What if drugs were legalised?

[TraderJimmy]

There's already been a social experiment into whether legalising heroin would affect people. It's called the time when heroin was legal.

Guess what?

It affected people.

Not all drugs should be legalised. Marijuana and Ecstacy (ESPECIALLY Ecstacy) probably should be legalised, to maintain control over dealers, increase taxes, reduce incarceration etc. etc. Harder, more addictive drugs, probably shouldn't be legalised, because people have this weird tendency to become dependent on drugs that are not only incredibly physically addictive, but also make you feel awesome. In a consistent society, we would also make alcohol illegal, as it is highly addictive and relatively dangerous. But goddammit, I love drinking, so screw that.

 

[Shpongled]

If drugs were legalized:
1. The government would start making money off of the taxes for it.
2. The FDA would start having standards for the drugs therefore making them safer.
3. The illegal market of it would decrease because you can get it LEGALLY and probably cheaper and refer back to number 2.

So. Crime decreases, recession decreases, addicts still get what they want while helping everyone else out.

except they are highly addictive which causes crime. medical costs skyrocket because of health problems caused by them.

Except many drugs aren't addictive and as in the case of Portugal, crime rates have been shown to decline. Higher medical costs are balanced out by increased tax revenue and reduced incarceration costs.

since when is europe ANYTHING like america? and you say many drugs are not addictive when everyone knows you can get addicted to anything. hell you can get addicted to soda.

Just because you can be addicted to something, doesn't mean that something is addictive. In regards to drug addiction, people generally refer to drugs such as heroin as addictive because the chemicals create a physical dependence within the body. Psychedelics are not considered addictive because they contain no chemicals which can or will cause a physical dependence within the body.

Using mental dependence as an argument for strict drug laws is flawed. Mental dependence is not inherent to the substance itself. As you mentioned, one can develop mental dependence to anything. Mushrooms or Mescaline are no more likely to induce addiction than any other stimulating, enjoyable or inspiring product or activity. Should we ban computer games because one can develop a mental dependence for them?

You're right, Portugal is not an ideal model for USA due to substantial differences in population, culture and society. However ignoring the profound evidence presented is silly, particularly when considering the fact that the current approach to drug enforcement by the US Agencies is laughably ineffective, and has thus far been unarguably detrimental to both the nation and itself, and world around it.

if YOU CAN get addicted to something, its ADDICTIVE. as in, the ability to get ADDICTED. that is the basis of the entire word. if you can be addicted to something, its addictive.

So what you're saying is.... everything in the entire world is addictive? Makes it a pretty redundant word then really doesn't it.

BAN EVERYTHING!!! EVERYTHINGS ADDICTIVE!!

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Jails would have more space for real criminals

Here's a song about that.

And would it be only Marijuana and such, or harder drugs as well?

 

[squid5580]

Lets see here

First off the crime rate would drop. Saving taxpayers billions. Then the government can tax said drugs making more money. And natural selection can take care of the rest.

 

[ScatterBen]

You should watch the third season of The Wire. A frustrated Police Captain, under pressure from the higher-ups to lower the murder rate in his district of Baltimore, decides to create "free-zones" in which dealers are allowed to sell drugs and addicts are allowed to buy and use them (dubbed "Hamsterdam" by the corner boys) and the patrolmen would ignore it.

Obviously, this leads to a number of things, too many for me to remember (and I also wouldn't want to ruin it for anybody). The show gives a well balanced view of it, showing both the positives of such legalization as well as the ugliness that it leads to. It's made for the viewer to decide whether or not the pros out-weigh the cons, though.

Anyway, it's certainly worth watching, even just for your own enjoyment rather than the assignment. I love it.

 

[Shpongled]

where did i imply to ban everything? i didn't. your train of thought is to legalize it so you can get high and turn into the same person i try to keep off my lawn every weekend.

Implying that the law thus far has stopped anyone who has wanted to get high from doing so?

You're hilarious.

 

[Shpongled]

where did i imply to ban everything? i didn't. your train of thought is to legalize it so you can get high and turn into the same person i try to keep off my lawn every weekend.

Implying that the law thus far has stopped anyone who has wanted to get high from doing so?

You're hilarious.

yes it has because every pothead seems stupid enough to buy a big ol' bag of pot, and drive across town to smoke it only to be conveniently pulled over by a cop.

