A Fast Read on Drug Cartels and the Border

[Teresa]

Well... they could legalize pot and make money off of it. What's to stop that. Is it the right thing to do? Lot of people think so.   Listened to a radio show today while working and it talked about how less people actually used pot since it was legalized over in some country in Europe...sorry, forgot which one.
So, would I rather the state and feds spent tons of our money trying to control something they have no way of ever controlling? OR would I rather they just legalize it, undercut the growers and dealers, and tax it like cigarettes and alcohol? upside...Can you imagine the money that would bring in? 
Downside..Can you imagine a nation full of pot smokers?  Even more than we already have? 

Try and see the big picture here. There is more than just do we legalize pot to make money off of the taxes...or medicinal or for whatever reason..

Then you hear... Marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to other, harder drugs. I disagree..
it has nothing at all to do with the DRUG it has everything to do with the PERSON, just like guns and crime.

I don't know the answer.. but I sure know this..
The "war on (some) drugs" is a bigger failure than prohibition!

[Diane Amberg]

Yes, nothing like a bunch of stoned high school kids in class. Alcohol is legal at the age that the Docs feel it won't hurt developing brains, yet young kids still drink too. I don't know what the answer is. I've heard every excuse in the book. There are health issues with anything that is done to excess. Now Bristol Palin is going on "An Abstinence Tour?" Why bother? Talk about a day late and a dollar short. "It's hard," she said. Well Duh! And the  delightful young sob didn't stick by her. So who is surprised? Only the toughest of the tough make those things work. I guess those two were average. Sorry, I got off track.

[Varmit]

Now Bristol Palin is going on "An Abstinence Tour?" Why bother? Talk about a day late and a dollar short. "It's hard," she said. Well Duh! And the  delightful young sob didn't stick by her. So who is surprised? Only the toughest of the tough make those things work. I guess those two were average. Sorry, I got off track.

Diane give the girl some credit, for cryin out loud
I mean at least she had the backbone to keep her child instead of killing it.  And maybe she is getting the point across to the kids she talks to on her Abstinence tour better than an adult would. 
Maybe she didn't want the father to stick around, I assume since you don't have the information first hand as to the reason you would postpone making judgements. 

[Diane Amberg]

I really am sorry it didn't work out for them, but since so many don't I wasn't even remotely surprised. And why would any kids with raging hormones listen to her any more than parents, doctors, ministers and other friends in the same situation who have talked themselves hoarse trying to get kids to listen. She should stay home and take care of her child. Who's paying for this "tour" anyway?

[Varmit]

Kids would listen because she is around their age group.  She isn't some old fogy who comes across more authoritan than peer.  Peer pressure is a big deal for alot of kids, why not use it in a positive way?  Palain can use a "look, I am going through this right now" point of view instead of "been there done that" position.

[Diane Amberg]

I did say "friends in the same situation." It's all in the moment. Being a male I'm sure you know what I mean. I wonder how much government money will be spent to raise that little one. Hopefully none. And supposedly the boy dumped Bristol because she didn't want his drug selling mother around the baby.  Who knows?  What do you know about her tour? local, national?  I guess maybe it's me that's weird. I always had a lot of respect for my parents wisdom. I knew they had been my age and knew what it was like. Now it seems like everybody knows somebody who has an out of wedlock child. And food stamps and free health care, free lunch and on and on. They  seem to know exactly what kind of Govt. assistance they can get even before they name the baby. Not all, certainly, and some do get family help but most grab what they can. Abortion for that? Not on your life! You play you pay. But the girls pay a bigger price.   

[Varmit]

The way I understand it is that she is very close with her family and they help out.  I seriously doubt that any gov't money is being spent on that child.  If Bristol dumped him because his mother sold drugs, then more power to Bristol.  As for the whole welfare thing, alot of that could be stopped if we quit telling these kids that it is alright to have prematrial sex as long as they use a condom. 

[Diane Amberg]

Well, apparently they hadn't heard that. Perhaps she wouldn't be a young mother now. At least with condoms there is less chance of disease too. When I was in high school it was well known that the boy's parents paid for the abortion, if there was to be one ,so the boy's future wouldn't be"ruined." We had two girls in my class ...both got married, had the babies and they divorced shortly after. Very sad.

[Varmit]

What is sad is the tendency to strip the morals and values that were once taught to our children.  What is sad is that we often lay blame on the "boys" for getting girls pregnant, when in fact is those girls would keep their legs closed it wouldn't be an issue.  Of course boys share in the blame, it is their hormones that push them to pressure the girls to have sex in the first place.  What ever happened to chivarly? Or a womans honor?

[Wilma]

Billy, I firmly believe that TV has a lot to do with that.  Children are seeing things now that we only heard in whispers.  Someone and here again I cannot remember the name was talking about it on a news program.  His concern was that while watching TV with his granchildren a commercial about ED came on.  The grandchildren started asking questions.  His solution is to ban this type of commercials to hours that children aren't usually watching TV.  The problem here is that the people that the commercials want to reach have gone to bed, too.