Haha! Upvote for the bank robbers.

No, I don't mean the assault weapons ban. Firearm regulation has a long history in the United States, and Bazookas are still heavily regulated federally and often banned locally. They are "Destructive Devices" under Title 2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_II_weapons

By heavily regulating or banning these weapons it has made it harder for bank robbers to acquire them.

The 95% and 5% numbers were hypothetical, as should have been clear. I imagine those numbers are approximately right, though. Huge amounts of Americans drink alcohol occasionally and never run in to a problem with it. I'm skeptical that there are many active, long term heroin users who are maintaining healthy lives. If you have contrary statistics on that I'm curious to see them.

Amsterdam has similar laws to Portugal. I actually don't know why you'd bring that up as it is contrary to what you've been arguing and supportive of what I've been saying. While the Netherlands has a "non-enforcement" policy for illegal drugs such as marijuana, they come down hard against hard drugs like the ones I am arguing should be illegal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_the_Netherlands
Drug usage and imprisonment in the Netherlands is not really exceptional compared to the rest of Europe. "The rate of imprisonment for drug crimes is about the same as in Sweden, which has a zero tolerance policy for drug crimes."

Anyway, I agree with you that drug law in the Netherlands is quite reasonable, and I'm glad that you agree that it is "pretty goddamn close" to being a silver bullet. They emphasize treating addicts rather than putting them in prison, but still put drug traffickers in prison for a long time. None-the-less, any drug use in unambiguously illegal.

I take it by your rejection of my hypothetical situation that you believe that any drug use, even if clearly expected to be harmful to other people, should be legal. You are very strongly libertarian. But I believe that personal freedom ends where harm to others begins.

Also, you come across as very hostile for some reason. What are you trying to get out of this dialogue, exactly? I personally am pleased to see contrary opinions and re-evaluate the beliefs I hold.

oh you mean the federal assault weapons ban that expired in '04? so i can buy an ak or a bazooka if i want to now, whats your point? do you know what banning certain or all firearms does? keeps em out of law abiding citizens hands. do you sincerely think that Joe Bank Robber has no means to get a gun or even an assault rifle to commit his crimes with?

i hear that 60% of the time it works every time right? care to cite your 95%/5% findings or were you just pulling em straight out of your ass, confirming my suspicions?

by "these drugs" i can only presume you are talking about heroin eh? but what about cigarettes? are they not carefully engineered poisons? so whats your point again?

you conveniently left out amsterdam, while it may not be the fabled silver bullet, its pretty goddamn close. what was your point again?

what if there was a specific human brain synapse that caused one to violently rape ponies and shit on babies? should we still allow humans to function normally?
I can make absurd scenarios that serve absolutely no purpose other than to incite absurdity. isnt it fun?

im still anxiously awaiting you to present something original and valid to this table.

*dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/Bank-Robbers-Pick-The-Wrong-Bank-To-Rob

This video has been nominated as a duplicate of this video by bleedmegood. If this nomination is seconded with *isdupe, the video will be killed and its votes transferred to the original.

I've heard a lot about lobbyists in the USA and i'm starting to think it's an understated and covered up problem over here, or at least a growing one. Over here voting levels are very low, not many turn out to vote, and i think it's because of the lack of belief in the system - we always get lied to, but who are the liars in power this time?

As for weed legalisation, it's just the unpopular drug. Tobacco, alcohol - these are more harmful, but weed is just unpopular. This also ties into politics - last time i checked a 'democracy', if weed was popular and people wanted it, it would become legal yet we are forced to see people fined huge amounts and jailed depending on how much you have. We also have a case of Britain's TOP drug advisor saying "Weed and extacy are less harmful than drinking and smoking." -- this man was asked to be a drug advisor, he was asked his expert opinion and when he GAVE them his expert opinion they fired him! Get a new expert who will lie but say what we want him to say i guess.

Finally; that's the problem i guess. Prisoners should not be left idle, and it's good for them to stay active and also pay their own way + give them what's left over. But the people in charge are not trustworthy. So they get us to agree in principle, and then change the details when they implement.

In reply to this comment by enoch:
i agree and thats what my response was aiming at.
that so many who tacitly accept the fact and dehumanize "prisoners" without even looking into what a "prisoner" actually is.i was attempting to clarify that while we need prisons for those who are violent and are a detriment to society there is a vast population of non-violent offenders where jail does little more than fill the cell.corporate prisons are for-profit and has little to do with "rehabilitation" or "punishment" but everything to do with profits.these are the prisoners i was talking about,not the rapist or the armed bank robber but johnny slacker who dealt a little bit of weed.

the prison system has quietly become the 9th largest lobbyist in washington.they own and control 70% of americas prisons.it is not in their best interest to legalize weed or change the sentencing structure towards leniency.they actively pursue agressive laws and sentencing because it serves their interests.the public has little to do with their objectives.

as for the forced labor.i agree that idle minds can be a bad thing and keeping busy is a good thing.i dont agree that prisoners should be forced to participate in labor that benefits not only the corporate prisons but defense contractors as well.there are a few federal prisons that offer work and training for prisoners to learn a trade that pays a living wage but they are few and availability is limited.

2.3 million for a prison population is a city.the societal ramifications will not be felt for quite a few years but i would be willing to bet the outcome will not be positive.
in any case...thanks for clarifying and responding.
till next time.
namaste.

i agree and thats what my response was aiming at.
that so many who tacitly accept the fact and dehumanize "prisoners" without even looking into what a "prisoner" actually is.i was attempting to clarify that while we need prisons for those who are violent and are a detriment to society there is a vast population of non-violent offenders where jail does little more than fill the cell.corporate prisons are for-profit and has little to do with "rehabilitation" or "punishment" but everything to do with profits.these are the prisoners i was talking about,not the rapist or the armed bank robber but johnny slacker who dealt a little bit of weed.

the prison system has quietly become the 9th largest lobbyist in washington.they own and control 70% of americas prisons.it is not in their best interest to legalize weed or change the sentencing structure towards leniency.they actively pursue agressive laws and sentencing because it serves their interests.the public has little to do with their objectives.

as for the forced labor.i agree that idle minds can be a bad thing and keeping busy is a good thing.i dont agree that prisoners should be forced to participate in labor that benefits not only the corporate prisons but defense contractors as well.there are a few federal prisons that offer work and training for prisoners to learn a trade that pays a living wage but they are few and availability is limited.

2.3 million for a prison population is a city.the societal ramifications will not be felt for quite a few years but i would be willing to bet the outcome will not be positive.
in any case...thanks for clarifying and responding.
till next time.
namaste.

"convicted bank robbers" my ass.

Accused bank robbers get rescued but homosexuals get stoned whilst hanging. Go progress.

Looks awfully familiar: http://www.videosift.com/video/Ohio-Bank-Robber-Eats-Hold-up-Note-off-Cop

Well done Mr.Bank Robber!

HAHAHA that bank robber one is CLASSIC!

This video has been declared a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof declared by demon_ix.

Yep. *dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Old-Dude-Bear-hug-tackles-Bank-Robber-38secs