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Europe: Leading Dutch Bank Shuns Cannabis Coffee Shop Accounts

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #565)
Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy

In yet another sign of the cross-currents buffeting the Netherlands' cannabis industry, a leading Dutch bank announced it was closing the accounts of people who owned coffee shops. The move comes as Dutch social conservatives, including members of the governing coalition, are making increasingly loud noises about criminality in the supply of cannabis to the coffee shops.

Postbank logo
Postbank announced the move last Friday. Part of the Dutch financial services giant ING Group, the Postbank has some 7.5 million private account holders and provides current and savings accounts, loans, mortgages, insurance, investments and pensions, making it one of the largest providers of financial services in the country. Postbank has no branches, but some services are available at post offices, and otherwise operates completely through land mail and telephone and electronic banking.

A bank spokesman said that facilitating the marijuana and hashish trade can no longer be considered responsible. In addition to closing existing accounts, the bank will now screen new customers to ensure they are not involved in the cannabis business.

Under Dutch practice for the past three decades, marijuana sales and consumption remains technically illegal, but tolerated in practice through the licensed coffee shop system. But the Dutch system does not provide for a legal source of supply to the coffee shops, thus providing an opening for organized crime groups to get involved.

The move by Postbank sparked an angry response from the coffee shop trade association, the Cannabis Retailers Union. The group condemned the bank for what it called a hypocritical and moralistic crusade. The retailers noted that the bank is not canceling loans or mortgages made to people in the trade because that could impact its bottom line.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Is this the same bank that has been heavily advertising its savings interest rates here in the USA? I opened an online savings account last year with them. Maybe it's time to close it up...

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 11:33am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

so much for ING and it's rosy ORANGE accounts. Hypocrites. Prohibition of Cannabis is a total failure.

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 12:43pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I opened an ING account because of the high interest rate.

Now because of ING's attitude towards getting high, I'm closing my account.

I hope enough people will do the same, to send a message to these politically incorrect hypocrites.

I wonder if they will shut down or continue to do business in Colombia, and other countries where cocaine and heroin are a large part of the economy?

Music Director

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 3:12pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Hmm.. so much for going financially alternative,, Cannabis Inc still needs to fit in with the rest of the world, and it appears the rest of the world doesn't want them around..Imagine the hassles the banks would have to endure as Cannabis Inc gets shook down ( like they tend to do ) and their financial records investigated? Just more hassles from uncompliant clients

Truth is Pot = subtrafuge,on every level you can imagine. Has been, is and likely will stay subtrafugistic . There is no honorable place for this pirate drug industry in the real world, a world that is much huger. more realistic than the fuzzy fringe stoner reality

So go ahead stoners, quit your ING account-stick it to the man with your loose change- they would rather you just left anyhow..go back to jam jars full of coins where you belong

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 3:17pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

while you may be correct to a certain extent, that does not mean that it is right. we are fighting for what is right, and our human/civil rights, not what you and countless many other ignorant people want.

The proof is there that the cencus of marijuana users (whether medicinal or personal), and VICTIMS of the stupidity of the US Government's 'War on Drugs' is growing more and more every year, DOCTORS should make these decisions, NOT police.

Furthermore, since keeping marijuana illegal odviously does not affect you or your life, then why not decriminalize it? Go ahead, give us one good logical reason.

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 3:51pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Why am I closing my ING Direct account?
As a US citizen who makes over 200k per year and smokes to keep stress of 200k job at bay I smoke weed.
Ive been to the Dam numerous times and mostly found amateurs posing as criminals. ING is making a judgement call on what it calls immoral. I am making a judgement call that says, I am going back to a US based bank becasue as immoral as they are, they are not going to ask me what I do with my business affairs.
FVUYK ING. I am also selling all my shares of ING which I bought at $7 per share.
So fcyk you two times ING

Sat, 12/27/2008 - 6:39pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

to spite its' face? Fine, if it wants to ride a moral high horse, it should immediately divest itself of all ill-gotten capital thanks to money laundering, which just about every major bank in the world engages in, courtesy of the obscene profits generated by drug prohibition. It's unavoidable; the US's own currency is about 70-90% tainted with cocaine residue.

