Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor

No I do understand this. I live in California. I see the effects of "legal marijaunna" everywhere.

For 200 bucks you can pay any doctor and they'll give you a medical marijaunna card.
Now how many people do I know that lives are all messed up just because someone else wanted to make some money. In California, honestly I think there's nothing we can do to eradicate pot, it's everywhere. I know 8 year olds who have tried it.

Knowing all of this, just the factof how much drug money is running the system scares me.

I'm not for pot smoking, but I'm not for taking away someone's "god given right". Honestly, I think if this economy keeps up much longer (which it probably will) then we will legalize pot

Abraham Lincoln would be a 'outlaw' today!

A 'shmuck' like Richard Nixon would have made a hero like Abraham Lincoln a 'outlaw'. That's insane to say the least.

"Two of my favorite things are sitting on my front porch smoking a pipe of sweet hemp, and playing my Hohner harmonica." - Abraham Lincoln (from a letter written by Lincoln during his presidency to the head of the Hohner Harmonica Company in Germany)

'Sweet hemp' = cannabis/marijuana

Stop spinning 'madness'! Abraham Lincoln was a hero. Richard Nixon left office early in shame. Who do you trust?

First of all it's "AN" outlaw.

And second, pot will never be legalized to begin with. A lot of people in this country keep talking like they think it will soon, and though I think it should be, it won't happen. Not now not ever. This country has a bigger industry to keep it illegal than it would have if it was legalized. Or at least that's what the people who make the rules think. A drug dog costs 50,000 dollars to train PER DRUG. Do you realize 60 percent of all people in prison in this country are there for drugs, and 90% of that is for pot. Do you think the people paying for those expensive drug dogs or getting free taxpayer money for the prisons are going to say "Oh well, easy come easy go." It won't happen. Weed will never ever ever ever be legal. In fact I bet alcohol and cigarettes will soon BECOME illegal.

I don't use pot and actually advocate against it. I want weed to be legal because kids below 18 have no right to do it and legalizing it would get it out of their hands for the most part. I also advocate against alcohol, cigarettes, and drinking draino. But I'm not going to force you (an adult) to do what I say. Because we live in a FREE FUCKING COUNTRY. Despite what our laws say.

My points were that they may well legalize it - in at least several places. But regardless of how much these potheads love the idea of anything pot, everything pot, - this country is not going to place drugs and intoxication as an ok thing to do nor to espouse - nor teach to children.
Period.

It just isn't seemly.

How many countries, in history, have an "ok" for pot? You know, there is the National Flag and Banner, that National Anthem - ...and pot - ?

Hippie communes - that's it. It's a weak discussion even for Current

First of all ‘don’t waste your time on my grammar. I had just reread my comment and was going to edit it, but read on to realize you already had. Thank you.

Second, I do appreciate your comment and sadly agree. But, in my heart of hearts, I do hope the ‘voices of reason’ stand up and work to get cannabis re-scheduled, away from heroin and other destructive drugs. Cannabis is far less dangerous to the individual, or their families, than heroin.

Today in America, parents are doing double speak to their children. Their children know they smoke cannabis. They are forced to be ‘apparent’ criminals, due to ‘madness’ and spin, perpetuated by corporate America, industries which fear the competition of a natural plant, which grows like a weed. If parents are honest with their children, they have already explained the ‘madness’ of politicians who spin for political gain. Politics over people. It’s a fact. They know the facts, which is why they avoid an actual factual conversation. Cannabis has history. Positive history. If they don’t tell ordinary Americans, they think they won’t find out? Too late, the facts are readily available and documented.

Jack Herer wrote a book, “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” complete with facts and documentation. I would like to hear them protest the facts contained in the book. I read it almost 20 years ago and have yet to hear any challenge of the facts contained in the book. One would think if the book were wrong, they would want to prove it? Bring their own facts and challenge Jack Herer’s book?

Please excuse any grammar, or spelling errors. I have a limited time and don’t have time to critique my writing. Sorry!

you're right it doesn't since everyone seems to be misunderstanding what the piece is talking about.

sounds like Ras FTW here. The whole thing may be garbage then. Do you happen to recall where these quotes came from?

From the story link

It wasn;t that it was drug money specifically, it was that it was illegal money. If drugs were legalised drug money wouldn't have been available because it would have gone down with the rest of the economy. Instead the very same support would have come from other illegal activities like gun running and human trafficking.

In this case I suspect there would also be someone suggesting that if we only re allowed slavery and taxed that then there wouldn't be a problem.. ad infinitum.

@ unclepete813
Ridiculous claims.

- Had illegal drugs been decriminalized, the legal companies that would take the markets away from the violent cartels would have been paying in taxes and employing people, providing a significant economic buffer against the losses in the housing and financial markets.

- You compare decriminalization of a faux-morality victimless 'crime' with slavery. Spew hyperbole much?

Fuck drugs.

No I compare them to the other things that organized crime is into. The major revenue sources of modern orgainzed crime are:

drug smuggling
human trafficking
cyber and identity crime.
traditional systems (protection, loan sharking, etc...).

I just picked number 2 since number 1 had been removed. To reiterate: It's not the drugs, it's the illegal that made it work. This has nothing to do with drugs.

This is precisely the truth. Essentially, the more cash is in circulation, the better our economy - for everyone, top and bottom. Financial world has been violating this for years - taking cash for their own investment strategies. They sent our cash overseas and created phony businesses to sell phoney products back to us at our higher market. The whole time, middling our wealth to foreign shores.
If we had the cash, we would produce, we would be strong, - we would be expanding and thriving.

But no, business and financial people raped this country -

After all, why should we, Americans have our money when they wanted it.

wrong. It is put back in the economy. The law enforcement agencies use the stuff to do things like buy equipment, so it is effectively turned directly into tax money we don't have to pay.

I think you misread the article though, or at least one of us did. It might have been me.

What I gathered was that the liquid money in question was not seized drug money but illegal drug profits. The banks were forced to effectively launder drug money in order to keep afloat.

i did my part.

that might make sense if it wasn't the same elites in control in high drug use periods. The people didn;t change though. IMHO The natural progression of uncontrolled capitalism is to an oligarchy and then finally a caste system. This is what happened. I doubt how much pressure being put on the system made much difference in this except to possibly accelerate it and or help decide which group wound up filling which caste.

It would be fine also if not for the fact drugs fuck you up.

I'm all for legalization of everything, but that's only a means to an end for higher levels of drug education and awareness. We should be taxing and regulating substances, not just driving them into the black market.

XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.