5 ms·

No way, "high-end marijuana". Crazy. Extremely dangerous!

api 15y ago
It's dangerous to compete with state-protected real drug cartels. In all seriousness... does anyone think the present-day prohibition racket isn't just as corrupt as what was going on in the 1920s? Drug Enforcement Agency... who do you think they're enforcing for? It's almost impossible that it wouldn't be that corrupt. There is just too much freaking money involved, the stakes too high, for massive numbers of people to not be on the take.
- watty 15y ago
  State-protected real drug cartels and prohibition rackets... can you expand? These drugs aren't just illegal here, are similar drug cartels running countries around the world?
  - api 15y ago
    They don't "run countries," but there is massive corruption. Prohibition is basically a price-fixing scheme, and makes illegal drugs obscenely profitable. Years ago I knew a friend who got into it, and he made over $20,000 in one weekend by simply driving a car across the border once. (He ended up getting in trouble unfortunately, though he's much better now and no longer involved.) If a person is willing to put up with the risk, there are few more profitable businesses. I've heard recent figures around $400 billion per year globally. So you've probably got cartels that were they legitimate businesses would be on the Fortune 500. With profits like that, large-scale operations have a lot of money to throw around to bribe cops, judges, government officials, etc. So as a result, the large cartels end up with a privileged position. Smaller operations that cannot afford to have such people on their payroll get targeted preferentially. Look into the history of bootlegging in Chicago in the 20s. It's the same kind of thing. The horrible thing about prohibition is that it's such a potent force for institutional corruption. The naiveté of the soccer moms that support it is disgusting. They all need to be beaten with a reality stick.
    - philwelch 15y ago
      > They don't "run countries," Look at Mexico. They might not run the country yet, but they're giving it a go for sure.
    - taligent 15y ago
      But of course you have ZERO evidence of US cops, judges, officials being involved in large scale drug trafficking. And how exactly does a corrupt judge work given the appellate process?
      - api 15y ago
        One Google query and 30 seconds of browsing netted: http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/police_corruption_report.pdf http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/police_corruption_repor... and http://articles.cnn.com/2006-11-02/justice/sheriff.indictment_1_indictment-law-enforcement-drug-sniffing-dogs?_s=PM:LAW http://articles.cnn.com/2006-11-02/justice/sheriff.indictmen... and http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/11/1107.html http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/11/1107.html It's not hard to see the source of the temptation... http://www1.salary.com/police-officer-Salary.html http://www1.salary.com/police-officer-Salary.html
      - drivebyacct2 15y ago
        >And how exactly does a corrupt judge work given the appellate process? Seriously? I can think of a handful of cases, let alone methods, without even resorting to Google.
      - ktizo 15y ago
        Mexico drug plane used for US 'rendition' flights: report (AFP) – Sep 4, 2008 MEXICO CITY (AFP) — A private jet that crash-landed almost one year ago in eastern Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine had previously been used for CIA "rendition" flights, a newspaper report said here Thursday, citing documents from the United States and the European Parliament. The plane was carrying Colombian drugs for the fugitive leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, when it crash-landed in the Yucatan peninsula on September 24, El Universal reported. The daily said it had obtained documents from the United States and the European Parliament which "show that that plane flew several times to Guantanamo, Cuba, presumably to transfer terrorism suspects." It said the European Parliament was investigating the private