Should we legalize drugs?

[Norsefire]

I'm sure this has been done to death, but it still remains a hot topic.

Should we legalize drugs?

I say yes. Legalize all drugs and do not regulate them or tax them (leave that to the free market)


Reasons why -

-First, the reason on purely philosophical grounds: it is the choice of the individual, and the responsibility of the individual. Nobody is forcing you to use drugs, and you certainly can avoid them; however if someone else wants to use them, that should be his/her choice. Even if it is "dangerous", it's their responsibility.

-Secondly, prisons are overflowing with drug offenders, most of which are nonviolent. This means more taxes to pay for these unnecessary prisoners. Not to mention, they don't deserve to be in there.

-If we're going to have cops, they should focus more on actual crimes where someone is hurt instead of victimless crimes. Having to focus on these "crimes" wastes time and resources and manpower, and doesn't allow cops to focus on more important matters.

-People who want drugs are going to get them. Why not allow them the option to get them from a reliable business instead of a shady guy on the street corner?

- People who want help for their habit are afraid to ask for it because they are afraid of the legal consequences. Legalizing drugs means people won't be afraid to ask for help, or at least not so much.

The "War on Drugs" is an utter failure; not only is it a waste of taxpayer dollars, but it wastes time and manpower as well, when we could be focused on more important things.

What say you?

 

[cluelusshusbund]

I'm sure this has been done to death, but it still remains a hot topic.

Should we legalize drugs?

I say yes. Legalize all drugs and do not regulate them or tax them (leave that to the free market)


Reasons why -

-First, the reason on purely philosophical grounds: it is the choice of the individual, and the responsibility of the individual. Nobody is forcing you to use drugs, and you certainly can avoid them; however if someone else wants to use them, that should be his/her choice. Even if it is "dangerous", it's their responsibility.

-Secondly, prisons are overflowing with drug offenders, most of which are nonviolent. This means more taxes to pay for these unnecessary prisoners. Not to mention, they don't deserve to be in there.

-If we're going to have cops, they should focus more on actual crimes where someone is hurt instead of victimless crimes. Having to focus on these "crimes" wastes time and resources and manpower, and doesn't allow cops to focus on more important matters.

-People who want drugs are going to get them. Why not allow them the option to get them from a reliable business instead of a shady guy on the street corner?

- People who want help for their habit are afraid to ask for it because they are afraid of the legal consequences. Legalizing drugs means people won't be afraid to ask for help, or at least not so much.

The "War on Drugs" is an utter failure; not only is it a waste of taxpayer dollars, but it wastes time and manpower as well, when we could be focused on more important things.

What say you?

Well all the reasons you gave above soun good... an i wonder
if ther woud be less harm caused by drugs if we spent only half the money curently bein spent on the "war on drugs" to educate people about drugs... an i dont mean scare taticts... but honest informaton about the effects drugs have on peoples lifes.!!!

 

[copernicus66]

I'm sure this has been done to death, but it still remains a hot topic.

Should we legalize drugs?

I say yes. Legalize all drugs and do not regulate them or tax them (leave that to the free market)


Reasons why -

-First, the reason on purely philosophical grounds: it is the choice of the individual, and the responsibility of the individual. Nobody is forcing you to use drugs, and you certainly can avoid them; however if someone else wants to use them, that should be his/her choice. Even if it is "dangerous", it's their responsibility.

-Secondly, prisons are overflowing with drug offenders, most of which are nonviolent. This means more taxes to pay for these unnecessary prisoners. Not to mention, they don't deserve to be in there.

-If we're going to have cops, they should focus more on actual crimes where someone is hurt instead of victimless crimes. Having to focus on these "crimes" wastes time and resources and manpower, and doesn't allow cops to focus on more important matters.

-People who want drugs are going to get them. Why not allow them the option to get them from a reliable business instead of a shady guy on the street corner?

- People who want help for their habit are afraid to ask for it because they are afraid of the legal consequences. Legalizing drugs means people won't be afraid to ask for help, or at least not so much.

The "War on Drugs" is an utter failure; not only is it a waste of taxpayer dollars, but it wastes time and manpower as well, when we could be focused on more important things.

What say you?

Agreed. If people can't use drugs responsibly, that's their own fault.

 

[PipTweedle]

-First, the reason on purely philosophical grounds: it is the choice of the individual, and the responsibility of the individual. Nobody is forcing you to use drugs, and you certainly can avoid them; however if someone else wants to use them, that should be his/her choice. Even if it is "dangerous", it's their responsibility.

