The U.S. spends appx. $50 billion per YEAR to fight the U.S. War on Drugs. It has been estimated that the cost to completely secure the southern U.S. border and deport ALL illegal immigrants would be appx. $285 billion over 5 years. (so about $57 billion per year)

If marijuana was legal (marijuana arrests comprise 44% of all drug arrests), the states would cease having to worry about locking up non-violent marijuana offenders completely and could even generate some revenue by taxing the drug. (similar to the way state’s tax alcohol). In addition, hard drugs (crack, cocaine, meth, heroine, etc.) could be decriminalized similar to the program tried in Portugal. (focus on addiction treatment instead of prison time). This decriminalization of hard drugs would accomplish two things: A) hard drug rates would decrease (similar to how they did in Portugal), B) the profitability of hard drugs would plummet (similar to the way medical marijuana ie legal marijuana has caused the price of black market marijuana in California to plummet). If drugs aren’t profitable, cartels can’t make TONS of profits selling them. (That wouldn’t be a bad thing….)

What do you think??

AP IMPACT: After 40 years, $1 trillion, U.S. War on Drugs has failed to meet any of its goals
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10642775

Plummeting Marijuana Prices Create A Panic In Calif.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126806429&ft=1&f=2&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+NprProgramsATC+%28NPR+Programs:+All+Things+Considered%29

Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work? (hint: YES!!)
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html

The Cato paper reports that between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined. Lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds fell from 2.5% to 1.8% (although there was a slight increase in marijuana use in that age group). New HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half. In addition, the number of people on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040, after decriminalization, and money saved on enforcement allowed for increased funding of drug-free treatment as well.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100708/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_enforcement_lawsuit_27

The federal government is worried that other states will follow Arizona’s lead, overwhelming federal agencies with non-criminal illegal immigrants who will cost the government millions to deport.

A March study by the liberal Center for American Progress estimated that deporting the entire illegal immigration population and securing the borders would cost $285 billion over five years.
Ed………..”What happened to the “just say no” program?”

It didn’t work.
otis……..”If there wasn’t a demand for drugs — there would be no supply.”

But there IS a demand. To deny this fact is to deny reality.
otis……..”Edit: There’s also a demand for child porn — should that be legalized too?”

You act like people can’t get it. I’m not saying legalize the exploitation of children. I’m saying legalize marijuana because it’s less harmful than alcohol. And DECRIMINALIZE hard drugs and offer treatment programs instead (in an effort to decrease DEMAND).

See??

If you have been in network marketing for any length of time, you’ve probably discovered that buying mlm leads or mlm genealogy leads and cold calling is very popular in this industry. So popular in fact, a large number of companies are selling mlm leads all over the internet. During the late 80’s and 90’s, top gurus used genealogy leads to build huge organizations. Having access to these lists was a secret gold mine among the heavy hitters. The average distributor had no idea that these top income earners were using such list to create massive downlines. One top mlm trainer name Tracy Biller, who’s the creator of Ultimate Success CD’s is a big advocate of buying mlm genealogy list.

The real challenge using leads is duplication. Because not all distributors wants to cold call strangers on the phone. Not to mention mlm leads are usually sold more than once, especially the mlm genealogy list. Sure there’s companies online selling lead list, but you really don’t know the quality of the list and the cost overtime can be really expensive. So buying leads is bad way to do business. The best way to build your mlm program is to create your own leads by using the internet.

With more and more network marketers harnessing the power of the internet, a number of online network marketers have discovered a new way of doing business and are having success in a big way. This is a fantastic model because it allows you to get into cash flow quickly and easy to duplicate. So what’s this new concept? It’s called Attraction Marketing.

Attraction marketing is great way to build your business because you learn how to use real online marketing tools and strategies. You’ll also discover a unique way to attract other network marketers and quality Prospects to you. One strategy is to learn how to get high google search ranking. Another is to provide valuable content. The goal is to send out solutions-base information to your target audience. They will in turn be receptive to your message and be attracted to you naturally. You’ll be able to create your own prospects list and offer useful products and earn upfront instant cash. Also you’ll have the ability to brand your name, which will position you as a leader. Once trust has been established, you can share your primary mlm program with you list on the backend.

