Missing Black Demographic

[ClayTrainor]

I was just browsing some stats on QuantCast.Com/ronpaul2008.com and I noticed that the 1 demographic we seem to be missing on ronpaul2008.com is the African Americans.

What do you think the reason for this is? Economics? Black people like Obama based on race (his quantcast stats show a large Black audience)? faulty stats?

just struck me as kind of strange.

any thoughts?

[ctb619]

I would imagine there are a number of reasons for this, one is that the black community for the most part isn't exactly enamored with the Republican party.

[Lord Xar]

many youtube activist type black men are into Ron Paul, but I think they face an uphill battle because it appears that blacks vote based on party, like most people. I think that "anything" non white male is good with black americans.. and maybe rightly so.

But, the fact remains that Ron Paul is perhaps the only candidate that truly is about them, the black demograhpic - as he is with ALL AMERICANS.

If many of those black activistis on youtube would get more active then I think it would be great... but not only that.. I would think that advertising in black newspapers, or local areas would be a great asset for the campaign... but maybe that is something us grassroots need to work on.

I think we should contact those youtube guys and gals and find out why the freedom message works for them and how we can reach that demographic. I know it is a "weird" thing to ask, but it is a demographic I believe would be a huge boon.

Considering that the black community is now being shoved aside by the coveted latino vote. It is sad how politicians will pander... for a vote.

[FrankRep]

Some African Americans who support Ron Paul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh6kVT4UL0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNbvr66Cdvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8GLNolccvM (He's leaning toward Ron Paul)

[LibertyOfOne]

If you look on youtube you will find many that are.

[BarryDonegan]

the war on drugs and affirmative action are both the last vestiges of racial oppression in this country.

the disproportionate african american presence in jails reflects abuses made possible by having victimless crimes(essentially as something nearly everyone breaks in some way, targetting specific people to enforce this on via racial profiling becomes a problem)

likewise affirmative action both sets a maximum number of various ethnic groups necessary and allows sometimes a few to slip through a crack who are less qualified, highlighting as an example people who perform poorly.

while other candidates would pander to certain ethnic groups on a surface level, Ron Paul would set African Americans who are in jail for nonviolent lifestyle choices in disporportionate numbers free to return to their families.

[toowm]

A huge issue for the black community is the number of men that are in prison for non-violent (drug) crimes. RP could pardon and release any federal prisoner of this type, and work to change our insane war-on-friends and family nationally.

[ButchHowdy]

A huge issue for the black community is the number of men that are in prison for non-violent (drug) crimes. RP could pardon and release any federal prisoner of this type, and work to change our insane war-on-friends and family nationally.

YEA!

[undergroundrr]

From http://stupac2.blogspot.com/2007/08/war-on-drugs-americas-apartheid.html

"In South Africa during Apartheid 851 per 100,000 black males were incarcerated. Currently in the United States, under the banner of the “War on Drugs” 4,919 per 100,000 black males are incarcerated. Nearly 1/3 of black men in their 20s are in prison, on probation or parole. Our institutionalized racism is worse than the worst post-slavery institutionalized racism."

[noxagol]

HOLY CRAP, ,4919 out of 100k? That is a lot! 4.919% of the black community is in jail because of drugs.... WOW

[FrankRep]

HOLY CRAP, ,4919 out of 100k? That is a lot! 4.919% of the black community is in jail because of drugs.... WOW

The question is: How to we truly correct the problem?

[nexalacer]

The question is: How to we truly correct the problem?

Simple, legalize all drugs, pardon all offenders. Anything less is bullshit.

[CMoore]

I would imagine there are a number of reasons for this, one is that the black community for the most part isn't exactly enamored with the Republican party.


This has not always been so. If anyone on this forum is familiar with Thomas Sowell, he has written about this many times. Once upon a time, the only party any self respecting Negro would have been a member of was the Republican Party. ( I can't quote him exactly, be those are pretty much his exact words.) All of the KKK members were Democrats. The Republicans freed the slaves.

[michaelwise]

If African American citizens, the part that is kept in the dark, had the mental capacity to understand, how they are disproportionately affected by inflation, with the high cost of food, gas, housing, etc., which is caused by Wall Street and the Fed, they might come around to Ron Paul. Ron Paul knows how to stop the inflation insanity. Unfortunately, the leaders of the black community will not allow their constituents to find out about these things.

