Yes, with as much control and regulation as possible. Prostitution should remain a state issue as it is now, but Cannabis should be as available as Tabacco products are. Also, think of all the extra tax money states would get. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if the current state of the economy gets the ball rolling on this.
I personally don't know alot on the matter of the laws and state of America... but i'm pretty sure making cannabis legal will increase crime. If you take a look at somewhere like Amsterdamn (where cannabis and prostituion is legal) which has the top crime rate and is a country in poverty. Amsterdamn clearly shows that legalizing cannabis and prostitution doesn't do that good to a country . However i can't wait to go to Amsterdamn gonna have some crazy times :P
Uh. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands (not a country by itself), and it's one of the richest countries in the world, both by standards of living and GDP per capita, beating your country by miles. Please do your research before making stupid posts.
He is actually half right.
There is high crime rate in Amsterdam at the moment, but certainly Holland is not a poor country by any means.
It's true - I've been a cop in Amsterdam for 7 months - however, not more or less so than you could expect from any (capital) city, and marijuana certainly is not the cause. Legalised prostitution is indeed the cause of some portion of crime, however, I could just as easily say it prevents other types of crime as well, since there is now much more control over whatever prostitution there is (although, never 100%).
Thanks for your input. I didn't think Amsterdam's crime rate was any higher than most other capitals in Europe or the US for that matter(Probably a whole lot less than the US). I wish a US police officer would pop in here and comment on this though. Most that I have spoken to wish they would legalize these two things as they see it as a huge waste of their time to bust pot heads and hookers as they really don't endanger anyone as a general rule. These are really victimless crimes and should be legalized as it would be a goldmine for the US government.
Bren
I have to mention though that I'm no longer a police officer, and when I was I was only a rookie (the seven months I spent there were my only seven months). I went back to university as I had a chance to enter a really prestigious university, where I'm studying right now. So it's not like my comment came from an experienced veteran cop. I just know enough.
Originally posted by Teala I would just like to thank all of you that voted that both should be made legal. You know I just don't get what the big deal is when it comes to these two things. Alcohol is so much worse for you then mj and if properly regulated there is nothing wrong with prostitution. If anything should be more restricted in its use it is alcohol.
from a regulation point of view, alcohol is easier to police than pot. This simply because of the time that either active drugs remain in your system and how they affect your ability to function. Blood alcohol is clearly correlated with your ability to function. With pot, the active constituents are fat soluble (fry some in butter , then make cookies with the butter) they also linger in you body, slowly leaching out of your body fat and you develop tolerance to the underlying drugs in your body.
This means that if you measure how much of the active constituents are in your body you can not draw simple correlations to how well you can function. So regulating driving under the influence of pot is more difficult. Say you smoke a bit on the weekend, you will still have residues in your body for the following week.
However, with some research, I am sure we can develop some strategies to deal with this.
Prohibition: Crime goes up. Gang activity skyrockets, funded by alchohol smuggling. Alchohol becomes dangerous to consume due to drinks being diluted with all sorts of substances in order to make a larger profit. Alchohol consumption rates change little.
Post Prohibition: Crime rate plummets. Rate of alchohol consumption spikes shortly and then levels out to previous levels. Reputable vendors being the source of alchohol almost completely eliminates gang funding, as well as diluted drinks.
War on Drugs: Crime goes up. Gang activity skyrockets, funded by illegal substance smuggling. Illegal substances become even more dangerous to consume due to them being mixed with all sorts of other substances in order to make a larger profit. Illegal substance rates change little.
I wonder when we'll realize how foolish we've been. I wonder if humans will ever get over attempting to morally regulate eachother.
Marijuana doesn't even deserve to be illegal. It's a virtually harmless herb. It actually has medicinal properties.
And yet America continues to allow its prohibition, all because of the ramblings of a hypocritical racist who had NO scientific backing in his claims (in fact, he was opposed).
America will continue to shoot itself in the foot with this War on Drugs, despite mounds of evidence to the contrary of its assertions that what it's doing is right.
We continue to flood our jails with nonviolent, victimless offenders.
We continue to employ drug lords, gangs, and the terroristic regimes of many foreign countries.
We continue to deny people of the right to choose what to do with their own person.
