[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Draft ordinance in Urbana first step to decriminalization

[E. Wayne Johnson]

/Primum non nocere/  "First, do no harm."

I really am not quite certain what were the intentions of those who 
crafted our present drug laws.
I also cannot say if things have become perverted beyond the original 
intent, since I don't know the original intent
of the authors, whether they were in fact well-meaning people or people 
who were just plain mean.

There are lots of good reasons not to use recreational drugs, among 
which are putting
childish things behind one's self.  I would advise against the use of 
recreational drugs, as
they can make you sick, and can become a serious impediment to clear 
thinking.  Using drugs
is not a particularly good life choice, and it takes quite a while to 
fully recover from the effects of some drugs.
It is in effect a controlled poisoning which the body recovers from in time.
The fleeting glimpse of counterfeit infinity is not worth the price of 
being temporarily poisoned, in my opinion.

On the other hand, if the person who voluntarily intoxicates himself 
with alcohol or any other drug
does so in a way that it causes no harm to others, what business is that 
of mine?  I would definitely disagree
that the impairment from THC in driving is equivalent to that from a 
depressant like alcohol.  It's nonsense
to suggest that they are equivalent.  However, I do see it as important 
that drivers and public servants do not go about
stoned or drunk.

However, the negative consequences of the War on (some) Drugs do 
certainly approach
if not exceed any possible negative consequences of unrestrained 
unregulated drug use. 
Further, the War on Drugs has become the bread-and-butter of the 
legal-judicial-punitive/incarceration-industrial complex
just as the War on Terror is the money machine of the 
military-industrial complex.

The war on terror needs victims and cannon fodder, likewise the war on 
drugs needs volunteers willing to step
forward and give their lives for the cause of Sobriety, and by 
incarcerating them, kicking them around, and levying fines on their
already tortured lives we can all feel a little bit more Sober, too. 

And in the cause of Sobriety, good Americans are willing to open their 
wallets and coffers of government
to hire more paramilitary thugs to scour and ravage our communities; 
construct more courthouses, citadels and holding pens
for America's social culls, misfits and miscreants; hire more attorneys, 
clerks, secretaries, and guards; buy more security
equipment; more police cars, bicycles, and hay burners; create more jobs 
in remote places (laid off coalminers become
prison workers), ...on and on...  And it all starts when someone lights 
up a joint...Behold, how great a matter a little
fire kindleth!  It's big business and deja vu all over again!

The war on drugs is a racket, a scam, a pretext for legalized robbery in 
the name of the law.

So if you want to reform or abolish the drug laws, you are not only 
going to threaten precious jobs in Hardin, Perry, Pope, Massac, ...ad 
nauseam counties,
and you will diminish the authoritative power of the Police State and 
the industries that serve it  more than just a little bit.

The beneficiaries of the War on Drugs aren't going to take opposition to 
their scamming us in a sitting down position,
no matter how unjust, ridiculous, stupid, expensive, wasteful, immoral, 
or futile the war on drugs is.



Bob Illyes wrote:
> Wayne Johnson writes regarding marijuana use: "Do you think that 
> making it a ticketable offense will decrease or increase the rate of 
> Police Intervention? It seems to me that it might increase the rate of 
> intervention since if it becomes a ticketable offense and hence a new 
> source of easily captured revenue for the never satisfied maw of the 
> City.  They will be able to write a ticket which is more easily 
> processed than the criminal offense of common use that is presently 
> oft ignored, hence they may intervene more often.
>
> Why is it important that policy be standardized rather than left to 
> the officer who might decide to show mercy?"
>
> By your line of argument, Wayne, we should generally allow charges way 
> out of proportion to the crime (which we unfortunately do) just to 
> allow police officers to show mercy. Maybe we should legalize summary 
> execution, so the police could be congratulated for not killing 
> people??? Excessive penalties for crimes is a basic ingredient of the 
> police state. Given your libertarian stance on issues, I have to 
> suspect that your "mercy" argument is not serious.
>
> The city might make more money with the tickets for marijuana use, but 
> the damage done by the current system is inestimably greater, not the 
> least of which is its susceptibility to charging based on profiling of 
> all sorts, i.e., if the officer doesn't like your looks or attitude, 
> God help you. It can amount to rudeness becoming a felony (which I 
> confess I sometimes feel it should be, but never THINK it should be).
>
> Bob
>
>
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