[ItsTime]

Simple, legalize all drugs, pardon all offenders. Anything less is bullshit.

all non-violent offenders :)

[johngr]

http://www.vdare.com/taylor/050913_crime.htm

[bygone]

http://65millionboars.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/shardn.gif

[Ron Paul Fan]

Dr. Paul will have a good chance to capture more of the African American demographic at the PBS debate next week. The debate is held at a historically Black college and will emphasize minority concerns. All of the frontrunners have snubbed this debate so this will be a good chance to shine. I know that African Americans usually go towards the Demorats, but hopefully Dr. Paul can get through to them and continue to bring us together with the freedom message.

[CMoore]

I hope this is sarcasm.

Do you really want your local 7-11 selling heroin?


They currently sell alcohol and tobacco. Can you tell me why heroin is worse for you than tobacco?

Once upon a time, heroin could be purchased in drug stores. Why was this a bad thing?

[mavtek]

I suggested running an ad in a black newspaper over a month ago and I got pricing and asked for help and got almost nothing to near nothing.

[hopeforamerica]

I hope this is sarcasm.

Do you really want your local 7-11 selling heroin?


http://www.strike-the-root.com/61/victor/victor1.html

[leipo]

They currently sell alcohol and tobacco. Can you tell me why heroin is worse for you than tobacco?

Once upon a time, heroin could be purchased in drug stores. Why was this a bad thing?

Are you serious? It was a bad thing because it is one of the most addicting & devastating drugs out there. Here is good documentary on the subject..

http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=7466953117096606123

[hopeforamerica]

Are you serious? It was a bad thing because it is one of the most addicting & devastating drugs out there. Here is good documentary on the subject..

http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=7466953117096606123

again, read this article for some different points of view;

http://www.strike-the-root.com/61/victor/victor1.html

[V-rod]

Holland has legalized drugs except stuff like Heroine, and they have a much less percentage of addicts than the USA.

[Cunningham]

I think Ron Paul could pull a lot of younger black voters. All my friends that are black don't trust the government or believe it works and they also hate the democrat party. Many have seen first hand how government policies that are supposed to help there communities are really destroying them.

This guy gets it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Q_k8xDQFY

[johngr]

Stupid drug law aren't the only problem:

Major Findings of
The Color of Crime

• Police and the justice system are not biased against minorities.

Crime Rates

• Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.

• When blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than non-blacks to use a gun, and more than twice as likely to use a knife.

• Hispanics commit violent crimes at roughly three times the white rate, and Asians commit violent crimes at about one quarter the white rate.

• The single best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percentage of the population that is black and Hispanic.

Interracial Crime

• Of the nearly 770,000 violent interracial crimes committed every year involving blacks and whites, blacks commit 85 percent and whites commit 15 percent.

• Blacks commit more violent crime against whites than against blacks. Forty-five percent of their victims are white, 43 percent are black, and 10 percent are Hispanic. When whites commit violent crime, only three percent of their victims are black.

• Blacks are an estimated 39 times more likely to commit a violent crime against a white than vice versa, and 136 times more likely to commit robbery.

• Blacks are 2.25 times more likely to commit officially-designated hate crimes against whites than vice versa.

Gangs

• Only 10 percent of youth gang members are white.

• Hispanics are 19 times more likely than whites to be members of youth gangs. Blacks are 15 times more likely, and Asians are nine times more likely.

http://www.nc-f.org/findings.htm

[leipo]

Holland has legalized drugs except stuff like Heroine, and they have a much less percentage of addicts than the USA.

Well, most natural drugs (mushrooms, marijuana, peyote etc.) are tolerated over here but NOT legal. But yeah, our policies are quite succesful in regard to other countries.

[CMoore]

Are you serious? It was a bad thing because it is one of the most addicting & devastating drugs out there. Here is good documentary on the subject..


Yes, I am quite serious. Nicotine is also highly addictive, just ask anyone who is trying to quit smoking.

Heroin is also one of the most effective pain killers known. To deprive people in terminal pain its benefits is cruel. A person using heroin for pain remains alert as opposed to being in a stupor. A person using heroin can remain alert and functioning unlike with morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc.

I rather doubt legalized heroin would ever be sold in a 7-11, but it should certainly be available to people who would benefit from it.

The only reason it is "devastating" is because it is illegal and must be obtained under the most horrible of circumstances.

[leipo]

Yes, I am quite serious. Nicotine is also highly addictive, just ask anyone who is trying to quit smoking.

