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2010-10-24 Home Front: Politix

Russia's Drug Czar says legalizing pot would be catastrophic

Viktor Ivanov: "I'm afraid that the consequences will be catastrophic. Even the Netherlands, where they sell marijuana legally in coffee shops, they are now reversing on this. Because there, and everywhere, drug addiction is becoming stronger and the people who are addicted develop psychiatric deviations. They say, 'What does God do when he wants to punish a person? He deprives him of his mind.'"
You couldn't just let anyone buy it. Not kids. Not folks in certain jobs. Not folks with over-usage problems.

But even at current prices it is certainly quite available, and folks who want it can easily get it.

What is the price for marijuana in the Netherlands? Are the Netherlands considering outlawing the drug or just further regulating its sales?

Russia may have an interest in us continuing to pour our treasure into criminal punishments for marijuana users, when it may be a far better course to just make the problematic folks do enough community service that it makes it too much of a pain to indulge in the habit.

As it is, the high prices for any drugs contribute to the producers, distributors and users committing crime to feed and fund their habits, and the war on drugs is contributing to high drug prices and all kinds of other related crimes that are tearing away at society. Whatever we are doing now isn't working.

If we aren't willing to spray marijuana and poppy fields with armored KC-10s filled with Agent Orange, we're going to have to decriminalize it.

Is Victor equating marijuana to Russia's opium problem that is a result of the US not going directly after Afghanistan's opium production? Maybe Russia could step in here. I doubt the US would do much more than whine a bit if they did.

Posted by gorb 2010-10-24 01:47|| || Front Page|| [11140 views ] Top

#1 Drug laws created the insurgency in Mexico. I'm against drugs too, but obviously the current program doesn't work at all.

Posted by gromky 2010-10-24 07:38|| 2010-10-24 07:38|| Front Page Top

#2 The Financial Times has an article on the Netherlands 'reconsideration'. If it pops behind registration, try googling 'Financial Times article Netherlands drugs'.

Let's drop the absolutist argument. We haven't stopped murder or rape with all the laws over human history, so should we simply drop enforcement because 1 - it hasn't effectively stopped and 2 - the enforcement results in both significant costs and in some cases wrongful prosecution? The practical intent is abatement not eradication.

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-10-24 08:47|| 2010-10-24 08:47|| Front Page Top

#3 Food stamps should include pot.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2010-10-24 08:52|| 2010-10-24 08:52|| Front Page Top

#4 Putting as much pot in prison as possible, for the use of the inmates, has several advantages.

They spend all day stoned, not making trouble. So fewer guards are needed and they are attacked less often. They also fight among themselves less. If they don't want weed, offer them free tranquilizers.

Six months before release, they are sent to a "health prison", with no drugs, a vegetarian diet, exercise and lots of counseling. Those ex-prisoners that are unemployable can work and live at the prison growing food and earning minimum wage, with free housing and meals.

Though on the surface this sounds very hippie, the truth is that it keeps them out of trouble while in prison, and reintroduces them to society, or not, in a way to lessen recidivism.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-10-24 10:08|| 2010-10-24 10:08|| Front Page Top

#5 The Dutch have seen some problems as their neighbours haven't gone down the decriminalisation route, hence druggies flock to Amsterdam. Portugal has seen drug use decrease since it decriminalised - as Portugal doesn't yet have the same reputation as the Netherlands as a drug mecca.

But even at current prices it is certainly quite available, and folks who want it can easily get it.

Indeed - you can get the stuff anywhere, you just can't take it out in the open except in places like Amsterdam.

We haven't stopped murder or rape with all the laws over human history, so should we simply drop enforcement because 1 - it hasn't effectively stopped and 2 - the enforcement results in both significant costs and in some cases wrongful prosecution? The practical intent is abatement not eradication.

But as Portugal, and all our simple observations prove, it doesn't abate. In fact there's evidence for the opposite. And you can hardly compare drug taking to murder and rape. The state's responsibility should lie at preventing people doing harm to others; it's way beyond its sensible remit to prevent people doing harm to themselves. There's a word for infantilised society, where the state subverts individual responsibility, and that's socialised.

Posted by Bulldog 2010-10-24 10:16|| 2010-10-24 10:16|| Front Page Top

#6 Use Mexican pot!

They don't let something as trivial as a nine year old boy stand in the way of providing the best high for the best price!

Posted by badanov 2010-10-24 10:31|| http://www.freefirezone.org 2010-10-24 10:31|| Front Page Top

#7 Russia Drugs Czar opposes changes that would leave him out of a job.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2010-10-24 11:22|| 2010-10-24 11:22|| Front Page Top

#8 I would expect his job focuses largely on rampant alcoholism, heroin, and opiates

Posted by Frank G 2010-10-24 11:26|| 2010-10-24 11:26|| Front Page Top

#9 You couldn't just let anyone buy it. Not kids. Not folks in certain jobs. Not folks with over-usage problems.

And your plan for stopping this from happening once being a straw buyer and redistributor becomes a lot easier is?

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-10-24 12:56|| 2010-10-24 12:56|| Front Page Top

#10 Keeping it way from kids eh? Yeah - that works so well for booze....

Posted by CrazyFool 2010-10-24 14:25|| 2010-10-24 14:25|| Front Page Top

#11 Russia Drugs Czar opposes changes that would ~~leave him out of a job~~ lower the price of an obviously lucrative commodity trade.

FYP

Posted by AzCat 2010-10-24 14:35|| 2010-10-24 14:35|| Front Page Top

#12 Proposition 19 might be a good thing for Calipornia. It might keep all the stoners from electing the likes of nutjob politicians such as Barbara Boxer, Jerry Brown, and Nancy Pelosi/sarc on.

Posted by JohnQC 2010-10-24 18:55|| 2010-10-24 18:55|| Front Page Top

#13 Until they introduce the 'Stoner-Voter' bill which will allow them to register and even vote where they get their government paid ration of weed.

Posted by CrazyFool 2010-10-24 22:16|| 2010-10-24 22:16|| Front Page Top

#14 Six months before release, they are sent to a "health prison", with no drugs, a vegetarian diet, exercise and lots of counseling.

And threaten them with that kind of regimen permanently if they ever show up at prison again.

Posted by gorb 2010-10-24 23:56|| 2010-10-24 23:56|| Front Page Top

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