From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: To tattle, or not to tattle
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 08:54:54 GMT

wb9omc@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) writes:
: 
: 	I would add to that that if he doesn't feel that crack is
: harming "other people", then he ought to check out the unfortunate babies
: who are born addicted to it.

Wrong. There is no such thing as a "crack baby". The one or two studies
that supposedly found this have been proven to be wrong. I believe even
the original researchers have withdrawn their claims. For more information,
as on alt.drugs - they will provide cites.

: 	IMHO, Crack houses ought to be burned to the ground and if the
: swinebag crack dealers happen to be in it at the time it will be a few
: less criminals on the streets.

My, my. I suppose the poor and the blacks will be next. Then the person
who sells alcohol to children. Then maybe people who get speeding tickets.

... deleted ...

: 	I don't think it is in society's best interests to legalize drugs -
: thus, *I* would have no qualms about reporting what *I* would see as
: drug crimes.

Too bad. Keeping the drugs illegal is just making the costs of drug
usage much higher to the rest of us. People are going to use drugs,
regardless of whether they are legal or not. Arresting them and locking
them up is not the solution. We have ample proof from prohibition that
this does not work. 

Of course, if the drugs were legal, there would be tens of thousands
of gestapo that would be out of jobs, and would be out hunting for
honest work. Wouldn't look good on the government's "economic recovery
statistics report". 

If you wonder about my use of the work "honest" above - check out how
the RICO statutes are being abused. How civil forfeiture is bypassing
constitutional guarantees. How city and state police find ways to get
around their court rulings about how civil forfeiture proceeds must
be distributed. Then, tell me that the War on Drugs/Truth is good for
this country - with all the corruption that it generates.

: 	If I lived in a state where cetain sex acts were illegal even
: between consenting adults, and overheard a cordless phone call between
: two such adults planning such sex, *I* would *not* turn them in.  For
: my ethics and *MY* conscience (which anyone else should feel perfectly
: free to disagree with) one is a so-called "victimless crime" and one
: is not.

That has been my point all along. Selling drugs is not creating a
victim - nor is using drugs. Abusing drugs in a way to endanger others
is. That is what should be punished.

: 	All that aside, as a larger issue I also don't think we need
: to be in the business of spying on everyone else.  That will take us
: FAR closer to being a police state than any scanner ban or ECPA does.

See above. We are already rapidly approaching a police state. It is
just that the "average citizen" has not been affected very much, to
date, so he/she does not realize it.

: 	If you overhear something whilst just "scanning" the bands and
: you feel it is truly important based on YOUR sense of ethics, then
: report it.  For your own benefit, make sure before you do that it is
: something actually worth reporting.  But don't just sit around playing radio
: police waiting for someone to be stupid.

With this, I agree. 

Bill
Newsgroups: alt.radio.scanner