Heroin is also one of the most effective pain killers known. To deprive people in terminal pain its benefits is cruel. A person using heroin for pain remains alert as opposed to being in a stupor. A person using heroin can remain alert and functioning unlike with morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc.

I rather doubt legalized heroin would ever be sold in a 7-11, but it should certainly be available to people who would benefit from it.

The only reason it is "devastating" is because it is illegal and must be obtained under the most horrible of circumstances.

Quitting smoking is a joke compared to quitting heroin. Heroin might be good painkiller but that doesnt mean it should be legalized. And your last remark doesn't make any sense.

[CMoore]

Quitting smoking is a joke compared to quitting heroin. Heroin might be good painkiller but that doesnt mean it should be legalized. And your last remark doesn't make any sense.


If a person is addicted to heroin and does not wish to be so anymore, he can. It it is not easy, but the withdrawal symptoms can be ameliorated to give the person a chance to wean themselves off of the drug.


Don't you remember the 50's & 60's?


Yes, I remember them well. So what? Heroin was illegal then also. What difference did that make?

[leipo]

If a person is addicted to heroin and does not wish to be so anymore, he can. It it is not easy, but the withdrawal symptoms can me ameliorated to give the person a chance to wean themselves off of the drug.

You must have not met many addicts. It's not that easy. My government gives out free heroin to heavy addicts for a good reason. They can't quit!



Yes, I remember them well. So what? Heroin was illegal then also. What difference did that make?

Well it was almost a socially accepted drug back then and it had a devastating effect. I'm glad most people despise this drug now and that i hardly ever see an addict again (yes, you can recognize them) like i used to.

[CMoore]

[You must have not met many addicts. It's not that easy. My government gives out free heroin to heavy addicts for a good reason. They can't quit!



Quote:
Yes, I remember them well. So what? Heroin was illegal then also. What difference did that make?
Well it was almost a socially accepted drug back then and it had a devastating effect. I'm glad most people despise this drug now and that i hardly ever see an addict again (yes, you can recognize them) like i used to.

Are you in the United States? What country are you in? Never in my lifetime has heroin been "socially accepted". The United States has never given it out free to addicts that I know of. We have methadone clinics, but they do not give out free heroin. Since heroin addicts are living on the fringes of society, they do not have access to the medical care that could free them of their addiction. It is not impossible to be free of heroin addiction. Freedom from any addiction is never easy no matter what it is.

[freedominnumbers]

If African American citizens, the part that is kept in the dark, had the mental capacity to understand, how they are disproportionately affected by inflation, with the high cost of food, gas, housing, etc., which is caused by Wall Street and the Fed, they might come around to Ron Paul. Ron Paul knows how to stop the inflation insanity. Unfortunately, the leaders of the black community will not allow their constituents to find out about these things.

Let's replace mental capacity with opportunity in that first sentence.
I'm going to presume you weren't implying black people aren't intelligent enough to understand a fact when presented with it.

[Cunningham]

http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/6/65/Bayerheroin.jpg

In 1898, Bayer registered and marketed diacetylmorphine under the brand name Heroin. It is not known if the name heroin comes from the heroic job the drug did in reducing pain and easing breathing problems or because of the way a person felt when under its effects. The word itself comes from the German word heroisch, meaning heroic.

In 1899, the Bayer company marketed acetylsalicylic acid as Aspirin. Below is an U.S. ad from the late 1890's or early 1900's, it includes information about both Bayer Aspirin and Bayer Heroin. Aspirin and heroin were both legal at the time and heroin was marketed as a cough suppressant.

[nexalacer]

Couple of things:

First, unless you see </sarcasm> in one of my posts, I am absolutely serious. I don't play the game of mental masturbation with sarcasm in print form.

Second, I could care less about the local 7-11 selling heroin. Honestly. If a person chooses to throw their life away spending all their time on heroin, that is not my problem in the slightest. As long as I don't have to pay their medical bills or pay their welfare, I'll be fine.

Third, Heroin CAN be a functional drug, just as alcohol or tylenol can be. It's a question of dosage and frequency. I'll admit it's more difficult to keep the cravings down, but that is a danger you enter fucking with it.

Fourth, don't tell me government solutions for curing heroin addicts are bad and expect me to accept that as a reason to keep heroin illegal. Everything the government does is bad, why would this be any different? However, from what I understand, a place like a Betty Ford clinic can be very effective, if there is proper motivation. And that's the key to defeating all addiction, isn't it? Motivation.

