Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
American drug czar John Walters would be proud. Tearing a page from his "pot smoking supports terrorism" playbook, the Israeli Anti-Drug Authority this week launched a new campaign featuring Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in hopes of deterring Israelis from smoking marijuana.
(haaretz.com)
The new campaign, with its linkage of marijuana and terrorism, comes just a week after senior Israeli security sources told Israeli media that Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a stand-off in the summer of 2006, is planning to flood the country with drugs in an effort to harm its citizens. That same day, Israeli police and IDF troops seized the largest shipment of heroin ever confiscated on the border with Lebanon, some 60 pounds.
Lebanese hash has been a staple of the Israeli drug scene for decades, but no one is growing opium there. The heroin most likely came on a long journey from the valleys of Afghanistan. But if Israel is really concerned about local potheads putting money in Hezbollah's hands, it could solve that problem by allowing domestic, regulated cultivation of cannabis.
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Comments
someone suggested Israel respond by bombing Hezbollah ...
with pornography. Hit 'em in their weak spot. As far as who's responsible for where Israel's hash comes from, it's of course the drug warriors themselves. They're too busy using alcohol to bother to even try to explain why they can use alcohol but other good folks can't use cannabis. Who's gonna respect a law that is ludicrously unfair? Look in the mirror guys.
Please
But if Israel is really concerned about local potheads putting money in Hezbollah's hands, it could solve that problem by allowing domestic, regulated cultivation of cannabis.
Now now your talking all logical and shit.. Stop that.
Middle East Cannabis
As you can see, the world is ramping up to wipe out cannabis use. There is no longer so called zones of tolleration. Somebody has figured out that black market pot production is performed by the criminal elements of society who will readily join up any organization that is basically against the government. This formula is true in the middle east as it is in the urban cores of America...Where people rountinely break the law _ anyhow- armed gangs and dope are part of the social response equasion.
For every front line terror rifleman shooting- there are a dozen softer impact confderates supplying his ammunition, food. bed and escape routes. same for the dope gangs in America- for every front line pot dealer out there, - there are a dozen soft impact confederates backing him up- the grower, the manicurist, the transporter, the border crosser.. This cannabis black market system is already in place- Making pot legal would not do away with a black market- it would just attract more players and flood the market with product.
And as Adam Smith would put it: " reduced overall opportunities as new merchants appear "- there would likely be escalated new violence as not exactly fair player grey market dealers step up efforts eliminate any interlopers as well as upgrade their firepower aimed at the police.
In short -evidence suggests any gesture towards legal pot at this stage of the game in America would just make things worse. Much worse.
It's too late to legalize marijuana in America- the window for ant rasonable compromise is closed. Here comes yet another decade of cannabis chaos because most human beings do not want to see marijuana prevail . Prohibition as much as you might not approve of it is indeed winning, slowly but surely. Maybe adjust your expectations for the decade ahead.
In reply to Middle East Cannabis by Anonymous (not verified)
Oh dear Lord.
Ever hear of an Alcohol dealer? Ever hear of people smuggling huge amounts of alcohol into various countries to sell on the black market? I'll bet you haven't. Why?
Because when a substance is legally regulated and manufactured domestically, it is MUCH cheaper than importing it illegally from around the world. Let's forget for a second that marijuana is easy enough to grow that it doesn't even NEED to be smuggled into the U.S.
Are you seriously supporting a government-issue conspiracy theory claiming that terrorist cells within the U.S. are growing, importing, and distributing marijuana to launder money to pay for their jihad? It's much more likely for marijuana to be grown by someone with access to the internet and a conviction to grow it.
Now, consider the scenario of John-Doe potsmoker in an ideal society where marijuana is legal. Here are his following options for obtaining marijuana:
1) He buys all the equipment to grow it. He spends a LOT of time tending to the plants to ensure they are healthy and potent. He also spends a few extra hundred dollars a month in electric bills. After several weeks of hard work, he can finally smoke his self-grown cheeba. That is after he harvests, cures, and dries the product.
2) He goes to the "black market" drug dealer. For the purpose of argument, lets say the price would be of the average street value weed today. Depending on the time of year and the location, I would say this is between 50-100 dollars for an ounce of "schwag" and 200-400 dollars for an ounce of "dank".
3) He goes to 7-11 and buys a pack of marijuana cigarettes for 10 dollars.
