Orange is the new black

[CaptainObvious]

Legalize it all? Well, it sure will help those nasty crime stats. The actual problem of addiction? Not so much. Maybe we should just legalize everything. Suddenly the crime problem is gone. Errr, maybe not. Kind of like the way we count the unemployed. We don't and viola, the unemployment number is just fantastic.
Short cut solutions to complex problems won't work, and in fact will exacerbate the problem. You'd think we'd have learned that by now. Nope, lets just make damn good time. Whether or not we're going in the right direction...irrelevant. Lets go fast.

 

[nitro]

Legalize it all? Well, it sure will help those nasty crime stats. The actual problem of addiction? Not so much. Maybe we should just legalize everything. Suddenly the crime problem is gone. Errr, maybe not. Kind of like the way we count the unemployed. We don't and viola, the unemployment number is just fantastic.
Short cut solutions to complex problems won't work, and in fact will exacerbate the problem. You'd think we'd have learned that by now. Nope, lets just make damn good time. Whether or not we're going in the right direction...irrelevant. Lets go fast.

I think when people say legalize it, they mean legalize the use of drugs. The selling of it is far more contentious issue and should be treated as selling of any other drug or product (but for Gods sake don't use the gun model). And then the catch is, drug abuse (not use) is now a medical and psychological issue, not a penal corrections issue. Then, almost certainly, the selling of it will become not worth the time since there will be lots of competition and an open market. Lots of problems go away, but no doubt new ones will appear.

For example, legalizing drugs opens a whole can of worms - regulation. Who is to say that this pot is safe and that one isn't? Or that people are lacing Meth with Heroin or God knows what else? We could drive the cost of insuring drug addicts that can't afford "clean" drugs much higher. I think the insurance companies did this with cigarettes - smokers drove all of our insurance rates higher - but not sure.

Read the Harpers article - it is at least interesting.

 

[ETcallhome]

Legalize it all? Well, it sure will help those nasty crime stats. The actual problem of addiction? Not so much. Maybe we should just legalize everything. Suddenly the crime problem is gone. Errr, maybe not. Kind of like the way we count the unemployed. We don't and viola, the unemployment number is just fantastic.
Short cut solutions to complex problems won't work, and in fact will exacerbate the problem. You'd think we'd have learned that by now. Nope, lets just make damn good time. Whether or not we're going in the right direction...irrelevant. Lets go fast.

it's an illness, and making it a crime only makes it worse
as it is now, the doctor can give you morphine, but if you are not in the hospital you have to commit a crime to get it

 

[wjk]

Agreed.

By the way, pot is a useful way to dilate your pupils, should you have an interest in astronomy. Helps the light gathering ability of the eye. One hit will do, though, no need to get baked.
: )

Carl Sagan enjoyed weed, and for more than astronomy. He believed it enhanced his appreciation of things such as art, food, and beyond.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/carl-sagan-marijuana_n_3367112.html

 

[CaptainObvious]

I think when people say legalize it, they mean legalize the use of drugs. The selling of it is far more contentious issue and should be treated as selling of any other drug or product (but for Gods sake don't use the gun model). And then the catch is, drug abuse (not use) is now a medical and psychological issue, not a penal corrections issue. Then, almost certainly, the selling of it will become not worth the time since there will be lots of competition and an open market. Lots of problems go away, but no doubt new ones will appear.

For example, legalizing drugs opens a whole can of worms - regulation. Who is to say that this pot is safe and that one isn't? Or that people are lacing Meth with Heroin or God knows what else? We could drive the cost of insuring drug addicts that can't afford "clean" drugs much higher. I think the insurance companies did this with cigarettes - smokers drove all of our insurance rates higher - but not sure.

Read the Harpers article - it is at least interesting.

You can legalize it, but unless you're going to give it away for free the crime to support the habit will persist. We will still be left with the question of why do people need to drug themselves just to get through the day? It's complicated and the problem starts at a young age. Add in a anything goes mentality in our nothing means anything anyway society, and here we are. Legalization ain't the answer we're looking for. Then again, maybe it is. Anything that distracts us from the real problems in our society is just what the government doctor ordered.

 

[ETcallhome]

You can legalize it, but unless you're going to give it away for free the crime to support the habit will persist. We will still be left with the question of why do people need to drug themselves just to get through the day? It's complicated and the problem starts at a young age. Add in a anything goes mentality in our nothing means anything anyway society, and here we are. Legalization ain't the answer we're looking for. Then again, maybe it is. Anything that distracts us from the real problems in our society is just what the government doctor ordered.