Fifth, If you try and use any religious or moral arguments against drugs, don't waste you're breath. My Moral code is very simple:
1) Nothing exists but people.
2) A Good must be good for all.
3) A Bad must be bad for all.
And drugs don't fit these criteria. If heroin is bad, then morphine and oxycontin is bad, because they are all drugs based off of opiates. If morphine and oxycontin are good because they are painkillers, then heroin must be good as well for the same reason. And there is no distinction between "patients" and "addicts" because they are all people, therefore it is universal.

I stand by my statement. If you want to cure a LARGE number of problems in the black community, make all drugs legal, pardon all non-violent offenders.

Oh, and to the dude that posted the shit about crime: Look deeper... how much of that crime is a result of being poor. How much of being poor is a result of laws that are enforced with a bias against certain sectors of the community, including crack laws that severely punish their mostly black users, while cocaine laws are much more lenient against their mostly white users. If you trace all of your "statistics" back to their true source, you will find they are the result of government use of force against its citizens.

[Bloody Holly]

I know blacks that will only vote democrat because they seem to display sensitivity that republicans won't. Republicans come across as WTF, quit your whining, I got rich yeah sure I also had rich parents but so can you black person...although you most likely have a criminal record so you can't vote.

I don't think republicans (except for Ron Paul...not saying Ron Paul fans either) understand or can empathise with people who aren't white males. Hell I see it on this board. Sometimes subtly but repeatedly. Of course you probably can't see it because you think there's nothing wrong with it. You're just kidding. This is a white boys camp in my opinion and unless you quit acting like a bunch of idiotic frat boys who think the only thing females can contribute are their bodies for your cause...and if you can't quit with the subtle racial defeatest approach like Oh blacks like Obama because he is black, sorry but that rubs people the wrong way. It makes you look as if YOU are the one focusing the most on race.

Oh wait, I'm a female, I should just strip instead. My bad!

[leipo]

Are you in the United States? What country are you in? Never in my lifetime has heroin been "socially accepted". The United States has never given it out free to addicts that I know of. We have methadone clinics, but they do not give out free heroin. Since heroin addicts are living on the fringes of society, they do not have access to the medical care that could free them of their addiction. It is not impossible to be free of heroin addiction. Freedom from any addiction is never easy no matter what it is.

Nahh, the Netherlands. I meant "almost socially accepted" (among young people, the demographic that has the highest rate of addicts) like marijuana is now in most states i've been in the USA. But whatever, just treat it like it is a normal addiction. Whatever floats your boat.

[bygone]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/219/513421871_679ee841d7.jpg

[honkywill]

while i was sign waving the other day a black dude asked me how much i was getting paid.

me: i'm doing it for free.
dude: *blank stare*
me: i bought the sign and i'm doing this for free.
dude: what is he?
me: republican...
dude: *blank stare*
me: yeah... i usually don't like republicans. i actually hate most of them. but this is a good guy. he wants to end the war and the republicans don't even want him in the debates.
dude: i'll check him out.
me: yeah. be sure to check him out on youtube.

[FrankRep]

while i was sign waving the other day a black dude asked me how much i was getting paid.

me: i'm doing it for free.
dude: *blank stare*
me: i bought the sign and i'm doing this for free.
dude: what is he?
me: republican...
dude: *blank stare*
me: yeah... i usually don't like republicans. i actually hate most of them. but this is a good guy. he wants to end the war and the republicans don't even want him in the debates.
dude: i'll check him out.
me: yeah. be sure to check him out on youtube.

Rock on.

[atilla]

I hope this is sarcasm.

Do you really want your local 7-11 selling heroin?

actually yes, and crystal meth too. i don't like drug users, drinkers, smokers or tatooed people. if we had cheep mass produced crystal meth available legally many of the addictive personality types would voluntarily cull themselves in short order. we would dramatically raise the average IQ in a few short months by letting the dregs of society off themselves.

[atilla]

I was just browsing some stats on QuantCast.Com/ronpaul2008.com and I noticed that the 1 demographic we seem to be missing on ronpaul2008.com is the African Americans.

What do you think the reason for this is? Economics? Black people like Obama based on race (his quantcast stats show a large Black audience)? faulty stats?

just struck me as kind of strange.

any thoughts?

strange? where have you been living the past 50 years that you would find it strange black people don't support the consevative candidate?


please join the crusade to restore mary-kate and ashleys noses to the pre-plastic surgery form.