I wonder how long it would take Postbanks auditors to realize just how much dirty money is keeping the international banking industry afloat...and to divest themselves of their share of it would be the equivalent of committing financial hara-kiri.

Nothing like hypocrisy in high places...

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 3:43pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

All Pot Smokers should close their bank accounts immediately with any banks that harm the Coffee Shops Owners. Then boycott All services provided by this bank.

Coffee Shop Owners should ask their customers to ask their friends & family to boycott the banks as well.

After the banks lose business, services fee - the banksters will learn that Pot Smokers deserve respect & should be appreciated.

VOTE with you pocketbook!

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 9:31pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Keeping pot prohibitiion is top shape and walling off intoxicated retards affects me profoundly- thats why we comment here, so the perma stoners can see more opinion than their own stale stoner state selfish statements that , as you may have noticed over the last 75 years/ four generations- nobody but dedicated stoners cares about-- Lucky for you lost bong jockeys there is a 420 crybaby forum such as this to give you the impression that your going nowhere " intoxication for the nation" cause is valid and progressing- when you can see for yourself the stoners are getting jailed in record numbers..

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 10:16pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

"forum such as this to give you the impression that your going nowhere " intoxication for the nation" cause is valid and progressing-"

The drug reform movement IS progressing (and you know it). Why else would you even have come here?

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 3:15am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

You are incorrect- about all of your assumptions however i bet you exibti classic emotionally blunt vague stoner brain burps as you confuse selfish rage with social enlightenment-- another reason why your escape hatch rdugs will never ever ever be made legal- we already have more than enough fuzzy logic 420 retards without creating , aiding or abetting any more.. So be glad we leave you alone to get wasted in your basement--jgo ahead and waste your life down by the laundyroom - just stay off our streets and out of our public spaces if you insist on self dumbing down to subhumanity

Sat, 12/20/2008 - 2:12am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I think, if you support "prohibition", you support an ongoing criminal enterprise. So, you are a CRIMINAL. Our officials have proven that for over thirty five years, they can't or won't stop the flow of drugs into our neighborhoods. That leaves only the outlaws in charge, they love the blackmarket profits. But hey, why should you care? It's only about stoners? No Mr. genius its about our government, and individuals like you who refuse to face facts. Continuing the oh so failed policy of prohibition, is a huge festering sore on the face of our great country.

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 7:04pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Masturbatory rape is not a crime! Support tougher penalties for involuntary fisting! I can lick my own rectum. I love you Dick Van Dyke... Or is it Penis Van Lesbian?

Sat, 12/20/2008 - 3:15am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

the guy is a jerk, nonsensical superficial jabber. Everybody with a brain knows the damage of prohibition to society.

Sat, 12/20/2008 - 4:48am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

..oh BTW.. as you must know this downswing in support for the stoner nation is happening in Holland, the apex of all things wipeheadistic..th vry centre of whats happening with the 420 weather..meanwhile the real world in America still hunts your retards down and has never dabbled with embracing a hash cafe legacy as a way of dealing with chemical dependant goofs.. get detoxed yourself or be dragged into detox.. there are any number of reasonably prices detox opps, note that they sponcer this stoner news webpage! they are all over the margins! take your pick
what does that tell you? E

Everybody with a drug soaked brain knows the damage to society that drugs do and why prohibition, although not perfect. is better than letting doped up maniacs run wild.. I'm sure your Mon=m is disappointed that all you can get excited about, and having any motovation for is getting high..
Being numb is half the fun- and you enrich criminal assholes to do it.. no wonder the cops sweep you up like dog waste

Sat, 12/20/2008 - 2:28pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

thank you for evaluating my life. you really have given me insite into how i'm just dog waste. you really know so much about me.you should go door to door or maybe go to concerts and yell at people smoking cannabis.you really show such a good example of a non illegal drug user.
i would love to parade you around my friends! your hatred really shows how much you really care about me.don't give up man! drug free world bro! we'll kill them all! put them in gas chambers! torture them! hate hate hate hate!!!!

