http://www.tnr.com/blog/john-mcwhor...merica-the-rise-will-ride-the-anti-drug-war-w Poor Darnell, forced into a life of crime because blow ain't legal. Tsk tsk. That job as a stocker or cashier may not pay enough to afford the latest bleeding-edge tech gadgets, but it probably won't lead to a life of gang-banging, get you shot in a drive-by or land you in prison for 10-15 for drug traffiking. Having to choose between making an honest living even if it won't lead to fame & fortune, or money & the fast life even though you have to be a criminal & gangster to achieve it, is nothing new.
Well, I guess we'd better legalize carjacking, burglary, and armed robbery too, because if poor Darnell can't make his money on "victimless" crimes, he's going to have to turn to something else.
True in some cases but a lot of criminals can stomach selling drugs but won't be up for more violent crimes. Before crack America wasn't exactly being run over by armed robbers and car jackers. Legalizing harder drugs would squash the market and a lot of the dealers would have to turn to legitimate jobs.
Legalize it all. Everything you could possibly inject, inhale, or otherwise put into your body. Go for it. But, the moment you get behind the wheel of a car or do something to cause actual harm while under the influence of anything from cough syrup to cocaine and you're fucked. My penalties for DUI would be draconian. Like, permanent revocation of your driver's license on a first offense.
Define "more difficult", please. I refuse to grant the police the power to forcibly take people to a medical facility and have blood drawn based only on reasonable suspension. But, at the same time, I don't want to have to get the DA and a Judge or Magistrate out of bed and in the same room to get a warrant every time I get someone I know is impaired by something. Especially in the light of the Supreme Court saying I have approximately 15 minutes to get the warrant before I have to cut someone loose.
I would really have to put more thought than I'm willing to into this subject right now to come up with new standards. But I will say if you want to take away a Drivers License for life it needs to be hard to convict someone of being impaired. People would never go for this but would it really be that bad of an idea to have all cars come with a breathalyzer you had to blow to start? Just put the .08 limit on it and if you don't blow lower than that you have to wait an hour and try again.
I didn't realize that inconvenience for an agent of the state was the standard we should be reaching for, especially when what said agent knows is wrong. A couple of years back, my Mother in Law got pinched for doing 28 in a 25. Barney Fife though she was drunk because her speech was slurred. He drags her out of the car, has her do all the field sobriety nonsense and she fails. She doesn't drink. She has some neurological problems so she has some slurred speech, has balance issues, can't close her eyes and touch her nose. Well barney Fife knew she was drunk, knew he was going to be a hero to the masses, and knew he was getting another notch on his gun belt. Imagine his surprise when she blew a 0.0 on not one, but three different machines (I guess he figured the first two were out of calibration so he needed to go a third one). Not to be detered, he got the judge up, got him to sign a warrant, and they drew blood. Again, 0.0. She couldn't drive home after that because who would have thought someone who is anemic shouldn't be giving blood. The asshole who just knew she was a drunk had the balls to yell at her at the hospital for wasting his time and even threatened her with an obstruction of justice charge. You might be surprised to learn the chief of police said he'd look into it. The point is no agent of the state should be able to just get a warrant because he has a hunch or anything other than hard evidence.
Fair enough. That's fine, but a breathalyzer only catches alcohol. You could be coked out of your mind or smoked up on meth and blow 0.000 on a breathalyzer.
Yeah, I know. We've heard this story before, Jeff Cooper Disciple. I explained my thoughts on it when you brought it up then. I refuse to do so again now.
I'm sure we agree that this would apply as well to any other case of causing harm, like child neglect/abuse. Do what you will to yourself but cause harm to another and you are well and truely fucked.
