James Lambert
Voters need to understand - - Ron Paul is bad for America (part 1)
By James Lambert
[The following is one of three commentaries that columnist Lambert will be offering over the course of the next 30 days on Presidential Candidate Ron Paul.]
Within the past few weeks, a good friend of mine expressed his concern about the recent jump in popularity for the Ron Paul for President Campaign. He told me said that "since one of my sons died from a drug overdose, I am concerned about (Ron Paul's) position of wanting to make illicit drugs more readily available through legalization."
Congressman Paul has repeatedly stated that prohibition of alcohol didn't work in the 1920s. What Mr. Paul failed to mention was that once prohibition was repealed, per capita consumption increased three fold increasing the incidences of health, welfare and traffic related deaths related to alcoholism. Libertarians, like Paul, use this same logic to defend their stance of legalizing marijuana. Again, they fail to cite that there is already a past history of legalization of recreational pot in the state of Alaska in the late 1980s. Several years later, Alaskan legislators decided to reverse the law, after teenage use of marijuana practically tripled overnight when adult consumption in their state was legalized.
The human brain isn't fully developed until age 25. Research now tells us that marijuana use (during youth) can permanently alter the brain and even elevate the risk of schizophrenia, paranoia and depression.
But what's worse is the Presidential Candidate Paul even implies that it would be good for America to legalize all forms of drugs (even heroin). He routinely says "that it wasn't illegal in the 19th Century." So what! Often societies do not discover the dangers of certain vices until they observe their damage.
"The war on drugs hasn't failed entirely, as the level of drug use was actually held in check for two decades until the Obama Administration allowed the proliferation of 'medical pot.'" Roger Morgan from the Coalition for a Drug Free California argues that "if the war on drugs had a failing, it is because 90% of our resources have been spent trying to interdict support ... while only 1% was spent on prevention."
Morgan's argument makes sense. As the Southern California media representative for www.MarijuanaHarmsFamilies.com in 2010, I can sadly say that an alarmingly large number of public school administrators continue to ignore the problem of teen drug use. As citizens we need to encourage our schools to regularly address this issue and consistently talk to our students about the harm drug use poses to them.
Finally — as concerned citizens and voters — we need to openly reject drug legalization advocates like Ron Paul and vote against him this primary season.
© James Lambert
December 31, 2011
[The following is one of three commentaries that columnist Lambert will be offering over the course of the next 30 days on Presidential Candidate Ron Paul.]
Within the past few weeks, a good friend of mine expressed his concern about the recent jump in popularity for the Ron Paul for President Campaign. He told me said that "since one of my sons died from a drug overdose, I am concerned about (Ron Paul's) position of wanting to make illicit drugs more readily available through legalization."
Congressman Paul has repeatedly stated that prohibition of alcohol didn't work in the 1920s. What Mr. Paul failed to mention was that once prohibition was repealed, per capita consumption increased three fold increasing the incidences of health, welfare and traffic related deaths related to alcoholism. Libertarians, like Paul, use this same logic to defend their stance of legalizing marijuana. Again, they fail to cite that there is already a past history of legalization of recreational pot in the state of Alaska in the late 1980s. Several years later, Alaskan legislators decided to reverse the law, after teenage use of marijuana practically tripled overnight when adult consumption in their state was legalized.
The human brain isn't fully developed until age 25. Research now tells us that marijuana use (during youth) can permanently alter the brain and even elevate the risk of schizophrenia, paranoia and depression.
But what's worse is the Presidential Candidate Paul even implies that it would be good for America to legalize all forms of drugs (even heroin). He routinely says "that it wasn't illegal in the 19th Century." So what! Often societies do not discover the dangers of certain vices until they observe their damage.
"The war on drugs hasn't failed entirely, as the level of drug use was actually held in check for two decades until the Obama Administration allowed the proliferation of 'medical pot.'" Roger Morgan from the Coalition for a Drug Free California argues that "if the war on drugs had a failing, it is because 90% of our resources have been spent trying to interdict support ... while only 1% was spent on prevention."
Morgan's argument makes sense. As the Southern California media representative for www.MarijuanaHarmsFamilies.com in 2010, I can sadly say that an alarmingly large number of public school administrators continue to ignore the problem of teen drug use. As citizens we need to encourage our schools to regularly address this issue and consistently talk to our students about the harm drug use poses to them.
Finally — as concerned citizens and voters — we need to openly reject drug legalization advocates like Ron Paul and vote against him this primary season.
© James Lambert
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
