Russian Roulette Death, Marijuana Seizure and More on Patch
Busy week? Allow us to catch you up on some of the highlights.
1. Teen Shot in Russian Roulette Dies A 17-year-old boy hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the head has died, after apparently playing Russian Roulette with three friends in Largo.
2. Police Seize Marijuana and Guns A special Largo Police Department operation confiscated 121 marijuana plants and seven guns Tuesday morning, according to a news release.
3. Property Taxes May Increase The city manager's preliminary budget proposal shows a possible 2.75 percent increase in property tax rates.
4. Pinellas Judicial Candidates Make Their Case for Voters Judicial candidates stumped for a seat on the bench during a candidate forum Monday night at the North Greenwood Recreation and Aquatic Complex.
5. Store Owners Warned Not to Sell Synthetic Marijuana The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office began the process Monday of notifying 300 to 400 store owners about the latest synthetic substances that they cannot sell.
Malcolm Kyle
7:15 am on Sunday, July 8, 2012
In addition to the many societal costs of prohibition, it has a long history of driving the spread of harder or more dangerous drugs.
Marijuana to dangerous synthetic concoctions - such as spice or bath salts.
Poppies to morphine, to heroine, to krokodil.
Coca to cocaine, to crack, to Paco/Kete/Bazuco/Pitillo.
Ephedra to ephedrine, to speed, to methamphetamine.
Mushrooms to ecstasy (MDMA), to PMMA, to 2CB/designers.
At every step the reasons for the rise in popularity of the new form of the drug are one or more of the following:
* It may be easier to smuggle.
* It may be more addictive, thus compelling the buyer to return more frequently.
* It may be cheaper to produce, therefore yielding more profit.
* Like a game of "whack a mole" a shutdown of producers in one area will mean business opportunities for another set of producers with a similar product.
Prohibition's distortion of the immutable laws of 'supply and demand' subsidizes organized crime, foreign terrorists, corrupt cops, and unconscionable politicians, while feeding the prejudices of self-appointed culture warriors everywhere. So called Tough-On-Drugs politicians have happily built careers on confusing prohibition's horrendous collateral damage with the substances that they claim to be fighting while the big losers in this battle are everybody else, especially we the taxpayers.