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Russia's Drug Czar says legalizing pot would be catastrophic
Viktor Ivanov: "I'm afraid that the consequences will be catastrophic. Even the Netherlands, where they sell marijuana legally in coffee shops, they are now reversing on this. Because there, and everywhere, drug addiction is becoming stronger and the people who are addicted develop psychiatric deviations. They say, 'What does God do when he wants to punish a person? He deprives him of his mind.'"You couldn't just let anyone buy it. Not kids. Not folks in certain jobs. Not folks with over-usage problems. But even at current prices it is certainly quite available, and folks who want it can easily get it. What is the price for marijuana in the Netherlands? Are the Netherlands considering outlawing the drug or just further regulating its sales? Russia may have an interest in us continuing to pour our treasure into criminal punishments for marijuana users, when it may be a far better course to just make the problematic folks do enough community service that it makes it too much of a pain to indulge in the habit. As it is, the high prices for any drugs contribute to the producers, distributors and users committing crime to feed and fund their habits, and the war on drugs is contributing to high drug prices and all kinds of other related crimes that are tearing away at society. Whatever we are doing now isn't working. If we aren't willing to spray marijuana and poppy fields with armored KC-10s filled with Agent Orange, we're going to have to decriminalize it. Is Victor equating marijuana to Russia's opium problem that is a result of the US not going directly after Afghanistan's opium production? Maybe Russia could step in here. I doubt the US would do much more than whine a bit if they did. Posted by: gorb 2010-10-24 |
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