Libertarians, War on Drugs and Rush...we have allies!

[MrPrax]

From the old joke...
A Libertarian is a Republican that smokes dope!!

America owes talk host Rush Limbaugh a debt of gratitude, Libertarians say

WASHINGTON, DC -- The entire nation owes radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh a debt of gratitude, Libertarians say, because his ordeal has exposed every drug warrior in America as a rank hypocrite.

"One thing we don't hear from American politicians very often is silence," said Joe Seehusen, Libertarian Party executive director. "By refusing to criticize Rush Limbaugh, every drug warrior has just been exposed as a shameless, despicable hypocrite.
<snip>
"Republican and Democratic politicians have written laws that have condemned more than 400,000 Americans to prison for committing the same 'crime' as Rush Limbaugh," Seehusen pointed out. "If this pill-popping pontificator deserves a get-out-of-jail-free card, these drug warriors had better explain why."

Given their longstanding support for the Drug War, it's fair to ask:

Why haven't President George Bush or his tough-on-crime attorney general, John Ashcroft, uttered a word criticizing Limbaugh's law-breaking?
http://www.lp.org/press/archive.php?function=view&record=652

continued...

And a great rap...
Where do today's democrats stand on the hypocrisy?

[thebigidea]

1. to quote Dolemite: "Where do I stand? Very high,man. Very high."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. I'm definitely for decriminalizing all drug behavior and TREATING it

I am against the WOD but don't take a laissez faire attitude either.

I DO think POT should remain illegal though. If it were legalized, corporations such as Phillip Morris would ruin it...I think the outlaw growers are doing a far better job ;-)

[MrPrax]

4. Your right...

that is the biggest arg AGAINST decrim or legal...
The corps (big pharm) will ruin it!!
Crap corporate dope that granny wouldn't smoke, while the little entrepeneur is squeezed out of the biz...

They have a Wal-Mart attitude on life...ses a market and kill it

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Glad I could enroll you in my point of view

:D

[delhurgo]

7. You guys are so right.

I feel the same way about abortion, beer, porn, cigarettes, etc, etc..... All these things should be made illegal too. They'd be much better off in the black market and back alleys. As it is now, they are all ruined by 'corporations' and evil american businessmen. I say the more government controls and the less freedom the better.

[Dr Fate]

9. I would rather see most drugs dicriminalized, not legalized...

...and it is a much sounder argument to make get "moderates" on board...

Legalizing drugs means corporations preying on poor folks- I'm no Libertarian when it comes to this...

Possession of drugs, or growing reasonable amounts of Bud is one thing- but big-time pushers will always be predators, be they Columbian Gangs, or some Republican owned pill-plant...I dont want that, i i dont think it would be good for the country...

Corporations already push beer and cigs on children and the poor, we dont need them doing it with coke, smack,or genetically altered weed...

Hard drugs belong in the hands of medical professionals, not pushers/corporations.

Weed should be grown by neighbors and regulated boutiques-anything over a specified amount would still be illegal... SO SAYS DR FATE-KING OF AMERICA!!!!!

[delhurgo]

10. Good points.

Legalizing drugs, abortion, beer, porn, cigs... means corporations preying on poor folks and kids. I agree totally. All need to be 'decriminalized', but not be legal. Decriminalized meaning what you suggest: heavily regulated and only allowed to be produced in small amounts.

You make a great argument. But thats why you are THE KING OF AMERICA!!! ;-)

[Bandit]

13. I agree and haven't seen you around for a spell ~Good to see you back

Treat drugs as a medical problem not a legal one if they are in fact a problem at all.

[leftyandproud]

12. disagree!

Not only is the price of pot GUARANTEED to be below current (black) market prices, but Pfizer or Merck can do that cracy genetic engineering stuff and increase the THC content 1000%! ;)

Quality...Legality...Afforability...

mmmmmmm

[Nikia]

14. I'm going to have to say legalize

There are good points and bad points about marijuana being in the hands of small independent businessmen instead of corporations. It provides a chance for people who are unable to succeed at mainstream jobs due to cultural prejudice make a decent living and provide a product that many people want. Many illegal growers are talented botantist who pride themselves on producing a quality product. Many involved in the industry are not monsters as the media portrays them, but are more ethical than most mainstream businessmen.
On the otherhand, the fact that these businessmen have no legal protection in regards to protecting against robbery and can have no legal contracts can cause violence. If you owned a store and an armed robber stole product or money from you, you could expect that the police would help you. If you own a large amount of pot and someone steals it, you would take matters into your own hands. There is also the problem with informants and people suspected of being informants that can really get ugly. If you are going to have to operate your business that way, you might as well sell cocaine too.
The only way to keep crime out of the marijuana industry is to legalize it.

[Dr Fate]

3. Kerry has poked fun at Limbaugh...

...of course Bush and Ashcroft will not criticise their own Propaganda Minister!!!

[Paranoid_Portlander]

5. Drug warrior Cafferty just scolded Limbaugh...

... publicly on MSNBC around 7:30 PM PT. (Rush was not present.) He accused Rush of deliberately abusing the drug in order to get high, and that his doctor is entirely blameless. Cafferty stopped short of calling it criminal activity. No mention of that.

[Terwilliger]

8. doctors totally blameless for prescribing oxy?

But GOTT VERBOTEN they should allow for a sick individual to smoke a joint! :shrug:

[MrPrax]

11. My fear is...

that the whole idea of planting (pardon the pun) of decriminalization is to make way for a new and improved line of Pharmacueticals that are readily legal and do the same thing as DRUGS...

My paranoia, I know, but the simple fact is that the head of Merck in the late 80s stated to shareholders that the company's is a dream to provide a 'pill to everyone on the planet' A vast consumer base...or a continuance on how to harvest (pardon another pun) productive cycles to enhance market projection.

The attempt by the British to corner the opium market came by the fact that opium was part and parcel of the pay packets of miners in Wales and dispense in lieu of 'script'...the whole 'anti-drug' came out of that tradition as well as many other threads (carrie nation for instance) that sought to end the 'scourge' of drugs/addiction/sin and supplant better ideas for living wages, better communities, literacy, etc.

In the book Social Vices attempts to explain that things like Prhibition were considered 'failures' from a policing standpoint, but don't point out the fact that savings among the classes rose, employment grew, hospital admissions were down, violent crime receded...etc etc...it really depends on what considers 'victories'...workingmen clubs flourished, library attendence rose and left candidates were elected everywhere in the 20s and 30s...
Legalized vice tends to take capital out of communities and into the hands of Machine...essentially 'productive harvesting' under a free market system. The addict pays, works, screws up and then becomes a harvestable by capital under incarceration, treatment and social welfare schemes.
Big Pharm used to have an open monopoly in the good old days (coke used to be in coke and quacks used to sell opiates) without any regulation and I am uncomfortable with the medicalization of 'marijuana' as yet another way of controling a problem that doesn't exist...the drug problem.

Remeber that during Prohibition...things like medicinals and 'cider' (a country drink) were allowed and the drinks of the city (and democrat voting immigrants) were prohibited.

The new war on drugs is the same old war on coffeehouses in the 19th century...places where opposition is likely to happen and the compromise it always to turn the products into commodities...

just a thought