Jeb and Ted’s Bogus Journey | National Review Online
Do they do this? Apparently not, no. At it stands, the United States has strict drug-prohibition laws at both the federal and the state levels — laws, it should be noted, that both Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz broke, but that they are not hoping to repeal. Sadly, Bush seems to be something of a drug warrior.
Not only was he an early advocate of harsh mandatory minimums for drug crimes, but, while governor of Florida, he opposed a program that would have permitted non-violent drug offenders to enter treatment instead of jail — even though his own daughter would have benefited from the arrangement.
And, although he is better on the issue than Bush, Cruz too has hitherto failed to take the concrete steps that his rhetoric has suggested he might. Admirably, he has been both a champion of mandatory-minimum reform and a strong advocate of the rule of law over legislative caprice. (Rather unfairly, his primary criticism of the Obama administration — that it was simply ignoring the existing rules, rather than seeking a legislative change — has been mistaken for support of those laws, which isn’t entirely fair.)
And yet, for all his mutterings and insinuations, he has neither come out in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana (as has long been the editorial policy of National Review), nor, beyond wishing to provide judges with more discretion, has he proposed significant changes to the rules governing those who violate the existing settlement. Why, when he knows what he knows?
As a matter of personal taste, I should say that I do not care one whit that Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, and President Obama smoked weed in their youth. In fact, that makes them all seem a little more human. But I do mind that our society tends to inflict a great deal more damage on those who are caught immediately than on those who are eventually forced to confess their mistakes.
For Jeb’s brother, I always liked Mad Magazine’s take on his drug hypocrisy.
How is Win 10 doing for you? I just installed the Word and Excel Previews. Like them a lot for quick touch stuff.
“In many ways the American war on some drugs is as barbaric as the nastiest aspects of Sharia law expressed in the Muslim world.”
I am in favor of legalizing drugs, all of them. I think it foolish and dangerous to use many of them however. Some can handle them, most cannot, but that should be up to the individual. I also find no support for the federal ban of these drugs in the constitution. Alcohol prohibition required a constitutional amendment…
However, I find no real comparison to sharia law other than they both prohibit certain activities. Sharia law that would criminalize murder does not make it “nasty” if we do the same.
I also do not find it hypocritical to be against something you did yourself in your youth. I would be an example of an extreme hypocrite were that the case…
OK so far, though it’s not on my main machine so I don’t have a detailed take yet. This is the time of year that I get lots of inquiries for projects, so I have not had the time I’d like to play with it.
I don’t have the Office Preview yet, but you’re not the only one I’ve heard about who likes it.
Sharia ruins lives for religious reasons.
The unconstitutional war on some drugs ruins lives, wrecks whole communities, and fills our prisons for what are essentially religious reasons.
I don’t see that big a difference.
“…and fills our prisons for what are essentially religious reasons.”
I cannot disagree with you that the objection to drug use is, at least partly, and for many, a prohibition based upon religion. But, it is not the only reason. I think reasonable people can make the argument that recreational drug use is, on balance, bad for the individual and wrecks as many lives as the “war on drugs”.
I get your point however. “In many ways” is the wording I missed, and re-reading I understand your take on it.
“ I think reasonable people can make the argument that recreational drug use is, on balance, bad for the individual and wrecks as many lives as the “war on drugs”.”
I don’t think anybody who knows what they are talking about, whether they think they are reasonable or not, can make that argument, because it is ridiculous. http://read.bi/1Fex76q
“I don’t think anybody who knows what they are talking about…”
My thoughts center around the US “war on drugs”, with little or no concern for the worlds problems. I’ve already stated I’m in favor of legalization and find I am in agreement with much of your link regarding the issues in the USA.
I have also seen, first hand, lives ruined by drug use. More than a few. So, while it is my opinion it should be the choice of the individual, I would counsel people to stay away. Perhaps my comment was a bit misleading in that I am discussing the effects on the individual, not the costs to the economy for jail or lost tax revenue etc.
Legalization will solve a number of problems, starting with shutting down most of the drug gang/criminal activity, and eliminating jail cell use for drugs. OTOH, it will do nothing to rescue the wasted/ruined lives from drug use. I do not think it ridiculous to acknowledge this as a very large problem.
It’s a price I’m more than willing to pay. On balance, full drug legalization will be much better for society in a host of ways than our current situation.
I’m not at all convinced that the number of lives that will be wasted/ruined by drug legalization will be all that huge, either.
How many lives have you actually seen ruined? A dozen? Two dozen? And how many of those ruined lives were ruined by the dracaconian drug laws themselves?
“How many lives have you actually seen ruined?”
First, I am not suggesting that legalization will result in more wasted/ruined lives than criminalization already claims. Now, it is somewhat difficult to separate the ruined lives from the drug laws themselves. In that respect I can only go by the reports from my Dutch friends that say the problem is worse after legalization.
I remain in favor of legalization, for several reasons. First is I am in favor of liberty and individual responsibility. Second, I find there to be no justification in law for the federal prohibition. And third, I think it would solve many of the problems mentioned in your link, no need for me to list them all.
Now, to answer your question directly. At least a dozen I can think of quickly, certainly more. And I don’t mean reading about them, but firsthand knowledge. I would be happy to email these accounts to you separately, I don’t wish to disclose them here as they *might* be recognized and hurtful to some of the families. To summarize, there have been murders committed, children abandoned, institutional commitments, treatment facility’s, overdose deaths, job losses, and yes, jail time. Those are the direct consequences. Then there are the indirect, the dependence upon a drug and the fear that comes from not having it, and always scurrying to get it. I’ve seen that. I don’t think I’m that unusual in this knowledge other than I knew a lot of people growing up.
We have no argument on the subject of legalization. Just don’t expect it to be a panacea – we will still have a large drug problem and the secondary problems it creates.
Barry, the Netherlands has not “legalized” drugs. Pot is not heavily prosecuted, but harder drugs remain proscribed. Further, import and sales suffer heavy penalties.
Essentially the only drug that is “legal” (sort of) is pot. They’re keeping all the other trappings of the War on Some Drugs in place.
As for your Dutch friends, unless I know where they are coming from in their judgement of “worse,” I can’t give them much credibility.
By legalization, I meant pot use, sorry for the confusion. And yes, the info is just anecdotal. My dutch friends are chemical manufacturers, small companies catering to industry. According to them it has become much harder to find good younger employee’s. They say that problem has become worse since the changes in the dutch prosecution of pot. Credible? I know them well enough to say yes. They happen to be in favor of eliminating the drug laws entirely regardless of the issue. But of course this is all meaningless and off the track.
I don’t think we differ all that much. As I said earlier I missed some of your qualifiers in your comparison to sharia. I’ll leave it at that.
Does anybody think it is difficult to get pot in the US? I imagine for the user it is de facto decriminalized. I doubt legalization will increase pot usage to any appreciable degree.