Sometimes Good Things Happen , Too

[Eighthman]

http://www.ussc.gov/Legislative_and_Public_Affairs/Newsroom/Press_Releases/20140410_Press_Release.pdf

Hot news on reducing drug sentences.  As a lover of liberty, this made me very happy.  In a world of endless threats, some very good thing are happening.

[ArMaP]

I'm either reading this wrong or we have a different definition of "good".

From what I could read about that "Drug Quantity Table" and the corresponding sentence levels, it looks like this applies mostly to those manufacturing and selling drugs and is intended to reduce the federal prison population.

Is that it or am I mixing everything up?

[Eighthman]

It's a positive move towards pulling the US away from having the highest incarceration rate on earth - and putting such people into treatment instead of prison. Saves tax $ and is more humane.

It is hard to understand a system that often spawns more hardship and damage than the crime it is supposed to suppress.

[ArMaP]

It's a positive move towards pulling the US away from having the highest incarceration rate on earth - and putting such people into treatment instead of prison. Saves tax $ and is more humane.

Treatment for what, selling drugs?

[Sgt.Rocknroll]

Some people see drug use as harmless. The ruined lives don't seem to matter. From the users to the dealers. It is far from harmless. It is a curse to human lives.

[Amaterasu]

May I point out that the "ruined lives" are ruined not from the use of a drug but from the legal and monetary concerns.  If drugs were free and One could choose them or not, with TRUTHFUL information about their effects available, very few lives would be "ruined."

[ArMaP]

May I point out that the "ruined lives" are ruined not from the use of a drug but from the legal and monetary concerns.  If drugs were free and One could choose them or not, with TRUTHFUL information about their effects available, very few lives would be "ruined."

That is ridiculous, do you really think that all the people that had their lives directly ruined by drugs didn't know what they were doing?

[Amaterasu]

Most People whose lives were "ruined" were ruined by the legal system (arrested, etc.) or by a system that rejects Their freedom to choose for Themselves (no jobs for any with a "record") or by drugs cut with adulterants to make more money.

Also, telling lies about substances (Reefer madness, etc.) leaves many unsure what the truth is.

Please show three examples of "lives ruined" that did not have any of these elements.  You will be hard pressed, I think.

[ArMaP]

Most People whose lives were "ruined" were ruined by the legal system (arrested, etc.) or by a system that rejects Their freedom to choose for Themselves (no jobs for any with a "record") or by drugs cut with adulterants to make more money.

I don't think that's the kind of "ruined life" Sgt.Rocknroll was talking about, and sure isn't the kind I was talking about.

Also, telling lies about substances (Reefer madness, etc.) leaves many unsure what the truth is.

The information is available, only the ones that do not want to know are left unsure.

Please show three examples of "lives ruined" that did not have any of these elements.  You will be hard pressed, I think.

No, I wouldn't be hard pressed, I know several cases (two of which ended in death of the drug user) of people having their lives ruined by drugs. None were arrested, in Portugal we only ask for criminal record in special cases (like working with children), and I have never seen any case of something like "Reefer madness" (I had to search for it, I didn't know about it), not even close.

[Sgt.Rocknroll]

Most People whose lives were "ruined" were ruined by the legal system (arrested, etc.) or by a system that rejects Their freedom to choose for Themselves (no jobs for any with a "record") or by drugs cut with adulterants to make more money.

Also, telling lies about substances (Reefer madness, etc.) leaves many unsure what the truth is.

Please show three examples of "lives ruined" that did not have any of these elements.  You will be hard pressed, I think.

I have learned from experience here to make my statement of my beliefs and not comment on the follow up, because I usually don't have tact and I can be pretty damn sharp tongued. BUT.....

I know people, personally that have had they're lives RUINED by drugs, and none have been arrested or convicted by the LEGAL system. And bringing up 'Reefer Madness' is a favorite tactic of the naive (showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment). You think that the average Joe Blow is going to sit down and say well lets see..hhhmmm...should I try heroin for the first time or should I stop and look up the info on the harmful effects that may happen to me......?...Really?...I go back to the definition....naive (showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment.

[Amaterasu]

... I know several cases (two of which ended in death of the drug user) of people having their lives ruined by drugs.

What were the particulars?  The details?

... and I have never seen any case of something like "Reefer madness" (I had to search for it, I didn't know about it), not even close.

Perhaps in Portugal You are unaware of the lies told to the English speaking countries about cannabis.  We were told it causes criminal insanity by "reputable" sources, by the MSM.  In Congress there is record of the claims being made that it causes "brother to kill brother," and that it makes "black men want to rape white women."

With claims like these, and the actual facts being more or less exactly OPPOSITE of what was told as the truth, what data do We believe about anything from Whom?  With the profit motive involved in the whole choice question, any story that suits Their needs is suspect...and since They are opportunists seeking to find an angle from which to come with any of Our creative ideas, One can imagine Them constructing most anything (including injections of "hope" now and again - what is "real," ArMaP?  [smile]).

I have a thing to write.  BBL.

[sky otter]

yeah i'm kinda with sarge on this ..i don't have much tact either

We were told it causes criminal insanity by "reputable" sources, by the MSM
and you believed it.. now that's laughable

i don't want to be operated on by a surgeon who is using..i don't want to be a passenger of a
driver who is using...pilot, bus, train, firend..what have you
i don't want to be at a cash register of a user...
etc...etc..etc..

you want to sit on your butt at home and use.. do it..but don't go all poor pitiful you are being pickin  on crap

the laws are slow to change..but they are..stuff is legal in many places now..we'll see how that goes..
i'm waiting for the air space above colorado  to be quaranteen to planes...on the basis of impairment to pilots...bwhahahahahahahah

didn't read the link..guilty of laziness
as far as the sentence.... imo  ..the punishment should fit the 'crime'
you litter..you clean up highways
you use pot..you work in a drug clinic..cleaning up
you kill people ..you dig graves..by hand

sometimes i go literal

[Sgt.Rocknroll]

thanks Sky I think we think alike sometimes...some people are as I said naive or just have an agenda or just plain stupid....but thats my opinion and I'm sticking to it...this will be my last post on the subject because there will be no end and it will go on, and on, and on.....

[ArMaP]

What were the particulars?  The details?

Details of what?

Perhaps in Portugal You are unaware of the lies told to the English speaking countries about cannabis.

I may be unaware of how things happen in the US (I don't know about other English speaking countries, and I don't know if you know either), and this is about all drugs, not just about cannabis and your own personal opinions. In case you haven't noticed, the world is more than just Amaterasu. 

We were told it causes criminal insanity by "reputable" sources, by the MSM.

And young people (the ones most likely to be affected by drugs) listen carefully to what the MSM says, and they never listen to their friends, right?

In Congress there is record of the claims being made that it causes "brother to kill brother," and that it makes "black men want to rape white women."

If there is real data please point to it.

With claims like these, and the actual facts being more or less exactly OPPOSITE of what was told as the truth, what data do We believe about anything from Whom?

What actual facts?

[burntheships]

May I point out that the "ruined lives" are ruined not from the use of a drug but from the legal and monetary concerns.  If drugs were free and One could choose them or not,

Amy,

About your statements: People are already free to choose drugs,
or reject them. No one is forced to use illegal drugs of any kind;
regardless of whether any Government has provided "truthful"
information.

Now about the statement that "if drugs were free"

If illegal drugs were "free" more lives would be ruined by them