Recreational Drug Use Legalization - Page 7

glatt · 03-10-2008, 07:30 AM

I was talking about the violence associated with the supply side. Now you're bringing up the violence associated with the demand side. I agree that demand side crime and violence isn't going to change very much if drugs are legalized. Addicts will still commit crimes to feed their habit.

TheMercenary · 03-10-2008, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

I was talking about the violence associated with the supply side. Now you're bringing up the violence associated with the demand side. I agree that demand side crime and violence isn't going to change very much if drugs are legalized. Addicts will still commit crimes to feed their habit.

That is why I said it is not simplistic. I am and was bringing up the violence and health effects of the whole deal. Legalization only deals with a small part of the problem.

TheMercenary · 03-10-2008, 07:34 AM

We have a black market here and across both borders in legal drugs as well.

Happy Monkey · 03-10-2008, 12:29 PM

Neither of these:

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

I don't buy it. The same thugs who can't afford anything other than their FUBU hoodie and $120 nikes will still be ripping off the guy who has the cash to buy the drugs legally. This continues to be an issue that is not simplified by discussing legalization. Even when opium dens were legal and readily available the drug use ruined many lives.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

We have a black market here and across both borders in legal drugs as well.

will support a war zone:

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

... not to mention the fact that you can't hire a person for $17,000 a year and expect him to love life walking in a neighborhood war zone the size of many small US towns.

Despite the end of prohibition, people still make their own alcohol, and in some situations they still do so illegally, but there is no longer a war between moonshiners and cops. Commercially available alcohol is safer, and in many (most?) cases better and cheaper than anything you'd buy out of a pickup.

It sounds like you're letting the lack of the perfect be the enemy of the good. The fact that all crime and poverty won't end with the drug war doesn't mean that drastically reducing it is too simplistic. Drastically reducing is a good goal in itself.

TheMercenary · 03-10-2008, 03:15 PM

Dude, you are not going to convince a pharmacy company to produce low cost recreational drugs to a point where it would cheap for you to use and expensive enough for them to make a profit. What I said was that crime and poverty associated with drug use would not change, I doubt it will be reduced a little. Of course neither you or I have any proof that legalization of any kind will or will not work either.

Happy Monkey · 03-10-2008, 03:19 PM

RJ Reynolds and Absolut produce what I am told are passable products for prices that many can afford, and they have very few gun battles over turf.

TheMercenary · 03-10-2008, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

RJ Reynolds and Absolut produce what I am told are passable products for prices that many can afford, and they have very few gun battles over turf.

And they don't spend billions in R&D for new types of drink and smoke. All drugs are regulated by the FDA. These manufactures do not have to go through the hoops required. You compare Apples and oranges. Not even close in your best fantasy of legalized highs.

glatt · 03-10-2008, 03:31 PM

Why wouldn't a pharmaceutical company manufacture a legal drug?

TheMercenary · 03-10-2008, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

Why wouldn't a pharmaceutical company manufacture a legal drug?

That is not the question.

Undertoad · 03-10-2008, 03:34 PM

And Pfizer... we can include Viagra in that group.

Companies love products where demand is constant and there are few alternative products. (If apples are too expensive, eat pears. If smack is too expensive...)

TheMercenary · 03-10-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

And Pfizer... we can include Viagra in that group.

Companies love products where demand is constant and there are few alternative products. (If apples are too expensive, eat pears. If smack is too expensive...)

I bet there are more regular users of viagra and cialias then there are regular users of pot.

Happy Monkey · 03-10-2008, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

And they don't spend billions in R&D for new types of drink and smoke.

They spend plenty. And, despite the restrictions in place, they probably spend even more on advertising. Common drugs wouldn't have to be researched all that much. Generic drug companies could jump in immediately. Production methods already exist for research purposes, so all that would be needed would be production facilities.

If a comany thought they could make a patentable version, they might want to pump in the R&D, but it would hardly be a requirement.

TheMercenary · 03-10-2008, 03:46 PM

Ain't happening dude, not in the US on a Federal level.

Happy Monkey · 03-10-2008, 03:47 PM

I didn't say it was. But that's a completely different issue from whether it would decrease the violence.

glatt · 03-10-2008, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

That is not the question.

What are you talking about? That's the whole point of this thread.

If the laws are changed so that drugs that are currently illegal are made legal, why wouldn't a pharmaceutical company manufacture them?

Economics will not be the issue, because large pharma companies have the factories in place to make this stuff cheaply and efficiently.

03-10-2008, 07:34 AM	#93
TheMercenary “Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Savannah, Georgia Posts: 21,393	We have a black market here and across both borders in legal drugs as well. __________________ Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!

03-10-2008, 03:15 PM	#95
TheMercenary “Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Savannah, Georgia Posts: 21,393	Dude, you are not going to convince a pharmacy company to produce low cost recreational drugs to a point where it would cheap for you to use and expensive enough for them to make a profit. What I said was that crime and poverty associated with drug use would not change, I doubt it will be reduced a little. Of course neither you or I have any proof that legalization of any kind will or will not work either. __________________ Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!

03-10-2008, 03:19 PM	#96
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	RJ Reynolds and Absolut produce what I am told are passable products for prices that many can afford, and they have very few gun battles over turf. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

03-10-2008, 03:46 PM	#103
TheMercenary “Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Savannah, Georgia Posts: 21,393	Ain't happening dude, not in the US on a Federal level. __________________ Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!

03-10-2008, 03:47 PM	#104
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	I didn't say it was. But that's a completely different issue from whether it would decrease the violence. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

03-10-2008, 07:30 AM	#91
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I was talking about the violence associated with the supply side. Now you're bringing up the violence associated with the demand side. I agree that demand side crime and violence isn't going to change very much if drugs are legalized. Addicts will still commit crimes to feed their habit.

03-10-2008, 03:31 PM	#98
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Why wouldn't a pharmaceutical company manufacture a legal drug?

03-10-2008, 03:34 PM	#100
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	And Pfizer... we can include Viagra in that group. Companies love products where demand is constant and there are few alternative products. (If apples are too expensive, eat pears. If smack is too expensive...)

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