If you've never been involved in the marijuana scene i fail to see why you're commenting on it. Actually being caught with substantial amounts of weed really doesn't happen often. Even less so for the average user, who generally isn't carrying more than a few grams at a time, pretty much undetectable unless dogs are involved.

 

[Jack_Uzi]

I think it should be legalized. If people want to get something really bad, they get it, one way or the other.
It could even be better for peopels healt because you know that the drugs is good and not 1/4th filled with very tiny pieces of glass (you hear strange things). The dealers that sell it would be out of the way, that could be a good thing.
It generates tax and the government could even try and give information about it and try to let people understand what they could get themself in to.
As for me, I don't do any hard drugs and never will, but I sure hope that shrooms would come back so I could go on a nice relaxing trip.

 

[klaynexas3]

If drugs were legalized:
1. The government would start making money off of the taxes for it.
2. The FDA would start having standards for the drugs therefore making them safer.
3. The illegal market of it would decrease because you can get it LEGALLY and probably cheaper and refer back to number 2.

So. Crime decreases, recession decreases, addicts still get what they want while helping everyone else out.

this, and i think more people would start because they can do it legally. sort of like trying cigarettes for the first time, just wanting to see what it would be like. plus, people might be nicer if they're high a good amount of the time, and probably less stuff would get done, but i doubt people would really care if they were high

 

[razer17]

Would there be any downsides to it? I can't really think of any.

You know what happens when people drink beer and/or liquor then drive? Yea, driving while under the influence incidents would go up I think. I also think that if all drugs were legalized a lot more people would do it because they don't have to worry about getting arrested for it and since it would be readily available they can have more of it.

But that is a problem with a lot of illegal drugs, its that they are addicting. So what happens when someone is addicted to cocaine and they don't have any legal ways of getting money to buy more? They steal money from other people! Be that burglary or robbery. And since more people would be doing it there would more of those kind of crimes.

Now I know there are drugs that are illegal out there that are not addictive, but a lot of them are.

Ask people why they don't take drugs, and the answer isn't "It's illegal". Their reply will be "It's bad for me" or any such statement. Usage will go up, but only very slightly. In fact, they legalised drugs in Lisbon, I think, and usage actually went down.

Or Amsterdam. The only people who really use marijuana in Amsterdam these days are the foreign visitors.

Since usage wouldn't go up that much, neither would addiction. The good things is that with tax, tackling the criminals becomes easier, as police (theoretically) have more spending money. Also, since drugs are legal, people will be more willing to get help.

 

[reggaerae]

Would there be any downsides to it? I can't really think of any.

Except all the psychos running around destroying your car, house and family with various household objects.

What about all the drunks doing that?

Legalizing isnt good, but it is the lesser of two evils. Its about time.

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

If all drugs were legal i'd sit back and wait for the government to call forth a junky cull. That is a call for citzens to aid law enforcement in hunting down and eliminating junkies. It would happen. It would be the only way to keep society going because there is nothing worse than a junk fiend.

 

[Tdc2182]

Sort of like they already do right now?

Nearly all the problems I've seen anti-drug legalization advocates talk about are already happening right now, some of which are being causes by drug prohibition itself.

People need to realize that drug use is not necessarily a criminal problem. It's a social and health one. Legalizing or decriminalizing and regulating drugs does not necessarily mean just "giving up" and letting people do whatever they please with drugs, many people support it as a different, more humane approach to the problem.

Yes, sort of like they are doing now... except ten times worse.

I fully accept that weed being legalized will cause more good than harm. But the thing is, weed is not like crack and heroin. Legalizing hardcore drugs like that will only cause more problems than it fixes. It is now easier to get your hands on it, and now more addictive cases turn up. We get rid of drug pedaling crimes, but now we have a much larger society of addicts and lost cases.

It is sadly to hopeful to say that the American people are mature enough for something of this magnitude

 

[Tdc2182]

If you've never been involved in the marijuana scene i fail to see why you're commenting on it. Actually being caught with substantial amounts of weed really doesn't happen often. Even less so for the average user, who generally isn't carrying more than a few grams at a time, pretty much undetectable unless dogs are involved.

Hey now, be careful. Those dogs can smell the shit from miles away.

 

[duckfi8]

They would be taxed more than cigarettes and there would be a bunch of laws against driving under the influence of them.