http://joeweisel.blogspot.com/2010/07/is...drugs.html

Quote:As I sit back and watch the news, I hear the upsetting news that PAT Transit will be cutting routes and raising fairs. Then I see news that our bridges have much needed work to be done on them. Our entire infrastructure is collapsing. And we don't have the revenue to pay to fix the problems.

The simple solution is always to raise taxes on either gas, housing, sales. The people can't survive any longer paying more and more taxes and not seeing true results.

Its time to think "outside the box" for once. Its time to legalize every illegal drug on the market. On top of that you sell it and tax them like tobacco.

Now lets look at the effects of legalizing drugs. One of the most glaring positives I see is the money saved when it comes to the prosecution of drug users and dealers. Once the drugs are legal, there aren't the need for drug dealers. Which means there will be less crime on our streets. And at the same time you put the drug cartels out of business since we have manufacturer's developing the drugs here in the US.

Hey you also stimulate the economy by putting people to work developing the drugs. Which will lower the unemployment rate. And that means more people are paying income taxes

To regulate this new market, we simply add a new branch to ATF. Call it ATDF for all i'm concerned. We have to have regulations on how much a manufacturer can put into each specific item, wether its a joint, pill, ect.

Ok, we safe money due to less court cases and less people in jail, and we create a new tax revenue. Not saying this is enough money to fix all of our country's problems. But its a start. I just hope the Government can see this, because I feel its a common sense solution.
Posted by Joey Niklas

I think the decriminalization of drugs would be beneficial to the nation. It would allow the government to regulate the industry, collect taxes, remove them from our schools, and eliminate the single largest source of income from our criminal element. Providing free needles to those addicted would slow the spread of blood borne diseases, such as AIDS and hepititis (currently the world's largest epidemic). And it would stop an annual multi-billion dollar strain on our economy, brought on by a futile war on drugs. Plus, we could empty about half our jails, since nearly 50% of the people currently in jail are there on drug related charges. This nation has learned absolutely nothing from prohibition...

Yup, its definitely time to legalize, regulate and tax drugs. I'd go for a graduated approach. Legalize marijuana and other soft drugs immediately as many tobacco companies have a plan in place to begin manufacture, marketing, distribution and sale of marijuana products in the event of such an occurrence. Harder drugs are trickier and I'm not sure we'd ever have the stomach for it. I personally think we need to legalize all of it for the record. However, my idea of this graduated approach allows us to ensure the transition to legality is smooth, efficient and proper in regards to harder drugs. We'd decriminalize the harder drugs in phase 1 alongside full legalization of softer drugs.

Our infrastructure is subpar. Even in areas rich in transportation infrastructure like New York our infrastructure is outdated and/or over capacity or soon will be. The decision to proceed with the Second Avenue Subway in Manhattan has been met with much controversy despite the fact that the Lex (4/5/6 trains for those familiar) is completely and utterly overcrowded and is the most used subway line in the world and has more users than any whole rapid transit systems (except NYC) in North America. I could go into the technical limitations of the Lex versus the advantages of the new line, but I don't feel like boring you any further. In short the east side of Manhattan has very very inadequate transit service which is hard to imagine in the most transit friendly city in the United States. I think high-speed rail is the answer to our short and medium distance transportation needs. I'd love to see a Philadelphia to Cleveland (via Harrisburg/Pittsburgh/Akron) corridor constructed.

To come full circle, legalization is a common sense option. Any drug offenders serving time without violent crimes in their record or as part of their conviction should be set free. Of course this is barring they don't have any kind of major infractions within the corrections system. We can reduce costs in various areas and bring a new revenue stream that doesn't overtax anyone to death. Hmm sounds like a win-win to me. Plus, we can cut off a major source of funding to terrorists and organized crime. We can cripple the power of the Columbian production cartels and the Mexican production and distribution cartels and make two countries much safer and more prosperous.

Yes