[skalenfehl]

I'll go ahead and leave the Fascism part out, because all it really means is that if I'm Fascist, I am going to take over the government and impose my system of beliefs on everyone by force. I will make everyone do what is right because that is what I believe. Sound familiar? (Lucifer, Hitler, etc).

Now to address the heart of the matter: Does using harmful drugs affect anyone else? Again, my answer is yes. There may be exceptions to the rule. Someone who lives in the the lone prairies of Podunk USA, who grows a few plants for himself will very likely not affect me. This is hardly the case.

Slavery and women's suffrage hardly compares to the distribution of drugs and narcotics to children. I'm defending right from wrong. Slavery is wrong and so is distributing harmful substances where others are directly and indirectly affected. But this brings another good point. Why is it ok to lobby and fight to right a wrong, but not to wrong a right? Because it doesn't affect someone else? That is a selfish and irresponsible statement and no drug dealer or drug user really cares, especially when addiction takes over.

Originally Posted by Redbeard

I am simply stating that if a person is responsible it should be no one else's business but their own what they do with their own body.

*IF*. Seldom do harmful drugs and narcotics and being responsible go hand in hand. There are isolated exceptions but this is simply not the rule. Where you have enough to make your own dime bag hardly compares to the millions if not billions of dollars of drugs that are trafficked regularly that reach my children and your children.

Originally Posted by Redbeard

If you have children, do not smoke around them, whether that be tobacco or canibis.

In my experience there are two kinds of people when it comes to drugs. Those that have been affected by it and those who are about to be affected by it. By the time my boys were in middle school they were smart enough to know where all the dealers in my city were and the next city over where my younger son now lives. They know where to go to score a hit right now and very likely who's growing their own personal stashes.

Originally Posted by Redbeard

First off, marijuana smoke going from one apartment to another? If there is not proper enough filtration to stop the smoke from going to multiple apartments, they should be condemmed

Do you know how many low/no income families live in slums that should have been condemned decades ago with zero ventilation?

Originally Posted by Redbeard

but out of all of the smokes out there, marijuana has continually been shown to be the least damaging (compared to fire/tobacco).

My boys both knew from the start that marijuana is a gateway drug. When someone rationalizes one wrong, it becomes easier to rationalize another and so on. And this is what happens. You start with something "harmless" and soon you're moving on to a bigger high.

Originally Posted by Redbeard

With legalized recreational drugs, drugs would be created and distributed by actual companies, being kept in check by the goverment. No more backyard meth labs

Cigarettes are supposedly being kept in check right now, but apparently it's not good enough because I see commercials every day telling us what cigarettes contain in order to keep consumers addicted. As I type this my unemployed son is trying to figure out how he's going to buy his next pack, including selling whatever he owns. What makes you think the "pot industry" won't begin to include the same or other addictive ingredients in order to keep their customers coming back for more in the name of the almighty dollar?

Originally Posted by Redbeard

If drugs were legalized we would have-

1.) Purity assurance under Food and Drug Administration regulation;
2.) Labeled concentration of the product (to avoid overdose);
3.) Obliteration of vigorous marketing ("pushers");
4.) Obliteration of drug crime and reduction of theft crime
5.) Savings in expensive enforcement and
6.) Significant tax revenues

Cigarettes contain ingredients not labeled on the box such as arsenic. But the tobacco companies won't tell you this. But here is a list of what tobacco companies have reported to contain:

The List

* Acetanisole
* Acetic Acid
* Acetoin
* Acetophenone
* 6-Acetoxydihydrotheaspirane
* 2-Acetyl-3- Ethylpyrazine
* 2-Acetyl-5-Methylfuran
* Acetylpyrazine
* 2-Acetylpyridine
* 3-Acetylpyridine
* 2-Acetylthiazole
* Aconitic Acid
* dl-Alanine
* Alfalfa Extract
* Allspice Extract,Oleoresin, and Oil
* Allyl Hexanoate
* Allyl Ionone
* Almond Bitter Oil
* Ambergris Tincture
* Ammonia
* Ammonium Bicarbonate
* Ammonium Hydroxide
* Ammonium Phosphate Dibasic
* Ammonium Sulfide
* Amyl Alcohol
* Amyl Butyrate
* Amyl Formate
* Amyl Octanoate
* alpha-Amylcinnamaldehyde
* Amyris Oil
* trans-Anethole
* Angelica Root Extract, Oil and Seed Oil
* Anise
* Anise Star, Extract and Oils
* Anisyl Acetate
* Anisyl Alcohol
* Anisyl Formate
* Anisyl Phenylacetate
* Apple Juice Concentrate, Extract, and Skins
* Apricot Extract and Juice Concentrate
* 1-Arginine
* Asafetida Fluid Extract And Oil
* Ascorbic Acid
* 1-Asparagine Monohydrate
* 1-Aspartic Acid
* Balsam Peru and Oil
* Basil Oil
* Bay Leaf, Oil and Sweet Oil
* Beeswax White
* Beet Juice Concentrate
* Benzaldehyde
* Benzaldehyde Glyceryl Acetal
* Benzoic Acid, Benzoin
* Benzoin Resin
* Benzophenone
* Benzyl Alcohol
* Benzyl Benzoate
* Benzyl Butyrate
* Benzyl Cinnamate
* Benzyl Propionate
* Benzyl Salicylate
* Bergamot Oil
* Bisabolene
* Black Currant Buds Absolute
* Borneol
* Bornyl Acetate
* Buchu Leaf Oil
* 1,3-Butanediol
* 2,3-Butanedione
* 1-Butanol
* 2-Butanone
* 4(2-Butenylidene)-3,5,5-Trimethyl-2-Cyclohexen-1-One
* Butter, Butter Esters, and Butter Oil
* Butyl Acetate
* Butyl Butyrate
* Butyl Butyryl Lactate
* Butyl Isovalerate
* Butyl Phenylacetate
* Butyl Undecylenate
* 3-Butylidenephthalide
* Butyric Acid]
* Cadinene
* Caffeine
* Calcium Carbonate
* Camphene
* Cananga Oil
* Capsicum Oleoresin
* Caramel Color
* Caraway Oil
* Carbon Dioxide
* Cardamom Oleoresin, Extract, Seed Oil, and Powder
* Carob Bean and Extract
* beta-Carotene
* Carrot Oil
* Carvacrol
* 4-Carvomenthenol
* 1-Carvone
* beta-Caryophyllene
* beta-Caryophyllene Oxide
* Cascarilla Oil and Bark Extract
* Cassia Bark Oil
* Cassie Absolute and Oil
* Castoreum Extract, Tincture and Absolute
* Cedar Leaf Oil
* Cedarwood Oil Terpenes and Virginiana
* Cedrol
* Celery Seed Extract, Solid, Oil, And Oleoresin
* Cellulose Fiber
* Chamomile Flower Oil And Extract
* Chicory Extract
* Chocolate
* Cinnamaldehyde
* Cinnamic Acid
* Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Bark Oil, and Extract
* Cinnamyl Acetate
* Cinnamyl Alcohol
* Cinnamyl Cinnamate
* Cinnamyl Isovalerate
* Cinnamyl Propionate
* Citral
* Citric Acid
* Citronella Oil
* dl-Citronellol
* Citronellyl Butyrate
* itronellyl Isobutyrate
* Civet Absolute
* Clary Oil
* Clover Tops, Red Solid Extract
* Cocoa
* Cocoa Shells, Extract, Distillate And Powder
* Coconut Oil
* Coffee
* Cognac White and Green Oil
* Copaiba Oil
* Coriander Extract and Oil
* Corn Oil
* Corn Silk
* Costus Root Oil
* Cubeb Oil
* Cuminaldehyde
* para-Cymene
* 1-Cysteine

The List of Additives in Cigarettes

And that is only A-C! Never mind D-Z. What is pure about these ingredients? And this from a "tobacco" industry. Once upon a time people just wanted to smoke plain ol' tobacco!

"It's chilling to think about not only how smokers poison themselves, but what others are exposed to by breathing in the secondhand smoke. The next time you're missing your old buddy, the cigarette, take a good long look at this list and see them for what they are: a delivery system for toxic chemicals and carcinogens. Cigarettes offer people only a multitude of smoking-related diseases and ultimately death. The 599 Ingredient List was first published on April 12, 1994 by the six American cigarette companies. Provided here in it's entirety, this list will open your eyes as to what is actually in cigarettes.

Originally Posted by Redbeard

Yes, supply and demand, that if legalized would be regulated by the goverment! If drugs are legalized, why would we still have backstreet drug dealers? Alchohol and tobacco are illegal to minors under 21, but you don't see alchohol and tobacco dealers on the street corners do you?

No. But two of them were living under my roof as young teenagers hiding their dime bags and stash where I couldn't find it. Not only did they become hooked on the green, but they both became dealers of it and much harder drugs. If it can happen to me it can happen to you. The government regulating drugs like it regulates cigarettes? Or the sales of alcohol and cigarettes to minors? They're doing a poor job. I see minors with cigarettes all the time. I'm granting you the fact that there are exceptions, but I'm looking at the whole. The bottom line for me is that drugs affect others whether or not JimJoeBob in Somewhere USA is growing his own personal stash. The proof is in your local elementary and middle schools.

Originally Posted by Redbeard

Once again, would not be a problem if drugs were legalized and regulated.

It would create a whole slew of new problems. The underground criminal drug dealers would then resort to another venue of high profit yielding criminal activity such as kidnapping, carjacking, etc. Criminals will not suddenly become law abiding citizens because their main source of income has been legalized and they just became outsourced. This has already been debated in Brazil:

“A Brazilian Walks Into An Amsterdam Hash Bar”: Gabeira on The Clockwork Orange The New Market Machines

"One of the best anti-drug ads I’ve seen, in fact, was a Brazilian spot in a which a young person says just this: “I do not think pot-smoking is such a big deal, but on the other hand, do I really want to be supporting an industry with blood on its hands?”"

Further effects would be prostitution, disease, heck read what another site has to say as it glorified Amsterdam:

Check your morals at the door and lock and dam the kids in the hotel room, it's Amsterdam time! Aaawww yeah! Soft drugs! Government sanctioned prostitution! Live sex shows! More sin than you can shake a bong at! This place makes Las Vegas look like Iowa City!

Check your Morals at the Door - Amsterdam, The Netherlands - BootsnAll.com

Like I said, marijuana is a gateway drug as is alcohol and both are gateways to even greater forms of corruption. When you have one person wanting the liberty to hurt himself, you'll get a whole generation of people wanting to hurt themselves and soon the whole society hurts themselves to the point where the government has to take over as it's doing now. Do you know where it stops? I do. I want to do everything in my power to slow it down or not be a part of it when the big ax falls.