Full Drug Legalization

Homicide rates in New York city from cocaine use could just as easily be from the violent nature of the underground drug business. With no other way to settle disputes drug dealers and users MUST resort to violence. And again compare these illegal drugs to the legal and harmful drug of alcohol. Alcohol is known to induce violence in some users, yet the vast majority of adults have learned how to use this safely and responsibly. You act as if adults are children incapable of any responsible behavior. The violence related to drug trafficking WILL magically stop over night (just as it did at the end of alcohol prohibition), and that is where the majority of the violence originates, not from the drugs themselves. Legalization proponents such as myself are not interested in insuring that a career criminal has a steady stream of revenue. If you are so worried about criminals keeping a steady illegal revenue then why even bother throwing them in jail? If you are basing a substance's illegality based off of how harmful it is then American Drug policy has absolutely No consitency. Alcohol and tobacco...by far the most harmful drugs in america are completely legal, while marijuana a substance that is impossible to OD on carries the same penalties for possession as cocaine. Saved from drug addiction? What are you talking about? I live around these kids you are trying to save, and your definition of "saving" them is throwing them in jail and ruining their entire lives. If you want to prevent drug addiction then education is a far more effective method then incarceration. The social costs of half our prison system being filled up with non-violent offenders are just as heavy as a couple of addicts. And a survey from MTF showed evidence that cocaine use among kids/teens only went up from 1991 to 1997. Drug prohibition has done nothing to slow down the actual usage rates. It has only thrown millions in jail. Merely selling a drug is far less harmful then actually using it. And what you are proudly stating is that "we only throw people in jail for selling things we dont like...not just using or having those things". Well i do find it very interesting that you would use the DEA, since part of the Drug Czar's job description is to lie to the public if lying helps continue the drug war. http://blogs.salon.com... I personally find the statements of former law enforcement agents who are admitting that most of their life's work was a waste, to the rather self serving interests of a government agency that is mandated to oppose all drug legalization efforts by any means necessary. This issue transcends the arguments of practicality. The government has claimed the unconstitutional power to dictate what you put in your body. If you admit that the government has this power and should use it to "save" people from harmful drugs then you are inconsistent unless you are for making alcohol and tobacco completely illegal. I do not believe I have the right to tell someone else what they can smoke, drink, inhale, or inject into their own bodies. What they do with that body is still their responsibility at all times, but it is time to end the nanny state mentality that we somehow know what is best for others.