• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Should I be Happy the Drug Dealer is Dead?

Should I be Happy the Drug Dealer is Dead?

  • Yes

    Votes: 14 73.7%

  • No

    Votes: 5 26.3%
  • Total voters
    19
It would be great if you would expend one tenth that much energy just working to get pot legalized. No, not medical marijuana, just full legalization.
Then you wouldn't ever have ANY pot dealers on your street ever again, and people would just go about their normal business and you'd never even know it.

Wake up, it's 2018, the war on drugs is a trillion dollar FAILURE.
Geezus, I always said that Saint Paul was like a time warp back to the 1940's.
I guess nothing's changed.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
It would be great if you would expend one tenth that much energy just working to get pot legalized. No, not medical marijuana, just full legalization.
Then you wouldn't ever have ANY pot dealers on your street ever again, and people would just go about their normal business and you'd never even know it.

Wake up, it's 2018, the war on drugs is a trillion dollar FAILURE.
Geezus, I always said that Saint Paul was like a time warp back to the 1940's.
I guess nothing's changed.
Click to expand...

I moved to Dallas when I was 26 & it was like moving to a different planet compared to where I moved from. Dallas was so far ahead in so many ways & everything was constantly changing. When someone mentions 'fast pace' in regard to Dallas it's an understatement. I resided in the DFW area for 15 years then moved to MSP.

Saint Paul is like a time capsule; it like the biggest 'small town' which is just the opposite of Dallas. There are pluses & minuses in there; good & bad.

I am really looking forward to getting down to Florida for some serious beach time, margarita in one hand, and NO snow shovels.
 
cuban smokes said:
I moved to Dallas when I was 26 & it was like moving to a different planet compared to where I moved from. Dallas was so far ahead in so many ways & everything was constantly changing. When someone mentions 'fast pace' in regard to Dallas it's an understatement. I resided in the DFW area for 15 years then moved to MSP.

Saint Paul is like a time capsule; it like the biggest 'small town' which is just the opposite of Dallas. There are pluses & minuses in there; good & bad.

I am really looking forward to getting down to Florida for some serious beach time, margarita in one hand, and NO snow shovels.
Click to expand...

In so many ways, Dallas-Fort Worth and Minneapolis-Saint Paul are alike but Fort Worth is laid back and mellow whereas Saint Paul seems to be, or used to be, smart alecky and belligerent.
But the two "twin cities" metros have more in common than they realize.
Of course, having left Minnesota in 1981, I might be completely clueless now about Saint Paul.
But back then, in the 70's, the thing that blew my mind was how you'd see guys wearing the skinny ties, the square haircuts, the horn-rimmed glasses and the brown loafers, like it was still the 50's, and the women were still wearing those big skirts and "ladies trousers" and you'd even see them with scarves and curlers in their hair just like the 50's...or even the 40's if they were older.

BrownInstituteGradTVManWIDE_n.jpg

I always thought Saint Paul's atmosphere was a bit like a midwestern version of a Huntz Hall movie...a little bit of the old "gangster" feel still hanging in the air.

It's not like I hated it or anything, it was just an awareness of the way the place felt the moment you crossed the old rickety Lake Street Bridge.
I spent two months as a piano player in a very old and famous restaurant/night club built into the side of the old mushroom caves by the banks of the river. I don't even know if the joint still exists, but it was originally the site where the old gangsters hid out.
It's not like they pushed that image especially, it was more like everyone already knew, and that was part of the draw.
You can never ever underestimate Saint Paul, Minnesota.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
It would be great if you would expend one tenth that much energy just working to get pot legalized. No, not medical marijuana, just full legalization.
Then you wouldn't ever have ANY pot dealers on your street ever again, and people would just go about their normal business and you'd never even know it.

Wake up, it's 2018, the war on drugs is a trillion dollar FAILURE.
Geezus, I always said that Saint Paul was like a time warp back to the 1940's.
I guess nothing's changed.
Click to expand...

You're just not up on how it works. California regulates and taxes legal pot so much (it's what government does best) that there is still a thriving black market.
 
Waddy said:
You're just not up on how it works. California regulates and taxes legal pot so much (it's what government does best) that there is still a thriving black market.
Click to expand...

Except that it's NOT "thriving" like it used to anymore, it's at a plateau where a good many former black market dealers are quietly moving into the regulated legal system, and I speak from firsthand knowledge as the husband of a medical user.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Except that it's NOT "thriving" like it used to anymore, it's at a plateau where a good many former black market dealers are quietly moving into the regulated legal system, and I speak from firsthand knowledge as the husband of a medical user.
Click to expand...

But the California legal market is dwarfed by the state's black market and could act as a reality check on the euphoria cannabis businesses are feeling in the afterglow of legalization. According to Erick Eschker, an economics professor at Humboldt State University, about $5.5 billion of California's $7.8 billion in pot sales is generated from unlicensed and unregulated growers, distributors, and dispensaries.
Click to expand...
https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/california-recreational-marijuana-and-black-market.html

Three months into the start of California's recreational marijuana market, industry leaders are voicing concerns that sales are not meeting projections, and that high taxes, complicated regulations and a thriving black market are having deleterious effects.
Click to expand...
https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/california-weed/article206090989.html
 
Waddy said:
https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/california-recreational-marijuana-and-black-market.html


https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/california-weed/article206090989.html
Click to expand...

