123 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
The BëM Squad
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presents
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"Should Drugs be Legal?"
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by
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Mr. Sandman
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10/14/93
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þDisclaimerþ
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There is no need for a disclaimer in this article being that
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it deals purely with opinion. If you don't like it then
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don't read it! My views are not necessarily the views of the
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BëM Squad.
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þ Should Drugs be Legal? þ
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This question has been asked many times throughout the years
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and it seems that even though our country continues to fight this
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so called "war" on drugs their use has not really declined. It is
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necessary to look at both sides of this issue before one can make
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a final conclusion. Let us look at why they are illegal and why it
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is wrong or hypocritical that they are illegal.
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Many people feel that drugs hurt people and their families and
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a sad thing is that drugs can do this. However, is that a
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reasonable cause to make them illegal? No. It is possible for any
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substance to do this but that is the fault of the person who uses
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it. Also, the government does not seem to care about this anyways.
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For example, alcohol has been known to destroy more people and
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families than most other substances. Yet is it illegal? Hell no!
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The argument here is that the use of alcohol can be controlled. It
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is also possible for people to control their drug use. Also, it is
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hypocritical for the government to keep alcohol legal when it does
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the same damage as drugs. You will also notice that cigarettes are
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also legal and they can give cancer to those who smoke them and
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those who are around people who smoke them. Yet for some reason
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they are legal. Are you seeing any flaws in the claim that the
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government keeps drugs illegal because they hurt people? I hope so
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because they are numerous.
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What most people seem to think is that alcohol is harmless
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compared to let's say marijuana for argument sake. What people fail
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to realize is that both do damage. Look at it this way: If you get
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a buzz from it you are doing damage to your body. They have linked
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the use of marijuana to impotence and Alzheimer's Disease. Alcohol
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can also cause Cirrhosis of the Liver, brain hemorrhaging, death if
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too much is consumed, and it also causes Alzheimer's Disease. Not
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once have I heard of anyone dying because they smoked too much
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marijuana but how many times have you heard of people dying because
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they drank too much? Alcohol can actually be more dangerous than
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marijuana and yet it is marijuana that is illegal. Once again, a
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flaw in the claim that drugs are illegal because they harm you.
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Another reason as to why drugs are illegal is that fact that
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they alter peoples' moods and states which can cause bad things.
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One of the great fears is that people will drive while they are
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high. However is this a reason to keep them illegal? No. Alcohol
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is legal and yet people drive on it all the time. However, it is
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illegal to drive drunk. A law could also be passed to make it
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illegal for one to drive while they are high. If people are
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responsible for their actions when they are drunk then they can
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alsobe responsible when they are high.
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Then of course there is the great fear of, "What will happen
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to our country if drugs are legalized? Everyone will turn into
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zombies!" This is an exaggeration and also not anyone's business.
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If people want to be zombies then it is their right to do so. It is
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not illegal for anyone to be drunk all the time and yet it hasn't
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messed up the country. The same would probably happen with drugs.
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Just because they are legal does not mean that people would use
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them all the time. In fact, usage would most likely go down due to
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their availability. If it is an easy thing to get drugs then it
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wont be a big deal for someone to have them and the urge wont be as
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great to do them. You may have a little boom in their usage like
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the usage of alcohol after prohibition but this would not last
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forever.
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Lets start looking at how the country could benefit if drugs
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were legalized. Right now it is obvious that our economy is majorly
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fucked up due to our national deficit and it is greatly affecting
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our lives. Nobody wants to pay taxes in order to do away with this.
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The legalization of drugs would greatly help our economy. Drugs
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could become a totally government owned industry our drugs could
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just be taxed to the extremes. By just legalizing Marijuana we
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could generate a hell of a lot of money which we could put towards
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the deficit. No Republicans our Democrats should have any
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objections to this because taxes would not have to be raised.
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Another benefit is where we could direct our crime
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enforcement. A great deal of money is spent by the government to
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fight a war on drugs and as we know drugs are one of the main
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contributors to crime. If we legalized drugs we could cut off most
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organized crime rings by the balls and they would have to go back
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to the old days where they controlled gambling and prostitution.
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The police could then focus their efforts on capturing murderers
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instead of going after people who are just looking for a good time.
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Millions of dollars would also be freed by this since the
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government wouldn't have to finance a drug war which could all go
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towards the deficit.
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And last, but definitely not least, drugs should be legal
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simply because people want them. Is it really the governments
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business what chemicals we are putting into our body? No! And does
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the government even really care what chemicals we put into our
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body? Of course not because known substances which do damage are
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still legal (ie. NutraSweet, Saccharin, Cigarettes, and Alcohol.)
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If people want to do damage to their bodies then they should be
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allowed to. Our bodies do not belong to the government! Therefore
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the government should not say what people can and can't ingest or
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inject into their bodies. The government belongs to the people so
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if people want to be able to legally purchase drugs then they
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should be able to.
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However, drugs will not be legalized for many reasons. The one
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theory I tend to believe is this. The alcohol has a heavy lobbying
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group which gives money to the government in order to keep drugs
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illegal. They do this because if drugs were legalized then they
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would lose all the business of the teenagers which buy their
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products. What teenager is going to go and buy a bunch of beers
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for everyone at a party to get drunk on if he can go and buy a
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little marijuana and get everyone feeling great without any
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hangover effects afterwards? It is obvious that no teenager would
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do this and that is one of the main reasons for drugs remaining
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illegal. If people really want to see drugs legalized then they
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must start a lobbying group of their own which can eventually
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overcome the alcohol lobbyists. Talks and debates are not going to
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do a thing because the government does not care. It is a money
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thing. The day this happens is the day you will see drugs legalized
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but this will probably not happen for a very long time if at all.
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