I personally don't know alot on the matter of the laws and state of America... but i'm pretty sure making cannabis legal will increase crime. If you take a look at somewhere like Amsterdamn (where cannabis and prostituion is legal) which has the top crime rate and is a country in poverty. Amsterdamn clearly shows that legalizing cannabis and prostitution doesn't do that good to a country . However i can't wait to go to Amsterdamn gonna have some crazy times :P
Uh. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands (not a country by itself), and it's one of the richest countries in the world, both by standards of living and GDP per capita, beating your country by miles. Please do your research before making stupid posts.
He is actually half right.
There is high crime rate in Amsterdam at the moment, but certainly Holland is not a poor country by any means.
It's true - I've been a cop in Amsterdam for 7 months - however, not more or less so than you could expect from any (capital) city, and marijuana certainly is not the cause. Legalised prostitution is indeed the cause of some portion of crime, however, I could just as easily say it prevents other types of crime as well, since there is now much more control over whatever prostitution there is (although, never 100%).
Thanks for your input. I didn't think Amsterdam's crime rate was any higher than most other capitals in Europe or the US for that matter(Probably a whole lot less than the US). I wish a US police officer would pop in here and comment on this though. Most that I have spoken to wish they would legalize these two things as they see it as a huge waste of their time to bust pot heads and hookers as they really don't endanger anyone as a general rule. These are really victimless crimes and should be legalized as it would be a goldmine for the US government.
Bren
I have to mention though that I'm no longer a police officer, and when I was I was only a rookie (the seven months I spent there were my only seven months). I went back to university as I had a chance to enter a really prestigious university, where I'm studying right now. So it's not like my comment came from an experienced veteran cop. I just know enough.
That's cool. Just having someone who is from Amsterdam pop in and comment on this is still a great help. Nothing like first hand experience... You being a cop there even for a short time just makes it that much better.
I agree Bren, these are changing times and one day it will happen. Australia has legal prostitution, but not weed though.
decriminalized in SA and the ACT which is a start. at least it was 5 years ago, i have been out of the country for too long
I apologise, I think my statement may have been slightly incorrect.
The laws vary from state to state, it's quite confusing. It seems some states have licensed brothels (QLD being one of them). NSW is the only state that allows 'street' prostitution.
I agree Bren, these are changing times and one day it will happen. Australia has legal prostitution, but not weed though.
decriminalized in SA and the ACT which is a start. at least it was 5 years ago, i have been out of the country for too long
I apologise, I think my statement may have been slightly incorrect.
The laws vary from state to state, it's quite confusing. It seems some states have licensed brothels (QLD being one of them). NSW is the only state that allows 'street' prostitution.
WA I believe also has legal prostitution. But since the government cannot regualte the use of Marijuana, I dont think that it will be legalised anytime soon. Probably not in our lifetime anyway. Possibly only for medical purposes but that would be about it.
Comments
I just sent a link to this thread to President Obama. Lets see what happens. I'm expecting the Secret Service to bust down my door any minute now.
lol
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
Yes, with as much control and regulation as possible. Prostitution should remain a state issue as it is now, but Cannabis should be as available as Tabacco products are. Also, think of all the extra tax money states would get. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if the current state of the economy gets the ball rolling on this.
Uh. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands (not a country by itself), and it's one of the richest countries in the world, both by standards of living and GDP per capita, beating your country by miles. Please do your research before making stupid posts.
He is actually half right.
There is high crime rate in Amsterdam at the moment, but certainly Holland is not a poor country by any means.
news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/the_p_word/newsid_7857000/7857854.stm
It's true - I've been a cop in Amsterdam for 7 months - however, not more or less so than you could expect from any (capital) city, and marijuana certainly is not the cause. Legalised prostitution is indeed the cause of some portion of crime, however, I could just as easily say it prevents other types of crime as well, since there is now much more control over whatever prostitution there is (although, never 100%).
Thanks for your input. I didn't think Amsterdam's crime rate was any higher than most other capitals in Europe or the US for that matter(Probably a whole lot less than the US). I wish a US police officer would pop in here and comment on this though. Most that I have spoken to wish they would legalize these two things as they see it as a huge waste of their time to bust pot heads and hookers as they really don't endanger anyone as a general rule. These are really victimless crimes and should be legalized as it would be a goldmine for the US government.
Bren
I have to mention though that I'm no longer a police officer, and when I was I was only a rookie (the seven months I spent there were my only seven months). I went back to university as I had a chance to enter a really prestigious university, where I'm studying right now. So it's not like my comment came from an experienced veteran cop. I just know enough.
from a regulation point of view, alcohol is easier to police than pot. This simply because of the time that either active drugs remain in your system and how they affect your ability to function. Blood alcohol is clearly correlated with your ability to function. With pot, the active constituents are fat soluble (fry some in butter , then make cookies with the butter) they also linger in you body, slowly leaching out of your body fat and you develop tolerance to the underlying drugs in your body.
