The biggest what? TAX? If this country has no economic interest in the sale of tobacco then why is such a deadly drug still legal? Why not just put that in with the other prohibited drugs too?
Because right now Joe, insurance companies can refuse you a policy if you smoke pot. If it was legal, they could not do that. Also, there is a stigma of fear that goes with going to a hospital and telling a doctor that you are having health issues as it pertains to illegal drugs so many people don't go. If it were legal, those people would not hesitate to go to the emergency room or see their doctor. So yes Joe, I would expect hospital visits as it pertains to drugs to skyrocket. Let me give you another example. I know a lot of juicers that won't see a doctor because of the fear of telling him that they are on steroids, so many guys when they have health issues as it relates to juice, will simply find ways to treat themselves which is very dangerous. I think the Barry Bonds issue comes into play where where suddenly the clinic where he was buying supplements from him rats out his name to the local authorities and now he is in the press everyday. And my last point will be that if drugs are legalized and people know that they could freely go to hospitals to treat their problem, then one might be more inclined to experiment with other drugs knowing that they can get all the healthcare they wanted. Let me give you an example. The AIDS community in San Fran. During the 90's due to the breakthrough in many AIDS cocktails, gay men with HIV were living longer and longer and looking and living much better lifestyles then in the past. Because of this false sense of security, unsafe sex among gay men in the last 5 years in the Bay area has gone up substantially and so has the number of reported HIV and AIDS cases. So if you remove the fear and stigma that comes with illegal drug use, you will have more people experimenting with it and those who are already on it might be inclined to abuse the drug even more. Again, I'm not making the argument that one should not be allowed to use drugs, I was simply explaining to you how hospital visits could go up substantially.
Hey. I smoked an oz. a month of premo Northern Cal sensi for 16 years. I was baked from the moment I got up until bedtime. Traded, ate, drank, drove and fucked while I was high. NO DOUBT that it hurt my lungs significantly. Just clean out the resin from a pipe or a one-hitter and you'll see that black oil bubblin. Nasty. That being said, drinking is a worse social disease than pot. PS: To Rearden, Bro I've been there with the legalization argument. I still believe legalization of certain substances is fine. BUT, mark my words. In another 6-8 years you won't care. You'll be burned out, bored, maybe a kid or two and you'll be addicted to something different than drugs. We all move on.
Yes tax. The percentage of income that poor people allocate to tobacco products is enormous. It's basically a tax on the poor. Why not make tobacco products illegal? For the same reason that alcohol is not illegal. It's not a dangerous product if one uses it with moderation. Now is smoking 10 packs a week good for you? No. Is drinking till you pass out every night good for you? No. Is eating at McDonalds 10 times a week good for you? No. But all these things in moderation are not that bad for you. I mean shit, if you do too much of anything, it's not good for you. And I know what you are going to say now, then moderate drug use should be ok too. And I would agree with you. However, like I said earlier, I see the gov't and the insurance companies making their move to go after tobacco smokers, heavy drinkers and obese people here very soon. So the free lunch that these people have enjoyed over the years is going to end soon mark my words.
Well I definately see more clearly where you are coming from now, but I just don't see it having the effect you think it will. Also if you take the 20bil we spend on this ridiculous war and then add the billions we would make by taxing drugs I think it would more than pay for the rise...
Maybe, maybe not. But if you tax drugs too aggressively, you invite the black market back into the game. The black market will always be able to undercut the big pharms. Hey, just look at what Canada is doing with generic drugs. I mean it won't be that hard to undercut the gov't and there lives the black market. So you will never truly end the war on drugs, or at least the crime as it pertains to the black market. And something else here, keep in mind that a black market will always exist, only the products change. If drugs are legalized, then the black market might shift to steroids or gambling or prostitution or whatever, it never goes away. You are never going to get rid of the mob or the gangs and they will always find something to sell and therefore there will always be black market crime. Joe, did you know that Chicago recently passed a cigarette tax here in the windy city? And do you know what people are doing? They are driving across the border to Indiana to buy cigarettes. That is the lengths they go to buy cheap cigarettes. If the gov't sticks their hand in here too aggressively, they will only make the black markets stronger and crime will go higher, this is with legalization I'm talking about. Now do you see how complicated this problem becomes. The truth is, there is no real answer or easy fix. Crime is not going to go away no matter what you do and if the gov't doesn't spend 20 billion a year fighting the war on drugs, they will start fighting the war on nutritional supplements. Oh my bad, they already have. Nevermind.
Oh wow JC. Thanks I forget. See I didn't even talk about the ramifications of short term memory loss.........
That is an incredibly stupid fuckin statement you just made. Cigs are not dangerous if done in moderation?!?!?! 99% of the people who smoke cigs are physicaly unable to do it in moderation, because they have this addictive thing called nicotine in em, surely you know this. And are you seriously under the illusion that the government is not making billions of dollars per year off the sale of cigs?