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jond Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 12-2003
Posts: 1790
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Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


The more I think about this the more I see it as the way to go. Criminality finds a cushy home inside these vices, so why not legalise and control them?
13/5/2005, 21:22 Link to this post Send Email to jond   Send PM to jond
 
MrEd45 Profile
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Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 9983
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


Q: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?

A: Drugs + Prostitution certainly should be - at the very least - decriminalized. "Other Taboos" needs more clarification before I can agree with even decriminalizing them emoticon
 The matter of drugs is a funny one...I firmly believe that if cocaine, heroin, and the higher grades of marijuana could be grown in the U.S., they probably would've been legalized decades ago.
 One of the biggest lobbys against legalizing any narcotic that can basically be grown out of the Earth with pretty minimal effort is, of course, corporations like Smith-Kleine, Bristol Meyers, etc.,etc. They want you getting addicted to and buying the drugs they manufacture, not ones you could possibly grow on your own!
 Prostitution should be looked upon as a taxable, legitimate business. Regulate it + tax it - 'cause it sure ain't going away either on it's own or by enforcement of statutes against it...

---
" Those who can - do. Those who can't do - teach. Those who can't do or teach - administrate."
- Anon.

" One that will not reason is a bigot. One that cannot reason is an ignoramus. One that dares not reason is a slave." - Anon
14/5/2005, 1:10 Link to this post Send Email to MrEd45   Send PM to MrEd45 Blog
 
englishbrain Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 05-2005
Posts: 67
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


Children who look for role models would be exposed to an increasing number of weak-minded people who satisfy their inadequacies by using drugs. This I believe would foster a principle in subsequent generations that it is correct to numb any pain felt throughout life, surely society would inevitably collapse if we allowed this?

As for prostitution, it is a well-known fact that the sex industry is full of psychologically damaged people, in my view I don’t think government should condone or make money through taxes from this.
It probably sounds like I am a puritan or something; I’m not, but every society has a framework of rules that have evolved over hundreds or thousands of years, I don’t think we should strip away the basic ones that society is built on.

That said I’m all in favour of people carrying automatic rifles as long as everyone has one and flak jackets are banned, as that would be cheating.
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These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others.
14/5/2005, 11:07 Link to this post Send Email to englishbrain   Send PM to englishbrain
 
MrEd45 Profile
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Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


 Children looking for role models have been exposed for centuries to an uncounted number of people who have and do satisfy their inadequacies by torturing, abusing and killing said children, too. I'm willing to bet that at least half of the perpetrators of such heinous acts were free to indulge in that good old non-taboo drug - alcohol.
 I don't hold with the belief that legalization of the drugs that are currently 'taboo' will see a corresponding rise in the number of people who choose to use them - the number will essentially stay the same, only growing because the population total is constantly growing.
 As for the belief that it's correct to numb any pain felt throughout life, I think it's pretty clear that this has alway been the accepted 'norm' - the only point we're actually contending is what choice of numbing agent should be available - legally - to the person who has decided to alter their own conscience...to me, it all comes down to this - !@#$ or get off the pot. Either make illegal and enforce current statutes regarding any + all 'drugs' that can cause potential harm (caffiene, nicotine, alcohol, sugar,etc.,etc.) or allow adults of a majority age to decide for themselves. Will some people still continue to make what many can + will consider bad choices? Probably, I think.
 As for society on the whole, it's a well known fact that the entire world is full of psychologically damaged people, and like prostitution, this has been the case since pretty much the dawn of time and as long as humans are humans, will more than likely continue to be the case. Seeing as the government already profits from having prostitution as an illegal activity via the 'fine' system, what's the big difference in profiting via legally colected taxes?
 I agree that for a reasonable society to survive + thrive a framework of rules must be agreed upon and followed, or the inevitable result is, of course, anarchy. But let's face it, adaptability is a major factor here...after all, less than 200 years ago slavery (for just one example) was a basic 'rule' that literally dozens - if not hundreds - of societies was built upon...and that one got stripped away with relatively positive results, didn't it?

---
" Those who can - do. Those who can't do - teach. Those who can't do or teach - administrate."
- Anon.

" One that will not reason is a bigot. One that cannot reason is an ignoramus. One that dares not reason is a slave." - Anon
14/5/2005, 12:44 Link to this post Send Email to MrEd45   Send PM to MrEd45 Blog
 
RitchiesHair Profile
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Registered: 06-2004
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


Drugs and prostitution are both things that no matter how hard anyone tries to erradicate them, will always be around. I agree that their current legal status plays right into the hands of criminals and legalisation of them would dramatically reduce their harmful knock-on effects so in my answer to the question posed in the thread title would be a resounding "yes".