Grumman Gulfstream II, registered by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, for suspected use in CIA "rendition" flights in which prisoners are covertly transferred to a third country or US-run detention centers. It also said the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) logbook registered that the plane had traveled between US territory and the US military base in Guantanamo. It said the FAA registered its last owner as Clyde O'Connor in Pompano Beach, Florida. Extraordinary rendition has been harshly criticized since it began in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. link - http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6QonBKKMo2gw1e3ql-xUcQEZbVg http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6QonBKKMo2gw1e3ql-xUcQE...
  - philwelch 15y ago
    The money goes from the tobacco, and alcohol manufacturers to the lobbyists to the reelection campaigns for the politicians that eliminate their competition. Pretty decent racket. There are similar rackets for Hollywood movies, petroleum, automobiles.... As api points out, there are also drug rackets and cartels that sell the nominally illegal stuff. Those guys can bend cops to eliminate their competition as well.
    - api 15y ago
      Yeah, that's a whole other issue... Having seen people who smoke a lot of marijuana and people who drink a lot of alcohol, I can say with absolute certainty that alcohol is a far more dangerous drug. Ever known a hard-core alcoholic? That stuff eats your soul. It's at least on par with heroin.
      - excuse-me 15y ago
        It's not just the user it's the cost to society. Look at the Stanley cup riots last year - can you imagine the carnage if they had all been out of their skulls on BC-bud rather than beer.
        api 15y ago
        "Dude, they lost... that totally sucks, man. Hey, is there a pizza joint around here?"
        excuse-me 15y ago
        I'm pretty sure that smoking a joint instantly turns you into a crack addicted prostitute with greasy hair and spots - while drinking alcohol makes you a suave and sophisticated cool dude. Then I stopped watching TV commercials.
- taligent 15y ago
  Seriously. Why don't you just wake up and get a grip. The majority of the countries on this planet have similar drug policies to the US. They aren't all corrupt and in many countries the policies are quite effective. So to rant on like a crazy person about corruption and conspiracies just makes you sound unstable. There are many practical areas that the US can focus on like better border controls rather than opening up the can of worms that is legalising all drugs.
  - api 15y ago
    Which countries have policies like the U.S. that are quite effective? I only know of Singapore, where drugs carry a death penalty, and that's far less ethical than any kind of drug trafficking. Also: I find it kind of amazing that there are still people naive enough to call me a paranoid conspiracy nut or "unstable" for suggesting that... gasp... there might be corruption in the world. A paranoid conspiracy nut is someone who thinks that the world's leaders are shape shifting reptiles or that everything is run by a secret cabal linked to some kind of ancient secret society. I'm just suggesting that a large-scale illegal business with profits in the hundreds of billions and cash flow probably near $1 trillion might have an interest in putting a few people on the payroll.
    - watty 15y ago
      Of course corruption exists, no one claimed different. The blanket statements are what make you seem like a crazy. Such as "Who do you think the DEA is enforcing for?". Come on, really? Corruption was not the reason drugs became illegal and it's not the reason drugs are still illegal.
  - thinkdevcode 15y ago
    There are quite a few studies that show the correlation between legalizing drugs and domestic crime - Portugal being one of the most cited - and it's been shown that legalizing drugs actually decreases crime. We should be sending drug addicts to rehabilitation centers... Not prison, where drugs are rampant and only further increases the drug addicts dependence on narcotics.

