cmk:

that’s funny. i was just reading about this the other day on salon.com. where did you find it?

dan savage was also talking about the ways in which making drugs illegal—not purchasing or taking drugs—leads to violence. if drugs were legal, terrorists would be cut out of the loop (at least terrorists as generally defined). thoughts?

10/25/02 10:27AM

Chris:

Legalizing drugs would force the government to deal with drugs as a regulated commodity and a trade issue, which would ensure the semblence of legitimacy to the trade partners (although not necessarily…).

The whole "war on drugs" has wasted billions of dollars and hasn’t worked. The legalization of drugs would allow the goverment to regulate and tax them, generating a positive cash flow, rather than a huge expenditure. That money could be used for rehab—just like the tobacco settlements are used for cancer treatment, right? (You may detect some cynicism here on top of the idealistic proposition.)

Unfortunately, the whole idea of legalization has been so vilified by the culture as a whole that it will never happen, especially with G-Dub in the House. The whole advertising campaign mentioned in the linked articles has very effectively equated drugs with terrorism to the critical-thinking-skills-disabled public.

Obviously it’s a complicated issue that I’ve greatly simplified here, but I really do think that legalizing drugs would be a smart thing for the government to do.

10/25/02 11:50AM

cmk:

read the “national review” for a right-wing argument that’s pro-legalization.

10/26/02 12:38PM