* You support robberies and assaults on INNOCENT people.
The high prices of drugs caused by prohibition
force many drug
addicts to turn to robbery in order to pay
for their drugs.
Legalization would drop drug prices.
Drug users would no longer
need to rob/assault INNOCENT people in order
to support their
drug habit. This violence against INNOCENT
people would end if
drugs were legalized.
* You support clogging our prisons and jails with nonviolent
people.
Nearly 50% of all people in prison and jail
are serving time for
nonviolent drug charges. There are thousands
of people in prisons
for 5, 10, 50 years--even life--for possessing
marijuana or cocaine!
The average rapist is set free after serving
only 3 years in prison,
the average murderer is set free after serving
only 9 years in prison!
To house just one prisoner for one year costs
the taxpayer $40,000!
The result of these harsh penalties?
Drug use has INCREASED! (Tough
laws have not stopped me from using marijuana--nor
will they ever!)
* You support organized crime and drug cartels.
Huge drug cartels and criminal organizations
thrive off the enormous
profits caused by drug prohibition.
These organizations are responsible
for THOUSANDS OF MURDERS! Many of people
killed or hurt are INNOCENT
people who get in the way! These violent
organizations will NEVER be
put out of business--unless drugs are legalized.
* You support environmental destruction.
Underground cocaine and methamphetamine labs
use toxic chemicals
to produce those drugs--the wastes are recklessly
dumped in forests
and streams. These highly toxic chemicals
are causing major
environmental damage in South American rainforests
and now in the U.S.
This environmental destruction will stop ONLY
if drugs are legalized.
* You support drug dealers and street gangs.
Drug dealers and street gangs fight over drug
territories. Thousands
of people are MURDERED and ASSAULTED because
of this fighting--many
are INNOCENT people who get in the way.
This violence is another
result of the huge profits caused by drug
prohibition.
* You lure thousands of young people into quitting school.
It is a fact that THOUSANDS of inner-city
youths drop out of school
to make enormous profits by selling drugs.
The incentive to drop
out of school would end if drugs were legalized.
* You do NOTHING to keep drugs away from kids or out of
schools.
In spite of what you may believe, keeping
drugs illegal does NOT
keep drugs away from children! Drugs
are easily obtainable in
almost every high school in America.
Legalizing drugs would put
schoolyard drug dealers out of business!
There would be LESS drugs
in our schools if drugs were legalized.
DRUGS WOULD STILL BE ILLEGAL
FOR MINORS!
* You subsidize criminals by letting them reap huge drug
profits
without paying taxes.
Since drugs are sold anyway, wouldn't you
rather have them heavily
taxed so it would reduce your tax burden?
You are giving criminals
a free ride and it's coming out of your own
pocket. Working
people pay 100% of all taxes for the drug
dealers! Why do you
want to pay taxes for drug dealers?
* You advocate punishing millions of harmless drug users
(like me)
at an enormous cost to society.
If you believe drugs should be illegal, then
you advocate spending
your tax dollars to arrest/jail/punish millions
of productive, honest,
and harmless working people (like myself).
Why? WE HURT NOBODY!
Who benefits from this policy? NOBODY!
Who loses from this policy?
EVERYBODY!
Drug users can only hurt themselves. But the drug
war harms/kills
hundreds of thousands of innocent people and burdens you--the
taxpayer. The drug war costs you hundreds of dollars
every year!
The drug war has NOT reduced drug use!
Prohibitionists claim drugs must be illegal because they
harm people.
Why are prohibitionists so concerned about what other
people do to
themselves? Why do they feel it is their responsibility
and right to
control the lifestyles of other adults? The prohibitionists
tell stories
of people who hurt themselves with illegal drugs.
So what? For every
one person who has been harmed with illegal drugs, there
are dozens of
people who have used illegal drugs and were not harmed.
For every one
person who has been harmed by illegal drugs, there are
1,000 people who
harm/kill themselves by deliberately choosing these harmful
lifestyles...
* Being overweight
* Smoking cigarettes
* Watching too
much TV
* Eating high-fat/high-cholesterol
diets
* Eating too
much meat
* Participating
in dangerous sports/activities
* Drinking alcohol
* Eating too
much sugar
* Eating too
few fruits/vegetables
* Drinking too
much coffee
* Getting little/no
exercise
Why don't the prohibitionists advocate banning all of
the above harmful
lifestyles? The prohibitionists tolerate people
who hurt/kill themselves
with tobacco, alcohol, poor diet, or no exercise, but
they refuse to
tolerate people who harm themselves with cocaine.