In this context I think that "socially unacceptable drugs" would be more appropriate as there are recreational drugs that are legal, freely available, socially acceptable and even considered fashionable and a big part of everyday life. We already foster the principle that it is correct to numb any pain felt throughout life when we feel it's perfectly alright to wind down with a cigarette, (many, many times more addictive and toxic than marijuana), or to go out and get roaring drunk when we're feeling down, (how much misery, suffering and violence and how many deaths has alcohol caused?), or to go and get a prescription for anti-depressants, (talk about mind-altering), instead of addressing the problem. With the legalisation of socially unacceptable drugs the problems, and cost, of policing illegal trafficking disappears overnight and the drug barons and wider network of organised crime involved in it will be neutralised as there'll be no way they can make any money from their operations and the enormous profits that they gained from them and were used to fund terrorism and organised crime vanish. On a street level we'd see no more small-time drug dealers, a sharp drop in the crime that accompanies them and the addicts trying to fund their addiction and a vastly reduced rate of transmission of various nasty diseases from intravenous drug use. With government control it would also be easier to monitor addicts and for them to get help.

Prostitution isn't called "the world's oldest profession" for nothing, it's been around since time immemorial and there's no way it'll be gone any time soon. Being illegal, far from erradicating it, only gives a monopoly on it to criminals. legalised prostitution would remove the vast profits that the criminal underworld gains from it and would make it safer for all concerned by eliminating the problem of violent and abusive pimps and being able to control the spread of STDs. It works in Holland and Nevada as far as I know....

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You should have stopped reading this post by now.
14/5/2005, 13:15 Link to this post Send Email to RitchiesHair   Send PM to RitchiesHair
 
mrsnip Profile
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Mr. Black Hat

Registered: 11-2003
Posts: 3352
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


quote:

RitchiesHair wrote:
 It works in Holland and Nevada as far as I know....



And in Canberra State Territory in Australia. Interresting that where the politicians live, it´s generally more accepted than anywhere else.

Besides that, there are too high profits (for the suits) in keeping prostitution and drugs illegal.

14/5/2005, 13:29 Link to this post Send Email to mrsnip   Send PM to mrsnip
 
englishbrain Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 05-2005
Posts: 67
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


So what do we do with the increased tax revenues? It’s my bet that it would be a considerable amount; offer tax subsidies to the country or maybe give a small percentage back to fund programmes that help getting people out from prostitution and drug abuse. Hang on, that would be counter productive, instead set up skill centres in deprived areas teaching among other things ‘The fine art of negotiation’ and ‘Roll a better spliff.’
---
These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others.
14/5/2005, 14:02 Link to this post Send Email to englishbrain   Send PM to englishbrain
 
mrsnip Profile
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Mr. Black Hat

Registered: 11-2003
Posts: 3352
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


quote:

englishbrain wrote:

So what do we do with the increased tax revenues?



a) Fight serious crimes, such as violence, drunk driving, carrying weapons and tax-evation.

b) Fund the next political party party.

c) Hire extra people to dig the nesessary graves, when the junkies O.D.

d) Help Iran developing Nuclear Power Plants.

e) Learn the politicians simple arithmetic...Forget it it´s impossible.

f) Free condoms.

g) Free Chillums.

h) Hire politicians with brains.

i) Erraticate Microsoft.

j) Hire an asassin or 3 to kill G.W.Bush, Tony Blair and Anders Fogh Rasmussen (won´t be that expensive)

k) Free cars for everybody above 20 years of age.

l) Only tax prostitution and give us free marijuana.

m) Proper border control inside EU.

n) Remove the V.A.T.

o) Increase salary for the lowest incomes.

p) Free rent.

q) Clean Water.

r) Reduce the Greenhouse gasses.

s) Invest in renewable energy.

t) New graveyards (for the junkies, afterall they chose their own life/death)

u) Proper driver education.

v) More police on the streets.

w) Rebuild Pusher Street in Christiania.

x) Build and run more jails.

y) Free international flights 4 times a year.

z) Remove income tax from the lowest incomes.



14/5/2005, 14:33 Link to this post Send Email to mrsnip   Send PM to mrsnip
 
englishbrain Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 05-2005
Posts: 67
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Re: Should Drugs, Prostitution And All The Other Taboos Be Legalised?


Point taken emoticon
14/5/2005, 16:58 Link to this post Send Email to englishbrain   Send PM to englishbrain
 


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