacco are far more of a problem than marijuana in our country today. And you can thank the major corporations and their aggressive marketing campaigns for that.
"Why do you think making an exceptional law for business entities will change anything?"
Well, look at it this way: thanks to legal billion dollar alcohol and cigarette industries, those two drugs are ubiquitous and continuously glamorized out in the light, not in the shadows as illegal drugs generally are. So if you say that we really have a problem with underage drinking and smoking... well, no wonder! People are generally sold on the things that they buy by those looking to make a profit. Eliminate the profit, and eliminate much of the marketed appeal as well as the incentive to encourage the public to partake in a particular thing such as marijuana.
"Now wait a minute. Aren't you the same guy that argued abortion shouldn't be illegal because it would still happen? So now you're saying that simply making mass production of marijuana illegal will suddenly cause the enterprise to vanish? Get ready because here it comes: you can't have it both ways."
Yes, I am the same guy, and yes, I can have it both ways. Making abortion illegal will create a black market for abortions; right now, that's not a problem. There's already a thriving black market for marijuana because it is illegal. Taking the profitability out of the marijuana black market will decrease interest in growing so much of it, thus reducing the amount of it readily available. Of course in both of these issues, good parenting and education would hopefully steer youth away from having abortions or taking drugs, but that's another topic. For most issues such as this, I'm for taking the illegal profitability out of selling and marketing harmful things, which would hopefully allow us to better guide the inevitable actions of freethinking humans, even those unfortunate and potentially harmful actions. I'm digressing, sorry.
Taking the profitability out of marijuana won't make it go away, but it will take the criminal attraction out of it, thus reducing the amount grown. Who would want to risk being arrested for buying marijuana when they could grow their own and not be arrested? Maybe a few, but a whole lot less than in today's situation. Demand for buying it would fall drastically, and those looking to make money via criminal activity would look for another business to get into. I don't see why you can't see the logic in this theory, or maybe you're just playing devil's advocate since you admit you're not much of a fan of the war on drugs, either.
Making something illegal does not make it cease to occur. Those who are determined to do something will still do it. The legal system exists to discourage those who would find the punishment not worth the effort and to provide the punishment for those who act anyway. The best the legal system can do is keep crime at bay, it will never eliminate it.
"If we wanted to really put a dent in our drug problem, the first drug we need to address is alcohol. As long as we turn our backs on that, anything else we do is just play-acting."
Yes, but that will never happen, I'm afraid. Too many Americans make too much money from the alcohol and tobacco industries. They also enjoy it too much to do so. I'm definitely not anti-alcohol or anti-tobacco, I'm simply pro-moderation. But people are hypocritical and/or misguided if they support the war on drugs and don't see that misuse (i.e. overuse) of both alcohol and tobacco are far more of a problem than marijuana in our country today. And you can thank the major corporations and their aggressive marketing campaigns for that.
posted by Strother | 12:20 PM
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