Sun, 12/21/2008 - 12:38pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Ever hear the logic, if they can't buy it legal they won't buy it? Ever hear about "Organized crime"? Ever think maybe after all this time maybe we should try something different? Or maybe you have a money stake in supporting "prohibition"? Or maybe like so many others, you have your tiny mind made up, so don't confuse me with facts. Whatever your reasons, the facts are, you do support criminals and their underworld dealings. The "cops", please, they are impotent, for over thirty five years they have proven that they are afraid of real criminals. They will bust a smoker however they never seem to catch the Big guys. Wonder why that is? And have you ever heard of a street dealer checking for ID? So, my dear friend, I'm sure you mean well, but the fact is you are supporting criminals!!!

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 7:28pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Was the same for acohol not to long ago or did your "non drug adled" brain forgot?

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 10:41am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

People who are against drugs seem to forget a major part of the argument. It does not matter if the drugs are harmful its their right as U.S. citizens to do what ever they want to their own bodies. I can understand how people dislike the idea of some one hurting themselves in such a way as well as the possibility of them becoming harmful to others but we have laws in place to prevent people from assaulting one another. We cannot begin to attack civil rights to make things easier or to make our selves feel safer.

Even if these rights are taken away the repercussions can be as immediately grave as the future consequences, such as mass incarcerations of people who have just started and have a great chance of getting off of the drug versus a minority in society becoming violent after prolonged drug-caused mental anguish and the resulting poverty. Imagine all the doctors, scientists, politicians, and artists that could have been if they had not had their lives destroyed by the bad luck of being caught for something as simple as cannabis possession.

I can see how people dislike drugs and the people who use them but you should not forget that these are human beings and have an entire life history and a range of thought and emotion as wide and varied as you or any one you know( and love).

Sat, 12/20/2008 - 6:27pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

It may be true that you feel you have the right to do whatever you wish to your own body.. but please can you explain how using impure, overpriced controlled substances that are smuggled into America is treating yourself to liberty? That is trespassing on everybody elses right to live in a safe and accountable society.

Even the pot in Holland is produced by someone else- usually not the user- and a cycle of dependency has been created already- outside the law. so in effect - using drugs means someone has to give up doing more useful work in agriculture or science to produce your high.. and that is not shaped by whether the party drug is legal or not..

I hear a lot about drug liberty but I hear nothing about responsibility that goes with drug liberty- would you give up dope if it can be shown that market funds sustainable criminality and / or that badly paid or unwilling workers were enlisted all their lives in the production of your drug?

Other people in this world have liberty as well please do not forget..they are not engaged in the drug trade because its legal- they are engaged in the drug trade because there is money in it for someone way at the top.

You say its your freedom to injest whatever substance you wish and too bad for me if I don;t like that ? well I say its my freedom to thwart any expansion of the drug black market and too bad for you if you don;t like that..

Sat, 12/20/2008 - 9:28pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

article 29 of the U.N. charter of human rights:
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others.

That is the most sane explanation i have ever heard for imposing laws on others.It seems to be the basis for any sane law.For instance, it applies to laws against murder, rape, theft, and anything that reduces human freedom. freedom is the true purpose of law.

"please can you explain how using impure, overpriced controlled substances that are smuggled into America is treating yourself to liberty?" so you want to end prohibition too?

"You say its your freedom to injest whatever substance you wish and too bad for me if I don;t like that ? well I say its my freedom to thwart any expansion of the drug black market and too bad for you if you don;t like that.."
freedom?

"too bad for you"
why would you say that? do you realize you hate the way a racist or a homophobe would hate. we often project onto others our own shortcomings and flaws without realizing our own.legal drugs are the most damaging, addictive and toxic substances around. Statisticly domestic violence rarely occurs without alcohol.etc

and by the way...your "freedom" to thwart the "drug black market" merely creates more drug use, more death, disease and crime.

good luck with your hatred my friend

Sun, 12/21/2008 - 12:24pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I can explain... I don't use impure, overpriced, illegal substances. Organically grown marijuana is one of natures purest medicines... and yes recreational drugs... and if not for the cost of security would be dirt cheap... compared to unnatural man made drugs! And, marijuana technically is not illegal... prohibition is illegal.... currently under the guise of regulation.... which is not based on harm but politics and social acceptability. How else do you explain the legality of the two most lethal drugs on earth -- not including god & gov't -- which is alcohol and tobacco?

Hope the next time you see people using those drugs you assume they too are drug addicts and that are all acting irresponsibly, if not illegally, and deserve to loss inalienable rights.

