KevM said:
What is the point of this post? What does this have to do with Baker?
I believe Lemonite was at least conceding to my main point that making a drug illegal increases its value.
I agree.
CK, there's no need to slam Baker here. Granted, KevM did that to you, but only in retaliation. But at least KevM further his point, albeit briefly; whereas, you just posted to insult Baker. There's no need for that. I think we can have a very strong debate about the pros and cons of this issue without resulting to insulting someone's intelligence or age.
As for my views... I've long felt that drugs should be decriminalized - that is, go after the dealers only, not the user. Of course, there should be a limit there. If a person has X amount of drugs in his/her possession, that can be considered a criminal "dealer" amount. But no longer should people be arrested for having a joint in their possession. I also feel that marijuana laws, especially with respect to easing the pain of cancer and AIDS patients, should be seriously reviewed.
I'm not saying I suddenly want to see marijuana ads next to the cigarette ads in magazines (can you imagine? LOL!), but I also think far too much effort, money and court time is used on the anit-drug effort without any corresponding results being observed. While I do not have facts in front of me, I'd be VERY surprised to see drug use down because of the anti-drug effort.
Baker's comments about the current anti-drug ads being ineffective are VERY valid. Here is a young man saying that he is almost tempted to take drugs because of an ad on TV. The very demographic these ads are targeting are laughing at these ads - and are claiming that, if anything, they now want to try drugs because of the ads! Scary, no? I read recently that several anti-smoking ads are causing the same response. Teens now WANT to smoke because of the ads. To reiterate, Baker's comments are something that we should listen to carefully. Maybe legalizing all drugs, as is his suggestion, isn't the answer, but at least he is presenting his views, the problems and a possible solution. Seems like a well presented post to me. So rather than insult him on his youth, if you disagree, I feel a suitable post should be made to counter his claims.