Sorry but it is too soon and the market hasn't even gone through all the motions it has to go through yet.
I don't expect the underground market to EVER go away completely however the regulated market is going to quickly have advantages, not to mention, once it IS legalized, regulated market or no, it's legalized. No putting that toothpaste back into the tube.

I'm not going to pretend that it is wrong to buy Smirnoff Vodka even though I know how to make my own or get it from a bootlegger.
Dumb argument...I can go to the liquor store and buy all the Smirnoff I want.
 
cuban smokes said:
I plan to move to Florida in a couple years; depends on economics at that time
Click to expand...
I would plan on moving soon. Housing prices continue going up and rentals are expensive. There is a shortage on affordable housing right now. Good time to buy though.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Sorry but it is too soon and the market hasn't even gone through all the motions it has to go through yet.
I don't expect the underground market to EVER go away completely however the regulated market is going to quickly have advantages, not to mention, once it IS legalized, regulated market or no, it's legalized. No putting that toothpaste back into the tube.

I'm not going to pretend that it is wrong to buy Smirnoff Vodka even though I know how to make my own or get it from a bootlegger.
Dumb argument...I can go to the liquor store and buy all the Smirnoff I want.
Click to expand...

That looks like you concede that there is a thriving market right now, but you predict it will change over time. I simply look at it as supply/demand. If the black market can undercut the legal market substantially there will always be a huge black market. Usually, a legal market has a price advantage, and would work as you predict. But if legal taxation and regulation drive up their costs, along with other "overhead" like building rent, utilities, insurance, security, etc. then the black market will dominate.
 
Waddy said:
That looks like you concede that there is a thriving market right now, but you predict it will change over time. I simply look at it as supply/demand. If the black market can undercut the legal market substantially there will always be a huge black market. Usually, a legal market has a price advantage, and would work as you predict. But if legal taxation and regulation drive up their costs, along with other "overhead" like building rent, utilities, insurance, security, etc. then the black market will dominate.
Click to expand...

The alcohol and tobacco market is the model being used.
It is just that simple.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
The alcohol and tobacco market is the model being used.
It is just that simple.
Click to expand...

Doesn't seem to be a good model. I read where addicts in countries where "maintenance" drugs like methadone are freely distributed by the government they get their methadone and still buy from the dealer.
Seems like it's not that simple. Life is complex most of the time.
 
Waddy said:
Doesn't seem to be a good model. I read where addicts in countries where "maintenance" drugs like methadone are freely distributed by the government they get their methadone and still buy from the dealer.
Seems like it's not that simple. Life is complex most of the time.
Click to expand...

Why are you talking about addicts? This is pot. Why are you attempting to compare pot to "maintenance" drugs like methadone and hard drugs like heroin?
Pot is not physically addictive the way a drug like heroin is known to be, or even the way tobacco or alcohol is.
And in the rare cases where someone demonstrates dependence, it is psychological.
You put it down for a week and the psychological dependence disappears.

So if you're attempting to paint a picture of legions of pot addicts stalking the streets and committing crimes to score some buds, you've lost me, because it's a foolish argument.

Show of hands: Who else here thinks that Waddy may have taken the "Reefer Madness" film a little too seriously?
 
cuban smokes said:
I worked with local LE to try and make my 'hood a better place for ALL that live here.

This was a huge effort on my part & a risk as far as I am concerned. I don't know if these people are armed & dangerous, or if they are just stupid & ignorant.

LE made some effort to address the issues in my 'hood but then LE became unconcerned & I am not the only resident here in the 'hood that feels this way.

I don't have an issue with folks 'dealing' if they keep it cool & on the 'down low' but when you have folks out on the street smoking weed, drinking, and you have 15 to 20 vehicles an hour coming over that stay for 5 to 10 minutes, then **** is getting ****ed up.

I gues, maybe you never had to live around **** like that; good for you bro' ...........
Click to expand...

Lucky for me I from a State were cannabis is legal. No more dealing with folks pushing dangerous narcotics.
 
Should I be Happy the Drug Dealer is Dead?
Click to expand...

I don't know that I would be "happy", though I certainly wouldn't feel any sense of loss......I have a great deal of compassion and feeling for my old cat; drug dealers? Not so much.

Live stupid, die stupid.
 
Its a basic rule of sanitation that crap should be flushed so it does not stink up the environment for the rest of us. And some people are just six feet of walking crap.
 
