news-record.com

I haven't (and can't) read Will's column. But is it true that he actually wrote something good for once? There might be a God!

.... Oh wait. A broken clock is right twice a day! Silly me!

"President Nixon’s drug war lies ..." ... got him re-elected! Yeah America!

You seem fairly intelligent in your speech, but completely oblivious to the truths of drugs. But tell you what- next time someone breaks into your house or car, or robs you at gun or knife point, rest assured your belongings will be put to good use, being sold so the addict that just took them can buy more of the drugs you think should be legalized. Legalize drugs all day long Liberals, the desire for them will still exist in the millions of addicts who can't afford them, and they will find ways to pay for them. And lest you think legalization will make them cheaper, why not buy a box of $6 cigarettes whilst you still can. And thanks to the Obama administration, you might get robbed by the government as well to help pay for their health concerns, which, not surprisingly, are pretty extensive since they don't bathe, don't brush their teeth, share needles, and spread diseases. Yes, I think legalization sounds wonderful, don't you?

Nature has a way of weeding out the dumb and the unfit - surely illegal drug usage is nature's way of weeding out the misfits -

I would hesitate to legalize all drugs across the board. Some drugs, like methamphetamine, are so toxic to make that they are dangers to the community at large who don't even use drugs.

But focusing on marijuana has created more problems than it has solved. Legalizing marijuana would enable farmers who need a new cash crop to continue farming legally. Hemp has lots of uses, yet the farming of that is highly restricted and so the farmers can't plant enough to meet the demand. Allowing legal farming of marijuana and hemp would force the Mexican Mafia out of the business, just as it forced the Mob out of the liquor business at the end of Prohibition. As it stands, we are enabling Mexican thugs to destroy our national parks with their illegal farms.

Legalizing opium would take away a major source of financing for al-Queda and the Taliban.

This hardline is just filling up prisons with non-violent offenders who would be better off in rehab.

Legalizing drugs would be bad for cop's morale. Why become a cop if you can't steal drug money?

I guess mid-30's makes me out of touch with reality and on old man. Whatever. You whine about legalizing marijuana, and then speak as if legalizing all drugs is the same. You couldn't be more wrong. You think, quite incorrectly, that to legalize weed will destroy the Mexican Mafia. It wouldn't, just as ending prohibition didn't eliminate the American Mafia. Even if you were to legalize marijuana, the Gov't would tax the hell out of it, and there would be a large black market for it, just as there is for cigarettes now, except much larger since marijuana grows easily and naturally. Farmers and dealers would still be arrested and incarcerated for tax evasion. Now that's a fact.

But the real problems are the other harder drugs out there. Perhaps not all addicts are criminals, but I assure you most criminals are addicts, or abuse/use some drugs. That's another fact. Addicts have to get that next high, and they will do anything to get it. Larcenies, robberies, shootings, stabbings, prostitution, etc, all in the addicts' repertoire. What percentage of the homicides in this city do you suppose involve drugs in some way? Pretty high folks. Homelessness is largely a function of addiction, no surprise. Mental illnesses are greatly affected by addiction as well, to the point where its hard to tell whether addiction caused the mental illness of vice versa. You don't see this, but ask a mental health professional what percentage of their clients deal with addiction. All these groups have many health issues, which, if the present administration has its way, we'll all be paying for. The real truth is this: if you use, abuse, sell, or buy illegal drugs, you are putting yourself in serious danger for living a shorter life, sometimes a much shorter life. Perhaps marijuana use doesn't apply here, but it certainly applies for dealing. And since you mentioned it, in Greensboro, you usually do only get a citation and a fine for minor possession of marijuana.

If marijuana were legalized, the dealers would still be dealers, they'd just move on to different drugs. Most dealers aren't exclusive to marijuana anyways. I suggest to you, drive around the high drug areas of the city, see how drugs destroy a community. See how crack or meth or heroin destroys an individual, watch as it eats them up from the inside. Look at how it causes addicts to lose all sense of decency, purpose, pride. Watch how it makes people walk the streets willing to perform sex acts for a crack rock, look at the abandoned houses they sleep in, where they defecate in the corner or in the closet. Look at their teeth, or lack there of, which are rotting out of their heads, or the sores on their arms, legs, and faces. Think of the diseases they carry and spread to innocent people of the community, whether through intercourse or things like leaving crack pipes and needles lying around. Or consider how dangerous meth labs are, both for the meth bakers, their families, or their neighbors- fumes can kill or cause serious health problems, and meth labs are extremely volatile. Some are small enough to be transported in a car- how'd you like to be in an accident with one of those and become very sick or terribly burned due to this addict? And while its true not all marijuana users move on to harder drugs, I challenge you to find a user of hard drugs who didn't start out using marijuana.

Those of you who support legalization of drugs should consider these things- you should meet these poor souls whose lives have been destroyed, these people who would steal from their own families in a heartbeat, and who would hurt you at the drop of a hat for a hit. Meet them, then decide whether we'd be better off as a people if these drugs were available readily to, say, your 13 yr old son or daughter. Would you like YOUR child coming home with needle tracks, stealing your belongings for drugs, selling your jewelry? Because that's what addicts do. Would you want YOUR 15 yr old prostituting him or herself? Because I don't want to see that, I've seen enough lives ruined by drugs. I'm against legalization of drugs for these reasons, not because I'm an "Old Guy stuck in the 20th Century."