Posted on Wed, 09/01/2010 - 21:54
Yes, all drugs should be legal -- prohibition doesn't work
16% (90 votes)
Soft drugs should be legal but hard drugs must remain illegal
33% (194 votes)
Cayman should decriminalise personal drug use but arrest pushers
14% (81 votes)
All recreational drugs must remain illegal
37% (215 votes)
Total votes: 580
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"All recreational drugs must
"All recreational drugs must remain illegal"
Does this option include alcohol and nicotine which are also recreational drugs?
We use the term "alcoholic" for people who are sadly addicted to alcohol. We also use the term "smoker" for people who are sadly addicted to nicotine. The more accurate term for them is "drug addict".
If alcohol and nicotine are
If alcohol and nicotine are not classified as drugs.....why aren't they?
Do they cause addiction?
Yes.
Do they have serious consequences to health?
Affirmative.
Do they cause social and domestic problems?
Of course.
Do they have enormous costs to society?
You bet.
In spite of all these... are they also taxed?
Yup and who receives the income?
Legalize it
Dear CNS,
I believe that this pole should have had one more option:
- Should Marijuana (only Marijuana) be legalized?
Unfortunately this pole refers to "drugs", and while Cannabis may be a controlled substance, it is not a processed, refined substance, or "drug". By definition it is an herb, a plant, and should not necessarily be made guilty by association with "drugs", hard or soft. If you want a more informative and truly indicative answer as to the prevailing mind set regarding Marijuana, I humbly suggest that you need to rephrase the questions.
It would be interesting to see the responses regarding the legalization of this long standing White Elephant in Caymanian culture. Maybe the time has really come? Can we really afford to ignore it any longer? The cost in Caymanian lives ruined by prosecution and incarceration due to flawed policies toward this much maligned, but grossly misunderstood herb is only outdone by the cost to the rest of us in financing this paranoid lunacy. A modern Witch Hunt.
Please consider my suggestions for the subject of your next pole:
Should Marijuana be legalized?
1. Legalize it! It should be legal to import, buy, sell and consume Marijuana. It should be just another dutiable import, like tobacco or alcohol.
2. Decriminalize it. It should be decriminalized, with limits to quantities for personal possession/consumption only and laws governing consumption in public places, while driving, flying, working, performing brain surgery, etc...
3. Control it. It should be decriminalized but remain a controlled substance available by prescription for medicinal purposes only.
4. Fight it. It should remain illegal and otherwise law abiding Caymanians should continue to be imprisoned at the expense of the rest of us law abiding Caymanians.
Thanks CNS for considering my submittal, I will look forward to seeing the number and nature of the responses to those questions. I will also look forward to seeing the extent of the inevitably fanatical, but wholly irrational, fear that some people have of this simple herb. A fear instilled by the propaganda and politically expedient rhetoric masterfully used to brainwash us into locking up our sons, daughter, brothers and sisters simply because their choice in an herb does not suit the Crown, the Whitehouse, or the DEA.
Mass insanity, I believe, was the term used to describe what happened in Europe during World War Two at the hands of otherwise sensible Germans, when they consented to persecute and imprison their former friends and neighbors after the Nazi propaganda machine had convinced them it was in their best interest to do so!
Yet we say it is them who have a "problem"?
It is terrible to wander the
It is terrible to wander the streets of Cayman and see so many suffering from addiction to the great opiate of religion.
I believe you just insulted
I believe you just insulted approximately 85 to 90% of the world's population, as that is one estimate as to how much of the world population believe is one form of religion or another.
There is an inverse
There is an inverse correlation between intelligence and/or education level and a belief in religion. The opiate analogy was very appropriate in the context of the broader analysis of the lives of the proletariat being considered by Marx.
Believing in a belief system
Believing in a belief system that has no logical or empirical evidence deserves to be insulted.
Thanks for your concern.
Thanks for your concern. While I respect your right to your own beliefs, I'll still pray for you.
if you look at statistics for
if you look at statistics for ganja use in Holland it lower than average for Europe as a whole.
Drug tourism could save the economy.
It is interesting that 75%
It is interesting that 75% prefer a move away from the "war on drugs" which has failed. While intuition does seem to favour a moderate reform the problem is that moderation will still leave the core problem - that there will always be a demand for drugs and if they are illegal then people will get them from criminals, thus directly fuelling organised crime. The fact that drugs are illegal causes more social ills than the drugs themselves. That is why the counter-intuitive first option of legalising everything is the only option that will deliver change.
Yes, it will seem odd to think of going to the pharmacy to buy cocaine. (Actually prior to the First World War you could do exactly that). But at least quality would be controlled (coke is often cut with carcinogens), supply can be monitored and tax can be generated. (It would still be far cheaper than today - production costs are about 2% of the price of a gram). It would be easier for people to admit to a problem and seek help, help which can be funded from the new revenue streams.
We must break free from the great harms caused by both the Reagans, and accept that drugs will always be around, and it is not just the addicts that are in denial.
legalizing personal drug use
Portugal recently decriminalized personal drug use with great success. Drug use declined slightly as a result, and the money saved from pointless interdiction is now being diverted to education. The idea that people would rush to use drugs has not been borne out by reality in Holland and Portugal. Empirical data always trumps armchair theories.
The worst fear of the drug cartels is legalization. Their businesses would collapse and so would the number of attendant burglaries and muggings, let alone the tens of thousands killed in the drug wars. One reason drugs have not been legalized is that too many jobs, careers and reputations rely on continued prohibition.
