“Sometimes I have to think that many of my fellow men simply can’t think things through.”
Look in the mirror James.
There is a right way and a wrong way to legalize drugs, just like everything else. The wrong way is what you fear.
The right way is for congress to create a category of drugs for recreational use. Then the Drug companies can get down with their test tubes, beakers and autoclaves. The FDA can grade the new drugs by how addictive they are, how long they last, etc. Then they market them thru State run stores. Include alcohol and tobacco. This will put the illegal drug dealers out of business. The drug companies will create much better drugs then what some guy can do in his bathroom. The profits will in part go toward new medicines.
As far as work related problems, I wonder what you have been smoking. Do you really think that 50% of the stock traders at work right now haven’t ran a line or two today? At least that many truck drivers are running on meth. The guys that built your house prolly had a joint with their morning coffee break.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-08-drug-use_x.htm
“Overall, 19.1 million Americans used illicit drugs last year, or 7.9%. The numbers were basically the same for the surveys taken in the previous two years, when about 8% of Americans reported using illicit drugs within the previous month.”
That is a pretty low estimate. I doewn’t include the ones to stoned to finish the poll. Match it with these numbers, also from official sources;
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/drugfact/american_users_spend/what.html
“In 1997, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), working with Abt Associates Inc., reported that Americans spent an estimated $57 billion to $91 billion per year between 1988 and 1995 for illicit drugs and for licit drugs used illegally. New data and a revised methodology have enabled us to improve those estimates, extend them through 1998, and project them into the year 2000.”
Nobody really knows.
If you match the various WAG’s (Wild Ass Guess) with the number of people in jail for illegal drugs, you will see some serious discrepancies.
The war on drugs is LOST. Remember the first rule of holes and stop digging. It is time to arrange a graceful surrender that is to society’s advantage. Or you can keep digging your hole. I’m not digging anymore. WE now have the third President in a row that is a drug user. If that isn’t a clue, you are beyond help.
