NEWS: America's War on Drugs Officially Being Abandoned

Finally, the joke of a war on drugs is ending. This was a waste of time from the start. That's a lot of money that could have been used to strengthen border control, education, etc. A new look at the drug approach must be adopted. Education on drugs needs to be pushed and strengthened. Face it, drugs are not going away. There will not ever be an end to them. Our friends and family will always have the ability to obtain them and use them. It is a matter of education, rehabilitation, and more education. Its a shame that drugs even exist that can destroy someone's life, but they always will.

May as well dust off my ol' liberal views on drugs

The way I see it drugs are going to be used no matter what. Why not legalize all illict drugs. Legalize their production and tax them ala alcohol and tabaco.

Benefits:

- It will remove the drug revenue from criminals
- The revenue for the state would be huge
- Crime rates will fall due to cheaper access to drugs
- The money spent on locking up druggies and crimes related to drugs will be astronomical

Downfall:

- Easier access to drugs will promote increased usage. Lets face it though, drugs are going to be used no matter what. Atleast legalisation gives us a buttload of benefits.

No?

Edit: And no I dont use drugs and ive never even tried them. I dont even like cigarettes.

[edit on 16/5/05 by subz]

Originally posted by subz
Edit: And no I dont use drugs and ive never even tried them. I dont even like cigarettes.

Good for you. Stay that way

Now, it would really helped to form your opinion on this matter, if you actually did. Some illicit drugs are really toxic and should not be legal no matter what.

Apart from that, there is some really addicitve stuff out there. I can imagine that once everything is legal, market forces will lead to a universal availability of drugs. The danger is in the fact there will be people tempted to try, and not having enough will power to back out of it. Once on this slippery slope, many would just slip.

I intend to keep it that way Will power is a good thing

They cant be any more toxic and dangerous than alcohol and tobacco is my point. Prohibiting illicit drugs causes more problems than it solves.

Originally posted by subz
I intend to keep it that way

Will power is a good thing

They cant be any more toxic and dangerous than alcohol and tobacco is my point.

Oh yes they can. More addictive? Definitely! Heroin... Coke...
More toxic? Yes. Crack, meth, and even the Colombian favorite, coke.
Extasy, too.

Aelita...

I'm sorry, but that's just wrong, what you've said...

Ecstasy is only dangerous because it's illegal, if it were legal, pure MDMA would be guaranteed, and there would be no risk of speedy or junky E. Heroin and Coke are not more addictive than cigarettes or caffeine, both of the latter are available legally. The dangers from coke and heroin are similar to E; because they're illegal, the purity fluctuates wildly, and sometimes people get dirty junk, or they shoot too much because they don't realize the purity. Steady, monitored supply would all but eliminate those problems.

Meth does a lot of damage to the cerebral cortex, it's like a meteor impact attacking a forest. However, if people want to retard themselves in that fashion, I can't tell them they aren't allowed to. If they hurt other people during the course of their binge, then they should suffer the consequences, but them doing the drug isn't the issue, it's how they behave afterwards.

For too long we've been trying to stop people from taking the drugs, instead of simply punishing the bad behaviors like assault, robbery, DUI, etc..

Take this example, using alcohol. Alcohol is legal, you can drink it. You can drink so much it will kill you, that's your right. However, if you endanger others by getting behind the wheel, or by getting in fights, then you've ceased being simply a danger to yourself, and have become a danger to society.

I want to see criminals locked up, because it's proven to keep them off the street temporarily, and guarantee they won't be able to bother anyone else.

I don't want to see drug addicts locked up, because it has proved to be ineffective at treating the illness and compulsion.

Legalize drugs and the illegal city gangs will all but dissapear, the trafficking of guns will dry to a trickle, the amount of money exchanging hands illicitly will shrink by a ridiculous percentage - all good things.

I hope they do the right thing here..even if they're doing it for the wrong reasons.