It's something like the reason America refused to embrace fuel efficient cars, because the manufacturers owed too much to the oil industry, which wanted, understandably, to make vast profits by supplying the nation's inefficient gas-guzzlers. And it's one of the reasons the Global Warming scare has gained an unstoppable momentum, because too many careers would be ruined, were the scientists concerned free to write entirely honest reports. Governments, motivated by their hidden agendas, supply over 90% of the money for research grants
Every drug shipment intercepted forces up prices. Thus crime rises, while drawing in ever more dangerous criminals, prepared to take the increased risks. It's pure economics.
Watch the money, it never lies. And whoever has the power, will never willingly part with it. Spend the interdiction money on education and rehabilitation. It's the only way. Decriminalize personal use while still arresting the dealers, at the same time arrange for the supply of addicts. This gives control and allows for management. The World would be a better place.
You picked a most fitting
You picked a most fitting name - Loopy Lou.
I'm not in denial that drugs will always be around. However you must have smoked or snorted something that has fried your brain!
1) Just because there will always be murderers does not mean we should stop trying to prevent murder or locking murderers away from normal well behaved humans. Just becase drugs will always be around does not mean we should discourage their use anyway possible.
2) The fact that you think society is better prior to WW I becase you could purchase coke legally tell us alot about who you are.
3) You are worried about the cancer causing agents in coke but not what coke does to your mind and body?
You really are a Loopy Lou.
It is rather disturbing that
It is rather disturbing that the majority of the people so far in this vote have such low expectations of life and human behaviour.
I want to know how many of that majority would like to fly with a commercail pilot who has was high on coke the night before or under go surgery with a red eyed pot smoking surgon. If we are all high as a kite and spaced out becase it is legal, who is going to run society, fly our planes, drive our ambulances, heal us when we are ill, grow our food, establish and run business to keep the economy going. "Opsie sorry I killed your mom/dad/sister/brother/husband/wife/child but I had a really fun party last night and my brain was just a bit foggy and the goofed on the surgery dude! Better luck next time." etc. Drugs need to stay illegal.
Some people are so foolish and inmature. Grow up!
It's simple -- mandatory and
It's simple -- mandatory and random drug screening for those types of positions. This is paid for by the employer.
What about alcohol? Doctors
What about alcohol? Doctors and air line pilots can drink the stuff legally and be totally incapable of performing their duties.
Alcohol is an adictive drug and so is nicotine. They are legal, controlled and taxed.
And yes, they both come with high social costs. If they were subject to prohibition, they would contribute to a high, violent crime scene (remember Al Capone?).
Prohibition does not work. Legalization versus prohibition is not about picking a good solution; it is about picking the lesser to two evils. Legalization is clearly the lesser of the two evils.
You clearly have no idea what
You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.
Why? Please justify your
Why? Please justify your comment. I am curious.
The fact that it would be
The fact that it would be legal to use certain drugs does not mean that persons in certain positions ie. doctors, pilots etc. would be permitted to work using drugs. Its the same with alcohol you cannot report to work under the influence - each job/employer/industry would have the right to impose necessary restrictions as they relate to safety etc.The fact that drugs are currently illegal does not mean that they are not being used and abused. Do you know if your doctor uses drugs - No I dont think so. Do you know if your pilot uses drugs - No I dont think so - the fact that they should not be doing so does not mean that they do not.
Would you like to know that
Would you like to know that the surgeon or pilot had been heavily boozing the night before? Exactly the same circumstance yet you are OK with that.
You try growing up
No alcohol abuse is NOT okay
No alcohol abuse is NOT okay with me either. And if I did know they were under the influence of anything or hung over I would not be under their care.
No. You try growing up.
No. You try growing up.
I don't think anyone would
I don't think anyone would agree that someone should be allowed to perform ANY of the above activities whilst under the influence of ANY mood or mind altering substance??
HOWEVER, what I choose to do in the PRIVACY of my own home or in the company of other consenting ADULTS, is MY BUSINESS and should not become the subject of government scrutiny UNLESS it negatively impacts someone or something else... this has nothing to do with wether something is illegal or not. Alcohol IS legal and it has been a factor in innumberable tragedies...so instead of championing the trashing of my personal rights and freedoms, why don't you instead campaign to have the penalties for misusing or abusing substances and demonstrating criminal behaviour increased?
Its people like you who give
Its people like you who give human rights a bad rap. Drug use a personal right and freedom? You need a reality check. I doubt the starved, tortured, beaten and raped victims in war ridden countries would agree with your mess up reality of personal rights and freedoms.
You really shoudl just stay at home, never come out and save the world a lot of trouble.
Rorschach I dont agree
Rorschach I dont agree totally with your idea that we should have nothing to do with what individuals do in their private homes.
If you went home and did drugs and stayed at home or any side effects of the drugs were left at home then fine. But there are many cases I am sure where individuals have used drugs at home and then went out and commited other crimes.
Plus while it might not apply to you there are many individuals that get caught on drugs and have to commit other crimes to get money to feed their habit. Dont we have enough crimes in Cayman all ready.
MY apologies your way of reducing crimes is to not call them crimes at all. That will work. You kill someone thats not a crime. You steel from people thats not a crime. Wow you solved our crime problem we should give you a metal.
a bit of a pointless
a bit of a pointless poll...considering we live in a place where you can't go to the grocery store on a sunday!
Not really, since it is much
Not really, since it is much easier to buy ganja or coke on a Sunday than it is a good book.
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