Addiction could be seen to 'force' people to habitual drug use.
Even if someone tries drugs 'just to experiment' they can develop overpowering addiction.

The government has a duty to protect people from unnecessary violence.
We don't have a law against drinking coffee, though it's a drug, because the alteration to the mental state and sense of reality (responsibility) that coffee induces is minimal.
I don't believe that the majority of people are mature enough to consistently refrain from acts of violence that can result from the severely altered mental state and subsequent impairement of judgement that are attendant upon drug use.

-Secondly, prisons are overflowing with drug offenders, most of which are nonviolent. This means more taxes to pay for these unnecessary prisoners. Not to mention, they don't deserve to be in there.

I agree, partly, with your first statement.
I don't agree that minor drug offenders should be released only pending a fine or some alternative of that nature, but I do agree that there are better people to lock up.
Some of them do deserve to be in there.

-If we're going to have cops, they should focus more on actual crimes where someone is hurt instead of victimless crimes. Having to focus on these "crimes" wastes time and resources and manpower, and doesn't allow cops to focus on more important matters.

Walk down to a rehab clinic and tell a recovering meth addict that you don't think he's a victim.

-People who want drugs are going to get them. Why not allow them the option to get them from a reliable business instead of a shady guy on the street corner?

If drugs were distributed through the government or reliable businesses, it's pretty certain that those people who had been too scared of punishment for breaking the law before would opt to try drugs.
I still hold that people are simply not mature/capable enough to deal with the effects of drugs in a responsible, non-violent way.
If you want to talk about clogging the jails up: What do you think would happen as violent crime rates climb with the more widespread use of drugs?

- People who want help for their habit are afraid to ask for it because they are afraid of the legal consequences. Legalizing drugs means people won't be afraid to ask for help, or at least not so much.

There are no legal consequences for asking for help overcoming addiction, as long as you aren't in possession of drugs or involved in circulating them.

The "War on Drugs" is an utter failure; not only is it a waste of taxpayer dollars, but it wastes time and manpower as well, when we could be focused on more important things.

What say you?

More money would be wasted processing criminals who were convicted of crimes they committed under the influence.
Also, human lives would be compromised.
Bottomline:
I think it costs less to prevent than to cleanup.
And cleanup doesn't just mean legal fees.

 

[Enmos]

The poll-options suck. If someone wants to vote against legalizing any kind of drugs they have to pick 'other'.. :bugeye:

 

[cosmictraveler]

Should we legalize drugs?

No, but there should be DECIMINALIZATION of some of them.

 

[Baron Max]

I think a nation should have laws about drugs in the same way they have laws about anything else ....using the legal avenues of the society in which they live.

In the USA, we should have laws in accordance with the Constitution and as the population agrees. Laws are in place because of our due process in state and federal governments. If "We, the people..." want laws against drugs, then so be it.

Baron Max

 

[swarm]

Portugal has decriminalized all drugs and it has improved the "drug problem" in their country considerably.

 

[Asguard]

i dont know how i would answer that. I dont belive in encoraging more people into using drugs like ICE which have VERY harmful effects (like rage against the health proffessionals trying to help them, not a nice thing to be on the reciving end off). However i also know how many people die of Herion OD's when a new player gets into the market and relaces a more than usually pure form. Then there are conciderations of what its cut with, its not powdered sugar thats used in placibos thats for sure (battery acid being quite common). There for i would LIKE to see these drugs surplied through pharmacies and controled by the TGA where the purity can be controled and so can the fillers.

Our focus should DEFINITLY be on harm minimisation and using should be compleatly in the domain of the health sector, NOT the criminal justice sector

 

[Roman]

Agreed. If people can't use drugs responsibly, that's their own fault.

While I agree with this sentiment, what about one person's irresponsibility injuring another person?

Take speeding. If you go too fast, you could kill yourself and/or kill other people (or injure them, etc). Speed regulation prevents accidents, simply by disincentivizing an act that could lead to bad consequences. Simply punishing the bad consequences- killing someone with a car- would lead to more people being killed in motor accidents. Why? Because a) your risk is much lower and b) we're bad at calculating risks, anyway.

 

[cluelusshusbund]

Portugal has decriminalized all drugs and it has improved the "drug problem" in their country considerably.

Below is the firs article about Portugal i fount on Google... souns promisin.!!!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/14/portugal/

"Evaluating the policy strictly from an empirical perspective, decriminalization has been an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense."

[End of snip]

I like he idea of leavin it up to the people to choose whether they do drugs or not wit-out the fear of goin to jale as long as they ant brakin any laws... but only if complete an accurate stistical informaton about the long an short term effects of drugs on peoples lifes is made avalable.!!!