[bygone]

http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs9/300W/i/2006/148/7/3/IM_IN_UR_FRIDGE_by_silver_sashi.jpg

[paulitics]

I was just browsing some stats on QuantCast.Com/ronpaul2008.com and I noticed that the 1 demographic we seem to be missing on ronpaul2008.com is the African Americans.

What do you think the reason for this is? Economics? Black people like Obama based on race (his quantcast stats show a large Black audience)? faulty stats?

just struck me as kind of strange.

any thoughts?

has everything to do with the republican party and not ROn. If you go on youtube, there are quite a number of african american vlogs. You won't see that for Willard Romney or CFred Tompson.

[FrankRep]

has everything to do with the republican party and not ROn. If you go on youtube, there are quite a number of african american vlogs. You won't see that for Willard Romney or CFred Tompson.

A few I've found

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh6kVT4UL0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNbvr66Cdvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8GLNolccvM (He's leaning toward Ron Paul)

[atilla]

That was amusing.

I suppose then we would need competing companies to mass produce crystal meth, and advertise for it, and continually get new people to try it too...

Somewhere along that thought process the idea starts to fall apart. This stuff isn't candy, its addictive in a way that causes people to self-destruct.

exactly, that's what i'm saying, we would literally have the weakest and the stupidest people committing suicide. we would have a better citizenry on average once these people commit suicide by meth. and we would have no problems with them committing crimes to feed their drug habit because it could be mass-produced very cheaply. most of the prescription drugs are very cheap to manufacture, they just cost a lot because one company has a patent on them so no competition.

this is exactly opposite to what we have now where the most intelligent and productive people have the fewest kids while the morons (IQ 50-69) and welfare recipients have the most kids.

remember, mary-kate and ashley must be restored.

[derdy]

An idea, for reaching out to black voters:

I went to google and did a search for:

black community forums politics

Here's some I found:
http://www.izania.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=8
http://betboards.bet.com/forums/27/ShowForum.aspx


Maybe we can just drop in and give them links to ronpaullibrary.org, his campaign website, and some videos or what not?

I had actually thought about this last week, but I got side tracked. Anyone have any suggestions/comments on this?

I'll work the first forum I linked to

[bygone]

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c28/chantalemo/2af480fe50128bd2ec33bde5de69cacd.gif

[SeanEdwards]

A huge issue for the black community is the number of men that are in prison for non-violent (drug) crimes. RP could pardon and release any federal prisoner of this type, and work to change our insane war-on-friends and family nationally.

Excerpted from: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070921/NEWS06/70921020/0/ENT06

If elected president, Texas congressman Ron Paul said he would change drug laws to free non-violent offenders from prison.

“Mandated lifetime sentences are insane,” he said during an interview Friday with the Free Press editorial board. “I’d release them. I’d pardon them.”

[CMoore]

Believe it or not, a little historical research will show that most drug laws have their roots in racism. They are an excuse for imprisoning certain groups. This explains why opiates, cocaine and marijuana are illegal while nicotine and alcohol are subsidized by the government. And they are very effective at it. Drug laws are not for the benefit of the public by preventing drug use, they are a mechanism for removing undesirable racial groups from society. Almost nobody who knows the history of drug laws disputes this.

[wgadget]

Well, I have two black piano students and both of their respective parents have seen my RP yard sign out in the front yard, and have been given literature.

One of the most awesome experiences I've had yet with RP was attending a downtown Atlanta meetup signmaking and finding DOZENS of African Americans there. Most seemed to be business owners, which only makes sense. It was TOO cool.

[undergroundrr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh6kVT4UL0

This is very eloquently put.

[constituent]

the black community does not realize how thoroughly they are controlled and manipulated by agents prov. who seek to create racial discord by exploiting the many wounds of the past. groups like the SPLC who are just one example of fed. affiliated informant squads out there actively manuplating target groups of the population.

breaking their stranglehold on the minds of millions will be key. those who seek to exploit racism by encouraging it are an enemy of all peaceloving people, black white or otherwise.

[Mesogen]

I'm concerned with the attitude that we should legalize drugs for some sort of eugenics experiment where we "weed out" certain people.

Let's just worry about legalizing marijuana first, then we can move on to shrooms and maybe LSD and MDMA. Then after 100 years of struggle, 7-11 can sell heroin. Surely it will be behind the counter with the Sudafed.

