Mexico -- The Next Cuba?
I love it. Vincente Fox is thumbing his nose at Bush's "war on drugs" tactics, and is conducting his own war in his own way.
"On Friday, Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego, said he was "appalled" by the bill."
Aw...too bad, Jerry. You don't get a vote on this one.
"'We need to register every protest the American government can muster.'"
Uh...you don't get a voice, either.
On the face of it, with the information available so far, this actually looks to be a really good piece of legislation. Recreational use of drugs becomes no more unacceptable than alcohol. Addicts have a registry that keeps them from being endlessly hassled by too-busy and/or too-lazy cops. And the police agencies who really want to have a better grip on law enforcement are now going to be much more free to go after the real criminals -- the major suppliers and the pushers.
However, look to the Bush Administration to slap sactions on Mexico like Kennedy did with Cuba. Can't have the citizens crossing the border just to have a little hassle-free smoke, now, can we?
Wait for it.
UPDATE (Thursday ayem): ...with excuses...
"On Friday, Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego, said he was "appalled" by the bill."
Aw...too bad, Jerry. You don't get a vote on this one.
"'We need to register every protest the American government can muster.'"
Uh...you don't get a voice, either.
On the face of it, with the information available so far, this actually looks to be a really good piece of legislation. Recreational use of drugs becomes no more unacceptable than alcohol. Addicts have a registry that keeps them from being endlessly hassled by too-busy and/or too-lazy cops. And the police agencies who really want to have a better grip on law enforcement are now going to be much more free to go after the real criminals -- the major suppliers and the pushers.
However, look to the Bush Administration to slap sactions on Mexico like Kennedy did with Cuba. Can't have the citizens crossing the border just to have a little hassle-free smoke, now, can we?
Wait for it.
UPDATE (Thursday ayem): ...with excuses...
posted by Chimera at 9:49 AM
3 Comments:
The anarchist in me says that personal choices that do not cause direct harm to others in society should not be regulated at all - who cares whether it's a 5 gram bag or a kilo?
The libertarian in me says none of it should be regulated and if people get in too deep, well, that was their choice, they get to live with it.
On the other hand I'm realistic enough to know that society is not yet ready for anarchy or libertarianism and there will need to be a few other laws rewritten to accommodate this. For example, just how much C in your system disqualifies you from driving a car?
-- and, of course, what network exists, or will come into existance, to help people who so choose to get off the addictive stuff?
"...they get to live with it."
Or die with it, as the case may be.
Good points. The sticky part of this, of course, is that frequently, the obliviously innocent get caught up in the chemical drama going on in someone else's brain; and then society screams when the innocents die or become vegetables.
Sometimes I think it's too bad that we see ourselves as a "higher order" of animal that has a societal need to clasp to its collective bosom the woes of our fellows. This collective need to coddle and protect everyone -- even the aberrant ones -- really complicates one of the basic rules of species survival: screw up and die. Unfortunately, sometimes the recreational user ends up causing the deaths of others, but not himself. If it were up to me (and lots of people can thank their personal gods that it’s not), I’d simply allow the survivors of the dead to take their own justice. Sounds brutal and uncivilized, but it wouldn’t be long before recreational users forced themselves to become ‘way more careful and selective in their recreating.
The wages of stupidity is death, and all that.
” -- and, of course, what network exists, or will come into existance, to help people who so choose to get off the addictive stuff?”
Ain’t it funny how society tends to tell everyone how to live their lives, but refuses to help those who need it? It’s a fine, grand thing to stand in judgment of others, saying, “You have to stop snorting cocaine.” It’s a whole ‘nother thing to put the money where the mouth is and actually help an addict who can’t help himself! I wish I had better answers.
For me, all I can do is refuse to judge those who indulge, as long as they’re only hurting themselves.
You’re right – the world isn’t quite ready for anarchists and libertarians. Maybe when we, as a species, drop the veneer of civilization and adopt a real civilization in which each individual always takes personal responsibility for his own actions…
Yes, what to do with the innocent is a huge factor with no easy answer at all. Maybe the answer is to go communal and let everybody raise the kids and look after those who need help, and those who screw up too often get shown the gate - although evolving that much in time to deal with a lot of our current problems is probably asking a bit much.
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