api 15y ago

It's dangerous to compete with state-protected real drug cartels. In all seriousness... does anyone think the present-day prohibition racket isn't just as corrupt as what was going on in the 1920s? Drug Enforcement Agency... who do you think they're enforcing for? It's almost impossible that it wouldn't be that corrupt. There is just too much freaking money involved, the stakes too high, for massive numbers of people to not be on the take.

watty 15y ago
State-protected real drug cartels and prohibition rackets... can you expand? These drugs aren't just illegal here, are similar drug cartels running countries around the world?
- api 15y ago
  They don't "run countries," but there is massive corruption. Prohibition is basically a price-fixing scheme, and makes illegal drugs obscenely profitable. Years ago I knew a friend who got into it, and he made over $20,000 in one weekend by simply driving a car across the border once. (He ended up getting in trouble unfortunately, though he's much better now and no longer involved.) If a person is willing to put up with the risk, there are few more profitable businesses. I've heard recent figures around $400 billion per year globally. So you've probably got cartels that were they legitimate businesses would be on the Fortune 500. With profits like that, large-scale operations have a lot of money to throw around to bribe cops, judges, government officials, etc. So as a result, the large cartels end up with a privileged position. Smaller operations that cannot afford to have such people on their payroll get targeted preferentially. Look into the history of bootlegging in Chicago in the 20s. It's the same kind of thing. The horrible thing about prohibition is that it's such a potent force for institutional corruption. The naiveté of the soccer moms that support it is disgusting. They all need to be beaten with a reality stick.
  - philwelch 15y ago
    > They don't "run countries," Look at Mexico. They might not run the country yet, but they're giving it a go for sure.
  - taligent 15y ago
    But of course you have ZERO evidence of US cops, judges, officials being involved in large scale drug trafficking. And how exactly does a corrupt judge work given the appellate process?
    - api 15y ago
      One Google query and 30 seconds of browsing netted: http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/police_corruption_report.pdf http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/police_corruption_repor... and http://articles.cnn.com/2006-11-02/justice/sheriff.indictment_1_indictment-law-enforcement-drug-sniffing-dogs?_s=PM:LAW http://articles.cnn.com/2006-11-02/justice/sheriff.indictmen... and http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/11/1107.html http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/11/1107.html It's not hard to see the source of the temptation... http://www1.salary.com/police-officer-Salary.html http://www1.salary.com/police-officer-Salary.html
    - drivebyacct2 15y ago
      >And how exactly does a corrupt judge work given the appellate process? Seriously? I can think of a handful of cases, let alone methods, without even resorting to Google.
    - ktizo 15y ago
      Mexico drug plane used for US 'rendition' flights: report (AFP) – Sep 4, 2008 MEXICO CITY (AFP) — A private jet that crash-landed almost one year ago in eastern Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine had previously been used for CIA "rendition" flights, a newspaper report said here Thursday, citing documents from the United States and the European Parliament. The plane was carrying Colombian drugs for the fugitive leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, when it crash-landed in the Yucatan peninsula on September 24, El Universal reported. The daily said it had obtained documents from the United States and the European Parliament which "show that that plane flew several times to Guantanamo, Cuba, presumably to transfer terrorism suspects." It said the European Parliament was investigating the private Grumman Gulfstream II, registered by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, for suspected use in CIA "rendition" flights in which prisoners are covertly transferred to a third country or US-run detention centers. It also said the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) logbook registered that the plane had traveled between US territory and the US military base in Guantanamo. It said the FAA registered its last owner as Clyde O'Connor in Pompano Beach, Florida. Extraordinary rendition has been harshly criticized since it began in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. link - http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6QonBKKMo2gw1e3ql-xUcQEZbVg http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6QonBKKMo2gw1e3ql-xUcQE...
- philwelch 15y ago
  The money goes from the tobacco, and alcohol manufacturers to the lobbyists to the reelection campaigns for the politicians that eliminate their competition. Pretty decent racket. There are similar rackets for Hollywood movies, petroleum, automobiles.... As api points out, there are also drug rackets and cartels that sell the nominally illegal stuff. Those guys can bend cops to eliminate their competition as well.
  - api 15y ago
    Yeah, that's a whole other issue... Having seen people who smoke a lot of marijuana and people who drink a lot of alcohol, I can say with absolute certainty that alcohol is a far more dangerous drug. Ever known a hard-core alcoholic? That stuff eats your soul. It's at least on par with heroin.
    - excuse-me 15y ago
      It's not just the user it's the cost to society. Look at the Stanley cup riots last year - can you imagine the carnage if they had all been out of their skulls on BC-bud rather than beer.
      - api 15y ago
        "Dude, they lost... that totally sucks, man. Hey, is there a pizza joint around here?"
        excuse-me 15y ago
        I'm pretty sure that smoking a joint instantly turns you into a crack addicted prostitute with greasy hair and spots - while drinking alcohol makes you a suave and sophisticated cool dude. Then I stopped watching TV commercials.
taligent 15y ago
Seriously. Why don't you just wake up and get a grip. The majority of the countries on this planet have similar drug policies to the US. They aren't all corrupt and in many countries the policies are quite effective. So to rant on like a crazy person about corruption and conspiracies just makes you sound unstable. There are many practical areas that the US can focus on like better border controls rather than opening up the can of worms that is legalising all drugs.
- api 15y ago
  Which countries have policies like the U.S. that are quite effective? I only know of Singapore, where drugs carry a death penalty, and that's far less ethical than any kind of drug trafficking. Also: I find it kind of amazing that there are still people naive enough to call me a paranoid conspiracy nut or "unstable" for suggesting that... gasp... there might be corruption in the world. A paranoid conspiracy nut is someone who thinks that the world's leaders are shape shifting reptiles or that everything is run by a secret cabal linked to some kind of ancient secret society. I'm just suggesting that a large-scale illegal business with profits in the hundreds of billions and cash flow probably near $1 trillion might have an interest in putting a few people on the payroll.
  - watty 15y ago
    Of course corruption exists, no one claimed different. The blanket statements are what make you seem like a crazy. Such as "Who do you think the DEA is enforcing for?". Come on, really? Corruption was not the reason drugs became illegal and it's not the reason drugs are still illegal.
- thinkdevcode 15y ago
  There are quite a few studies that show the correlation between legalizing drugs and domestic crime - Portugal being one of the most cited - and it's been shown that legalizing drugs actually decreases crime. We should be sending drug addicts to rehabilitation centers... Not prison, where drugs are rampant and only further increases the drug addicts dependence on narcotics.