This means that if you measure how much of the active constituents are in your body you can not draw simple correlations to how well you can function. So regulating driving under the influence of pot is more difficult. Say you smoke a bit on the weekend, you will still have residues in your body for the following week.
However, with some research, I am sure we can develop some strategies to deal with this.
I agree Bren, these are changing times and one day it will happen. Australia has legal prostitution, but not weed though.
O_o o_O
decriminalized in SA and the ACT which is a start. at least it was 5 years ago, i have been out of the country for too long
Prohibition: Crime goes up. Gang activity skyrockets, funded by alchohol smuggling. Alchohol becomes dangerous to consume due to drinks being diluted with all sorts of substances in order to make a larger profit. Alchohol consumption rates change little.
Post Prohibition: Crime rate plummets. Rate of alchohol consumption spikes shortly and then levels out to previous levels. Reputable vendors being the source of alchohol almost completely eliminates gang funding, as well as diluted drinks.
War on Drugs: Crime goes up. Gang activity skyrockets, funded by illegal substance smuggling. Illegal substances become even more dangerous to consume due to them being mixed with all sorts of other substances in order to make a larger profit. Illegal substance rates change little.
I wonder when we'll realize how foolish we've been. I wonder if humans will ever get over attempting to morally regulate eachother.
Marijuana doesn't even deserve to be illegal. It's a virtually harmless herb. It actually has medicinal properties.
And yet America continues to allow its prohibition, all because of the ramblings of a hypocritical racist who had NO scientific backing in his claims (in fact, he was opposed).
America will continue to shoot itself in the foot with this War on Drugs, despite mounds of evidence to the contrary of its assertions that what it's doing is right.
We continue to flood our jails with nonviolent, victimless offenders.
We continue to employ drug lords, gangs, and the terroristic regimes of many foreign countries.
We continue to deny people of the right to choose what to do with their own person.
What a joke this country is.
-
Uh. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands (not a country by itself), and it's one of the richest countries in the world, both by standards of living and GDP per capita, beating your country by miles. Please do your research before making stupid posts.
He is actually half right.
There is high crime rate in Amsterdam at the moment, but certainly Holland is not a poor country by any means.
news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/the_p_word/newsid_7857000/7857854.stm
It's true - I've been a cop in Amsterdam for 7 months - however, not more or less so than you could expect from any (capital) city, and marijuana certainly is not the cause. Legalised prostitution is indeed the cause of some portion of crime, however, I could just as easily say it prevents other types of crime as well, since there is now much more control over whatever prostitution there is (although, never 100%).
Thanks for your input. I didn't think Amsterdam's crime rate was any higher than most other capitals in Europe or the US for that matter(Probably a whole lot less than the US). I wish a US police officer would pop in here and comment on this though. Most that I have spoken to wish they would legalize these two things as they see it as a huge waste of their time to bust pot heads and hookers as they really don't endanger anyone as a general rule. These are really victimless crimes and should be legalized as it would be a goldmine for the US government.
Bren
I have to mention though that I'm no longer a police officer, and when I was I was only a rookie (the seven months I spent there were my only seven months). I went back to university as I had a chance to enter a really prestigious university, where I'm studying right now. So it's not like my comment came from an experienced veteran cop. I just know enough.
That's cool. Just having someone who is from Amsterdam pop in and comment on this is still a great help. Nothing like first hand experience... You being a cop there even for a short time just makes it that much better.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
decriminalized in SA and the ACT which is a start. at least it was 5 years ago, i have been out of the country for too long
I apologise, I think my statement may have been slightly incorrect.
The laws vary from state to state, it's quite confusing. It seems some states have licensed brothels (QLD being one of them). NSW is the only state that allows 'street' prostitution.
O_o o_O
decriminalized in SA and the ACT which is a start. at least it was 5 years ago, i have been out of the country for too long
I apologise, I think my statement may have been slightly incorrect.
The laws vary from state to state, it's quite confusing. It seems some states have licensed brothels (QLD being one of them). NSW is the only state that allows 'street' prostitution.
WA I believe also has legal prostitution. But since the government cannot regualte the use of Marijuana, I dont think that it will be legalised anytime soon. Probably not in our lifetime anyway. Possibly only for medical purposes but that would be about it.