You know what? I've had this conversation - (to legalize or not to legalize?) at many a cocktail party and upscale restaurant gathering... it's nice and philosophical but frankly I don't have the ear of the President or the Senate so it ain't changing in Minneapolis this week.
I have learned that this academic discussion about the root of the problem (nat'l policy, poverty, race issues, etc.) is of very little assistance to the people living with gunfire and death and addiction and hoplessness around the corner... I really don't want to see this conversation degrade into the typical "us-against-them-in-the-nice-hoods" kind of debate, but I have to say that we can't afford to screw around with philosophy when it's not going to change anything about what's really going on at this moment. I say: let's get rid of the dang pipes for now, and I'll write a thousand letters to DC about drug policy tomorrow. Connie Nompelis Pretty agitated with kids running up and down my dangerous street in WEST PHILLIPS P.S. Booker has indeed brought this topic up before, and I followed his commentary with interest. He's got a lot of good points. I don't want to squelch business at all (I'm exceedingly pro-business in general) but I can't handle this violence anymore. Something's gotta give. --- Nathan Hunstad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 9/16/05, Dennis Plante <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Dennis Plante Responds: > > And how exactly would this solve the problem of > disadvantage citizens > > earning a living illegally? Take away their > income and my guess is > > they'fdmove-on to something equally illegal and > just as damaging to society. > > Of course legalizing drugs wouldn't eliminate crime. > Nothing can do > that; as far as I know, there isn't a crime-free > utopia somewhere on > this planet. However, if you take away the selling > of drugs, you take > away a lot of gang activity. That doesn't mean that > people who want > to break the laws won't keep doing so. But they > would probably be > doing something else, like resorting to theft. > Frankly, if there was > a choice between stealing cars and getting into gun > battles that kill > innocent bystanders, I'll take the car stealing any > day. > > What can reverse the decline of neighborhoods? > Clearly, the current > plan to simply throw users into jail doesn't cut it. > What we are > doing now is not working. This is also why I don't > see how public > safety can be a big issue in the upcoming elections, > at least for > mayor. Neither Rybak nor McLaughlin are proposing > anything that will > actually change the drug problem other than to > perhaps nibble away at > the edges. No new ideas at all. > > It seems pretty simple to me: if there aren't people > demanding drugs > from gang members, then there won't be any violent > gang members to > sell those drugs. Until somebody comes up with a > good idea that > eliminates the demand from the drug dealers, not > much is going to > change. > > -- > Nathan Hunstad > CARAG > Minneapolis, MN > > PGP DH/DSS public key -- > http://www.angelfire.com/mn/freakpower/nhpubkey.txt > ________________________________________________ > Do you Gonzo?! > http://www.angelfire.com/mn/freakpower > REMINDERS: > 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at > http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a > member is in violation, contact the list manager at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: > http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused > Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