2tharight said:
I would plan on moving soon. Housing prices continue going up and rentals are expensive. There is a shortage on affordable housing right now. Good time to buy though.
Click to expand...

yeah, timing for me is gonna be a bit tricky for more than one reason
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Why are you talking about addicts? This is pot. Why are you attempting to compare pot to "maintenance" drugs like methadone and hard drugs like heroin?
Pot is not physically addictive the way a drug like heroin is known to be, or even the way tobacco or alcohol is.
And in the rare cases where someone demonstrates dependence, it is psychological.
You put it down for a week and the psychological dependence disappears.

So if you're attempting to paint a picture of legions of pot addicts stalking the streets and committing crimes to score some buds, you've lost me, because it's a foolish argument.

Show of hands: Who else here thinks that Waddy may have taken the "Reefer Madness" film a little too seriously?
Click to expand...

No, pot isn't an addiction but it is habit forming. And habits can be hard to break. And it can take a toll. I taught high school in the inner city and had students who got high everyday. Pot made them complacent, took away their ambition. It also burned out their brain cells. Destroyed their memory. Of course, maybe they were retarded in the first place and it wasn't the pot at all.
 
Waddy said:
No, pot isn't an addiction but it is habit forming. And habits can be hard to break. And it can take a toll. I taught high school in the inner city and had students who got high everyday. Pot made them complacent, took away their ambition. It also burned out their brain cells. Destroyed their memory. Of course, maybe they were retarded in the first place and it wasn't the pot at all.
Click to expand...

Student potheads in high school have no earthly business being used as criteria in a debate about something that they aren't legally allowed to consume in the first place. Kids shouldn't drink alcohol and they shouldn't smoke pot. Everyone knows that.

That's why they did not allow the age to be lowered to eighteen. In fact, that's why most states hold the drinking age at 21. Even states which experimented with lowering drinking ages to eighteen wised up.

Teenage brains aren't adult brains, no one that age should be messing with anything.
 
Waddy said:
No, pot isn't an addiction but it is habit forming. And habits can be hard to break. And it can take a toll. I taught high school in the inner city and had students who got high everyday. Pot made them complacent, took away their ambition. It also burned out their brain cells. Destroyed their memory. Of course, maybe they were retarded in the first place and it wasn't the pot at all.
Click to expand...

IMO any addiction to cannabis is purely psychological.
This type of addiction is not on the same level as say, an addiction to heroine, which heroine can be & is most certainly physically addicting.

The bad thing about psychological addiction is that the person with the addiction will (most likely) experience multiple associated negative reactions/issues, often times being unaware of these.

If the user were to have been educated concerning the potential for psychological addiction & the associated negative reactions/issues then users would be much better prepared to address psychological addiction, if it did occur.
The problem is, information is not typically out there for potential users to learn from; why?
Because of all of the propaganda & lies associated with cannabis over the decades.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Student potheads in high school have no earthly business being used as criteria in a debate about something that they aren't legally allowed to consume in the first place. Kids shouldn't drink alcohol and they shouldn't smoke pot. Everyone knows that.

That's why they did not allow the age to be lowered to eighteen. In fact, that's why most states hold the drinking age at 21. Even states which experimented with lowering drinking ages to eighteen wised up.

Teenage brains aren't adult brains, no one that age should be messing with anything.
Click to expand...

I purchased my first beer at age 13 :doh ....... of course I was not consuming beer on a regular basis at age 13 :mrgreen:

from age 15 to age 18 it was Wild Turkey 101 :2razz: ............

of course, we weren't partying out in the street, playing loud music, acting like idiots, looking to get flagged for a bust ...........
 
cuban smokes said:
I purchased my first beer at age 13 :doh ....... of course I was not consuming beer on a regular basis at age 13 :mrgreen:

from age 15 to age 18 it was Wild Turkey 101 :2razz: ............

of course, we weren't partying out in the street, playing loud music, acting like idiots, looking to get flagged for a bust ...........
Click to expand...

Nevertheless that has no place in discussions about regulating an adult product, except as case evidence to reinforce WHY it is an adult product, of course.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Nevertheless that has no place in discussions about regulating an adult product, except as case evidence to reinforce WHY it is an adult product, of course.
Click to expand...

well, they said TROJANS are for adults but teens are using them too :lol: ....................
 
cuban smokes said:
well, they said TROJANS are for adults but teens are using them too :lol: ....................
Click to expand...

Legalize pot. But just realize you're also de facto legalizing it for minors as well. The same can be said about alcohol and tobacco. When you make something legal and widely available minors will get their hands on it more readily. The numbers of adult users may only increase modestly but the number of underage users will skyrocket. just sayin'
 
Waddy said:
Legalize pot. But just realize you're also de facto legalizing it for minors as well. The same can be said about alcohol and tobacco. When you make something legal and widely available minors will get their hands on it more readily. The numbers of adult users may only increase modestly but the number of underage users will skyrocket. just sayin'
Click to expand...

I believe in more recent times the safe guards put in place to keep alcohol & tobacco out of the hands of minors has greatly improved over what it was say 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago.

Are minors still obtaining alcohol & tobacco? Sure they are but not at the rate, nor numbers that they were in recent decades.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom