Say Anything Blog

Pilgrim,

Dennis Miller’s glib repartee is hardly the basis for a serious policy discussion such as you propose here.

That said, I would be willing to entertain your suggested revisions, so long as you would willing to indemnify the taxpayers who have so far borne the burden of most rehabilitation costs.  Remove drug use/misuse and addiction from Social Security, welfare, or federal or state funded rehabilitation programs.  Similarly, remove drugs, including marijuana, from any sort of rehabilitation funding under ADA.

If you are going to de-criminalize the personal use of certain currently illicit substances, then make sure the responsibility, and consequences, rest squarely on the shoulders of those whose decision it is to use those substances in the first place, and not burden the taxpayers with the cost of those consequences.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

I’m with Bat.  If we are to legalize drugs and spare taxpayers the expense of the endless, futile “war on drugs” then we should also spare taxpayers the expense of caring for people who have allowed their addictions to become a handicap.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

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Bat:

I’m not endorsing the legalization of heroin or cocaine or any of the more devastating drugs. And I agree with you about the relationship between those programs and legalization. That being said, how many people are in alcohol rehab programs? Alcohol, a perfectly legal drug, is very destructive when abused. Yet it’s an accepted part of our culture.

Marijuana is a relatively benign drug when compared to the ones I mentioned above, including alcohol.

Why do we continue to allow people to get rich who deal the stuff on a massive scale when we could take the wind out of their sails so easily?

The future ain’t what it used to be.....

Dennis Miller’s glib repartee is hardly the basis for a serious policy discussion such as you propose here.

The repartee may be glib but the message it sends is true. I just tried to cut into the seriousness of the issue with some applicable humor. I satnd duly chastised.

The future ain’t what it used to be.....

Pilgrim,

I’m not as sanguine as you about the “relatively benign” effects of marijuana, having put a couple kids through high school.  One of the better know effects of pot is symptomatic lethargy, and it is about the last thing kids need to learn, when they should be focused on discovering and harnessing initiative, determination, and the application of sustained effort to achieve their goals.

I don’t disagree that marijuana is most likely less harmful than alcohol, though as you point out, drinking is far more socially acceptable, despite the more harmful long-term effects.

Still, my point was to get the taxpayers off the hook for the results of decisions made by knowing adults.  I should have included alcohol rehab as well.  That my tax dollars, state or federal, should pay for someone else’s rehab program is ridiculous.  The consequences of someone else’s decision to drink (or smoke pot) irresponsibly are not my concern, and I certainly shouldn’t be expected to pay for those consequences.

I’m not opposed to a substantial does of libertarianism now and then.  Just don’t expect to burden me with the consequences of others’ actions.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Bat,

Your point is well taken and valid and well reasoned, as always. My point is that the current method of dealing with the drug situation isn’t working and isn’t likely to, and is causing a disproportionate amount of grief for the relief it brings us.

How else can we fix it, even this small part of it?

The future ain’t what it used to be.....

How else can we fix it, even this small part of it?

Pilgrim,

The short and honest answer is that I haven’t the faintest idea how to fix it.

And it certainly doesn’t help to realize that this is hardly the only societal problem that stems from a combination of a lack of self-discipline and an over-abundance of self-indulgence.

There!  Now, wasn’t that helpful?

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Legalize marijuana!

I think if marijuana was legalized it would be great for the farmers!