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VAKEMP · 01-09-2010, 09:20

So where is the compromise that will prevent drug lords/drug dealers from getting richer/more dangerous while also keeping drugs like cocaine/meth illegal?

I hear a lot of talk about people becoming addicts, and that number being even higher if these drugs were legalized. I live in a very remote location in the US and I know drugs are being sold illegally here. Just the other day a few kids got stopped leaving a local school early, and school security found a gallon ziploc bag full of weed in the car. These are kids in a very small town in possession of a relatively harmless (in comparison to the more addictive), yet illegal, drug. If they're already living a destructive lifestyle and smoking/selling pot at their age, I think the odds of them moving on to something like meth eventually are very good.

As for the more addictive drugs, I've seen them here on the reservation as well. I recently had a run-in with a couple of locals that decided to threaten me because I was about to go for a run. Apparently a white guy running on "Navajo Land", as they put it, could be shot for trespassing. Both of them were drunk at the least, while one definitely looked like a meth addict to boot. (On an aside, they also chose to have this conversation with me while their kids were in the car. Talk about good role models!) And drugs aren't new to the rez, as I witnessed kids my age taking cocaine while I was in high school. That was about 15 years ago.

It is obvious to me that those who want to take drugs will always find a way to get them, and drug dealers will always be pushing their illegal drugs on the ignorant/naive among us. I personally have no interest in taking cocaine/meth, and I definitely don't want my children taking them. I don't know if the odds of my kids taking cocaine/meth would increase if it were legalized, but I do know that if it were legalized and controlled, they wouldn't have access to them until they were old enough to legally purchase them, and hopefully by then they'd be smart enough to know what the risks are and choose not to take them.

We can't protect everyone from themselves, but we can take the rug right from under the feet of the drug lords by doing more about the drug situation. Maybe legalizing these drugs isn't the best answer, but I really haven't heard of a better option, just moral/ethical disapproval.

01-09-2010, 09:20	#67
VAKEMP Auxiliary Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wherever I'm needed Posts: 75	So where is the compromise that will prevent drug lords/drug dealers from getting richer/more dangerous while also keeping drugs like cocaine/meth illegal? I hear a lot of talk about people becoming addicts, and that number being even higher if these drugs were legalized. I live in a very remote location in the US and I know drugs are being sold illegally here. Just the other day a few kids got stopped leaving a local school early, and school security found a gallon ziploc bag full of weed in the car. These are kids in a very small town in possession of a relatively harmless (in comparison to the more addictive), yet illegal, drug. If they're already living a destructive lifestyle and smoking/selling pot at their age, I think the odds of them moving on to something like meth eventually are very good. As for the more addictive drugs, I've seen them here on the reservation as well. I recently had a run-in with a couple of locals that decided to threaten me because I was about to go for a run. Apparently a white guy running on "Navajo Land", as they put it, could be shot for trespassing. Both of them were drunk at the least, while one definitely looked like a meth addict to boot. (On an aside, they also chose to have this conversation with me while their kids were in the car. Talk about good role models!) And drugs aren't new to the rez, as I witnessed kids my age taking cocaine while I was in high school. That was about 15 years ago. It is obvious to me that those who want to take drugs will always find a way to get them, and drug dealers will always be pushing their illegal drugs on the ignorant/naive among us. I personally have no interest in taking cocaine/meth, and I definitely don't want my children taking them. I don't know if the odds of my kids taking cocaine/meth would increase if it were legalized, but I do know that if it were legalized and controlled, they wouldn't have access to them until they were old enough to legally purchase them, and hopefully by then they'd be smart enough to know what the risks are and choose not to take them. We can't protect everyone from themselves, but we can take the rug right from under the feet of the drug lords by doing more about the drug situation. Maybe legalizing these drugs isn't the best answer, but I really haven't heard of a better option, just moral/ethical disapproval.
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