Do you seriously believe most citizens would NOT choose option 3? Some might choose 1, as a hobby, but if marijuana were legal and taken up by major competing manufacturers, customers would have a variety of brands to choose from just like cigarettes. Mass production = less expensive product.
As far as the whole "pot supports terrorism" goes.. the entire concept is obsurd. If America wisened up and legalized, regulated, and taxed the product, it would reap the financial rewards of the product instead of letting a multi-billion dollar cash-crop flow freely into the black market. MAYBE you would have a case with heroin or opiates. But then you would have to question our legal pharmaceutical market, wouldn't you? Considering the ingredients and all.
Since you're probably too God-damn stupid to understand anything I just said, here's a paraphrased version of what I just explained:
Drug prohibition supports and inadvertantly funds terrorism.
Legal drug manufacturers (Alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, etc) support drug prohibition in order to keep their profits.
In reply to Oh dear Lord. by Anonymous (not verified)
P.S.
Israel was the topic, but their political propaganda mirrored the U.S.' propaganda claiming the same thing, so I focused my arguments on America. However, the same principles are true of every country.
In reply to Oh dear Lord. by Anonymous (not verified)
ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
I COULDNT AGREE MORE WITH YOU. I GOT BUSTED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO FOR INTENT TO PURCHASE A POUND OF POT. A COUPLE OLD FRIENDS AND I ALWAYS SPLIT A POUND. SAVES MONEY AND YOU HAVE A RELIABLE STASH. I GOT NARCED OUT BY THE GUY ' RAY LEWIS FROM OREGON IL'. I DIDNT GO TO JAIL BUT IT COST ME MY CUSTOM TRUCK,3000$ AND A COUPLE THOUSAND FOR FINES. AROUND SEVEN OR EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS. I GOT PROBATION FOR 30 MONTHS ALSO. I DIDNT EVEN HAVE ANY POT,JUST INTENT. ITS ALL ABOUT THE COUNTY OF WHITESIDE IL STEALING MONEY FROM RESIDENTS . THE ECONOMY IS NO GOOD WHEN THE LOCAL STEEL MILL WENT DOWN THEY NEEDED FUNDING SO THEY ARREST EVERYONE AND ANYONE TO DEVELOPE A CASH FLOW.
Cannabis a threat?
Of course cannabis is linked to terrorism by governments. After all, fuels and medicines from cannabis strikes terror into the hearts of fossil fuel and pharmaceutical executives.
That's why the drug "czar" with his unconstitutional title of nobility, of a cruel and despotic ruler, seeks to promote that message. Government sees its job as protecting the Lords of Loot from any competition from renewable and sustainable alternatives.
â Thomas Jefferson
In reply to Cannabis a threat? by David Dunn (not verified)
Big-Pharma trembles
Free, cheap medicine you can grow in your closet... now what's wrong with that?
Making pot legal would not do away with a black market?
The most important thing that depends on is probably the price of legal, and presumably taxed cannabis. If the price is too high this post above is absolutely right, but if the tax is reasonable the gangs won't be able to compete.
I'm concerned about what the drug gangs will do after prohibition too, I think an amnesty for dealers who declare their illegal and untaxed income will be necessary to keep them from using their immense firepower to create even more grief than they're doing now. Maybe I'm wrong.
marijuana prohibition
marijuana prohibition increases prices and profits, this gives bad people the incentives to grow it, sell it, and fund their paramilitaries
everything legally traded is also traded on black market
find me a good or service that cannot be performed equally by both the taxed market and black market, besides, cannabis is easy to grow outside and nobody who had property and security to grow it would ever need to buy it
smoking cannabis is inefficient and unhealthy, the best way is to make oils with it and ingest it, in this way, a little bit goes a long way
The truth of the matter is-
The truth of the matter is- that Drugs do fund terrorism. This is not propaganda. Literally dozens of tons of hash from the Bekaa valley finds its way into Israel every year over their northern bordern and dozens more from the Sinai creeps over the fence to the south.
Israel is a commuter state for not only drugs, but people, guns, and all sorts of other things.
Of course logic should prevail and more allowed to grow pot, thus eliminating the hash trade in Lebanon and the pot growing fields of the Sinai that fund Hezbollah and Hamas.
Buying pot in Israel is not only expensive, but truly a way to support killing your brother. Shitty situation.
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