[nexalacer]

While I understand your point, there will also be masses of people that will be victims of other crimes due to this process as well. Don't kid yourself into thinking that the drug only affects the user in the case of something that is so powerful of an addiction.

Also, companies actively promoting the product will continue to find new people to use and be addicted to it; I would not think that everyone who used it would simply die off. The base of users would likely grow under such conditions and I think your view of how it would play out is very optimistic.

It could very well be that some otherwise intelligent people make a poor decision due to advertising (yes, we see this a lot) and then slide down the slope provided.

Perhaps this topic deserves its own thread.

I think the basis of your assumption is that prohibition actually lowers the number of users. I disagree with this assumption. Prohibition of alcohol and prohibition of drugs does nothing to lower the number of users, it just increases the potency of the drugs.

If heroin, cocaine, LSD, etc. etc. were legal, the number of users may increase slightly but it would not be the huge destructive downward spiral you envision. Of course, advertising would probably increase users, but these drugs are not like nicotine and alcohol. That is to say, no matter how much advertisers try to tell us how fantastic heroin makes us feel, the fact that it is so addictive would be quickly well known (as it likely already is), and people would soon find out that they can't lead a functional life if they are on the shit all the time.

Not to say some people won't care about these problems and be addicts, but there is nothing I've seen that would make me think that people would be swarming to it just because it's suddenly legal.

And about the potency, I think the potency would be drastically reduced, limiting the damaging effects of the drugs on the users. When gin was made in a bathtub, certainly more people died from it's effects than when it's sold by Tanqueray. We talk about how devastating these drugs are to people today, but that is in a system where potency is encouraged to be higher.

Another thing, I never said that black people USE drugs more than other "groups". I just said they are TARGETED more by the laws. As was stated before, the illegalization of drugs was based in racism, and the continuing enforcement of the laws is also based in racism. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the numbers, the facts.

Also, it IS about the morality of drug prohibition and it is a question of good or bad. Laws are always a reflection of what society considers good or bad. If it's bad, it's against the law. Thus, if an opiod is "bad" and therefore illegal, then ALL opioids must be illegal, otherwise it is an arbitrary, immoral law. And because there are many opioids that are legal because of their medical use, then all opioids must be legal. The same can be said with the "good" legal things. If nicotine, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals, all drugs which effect the body and can be used or abused, are legal, then all drugs should be legal.

Lastly, we cannot use repercussions of another person's actions as reason to make something illegal. You say that we must keep drugs illegal because it the users will throw my life away, their children's lives away, and their friend's lives away. The same can be said about anything taken to an abusive level. I could argue that working too much throws children's lives away, therefore must be illegal. I could argue that eating too much throws children's lives away, therefore must be illegal. These would obviously just be silly. But anything done in excess can ruin people's lives.

The same type of reasoning can be used for the fear of driving while under the influence. Obviously, driving under the influence of alcohol is a very bad problem, yet the solution is not to make alcohol illegal... anyone who would suggest such a thing would be labeled a loon. We make the crime driving under the influence. Why would we approach driving under the influence of other drugs differently?

I think your fears about drugs destroying our society are a result of 80 years of anti-drug propaganda and not really based in any sort of reality. The reason why legalization is a one size fits all proposition is because every is affected in a negative way from drug prohibition. Parents must fight the associated cool factor of drugs that is inevitable when they are illegal. People who live near major gang areas must deal with the constant threat of violence caused by people warring over "turf". Users must deal with an inability to get treatment without the fear of imprisonment. And all of us must pay ridiculous taxes that go to increasing state power for the sake of laws that are morally inconsistent. I argue that drug prohibition is destroying our society far more than legalization ever could.

[bygone]

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c28/chantalemo/2af480fe50128bd2ec33bde5de69cacd.gif

[james1844]

Hi All,

I just wanted to voice my support for this effort. Paul can't win with only the white vote. Its silly not to include african american's in this effort.

Not only that, there isn't a lot of good statistical research to suggest that African-Americans, once you account for family upbringing, geographic location, education and income, are more criminal than whites. A lot of the crime problem is sociological, and is not inherent to "blackness"or being African American per say.

[FrankRep]

Hi All,

I just wanted to voice my support for this effort. Paul can't win with only the white vote. Its silly not to include african american's in this effort.

We all agree with you. The Constitution is for all Americans.

[FrankRep]

Another Awesome Video!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soKkoPpvi7o

[mconder]

Black people like Obama based on race

Uh...yes.