I challenge you to explain to me how 'I' or others that recreate responsibly are violating anyones rights... You've got it entirely ass backwards.

When you are really ready to measure the things that harm society... be sure to put yourself..., and your anti-choice viewpoint near the very top!

Viva La Fascism

Mon, 12/22/2008 - 5:08pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

"I hear a lot about drug liberty but I hear nothing about responsibility that goes with drug liberty"

Hurting other people will always be illegal, and we want it to continue being illegal.

Another thing is, even if you believe there should always be a punishment for using drugs, what is the necessity of prohibition? If drugs are harmful, they come with the punishment themselves. There is no need for the government to add consequences. It's the perfect degree of punsihment, too. Using marijuana, for example, which is less harmful (and thus tends to be considered less "immoral") than cocaine, naturally results in less of a punishment than using cocaine. Using a little bit of cocaine results in less of a punishment than using a lot of cocaine, etc.

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 2:30am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Sir, you are a jackass. Too bad if civil rights are trampled? Sir, do you have a money stake in continuing prohibition? If not, perhaps instead of shooting your mouth off with propaganda, tell us some real facts. I'll bet you believe the DEA and ONDCP, right? I think you must be some kind of a cop, real or pretend. But whatever you are, you would seem a bit more educated and intelligent, if you were to back up your words with real facts instead of your ideas. Which do not seem to be very well thought out.

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 7:42pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

quoting government documents you don;t understand..or uphold yourself.. for evidence you just make stuff up, hold an opinion up as fact- well sorry doesn't wash - no wonder you are getting nowhere but further marginalized..

BTW "more drug use, death, disease and crime" comes directly from the criminal underclass..aka stoners themselves, you may note these plagues are almost absent from the human world that dismisses party drug use. Half your delusion is blaming everybody else for the degrading, avoidable backwardness of stoner society. Anyone who points this out you call this insight " hatred ", no wonder nobody pays much attention to stoner fundimentalism, drug wobbled hearsay gets boring pretty quick.

I guess we will just have to watch the dope garbage barge sink and count the rats that drown. How long can you tread water?

Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:23pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

come from prohibition 2.0, not from drug use per se.

This nation was founded on personal property rights, the most important (and very first) piece of property any individual owns is his/her own body. When a government bans some or all intoxicants, the government is telling the people:
"You do not own your person, you do not own your body, the government owns you and the government will tell you what you may do with or to your body, and if you do not obey the government will throw you in a cell for the best years of your life."
The idea that government owns the bodies of its citizens makes of those citizens subjects, slaves. It makes possible such atrocities as forcing surgery or chemotherapy on someone who dosn't want it. It makes possible the draft where young people are forced to become cannon fodder.

What kind of country, what kind of world do you want? One where you are a sovereign individual with the right to love your life as you see fit as long as you do not violate the equal right of another to do the same? Or one where your government owns you, body and soul?

Mon, 12/22/2008 - 4:23am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

if you actually owned yourself and took proper care of yourself, your property and your liberty-and kept a loving eye on your neibour the government wouldn't have to step in. They would much rather you grew up and did the right thing than having to dicipline a bunch of stoned out retards

I sort of think Thomas Jefferson would have upheld the Drug war as the proper action of a responsible government fighting a lethal activity that threatened the health, wealth and happiness of sane free people.

If you want to be a stoner, go live in Vancouver where nobody cares
if the pigeons eat you

Mon, 12/22/2008 - 7:06pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

do you have anything to say about the fact that the fight for black market profits is directly responsible for most murders in America? That wouldn't happen if drugs were legal. When was the last time someone selling alcohol did a drive-by shooting to take out the competition?

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 2:09am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

how come you found the need to throw that in there? And tell me, what percentage of people who are either abstinent or use alcohol/tobacco keep a loving eye on their neighbour?

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 2:54am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

This guy is a real work eh? Heh so overblown with his own "ideas" that he cant see the forest through the trees..or does he want to burn them down?

