4 ms·

Exactly. Crime would adjust itself, or find a new market. Compromising by legalizing something which has a purpose in being illegal is detrimental to solving th

Exactly. Crime would adjust itself, or find a new market. Compromising by legalizing something which has a purpose in being illegal is detrimental to solving the problem.

r0s 15y ago
Bullshit. As if criminals simply avoid other vice because it's less profitable, totally false. Dangerously false. There are not open markets just floating around waiting for criminals to suddenly discover them.
- dylangs1030 15y ago
  I disagree. I believe there are plenty of avenues of criminal activity. Trouble is, most criminals aren't visionaries, and why would they have an incentive to fond other profitable crimes of they can practically earn money doing what they do now?
  - r0s 15y ago
    By that logic they will all suddenly take up investment banking.
Karunamon 15y ago
Thing is, there is no real purpose for many/most controlled substances to be illegal, unless you choose from the following list: * Excuse for government overstep of constitutional provisions * Money to the prison-industrial complex (i know, trite, but it's true) * One more step in the notion that you don't own your own body And those aren't legitimate reasons, IMAO.
- dylangs1030 15y ago
  I agree with you on libertarian grounds that, in principle, a person should be free to ingest whatever he likes. However, looking at civilized society as a whole, I don't see making most controlled substances legal useful. With the exception of marijuana and a few anxiolytics (which I'd encourage to be legalized), I think they'd be counterproductive to the working order of a society. Society needs someone to clean the toilets, and do other labor intensive jobs. But if you have a legally accessible ticket to happiness through drugs, why go to work?
  - epicureanideal 15y ago
    Aren't you just making the argument that legalizing drugs would increase wages?
  - Pheter 15y ago
    Because they need to earn money to buy the drugs. By your logic anyone with a hobby wouldn't bother going to work because they also have a legally acceptable ticket to happiness.
rayiner 15y ago
Everything reaches an equilibrium. Taking away a high-profit/low-cost activity like drug trafficking will shift activity to something else, no doubt, but this alternate activity will likely be less profitable and support a smaller organization. We're seeing this with Wall Street. Dodd-Frank is raising the costs of doing business, causing the industry to down size.
forensic 15y ago
If the law causes more harm than the drug in the first place, the law needs to go. Criminals are just people. They do what is most profitable for them given their circumstances. If you legalize drugs, most of the current drug criminals will get normal jobs at McDonalds or Wall Street or whatever.

Exactly. Crime would adjust itself, or find a new market. Compromising by legalizing something which has a purpose in being illegal is detrimental to solving the problem.

r0s 15y ago

Bullshit. As if criminals simply avoid other vice because it's less profitable, totally false. Dangerously false. There are not open markets just floating around waiting for criminals to suddenly discover them.

dylangs1030 15y ago
I disagree. I believe there are plenty of avenues of criminal activity. Trouble is, most criminals aren't visionaries, and why would they have an incentive to fond other profitable crimes of they can practically earn money doing what they do now?
- r0s 15y ago
  By that logic they will all suddenly take up investment banking.

Karunamon 15y ago

Thing is, there is no real purpose for many/most controlled substances to be illegal, unless you choose from the following list: * Excuse for government overstep of constitutional provisions * Money to the prison-industrial complex (i know, trite, but it's true) * One more step in the notion that you don't own your own body And those aren't legitimate reasons, IMAO.

dylangs1030 15y ago
I agree with you on libertarian grounds that, in principle, a person should be free to ingest whatever he likes. However, looking at civilized society as a whole, I don't see making most controlled substances legal useful. With the exception of marijuana and a few anxiolytics (which I'd encourage to be legalized), I think they'd be counterproductive to the working order of a society. Society needs someone to clean the toilets, and do other labor intensive jobs. But if you have a legally accessible ticket to happiness through drugs, why go to work?
- epicureanideal 15y ago
  Aren't you just making the argument that legalizing drugs would increase wages?
- Pheter 15y ago
  Because they need to earn money to buy the drugs. By your logic anyone with a hobby wouldn't bother going to work because they also have a legally acceptable ticket to happiness.

rayiner 15y ago

Everything reaches an equilibrium. Taking away a high-profit/low-cost activity like drug trafficking will shift activity to something else, no doubt, but this alternate activity will likely be less profitable and support a smaller organization. We're seeing this with Wall Street. Dodd-Frank is raising the costs of doing business, causing the industry to down size.

forensic 15y ago

If the law causes more harm than the drug in the first place, the law needs to go. Criminals are just people. They do what is most profitable for them given their circumstances. If you legalize drugs, most of the current drug criminals will get normal jobs at McDonalds or Wall Street or whatever.