Ron Paul on legalizing drugs and gay marriage - SC Republican debate 5/5/2011

[MCWAY]

The only liberal here is you you want the government to decide for us. Im the other way around. And im not referring to our bad economy actually as much as pointing out that billions of dollars each year is wasted on a lost cause. If people are gonna do drugs its their choice fuck em. They can OD for all i care but its individual freedom to choose and i support that

If there's one thing I'm not (and NOBODY has ever accused me of being, except you) is a liberal. When your dope-smoking puts my community or my family in danger, it becomes my business. And, I know firsthand that drug users ain't islands. Their behavior doesn't just affect them. It affects their wives/husbands, children, family members and neighbors.

[MCWAY]

But you don't know the ratio of ODs per drug user. The top two preventable deaths in America are related to obesity, but I don't see you saying we should ban McDonald's. I think you are inconsistent in your thoughts about what should be banned and why. If you're worrying solely about saving lives at the expense of the economy, you would support a 10 MPH speed limit on all highways. If you're worried solely about eliminating products that are harmful to health, then McDonald's should be at the top of that list as well.

Why ban McDonalds? Eating there once in a while harms few, if any, to any substantial degree. Living off their fattiest fare for years on end is not only cost-inefficient, it's just plain dumb.

What causes fatalities on the road ain't speed limits. It's driving DRUNK, STONED, fatigued, distracted, or just plain wrecklessly. That's what killing people, not speed. Most car accidents happen close to home, at speeds under 40 MPH. I've been in three accidents, two of which were within just a few miles of where I lived, one was at the gate of the apartment complex where I lived.

[Mr. Magoo]

Why ban McDonalds? Eating there once in a while harms few, if any, to any substantial degree. Living off their fattiest fare for years on end is not only cost-inefficient, it's just plain  dumb .

What causes fatalities on the road ain't speed limits. It's driving DRUNK, STONED, fatigued, distracted, or just plain wrecklessly. That's what killing people, not speed. Most car accidents happen close to home, at speeds under 40 MPH.

so would you agree that it's silly to ban all drugs, and that we should encourage only moderate uses of them for health benefits (getting chemo patients to eat more, etc)?

And in regards to the speed limit analogy, you would have to agree that if speed limits were 10 MPH across the board, there would be far fewer deaths than they are now.

[whork25]

If there's one thing I'm not (and NOBODY has ever accused me of being, except you) is a liberal. When your dope-smoking puts my community or my family in danger, it becomes my business. And, I know firsthand that drug users ain't islands. Their behavior doesn't just affect them. It affects their wives/husbands, children, family members and neighbors.

Where there is drugs there is crime thats true. But you know why? Its because drugs are illegal thereby making it profitable. The very issue you are trying to fight you are actually creating yourself

[MCWAY]

so would you agree that it's silly to ban all drugs, and that we should encourage only moderate uses of them for health benefits (getting chemo patients to eat more, etc)?

And the health benefits to crack, weed, X, meth would be........

That's the point. Those drugs have more risk than reward and have long since been replaced with more effective, less addictive ones.

And in regards to the speed limit analogy, you would have to agree that if speed limits were 10 MPH across the board, there would be far fewer deaths than they are now.

Not necesarily. Again, look at the factors that I listed that lead to auto deaths. You don't have to be speeding to kill somebody in a car accident.

[MB]

Legalizing drugs would not create a country of users.  Most people who have jobs are drug tested, and it would still be illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol & drugs.  We are talking about a small percentage of society who would use, and these people are already users who are costing the taxpayers with law enforcement and prisons.   

[kcballer]

Legalizing drugs isn't going to stop any of that suffering. And many MORE will suffering with strong narcotics being far more easily accesible. Having lived in an environment with family members who have been on drugs, I know firsthand how people suffer with drug use.

Tell that to the safe injection site in Vancouver where they reduce the suffering and incidences of disease. 

The war on drugs is a lost cause, harm reduction is the only way forward both to save money and to enact changes of behavior. 

Your point about gay marriage is so false and baseless it's almost unreasonably stupid. 

[MCWAY]

Tell that to the safe injection site in Vancouver where they reduce the suffering and incidences of disease. 

The war on drugs is a lost cause, harm reduction is the only way forward both to save money and to enact changes of behavior. 

Your point about gay marriage is so false and baseless it's almost unreasonably stupid. 

Gee, then how did we have all those years of prosperity, without drugs or prostitution being legal?

We became a Superpower, obtained the #1 military on the planet. And for some strange reason, slinging dope wasn't in the equation.

As for the gay "marriage" thing, DOMA effectively does what Ron Paul cites should be done. It lets the states decide how they wish to define marriage. It ALSO ensures that Massachusetts doesn't get to define Florida's marriage law or that Connecticut doesn't get to define Michigan's law.

The reason Obama wants DOMA gone is that he can effectively endorse gay "marriage" without actually doing so in word. That happens if the other 45 states have to recognize the gay "marriages" from the states that allow it.

[Deicide]

Gee, then how did we have all those years of prosperity, without drugs or prostitution being legal?

We became a Superpower, obtained the #1 military on the planet. And for some strange reason, slinging dope wasn't in the equation.

As for the gay "marriage" thing, DOMA effectively does what Ron Paul cites should be done. It lets the states decide how they wish to define marriage. It ALSO ensures that Massachusetts doesn't get to define Florida's marriage law or that Connecticut doesn't get to define Michigan's law.

The reason Obama wants DOMA gone is that he can effectively endorse gay "marriage" without actually doing so in word. That happens if the other 45 states have to recognize the gay "marriages" from the states that allow it.

What does that have to do with anything? Alcoholism is treated as an illness, not a crime, so should drug addiction. Our prisons are already bursting, what is the point of putting sick people in them?

[Mr. Magoo]

Gee, then how did we have all those years of prosperity, without drugs or prostitution being legal?

We became a Superpower, obtained the #1 military on the planet. And for some strange reason, slinging dope wasn't in the equation.

World War 2 

[outby43]

Could you imagine this Mcway character being your boss at work or worse yet a member of your family.  The guys is so blind to failed policies I almost think it is just satire.

[Bindare_Dundat]

I don't know why I would take anyone seriously when it comes to this topic if they are going to hold booze to a different standard then most other drugs. We all know the harm alcohol abuse does and how rampant it is but who gives a shit, big brother says its a-ok.

[Soul Crusher]

All a matter of conditioning.

[Bindare_Dundat]

All a matter of conditioning.

Call me stupid but I have a greater tendency to believe or obey those individuals that I trust.

[Bindare_Dundat]

" I need the government to take care of me, I dont want to use heroin, thats why we need these laws." lol


classic RP.

[AngrySOB]

If I wanted to vote for someone who wants to legalize dope, whoring, and gay "marriage", I'd be a "progressive".

He didn't actually say he wants to "legalize" it. He wants to abolish the FEDERAL laws that criminalize it. This isn't just parsing words. He wants to return authority back to state and local governments. The way it was in this Country's beginnings. State's rights! That is real conservatism.