This new model is more powerful then the old school of network marketing ever was. This is  true direct response marketing with law of attraction principles aswell. The great thing about marketing this way is, you still make a profit whether prospects join your mlm business or not. That’s the beauty of attraction marketing. It teaches you to move from just another mlm distributor to an independent online entrepreneur. And that’s where you want to be.

Buying mlm genealogy leads and cold calling is definitely a hard way to build a business in today’s environment. I know.. I’ve tried it. It’s not fun either. Not only that, it puts you in a position of salesman rather than a leader. And nobody wants to be sold to. That’s the big problem with leads of any kind. Trying to sell an mlm opportunity upfront to strangers over the phone is a challenging task. Especially when a relationship, trust and credibility haven’t been built yet. You need to stop chasing prospect and let them come to you. That’s what attraction marketing will do for you.

If you are going to use the internet to promote your mlm program, attraction marketing is the way to go. Some experts say that this concept will take the industry by storm. I think they are right. As more and more distributors go online, sooner or later they will come in contact with this method. And as I said earlier, there are a number of network marketers who are becoming well known in the internet network marketing world as a result of using this concept. So, if you’re ready to take your business to the next level, attraction markteting is the way to go.  

Establishing Opt-In List is a vital part of Internet Advertising. Every winning marketer online contains a personal list of subscribers and is utilizing it to profit online. Building personal list may sound straightforward – you simply purchase an automatic responder service, produce some messages, place subscription form on your website and drive guests to your subscription form. If you want to succeed in online marketing in any form including email marketing then you really need to learn from Andrew Fox Affiliate Millionaire creator and email marketing expert in his own right.

Although these steps are very accurate and straightforward, sadly building list isn’t that easy. Somebody inexperienced in internet endorsement will have difficulties in steering traffic needed for formulating an opt-in list. Traffic will sometimes be a drawback even for a more practiced people.

Obtaining enough traffic for list building is not the only problem. Several individuals ignore the consequence of maintaining continuous contact with all members of your list. Individuals are forgetful and if you do not get in touch with them often, they will simply forget that they even signed-up to your list!

Thus, to resolve drawback with traffic several individuals decide to easily obtain leads. Shopping for leads will save a ton of time essential for list building. They will additionally avoid the second drawback by creating enough pre-written messages to keep up with their leads for a extended time, or they will use broadcast choice often. The thought of buying leads is nice and several promoters are utilizing this methodology, however there is a catch.

Several people may not like the idea of their e-mail, or different contact information being sold. And once after they subscribed, there probably was a privacy statement saying that their contact info is safe and will never be rented, sold, or used for any use at all. It is potential though that they were lied to, or tricked. Subscription forms without privacy statement have a lot lower conversion rates and terribly usually these members don’t seem to be terribly receptive.

Different terribly necessary reason why leads shouldn’t be bought is as a result of you’ll never be extremely certain if you’re buying a safelist. Individuals willing to profit quickly will easily sell blacklists. They use spam robots to collect as several e-mails as they’ll online, however rather than sending spam, they plan to gain some cash by selling those e-mails. This can be even worse as a result of marketer who purchased this list will be accused of spam! Although this in all probability won’t happen since leads aren’t simply e-mail addresses however conjointly names and different contact information, it is attainable!

A successful Net marketer is aware of a true value of responsive leads and can not sell them. He has worked laborious in constructing his list and creating a certain relationship with all members of that list. It is not possible that he will risk his reputation and faith by selling a responsive list. It is a lot of possible that you’ll obtain a non responsive list of leads.

On the other hand it is attainable that these leads are absolutely attentive to selling and that they accept as true with it. In that situation buying leads is ok, but you never extremely apprehend…

If you are inquisitive about shopping for leads, forever use your due diligence whenever you come across some lead selling offer. Make positive you are shopping for opt-in leads (double opt-ins are even higher) and that every one of them are attentive to a new list owner. If you are not positive of the latter, approach your new leads carefully and even think about asking them to verify their subscription again. You’ll lose a couple leads this approach, but it’s a lot of higher than to risk spam accusations.

Further Resources

Learn To Build Email Opt In Lists Not Buy Leads