Why? INCONSISTENT!
ILLOGICAL! IRRATIONAL!
We now come to the real reason why marijuana, cocaine,
LSD, and other
drugs are illegal: LIFESTYLE CONTROL! Prohibitionists
fear that
if drugs are legalized, the "drug culture" will speard
to the rest
of society. Nobody can force others to use drugs!
Adults must take
responsibility for their own health! Because the
prohibitionists
have decided that drugs are wrong for them does give them
the right to
force their lifestyle on others. Prohibitionists
want government to
play the role of parent. Prohibitionists believe
they must babysit
adults. PROHIBITIONISTS ARE THE LIFESTYLE POLICE!
In the last 25 years, per capita alcohol and tobacco consumption
has
decreased significantly. This was accomplished by
education and
treatment, not by threat of punishment! Drug use/abuse
would drop
significantly if we spent our resources on education and
treatment
instead of law enforcement. No rational person would
call for
imprisonment of smokers and drinkers in order to reduce
tobacco
and alcohol use. But that method is exactly how
we try to reduce
drug use. The savings to be had in ending the drug
war could easily
pay for all the drug treatment and education programs
we need. The
drug war is a failure! Education and treatment work!
If you don't like a culture or a lifestyle, don't live
it! If you don't
like alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs, don't
use them! But
don't ban my personal lifestyle for fear it will poison
your lifestyle.
ADULTS MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS!
It is a flagrant
violation of individual freedom to threaten others with
punishment just
because they choose a lifestyle that is not right for
you.
I WILL CONTINUE TO SMOKE MARIJUANA AND ENJOY IT!
I HURT NOBODY! If
others do not approve of what I do to myself in my own
home, TOO BAD!
I may not care for the music you listen to, the food you
eat, or the
culture you have adopted, but I would NEVER advocate punishing
you
because I don't like your lifestyle. If someone
violates the rights
of others, the violater should be punished; otherwise,
people should
mind their own business. Adults who use drugs responsibly--whether
they be tobacco, alcohol, LSD, or marijuana--cause no
harm to others!
LEAVE US ALONE!
If you still believe drugs should be illegal, answer this
question...
Why do you believe it is good policy to punish me--and
20 million
adult Americans like me--because I choose to use marijuana
in the
privacy of my own home? Who benefits from this policy
and how do
they benefit?
TOTAL COST OF DRUG PROHIBITION
------------------------------
* Over 300,000 nonviolent people lose their freedom to
prison/jail.
* Thousands of murders, assaults, and robberies caused
by drug crimes.
* $20 BILLION/year in law enforcement costs.
* $10 BILLION/year in lost tax revenue (similar to alcohol
tax).
* $5 BILLION/year in property losses due to drug-related
crimes.
* $50 BILLION/year and 500,000 jobs lost because of no
hemp industry.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL COST = $85 BILLION/YEAR = $500 PER TAXPAYER EVERY
YEAR!
DRUG | MOST HARMFUL AFFECTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alcohol | Liver damage, birth defects, kills
brain cells, intoxication
| can induce violent behavior.
| Overdose: Possible.
| Addiction: As addicting as heroin or cocaine!
| Deaths/year (U.S.): 100,000 (Not counting drunk driving or
|
crimes caused while intoxicated.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobacco | Lung, throat, and mouth cancer,
emphysema, heart damage,
| premature aging of skin, underdeveloped newborn babies.
| Addiction: As addicting as heroin or cocaine!
| Overdose: Possible, but extremely unlikely.
| Deaths/year (U.S.): 400,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana | Slight chance of bronchitis in some users.
| Possible minor sperm count reduction, but unproven.
| Lung cancer remotely possible with extremely heavy use,
| but unproven.
| Short-term memory loss ONLY while intoxicated--NOT PERMANENT!
| Addiction: LESS addicting than coffee, soda, meat, or sugar!
| Overdose: IMPOSSIBLE!
| Deaths/year (worldwide!): 0 (ZERO!)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------