I think the short answer is that by legalising drugs you have the opportunity to take the supply away from criminals thus reducing crime by allowing addicts to get their fix under controlled medical conditions with no need to turn to crime in order to feed their habit.
I realise that it's a lot more complex but I think that's essentially it.
All of them should be decriminalised. Soft drugs are far less harmful in the long term than currently legal tobacco and alcohol. More hard drugs have far worse consequences, but decriminalising them makes it far easier to control supply, monitor addicts and lower the crime associated with them.
Yeah rubs people up the wrong way but if I had a child who wanted to see how much fun they could have on mdma I would feel a bit better if it was of the same pharmaceutical quality as a 16pence packet of own brand paracetamol and hadn't spent a part of its life jammed up a drug dealers chatham pocket
I think the short answer is that by legalising drugs you have the opportunity to take the supply away from criminals thus reducing crime by allowing addicts to get their fix under controlled medical conditions with no need to turn to crime in order to feed their habit.
I realise that it's a lot more complex but I think that's essentially it.
It can also be taxed under these circumstances so the results of abuse can mitigate the burden on society that abuse creates.
It's an interesting discussion but we all know that drugs will never be be legalised in this country. Any government that did this would be committing political suicide. Any and every death caused or thought to be caused by drugs would be another nail in the coffin of whoever legalised it. It will never ever happen .
Drug abuse is a health issue, not a criminal one. Which is why i believe all drugs should be decriminalised and taxed and regulated. Drug dealers don't ask for ID.
All of them should be decriminalised. Soft drugs are far less harmful in the long term than currgently legal tobacco and alcohol. More hard drugs have far worse consequences, but decriminalising them makes it far easier to control supply, monitor addicts and lower the crime associated with them.
This is my view. I think it will happen, because in the end it has to be the right thing to do. After its done people will wonder why we didn't do it before.
All should be legalised, regulated and taxed like booze and ciggys. Instead of spending hundreds of millions on fighting and imprisoning users and dealers the government would make billions more legalising. They'll be able to spend many multiples more on helping people who do not know when to stop and still have a fortune left. I view it same as booze.
For anyone interested in this debate, I'd recommend the book High Society by Ben Elton.
If the money currently being spent on the 'war on drugs' was used for rehab, I imagine a lot less hard drugs would be causing the problems they currently do.
If China, with all their controls, have a massive heroin\Meth problem, what chance has England got?
Wow that was an unexpected amount of 'legalise all' responses.
Just to clarify I dabbled as a teen but haven't touched any since I've been in my twenties, however I see more and more of my mates getting into them and it is a worry. MDMA seems to be the drug of the moment.
A friend was recently on a football trial for a conference side, during that trial he was peer pressured into having a go on MDMA when out with a couple of fringe players and now uses it most weekends, his football has been reduced to 4 divisions below the conference as he always seems lacking energy unless on 'rocket fuel'. Can still hit a ball and read a game better than most of my mates though!
I think dealers are too easy to find and they cut the stuff with so much shit to make it go further, that is why people are getting sick. High levels of Impurity coupled with low levels of controlled dosing seems to be the problem.
So how would you clear the cheaper stuff off the streets by legalising it? Surely by making it legal this would push the price up leading to an increase in cutting with other chemicals to make drugs go further and cost less to supply to addicts?
Problem would be making them legal they would be more readily available, in turn giving people easier access and temptation into taking them. Before you know it , you've got people taking ket socially and the place will be like a scene from 28 days later. Plus in quite a few party drugs we don't even know the full term effects later in life.
I think most people agree that criminalising drugs doesn't actually help anyone.
I think they could be legalised 25-50 years from now. All research is showing that criminalising them doesn't help. I think there is still an element of our population which is very conservative, but younger people are more liberal and a lot will have experimented with drugs. Once that liberal young generation becomes the older generation, who knows what could happen.
Problem would be making them legal they would be more readily available, in turn giving people easier access and temptation into taking them. Before you know it , you've got people taking ket socially and the place will be like a scene from 28 days later. Plus in quite a few party drugs we don't even know the full term effects later in life.
Where's your evidence to suggest drug use would increase? In Portugal they've decriminalised drugs and drug use has gone down.
I don't buy the assumption that people are incredibly stupid and will constantly binge on drugs. It's the prohibition era arguement when they said if you legalise booze everyone will be drunk all the time. It's complete bullshit.
Might as well legalise mushrooms while they're at it, would be a laugh seeing city centres full of young men tripping their balls off rather than stumbling around drunk and fighting each other!
In all seriousness though, I do think a rethink needs to be done. Apart from the likes of crack, smack etc most drugs have possible benefits and are in fact not that harmful at all. As we all know, the most dangerous drugs really are cigaaareeeettes and alcohooeeooool
The main reason I've thought that cannabis shouldn't be legalised is there's no way of road-side testing for anyone driving under the influence. Apparently this is no longer the case. Heard an advert on local radio saying Kent police are running a campaign of checking drivers. This is apparently done by chewing on a cotton wall ball, which reacts to traces of chemicals in your saliva (this part is what I was told). All good if true.................
When where all these drugs actuall made illegal though?
I know that In London in 1916, Harrods were selling a kit described as "A Welcome Present for Friends at the Front" containing cocaine, morphine, syringes and needles.
Probably the best way to go 'over the top' to be honest.
Comments
I realise that it's a lot more complex but I think that's essentially it.
Any government that did this would be committing political suicide.
Any and every death caused or thought to be caused by drugs would be another nail in the coffin of whoever legalised it.
It will never ever happen .
Would be nice not to have anyone dying from taking something cut with rat poison or foot powder though
If the money currently being spent on the 'war on drugs' was used for rehab, I imagine a lot less hard drugs would be causing the problems they currently do.
If China, with all their controls, have a massive heroin\Meth problem, what chance has England got?
Just to clarify I dabbled as a teen but haven't touched any since I've been in my twenties, however I see more and more of my mates getting into them and it is a worry. MDMA seems to be the drug of the moment.
A friend was recently on a football trial for a conference side, during that trial he was peer pressured into having a go on MDMA when out with a couple of fringe players and now uses it most weekends, his football has been reduced to 4 divisions below the conference as he always seems lacking energy unless on 'rocket fuel'.
Can still hit a ball and read a game better than most of my mates though!
I think dealers are too easy to find and they cut the stuff with so much shit to make it go further, that is why people are getting sick. High levels of Impurity coupled with low levels of controlled dosing seems to be the problem.
So how would you clear the cheaper stuff off the streets by legalising it? Surely by making it legal this would push the price up leading to an increase in cutting with other chemicals to make drugs go further and cost less to supply to addicts?
Problem would be making them legal they would be more readily available, in turn giving people easier access and temptation into taking them. Before you know it , you've got people taking ket socially and the place will be like a scene from 28 days later. Plus in quite a few party drugs we don't even know the full term effects later in life.
I think they could be legalised 25-50 years from now. All research is showing that criminalising them doesn't help. I think there is still an element of our population which is very conservative, but younger people are more liberal and a lot will have experimented with drugs. Once that liberal young generation becomes the older generation, who knows what could happen.
I don't buy the assumption that people are incredibly stupid and will constantly binge on drugs. It's the prohibition era arguement when they said if you legalise booze everyone will be drunk all the time. It's complete bullshit.
Legalise them all.
I know that In London in 1916, Harrods were selling a kit described as "A Welcome Present for Friends at the Front" containing cocaine, morphine, syringes and needles.
Probably the best way to go 'over the top' to be honest.