5 ms·
> That said, I think there's a lot of unhealthy gun fetishization and lots of tragic deaths from irresponsible gun owners. Right, but my point was that cost is
by ythl 10y ago
> That said, I think there's a lot of unhealthy gun fetishization and lots of tragic deaths from irresponsible gun owners.
Right, but my point was that cost is worth the freedom. There's a lot of unhealthy drug fetishization and tragic deaths from irresponsible drug users too, and I think you already said the cost is worth the freedom.
> I believe in personal freedom up to the point where that freedom impedes on that of another. What you put in your body is your own god damn business.
If the world worked like that, I would agree with you whole-heartedly. But in real life, drug users end up killing or otherwise abusing people around them (whether it be through DUIs, child neglect, safety mistakes, etc.). So along with drug legalization there have to be dozens of secondary laws that outline what you can and can't do under the influence, where you can and can't go, etc. And people (of course, not thinking clearly while under the influence), will break these laws anyway and end up killing people, destroying property, etc.
> Do you think we should make junk food illegal to protect those that can't control themselves.
Completely illegal? No. But I see the value in limiting accessibility to junk food, especially in schools and such, where kids are still developing self-discipline. So maybe that's where I can agree with you.
- pstuart 10y agoYou ignore the cost of the War itself. Billions of dollars. Massive corruption. Drug gangs. Abusive Policing. Crowded courts and prisons. Legalize them. Regulate them. Treat their abuse as a health issue, not a criminal one. When my brother overdosed on heroin, the police laughed about just another dead junkie. Yeah, I feel so much safer.
- ythl 10y ago> Treat their abuse as a health issue, not a criminal one. A health issue with a cost burden on responsible people who exercise good judgment. Addicts rarely pay for their own treatment. > When my brother overdosed on heroin, the police laughed about just another dead junkie. Yeah, I feel so much safer. As far as I know, my entire extended family has not has a single drug abuse case. And certainly a drug death would be unheard of. We were all taught growing up that mind-altering substances should be avoided at all costs, and it paid off with a virtual 0% drug usage rate in the family. Contrast with your family where you yourself openly admit to using drugs recreationally and think they are good, yet your brother died overdosing on them. I would venture to guess that there are other, unnamed members of your family that use drugs and have or had drug problems in the past. The best and simplest place to stop drug abuse is in the home via good parenting. That is my vision for what America should strive for. I can't lend my support to your cause because I don't believe in it. I believe that if my parents and grandparents taught us it was okay to experiment "safely" with drugs and such that the amount of drug abuse in the extended family would go way up. Good luck-
- pstuart 10y agoYou're a fucking idiot and I'm clearly wasting my time.
- fucking_tragedy 10y agoI've quite literally never seen someone stoop so low as to use someone's dead relative to prop up an argument that can't stand on its own. My condolences.
- pstuart 10y agoThanks. It's a personal data point and I mention it to acknowledge that for all of my promoting of this "freedom", there are real and tragic consequences that cannot be glossed over. I know that ideas and the words that define them are the proper path, but for such a smug, self-satisfied, and small-minded jerk such as ythl, I'd like to take it outside and wipe the stupid grin off of his face.
- saiya-jin 10y agoyou guys have just been trolled by an idiot... welcome to the internet
- pstuart 10y agoThank you for your thoughtful contribution to this discussion!
- fucking_tragedy 10y agoWhether he was trolling or being serious is beside the point. It's the equivalent of 'ironic' racism. It's still in bad taste and makes them a bad person who should feel bad.
- 58 10y agoIndeed. I'm sorry about your brother, and I'm sorry that in a saner society your brother might have gotten the help he needed, or known the purity of the heroin he took, or someone nearby would've been less reluctant to call an ambulance. I had two friends overdose on heroin, and I found them and made the call that saved their lives. I watched the paramedics amble up the stairs, looking pissed that they had to deal with two more junkies on a Saturday night. One of my friends' hearts stopped for a minute and a half. I got grilled by the cops for an hour, who wanted me to snitch on the dealer and wondered why I would hang out with such "losers" in the first place.