Mexico May Allow Some Cocaine, Heroin Use

On THAT I agree with you. While I'm certainly no fan of drug use, our "War On Drugs" has been worse than an abject failure.

Violent criminals are routinely let out early because prisons are overcrowded, and non-violent criminals are serving long mandatory sentences. "No knock" searches which is a polite way of saying "kick your door down" has become a way of life, when it was totally unheard of prior to the '80s. Asset forfeiture, which was originally promised to be used ONLY for gangland kingpins, is now routinely used for minor SUSPECTS, not even proven criminals. And even if innocent, it can be damned difficult to get your assets back. We're not yet a police state, but a lot of police state tactics have become accepted as a way of life, thanks mostly to our "War On Drugs". And drugs are far easier to get today then before this mess started.

 

What do you mean by that? Nothing's changed here. The number of people who try marijuana in Canada cycles up and down over time, but most people don't continue to smoke it. Personally, I don't want it decriminalized here. Right now with it "illegal" it's not worth the effort of police to charge a person, if said person co-operates while getting busted. If it's decriminalized the cop can quickly write you a ticket for a couple of hundred bucks and send you on your way without your weed.

 

lol! The UK and USA are now full of lazy, obese, heart attack candidates and were worrying about a bit of smoke??

Make it illegal for fat people to eat in the street - they're doing themselves just as much harm as the smoker.

 

Insomniac that's a poor analogy... How much manpower and legal resources do you think are devoted to fine defaulters and littering laws?


Not once in this discussion did I say marijuana should be legalized... But it should be decriminalized and law enforcement and our judicial system should prioritize and focus on more pressing concerns (higher class narcotics and the people who sell, smuggle, and transport those drugs and large quantities of them).... Methamphetamine labs that are springing up all over the country.... fastest growing drug in the nation.....

I read that we spent $4 billion last year trying to combat & enforce marijuana laws and it hasn't had any effect on the use.... The policy is a failure... I'd rather take half of that $4 billion, and either put it towards anti-terrorism measures or put it into DEA funding for preventing drug smuggling at the border or to crackdown on meth labs....

Last DEA official I saw on Fox News Channel said that we stop an estimated 1% of all drugs that enter the country....

 

I was hoping someone from Canada would confirm or deny this.

I saw a show on marijuana, and it said that in Canada or parts of it, the cops turn a blind eye to it's use and sale, and there are even co-ops that breed varieties and sell it.

Some operate from a shop like a legitimate business, even though it's technically illegal.

It showed people selling and smoking the stuff and the police just walked past.

They did bust the major growers, but not the users or dealers.


It's apparently so bad, the US government is putting pressure on Canada to clamp down.

 

I just heard on the news that President Fox of Mexico will NOT sign their new decriminalization law into effect, (thanks to pressure from President Bush, supposedly). Won't make much of a difference either way. Mexico's government, police, and military are all obscenely corrupt and out of control anyway.

 

I believe that's Vancouver (or parts of it) where the Cops have openly stated that they have more important matters to tend to and overlook the smoking but you will have to ask someone from Canada to confirm.....

I don't think the U.S. Government put any pressure on Canada because there are any ill effects.... They're putting pressure on Canada because they do not want the decriminalization trend to float southbound and influence the way the American Public feels about the drug and our policy towards it..... The same way they are going to put pressure, and are putting pressure, on the Mexican government befure the law even gets signed or takes affect.... The U.S. Government will play hardball w/ their neighbors to the north and south.... If they don't like a particular policy of another Country and feel it will influence our morals/values in our own borders, they will find ways of applying pressure to get what they want (no news here)

 

Yes. They did bust the little coffee shop that they figured was doing $30k a month in sales, ( the math doesn't add up) where a person could smoke too, but only after pressure from the higher powers. The neighbouring businesses were unconcerned. They liked the increased traffic.

 

Marijuana has some beneficial medical effects, but good, well-controlled studies are lacking, due to the Federal government being unwilling to allow the studies to be performed. Anecdotal evidence is tremendously unreliable.

As a pharmacist, it seems to me that legalization would lead to the "weed" equivalent of drunk drivers, work accidents, injuries due to impaired judgment, and so forth. For this reason, I cannot subscribe to the idea of legalizing pot. We have too many ways to get "high" and stupid and hurt others as it is without making another drug widely available. Personally, I would outlaw alcohol if it were up to me. Yes, I know responsible users will not hurt others, but tell that to the parents of the teenager who just drove into a tree while under the influence.

As GT said, obeying the law seems to be out of favor now. I would add that thinking and acting with a clear head and unimpaired brain seem to be becoming less common as well.

Whatever happened to the ideal of a clear, drug free brain ??????

 

Everyones too stoned and forgot it ,alchohol is costing our gov a fortune every weekend,fighting,vandalism,Emergency room,the solution?Extend drinking hours well into the night so hopefully everyone will be too drunk to be bothered,I kid you not,you couldnt make it up

 

Too much pressure & stress in our American society & way of life for Americans not to intoxicate themselves w/ something....