As happy as I am that 20 tons of cocaine are now off the street, and thankfully in the hands of the Coast Guard, rather than Mexican officials, I've got mixed feelings on the whole thing.
I heard on the radio it was $500,000,000.00 worth of cocaine. Awesome right? Yes and no. Yes, because there are less drugs on the street. No, because the drugs on the street just got a lot more expensive and desirable, and consequently more worth fighting for.
I'm not supporting the legalization of cocaine, which in my opinion is one of the worst drugs known to man, but I fail to see any measurable success in the taking down the drug trade altogether. You don't win by cutting supply, you win by cutting demand. The less supply, the more demand, which drives the creation of more cocaine enterprises. It's like the band-aid is feeding the infection. But it's not like we can legalize it to reduce demand. Once you make cocaine cheap, you expose millions more who are willing to "try anything once," to a devastatingly addictive behavior. That would be social suicide for any government.
I don't pretend to know the answer, and I don't believe any government can annihilate the cocaine industry. But maybe the "war on drugs" should be more focused on reducing demand.
4/23/2007
20 tons
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You know, I liked what you had to say about gun rights, but since when did the Government know what's best for me?
Everything the Government takes control over it fucks up, real bad. I don't like it anymore then the next guy but to deny that would only be a demonstration of invincible ignorance.
People have a right to do whatever they want to their bodies, it's theirs, they own it. If we don't have property rights to ourselves then how can we call ourselves free people?
The government never does know that. But it'll never legalize serious narcotics like cocaine or heroin. That's a plain fact. I'm just being a realist.
People should be able to do what they want to their bodies, so long as it doesn't interfere with others, I agree. But widespread cocaine usage would have far more negative impacts than widespread gun toting.
I mean liberalization of drug laws isn't always good idea. Look at the Netherlands. I think there should be more freedom, and there's a fine line between liberty and stupidity. Plus we have the commerce clause... that ungodly thing, which gives Congress virtually unlimited powers. I just don't see it happening, and I accept that it's not such a bad thing having my drug using freedoms taken away.
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