My guess is... that near 100% of pot-heads woud say that wit-out pot ther lifes woud be worser... an near 100% of pot-heads who have kicked ther addicton woud say that ther lifes have improved.!!!

 

[cluelusshusbund]

i dont know how i would answer that. I dont belive in encoraging more people into using drugs like ICE

I dont like encouragin people to use any kind of drugs for a "high"... an the stoopidity of usin drugs for that purpose shud be taut to all ages.!!!

 

[scott3x]

I voted for legalize all drugs with government regulation. I meant all the big name drugs, not sure about some smaller stuff. I highly recommend the book Ending the War on Drugs, a book I've read and one of the many books linked to on the drugpolicy.org's bookstore section:

http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/bookstore/

 

[John99]

My guess is... that near 100% of pot-heads woud say that wit-out pot ther lifes woud be worser... an near 100% of pot-heads who have kicked ther addicton woud say that ther lifes have improved.!!!

Thats true, but pot is not really the problem. It is the harder drugs that is the problem and to be honest no country has legalized all illicit drugs. Getting busted for smoking weed is like a $100-200 fine in most of the U.S.

Also the phrase 'war on drugs' is just really stupid and i think actually started being used decades ago by Nancy Reagan who probably knew virtually nothing about drug addiction. It gave people a nice opportunity and phrase to use to write books and editoria;ize for pro drug use or legalization who, interestingly enough, most likely never experienced the effects of drug use themselves. Personally i have seen what it does because i lived in an area that had what was termed an open air drug market. For all intents and purposes, we can say it was legal in that area because you could get anything you wanted 24\7 and was in a very poor neighborhood too.

Most people are not aware that people addicted to hard drugs want them harder to get and not easier. I dont know if they think they are doing people a favor by making them easier to acquire but that is very comical and shows how out of touch they are. None of this matters anyway because these drugs will never be legalized anyway. Pot has a chance but that is about it.

The truth is that hard drugs effect poor people more than anyone else and like i said i dont know of any country that has legalized all drugs across the board. In fact i was watching this t.v show about an Australian woman convicted in Indonesia for trying to leave with a fairly large quantity of weed and the sentence was i think something like 20 years. could have been a life sentence iirc but that is extreme, i think so anyway. I am sure all the Aussies know what i am referring to because it was a big deal down there but they never mentioned it here, for some reason or other.

The main purpose of the post is to point out, as i said earlier, 'war on drugs' was about the dumbest phrase to use because it gave people a mantra, a rallying cry to use but has no real meaning or impact on an addicted person. They dont care about some drug war that may be going on, they care about their own war. Their war is what they live every day, their war is battling a disease and it is a self inflicted disease but still pretty much a disease. Not in the classical sense but after awhile a disease of the mind.

 

[John99]

yeah it pisses me off when you have people writing about and pushing for legalization, not here but in the media or free newspapers and rags etc. People who had all the opportunities to have a decent life and never came home to find mom and dad smoking crack or just not home at all for days. That is very nice of them, very generous too. *sarcasm*

 

[John99]

and it is a shame too because it is (almost) always the poor who suffer. like throwing them in a pit with hungry lions, licking their chops and looking to devour them.

 

[John99]

To be clear, i use the term drugs but what i mean is illicit, hard drugs and afa pot i could care less about its legalization.

 

[swarm]

I dont belive in encoraging more people into using drugs like ICE which have VERY harmful effects

Well then stop doing it. Every one knows the crystalized form of dihydrogen Oxide is bad news.

I can't believe you repeated that old urban legend about battery acid.

 

[swarm]

Thats true, but pot is not really the problem. It is the harder drugs that is the problem and to be honest no country has legalized all illicit drugs.

Yes, Protugal has decriminalized ALL drugs and it is working just fine thank you.

From Clueless above...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/14/portugal/

"Evaluating the policy strictly from an empirical perspective, decriminalization has been an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense."

 

[John99]

well i wa not aware of that but if the only way you have to go is up then to say it is a success may be wishful thinking. the truth is to really know all the facts you have to live in a place and experience things first hand. going for a visit for a week and seeing what people want you to see is not really an honest and realistic view. also the effects of certain decisions often takes years to fully realize.

a few years ago i went to a portugese party, in the u.s, and there was wine bottles at the tables where the children were sitting. i asked someone who lived in portugal for most of his life and he told me that inportugal there is no drinking age. his exact words were 'no one cares'. weather true or not, that no one cares, may be a slight exaggeration but that is exactly what he told me.