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 10:51am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I'm pretty sure it was Thomas Jefferson who said, A people who are willing to sacrifice there freedom for safety deserve neither Freedom nor Saftey,so I highly doubt he would have thought prohibition was the answer,the real answer is to tell our children the truth not lies like our government and the D.A.R.E. program feed them today,I agree drugs and kids do not mix and that education is the answer but not by Officer Friendly who tells them how bad it is to use drugs simply because they are illegal if you want to teach our kids about drugs have a doctor do it with real facts to back it up. Look nobody on here really cares about your opinion we know that our cause is just and righteous,and that Cannabis is the safest "drug" on the planet,even when compared to the numerous "legal drugs"on the market today,Tylenol seems pretty safe right,you or I or even our children can walk into any drug store and buy a bottle of 50 or so but take 13 and it'll be your last headache,and what about food,eating ten raw potatos can cause a toxic reaction and kill you,and what about the fact that more kids today are using prescription drugs than ever before in the history of this country did you think about that? Probably not your to focused on Cannabis and us so called "Stoners" to look at the issues really affecting todays generation of children, also known as generation Rx So.......

Save the Children!!!!Legalize Cannabis, Prohibit Tylenol,Potatos,and Prescriptions

Fri, 12/26/2008 - 11:41am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

it's interesting to see that those who believe in prohibition resort to the most irrational emotional outbursts in an attempt to compensate for there lack of an authentic argument. i believe that it's important for us who are trying bridge gaps and heal wounds to use this to our advantage and also not let them bring us down to there level.
"you can't solve a problem with the same level of awareness that created it"

let them overstep there bounds.
as we remain calm and collected

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 10:27am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

.. So the anti prohibitionists take turns recycling the same old whining, selfish moans about why its so great to be impaired, and pass it off as established truth...even why its the height of freedom to be not quite there. Its getting tiresome, all this vague disfunctional selfish stoner fundamentalism - don't bother us on our day off with your crack-odile tears- maybe ask yourself just why is that most people around the world are so against you if you are wonderful? why is it that stoners shoot each other, cheat each other, pass off trash to each other, never ever help each other when they get busted-- why stoners are all talk and no action, why stoners
are so cranky and boring, why their parents are ashamed of them, why their kids have no respect for them..why employers not only don't want them on staff, but because they lie & defraud have to chase them around with flasks to collect their pee?-- why other nations will bar you from ever working or visiting there? why when the police pull you over and learn you are a stoner they call for backup and then take you apart? why they look up your butthole with a flashlight and not anyone elses butthole????
why stoners have more than their share of illness both physical and mental.?? We have no sympathy for a condition you bring upon yourself sane people save all their compassion for those who really deserve it? And that isn't a bunch of overgrown crybaby dope fiends
I suppose the main complaint about stoners is their colossal selfishness, so continentally hugely selfish thy cut everybody off and blab on about their woes,, Be glad you have a crybaby club like this one to sit around and mouth off at the world that is passing you by.. a website that is clustered with advertisements about detox clinics, quit drug cures and the like.. nothing from any sacred stoner rescue league, no they beg you for cash handouts. To sane functional people this adds up to the the tragic sight of a million stoners trapped in a mudpit they dug themselves, and all we can do is keep curious kids from getting too close to the edge

We keep a loving eye open for you because frankly, stoners can't grasp that the source of their diaper rash is from their own inhierant wetness

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 3:55pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Didnt even bother to read this 1 as its the same nonsense from the same "person" that seems to have a personal agenda that has absolutly nothing to do with the actual facts.....in other words this guy/gal is a total waste of time on this topic

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 10:57am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I understand the concern of people who support prohibition who think that, if drugs were legal, society wouldn't be able to function. That is a misconception, though. The reason people think that is because they can't imagine that a drug user could have a job. However, according to the drug czar, 75% of drug users are employed. About 20% of the entire population uses illegal drugs. If the police were to succeed in catching everybody, that would mean that 20% of the population would be either in jail or unemployed because of a criminal record. How could society function then?

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 7:57pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

" That is a misconception" - because you say so,,
where do you get your research? from spray painted pillars under freeway bridges?? Society will function no matter what it has to deal with.. it is so much easier dealing with serious issues without 20% of everybody out there being a chemically compromised asshole.

A criminal record is not to make offenders feel guilty- it's to alert everybody else person under review has been an asshole in the past-- so 80% plus of the real world --beware..asshole alert..After the offender pays their debt to society, they can start again. at zero..
BTW suddenly the Drug Czar is a source you quote, believe and trust?

anybody want a kleenex? all we're getting here is stoner tears of rage..

