With all due respect, Marshall, you cherry pick the occasional line out of someone's post, "rebutt" it with a redirection, and ignore the rest of it. This is evidenced most directly by your repeated references to "all the poor women and children".
.38 Special, you're a fine one in my books as well, TY. As for cherry picking, I don't understand where you're coming from. The quote I spoke of, and posted and answered from Pax, was the whole post, there was nothing else in it. Additionally, I have ever said "all the poor women and children". I spoke of our children and adults as well, men and women, brothers and sisters and grandkids.
Again with all due respect, every single one of your points has been dissected and dismantled at least half a dozen times and you have utterly ignored it, blithely repeating your same talking points over and over again. I can only believe you are either not reading these posts or are intentionally ignoring them.
Let me explain. First of all, the only explanation that has come close to addressing my contention has been by Pax in her last post, I have not yet addressed it. The other replies have been along the sort of, "I don't care about the teeny boppers", or have addressed other points that I have no contention with. Different people are posting argument to points I have never contested but, since I don't think meth should be legalized, they post that I am for the WOD, which I am not in it's present state. They post about Pot and other drugs that I am not opposed to being legalized. They post about cold medicines that I agree should be available OTC without logging. They go into areas of debate that I have no need to debate. People want to debate this on an all or nothing basis, I'm not.
My area of contention is the legalization of this drug on our streets.
Pax,
I appreciate your response.
Let me start out by saying that I believe that how someones opinion is arrived at is directly related to what part of the US they are standing in. I believe that is partly why we have disagreement on some things.
I agree with you, I don't think most human beings are that stupid either but we sure do have our share of meth problemed people and families with a drug that is more difficult to come by now than if it were legal. As far as assuming most people are worse or weaker than myself, I don't. What I do assume, is that the drug takes an average person and makes them think irrationally. It turns a normally none addictive personality into a personality that takes on the drugs characteristics and is very addictive in the way of not letting go than most all, if not all other drugs. That is the problem. The other problem is how the person acts after taking this drug for short period of time. The aggressiveness is amazing, the paranoia is rampant and rational thought is quickly becomes a thing of the past. I'll live with pot heads, oxy heads, downer addicts, diet pill addicts and the like. A meth addict is different and someone I think is a danger to society far above and beyond alcoholics or other addicts I listed.
Shooting myself in the head if it was legal? Come now Pax, people don't get a high from that, they don't see it as cheap thrill, they don't party all night after shooting themselves, they don't become someone they think is invincible and therefore do the deed.
I understand you fundamental thought, you explained it well and it's really not a lot different than mine with some exceptions. This is one.
The cold medicine. Pax, maybe this is a regional thing, I don't know? Here in Oklahoma there are only certain cold medicines that reside in the pharmacy now. There are many more cold medicines that work just as well for all three of my kids, myself included, that are not subject to sign off in the pharmacy. If there were not, I would have the same amount of resentment as you do. I have resentment now toward that practice but at a different level evidently because it's effecting me differently than you. I had no idea that Washington State handled things in such a fashion.
As for the prices of prescription drugs, there is much more that goes into what price the consumer ends up paying the WOD. The research and development costs are staggering. Have you looked into acid reflux drugs lately, over the counter ones? Outrageous. But, that's the free market, supply and demand and collusion at it's finest. Matter of fact, you can buy many prescription drugs in generic form for less money than you can buy the OTC solutions. I do understand you point though and agree with it but not in absolute form.
As for illegal meth having unintended consequences on our legal system and individual human beings, so would legalizing meth. Divorce rises, abusiveness rises, a moral decay becomes more prevalent, and more. I think this drug would contribute heavily to the erosion of our country, in different ways than the WOD is. Neither are good! I think we need to address a middle ground as has been suggested. All or nothing is too encompassing in my opinion.
I hope this explaines my stance on this better. I don't have the inclination or time to debate this with everyone that replies. These are my views, right wrong or indifferent and, I appreciate the other views as well.