From: niepornt@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (David Marc Nieporent)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Re: Dumb, Sheltered College Puke
Keywords: WRONG NEWS GROUPS....
Date: 6 Apr 92 19:06:21 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Princeton University
Originator: news@ernie.Princeton.EDU

In article <1992Apr6.133108@soil.gsfc.nasa.gov> dave@soil.gsfc.nasa.gov (David Graham) writes:
>In article <Apr.6.10.47.54.1992.6323@gandalf.rutgers.edu>, shagan@gandalf.rutgers.edu (Susan Hagan) writes:
>|> sike@athena.mit.edu (Michael G Sheldon) writes:
>|> >In article <1992Apr3.223541.2704@athena.mit.edu>, sybok@m4-035-4.MIT.EDU (The Terminator) writes:

>|> >|> ...  Drugs should be legalized.  The illegality of drugs
>|> >|> creates crime, not the drugs.

>|> >Then murder should be legalized?  By your reasoning, the illegality
>|> >of murder creates crime, not the murder.
 
In a tautological sense, sure.  But thats not what we're talking about.
Murder is bad, whether or not it is a crime, because it harms someone
else.  Drugs do NOT do this; so the reasoning behind banning drugs is
that they lead to violence, cause people to commit robberies, etc.  And
what he's saying is that *drugs* don't do this, the *war on drugs* does.

>|> Then you obviously don't understand his reasoning.  The crime that the
>|> illegality of drugs creates is not the crime of taking drugs, it is the
>|> whole underground crime world that is created in order to fill the 
>|> demand for the illegal drugs.  Legalizing recreational drugs would
>|> do away with the organized crime that makes is living off the sale
>|> of these drugs.  
 
>One thing that is overlooked here is crime created from dependancy.

And how many people who use drugs actually abuse them?  Not many.

>As the life of the drug addicted degrades ( no longer can hold job )
>often times these people turn to crime to support their addiction.
>You may do away with some levels of organized crime, but I still believe
>crime would still be a major problem within our inner-cities.

Oh, really?  When's the last time you saw someone steal to support his
nicotine habit?  Murder someone to get money to feed his alcohol addiction?

No, that's OK, you don't have to answer, I'll tell you.  The answer:
during Prohibition.  Amazingly, the majority of street crime related to
alchohol disappeared when Prohibition was repealed.  Why?  Because there
was no money in alcohol-smuggling, so the gangs mostly disintegrated.
The mafia only survived by moving into other victimless crimes --
gambling and prostitution and drugs.

Meanwhile, the WoD drives up drug prices enough to make people *have* to
steal to support their abuse.  Especially since PFDA hysteria causes
people to get fired for *using* drugs, even when they don't have any bad
effects.  *THAT'S* why they can't hold their jobs.  Millions of illegal
drug users hold their jobs without any trouble, and millions upon millions 
use alchohol and tobacco without being "degraded" and losing their jobs.  

-- 
David M. Nieporent              |ALEast 92: 1.Baltimore 2.Boston 3.Toronto
niepornt@phoenix.princeton.edu  |4. Detroit 5.Milwaukee 6.NY 8.Cleveland
"Baseball stathead, and card-carrying member of the ACLU.  And proud of it."
Xref: sparky talk.politics.misc:17475 ca.politics:3385 ba.politics:2617