It was legal before the Government Doctor made it a crime. Now we have two problems, addiction and the crime of being addicted. We would have an insulin epedemic if they made it illegal. And yes, the heroin would be free, but before you get your dose you have to be offered and refuse help.

 

[fhl]

The FBI and DOJ have been looking at Clinton's email server con for almost a year. They're still looking.

The DOJ responds with lawsuits in a day when NC acts to keep deviant men out of women's bathrooms.

They DOJ can act quickly if it wants to. This is proof. Meaning it does not want to act on Clinton's email crime. If it hasn't acted by now, it's not going to.

The criminal justice system at the highest levels of this country is a complete sham. It is only in place to further the liberal agenda. Nothing else.
Lynch, Loretta is even worse than Holder, if that's possible.

 

[nitro]

Doctors must lead us out of our opioid abuse epidemic
By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent

Watch "Prescription Addiction: Made in the USA," an "Anderson Cooper 360" town hall special hosted by Anderson Cooper and CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 11.

(CNN)Veteran doctors don't need a blood test to tell when someone is on the verge of a drug overdose. They can even narrow down the culprit by observation alone. Dilated pupils mean cocaine, amphetamines, maybe LSD. Constricted pupils mean an opiate.

Additionally, an opiate abuser is characteristically "nodding out" and often scratching their itchy skin. While their face is becoming pale and clammy, their fingernails and lips are starting to turn blue or even a sickly purplish-black. When the choking noises -- or the deep snore gurgling sounds, known as the death rattle -- begins, it's time to act -- and fast. That is a pretty clear sign the opiates have just turned off the person's drive to breathe and they are in the throes of an overdose.

It is an awful sight, and yet someone in this country dies like this every 19 minutes. There is no other medication routinely used for a nonfatal condition that kills patients so frequently. The majority of those deaths result from prescription opioid medications, such as hydrocodone, OxyContin and Percocet.
It is so common that specialists even have a profile for the most typical victim: non-Hispanic Caucasian male, mid 30s. Initial diagnosis: back pain due to trauma, surgery or degenerative arthritis. And, most remarkably, average time from first prescription to time of overdose death: just 31 months....

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/11/healt...iption-addiction-doctors-must-lead/index.html

 

[CaptainObvious]

It was legal before the Government Doctor made it a crime. Now we have two problems, addiction and the crime of being addicted. We would have an insulin epedemic if they made it illegal. And yes, the heroin would be free, but before you get your dose you have to be offered and refuse help.

It's not a crime to be addicted. There isn't anyone in prison simply because they're addicted. It's the crimes committed to feed the addition, which is why unless you make all drugs free to all people all the time, crimes will continue. Even free, addicts aren't going to make the best decisions while high.
Do I think the "evil weed" should be legal? Why not, but thinking that solves the real problem is looking through rose colored glasses. It's just like the fact that John Barley Corn is legal. Doesn't do a thing to curb alcoholism, the crimes committed by drunks, and all the other associated personal and family problems which result from alcoholism.
The government doctor likes it this way. Drunks and stoners are easy to manipulate which is why they want everyone on some kind of pharmaceutical.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Doctors must lead us out of our opioid abuse epidemic
By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent

Watch "Prescription Addiction: Made in the USA," an "Anderson Cooper 360" town hall special hosted by Anderson Cooper and CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 11.

(CNN)Veteran doctors don't need a blood test to tell when someone is on the verge of a drug overdose. They can even narrow down the culprit by observation alone. Dilated pupils mean cocaine, amphetamines, maybe LSD. Constricted pupils mean an opiate.

Additionally, an opiate abuser is characteristically "nodding out" and often scratching their itchy skin. While their face is becoming pale and clammy, their fingernails and lips are starting to turn blue or even a sickly purplish-black. When the choking noises -- or the deep snore gurgling sounds, known as the death rattle -- begins, it's time to act -- and fast. That is a pretty clear sign the opiates have just turned off the person's drive to breathe and they are in the throes of an overdose.

It is an awful sight, and yet someone in this country dies like this every 19 minutes. There is no other medication routinely used for a nonfatal condition that kills patients so frequently. The majority of those deaths result from prescription opioid medications, such as hydrocodone, OxyContin and Percocet.
It is so common that specialists even have a profile for the most typical victim: non-Hispanic Caucasian male, mid 30s. Initial diagnosis: back pain due to trauma, surgery or degenerative arthritis. And, most remarkably, average time from first prescription to time of overdose death: just 31 months....

View attachment 164054

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/11/healt...iption-addiction-doctors-must-lead/index.html

Since they lead us into it, that would be kind of them.