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 8:31pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

"it is so much easier dealing with serious issues without 20% of everybody out there being a chemically compromised asshole."

And 80% will have to pay for maintaining the other 20%.

I think you sort of part from the premise that you can achieve a drug free society or something similar to it. You never will. You will always have about 20% of the population using illegal drugs and about 65% using alcohol. For ever and ever and ever. Are you willing to live in a society where 80% works to maintain the other 20% for ever and ever and ever? Maybe a totalitarian government could do [somewhat] better, but do you want to live under a totalitarian government (and still have, say, 9% of people using drugs and 65% using alcohol)?

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 11:26pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Your as bad as a negro hater from the days...youve got some sort of chip on your shoulder that seems to be stuck. You spout the same hate with every post...you must be a card carrying hater of the KKK era as you have no tolerance or morality when it comes to other peoples rights....for you its more like what rights should I let you have....go figure

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 11:01am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

65% of the population drinks alcohol. It would definitely be a better world if there was nobody in the world drinking alcohol. Why don't you try achieving that?
-------
So you say society will function no matter what it has to deal with? It will function even if people use drugs?
-------
You seem to be the kind of person who only takes people seriously if they don't use drugs, so maybe noble prize winner for economics Milton Friedman can get you to think a little:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLsCC0LZxkY

Maybe you prefer to hear from clergy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozJ-ccVrPkI

Maybe you prefer to hear from law enforcement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LayaGk0TMDc

Would you like to know the history of how drugs became illegal? Start here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFEGMj1YZi4

If you're interested, there are plenty of other videos from reputable sources and plenty of literature all over the internet about the history of why drugs became illegal. Go educate yourself and then come back. Don't assume I don't read reputable sources until you do the research yourself.

Tue, 12/23/2008 - 10:33pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Sorry one internet shot videos do not a wave of argument make-- however thats an interesting hobby you have, collecting excuses to be stoned from YouTube, I did educate myself on why drugs are controlled- and have been doing so for some time- I just so happened to reach a little farther than stoner websites. Yes society functions as people use party drugs- same way it carries on during / after a war or other disaster.. I take people seriously if they are serious- I don't readily accept stale old stoner whining about freedom to be an asshole as valid points in 2008

However, the odds are against the stoners and you know it. Society is not about to accept and accomodate the intoxo-mandate of the criminal underclass, But here's a hint_ brush up on your arguments- get clear and have acceptable facts ready- not YouTube clips and Jr. college level rhetoric. If you want laws to change and society to take you seriously- get serious- this whole page is girly crybaby entitlement weeps..and Deadhead chants, Honestly we have it all before and they put it much better "then" and still, it didn't fly..There are many credible drug studies done worldwide, by far they point to the problems of party drugs- socially, economically, politically- insight that will never make it to YouTube and lowbrow stoner fansites..And take note, the USA is no longer the leading research nation.. they did their studies a decade ago and is now in serious dismantle the drug supply- take down the users mode bigtime.. Perhaps you have noticed the stoners are losing the Drug War..

so unless you can show current studies, or better, your own experiences, save the rest of us your stale old dope spam

have a nice holiday- God loves you even if you are a stoner asshole

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 1:53am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

The putz speaks again

The war started when anslinger decided to make pot illegal to keep his peeps working. It was based on lies and raceism. Dont belive me? Look it up it was even on TV recently done by a major news show. The evidence is there but you need to open your eyes to see it dummy

P.S. Just cuase you say or think its so doesnt make it so no matter how bad you want it to...........

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 11:06am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

So hows it feel to be the minority? You and your olden views on drugs have been outdated for far to long. The majority of people in this country belive that the war on drugs is a complete failure. 14 States have legalized pot for medical reasons. Your and your ideas are so behind the times...im guessing that your associated with law enforcment in some way or had a child that was pulled into the drug war....something bad must have happened to you to blind you so against the truth. We can take you to water but only you can decide to drink. Either way untill you loose your "short sightedness" youll be of no use to anyone except the haters liars and others that promote this travesty on injustice.

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 11:13am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

So are there any studies that prove how the legal use of drugs would be more harmful than prohibition?

Wed, 12/24/2008 - 4:55am Permalink

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