Hello Alan:
Alan Fletcher wrote in a message to Alex Vasauskas:
 AF>  I get the sneaky feeling that you misunderstood or misinterpreted 
 AF> my former reply to your post. Marijuana..to me...is an evil..and 
 AF> only hempseed (very nutritious) and hemp textiles (extremely
 AF> healthy  and long-lasting) are beneficial to humans.
Why do you consider marijuana to be an evil?
 >  Unlike tobacco and alcohol, which are legal,
 > the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I
 > substance -- equivalent to heroin, and people are sentenced to
 > prison for decades and have their property confiscated by the
 > government for growing or possessing less than a pound of it.
 AF>  Here I would agree that it is useless to jail any junkies
Since we were talking about marijuana, and I understand "junky"
to be synonymous with "addict", are you suggesting that marijuana
is addictive?
 AF> ...I am of the opinion that all  drugs
 AF> are both dangerous and an answer to nothing
Why do you believe that all drugs are both dangerous and an
answer to nothing?
 AF>  but that these 
 AF> self-same drugs should be legalized and thus made cheaper to  stamp
 AF> out both the criminal activities of the pushers and the  junkies.
 AF> As to the junkies themselves, they should not be
 AF>  treated as criminals but allowed to "go to pot" ('scuse the pun) 
 AF> or cure themselves under their own steam (natural selection)  and
 AF> out of their own pockets..as the case may be. Drugtaking  is a
 AF> self-inflicted injury which should cost the state (and  hence the
 AF> non-drugtaking population) absolutely nothing. The  Dutch have
 AF> taken the first step in this direction and are
 AF>  achieving remarkable results.
What is referred to as "drug-related" crime should more accurately
be referred to as "prohibition-related" crime.  Then it would be
easier to implement the sensible solution you suggest.  Would you
apply this same solution across-the-board to all people who undertake
behaviors that increase risk of injury or ill health, such as poor
eating habits and inadequate exercise?
 > Prohibition has helped government grow, become more powerful,
 > and been very lucrative for it.  Consequently, there is a
 > substantial interest in demonizing marijuana and other substances.
 AF>  I would totally disagree that prohibition helps a government grow 
 AF> and become more powerful. It merely breeds people like 'ol Al 
 AF> Capone and his mob.
Prohibition naturally raises prices of things people demand, thereby
encouraging lawbreaking for profit.  But, in the U.S.A. prohibition
has also increased the power and size of government in terms of
an expanded military, expanded and new police agencies, more prisons,
and the erosion of civil rights and civil liberties in the name of
fighting the crime created by prohibition.
Bests,
Alex
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