Quote:
Originally Posted by Sangetsu
But drugs have not been legalized in Portugal, merely decriminalized. "Decriminalized" does not mean "legal". Possess any amount of drugs in Portugal, and you are subject to arrest. If you are caught with drugs, they will be taken away from you, and you will be arrested until you are interviewed by a commissioner. You will be fined, you will be required to perform whatever service you are sentenced to. You will also be required to see a drug abuse counselor, and receive addiction treatment if it is thought necessary.
Please to not tell people that drugs are legal in Portugal when they aren't.
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If semantics are the issue, then yes, I should have said "decriminalized" and not "legal". Alcohol is "legal" in the US, but illegal if you are under 21, drink too much of it in public, drink too much of it and drive...etc.
So it is "illegal" but there is no "criminal penalty".
Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work? - TIME
... Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal's drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy.
Decriminalized or legalized, it worked in the very Catholic country of Portugal, and I think it could work here in the US.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sangetsu
Marijuana does have a death count, and a ridiculously high one at that. Do you know how many murders were committed in Mexico last year? More than 2000 were killed in Juarez alone, and that number will be surpassed this year.
Why are these murders being committed? Because the drug cartels are fighting over the few remaining smuggling routes into America. The most common drug being imported is marijuana.
My mother lives near the border, and hears the news stories every day. A police chief was killed by drug smugglers last year because he dared to try and stop them. But the smugglers weren't happy with just killing him, so they showed up at his funeral and killed his family as well.
Those of you in America who smoke pot in America are the ones to blame for these thousands of deaths. You think marijuana is harmless, not realizing that people are killing and dying just so you can get high.
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Imagine what would happen if the government sold marijuana at pennies on the dollar of what the drug cartels sell it at. How many lives would that save a year? Decriminalization means no more money to drug cartels. Thousands of lives would be saved every year.