Wol

It's a really interesting issue. One of the *most* interesting things to me is that many of those who are vehemently opposed to legalising drug use quote family and friends who have been destroyed by them - seemingly ignoring the fact that the drugs that have done this *are* illegal at present. Ie., the illegality hasn't in their cases stopped anything at all.

I feel sorry for those whose futures are being destroyed by their use of these things, but frankly I feel a hell of a lot more sorry for the people who *don't* use them but are suffering the consequences, such as abuse, theft, muggings and of course the inability of health services to cope with the consequences.

Everyone has a choice whether to get involved in such things but as adults they should also be made to accept responsibility for their choice. Legalising drugs might - might - stop a large proportion of the damage to third parties.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Which drugs would you legalise... all of them, including anything else that comes along?

moneypenny20

I honestly don't know. I can see some positives but far more negatives, whilst you may lose the illegal dealers etc would you encourage younger people to give the stuff a go who may now think it's illegal, I won't. Don't know.

I'd love to see some sort of legislation that allows doctors to legally supply MS sufferers et al with Cannabis as it obviously helps them and for them to be open to prosecution whilst drug addicts can get free needles and Methadone is totally wrong.

Bernieboy

Calpol

ponyrama

I actually think the drugs debate could learn something from the campaign on smoking. They haven't criminalised smoking or made it illegal to do so - they have just made it increasingly socially unacceptable to do it in a way that impacts on other people. So you can still exercise free will and smoke if you choose - you just feel like a pariah when you do so. The social and peer pressure that this causes is far more effective on persuading people that they should give up their substance use than any prohibition policy will ever be.

I wish that the same social stigma that is now attached to smoking will become par for the course for people who become "anti-social" when they drink. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard bad behaviour excused because he/she "was drunk". We do not offer the same sympathy to the heroin addict who steal ten dollars to pay for his next fix yet when our "mate" kicks someones head in whilst sh&%@faced - we laugh it off next day and still go out for a pint with him.

We have a job to do as a society to challenge bad behaviour that impacts on other people, to support people to make better choices, and to stop blaming government policy for all that ails with our world.

TakenThePlunge

Can't speak for Wol, but from my POV, it makes absolutely no difference at all if you legalise or not - so legalise them all . Prescription drugs are legal (and heavily regulated) and there is still significant abuse of these.

There are no easy answers, I would definitely like to see a change in tactics in how society combats drug use though.

TakenThePlunge

Eh, well you might laugh it off, but that mate would be off my list of mates, and there's a bloody good chance I'd have called the police myself.

Wol

In an ideal world there wouldn't be a problem, but it's not an ideal world.

It's only the politicians who talk as if the "war on drugs" is being won, or even partly won. The problem appears to get worse year on year.

Many of those involved on the front line trying to reduce the amount of illegal drugs getting into users' countries openly say there isn't a snowball's chance of getting ahead of the suppliers by prohibition. So why fight a lost war? Sometimes it's the smart thing to do, to acknowledge defeat and to counterattack on another front - in this case by controlling the supply and quality and making the present supply chains uneconomic.

Wol

Well said.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

If you legalise them all what do you do if one comes along, and it would if there were legal profits to be made, that gives it's user a massive high but turns 80% of it's users into raging monsters with seconds of taking the drug?

ponyrama

Like Angel Dust you mean?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Which companies do you see taking on the production and supply of these products?. Given that the cig companies have been fighting legal battles all over the place around their existing products who do you see jumping in to start supplying mind altering substances? The existing drug companies?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Yeah, pretty much so. How about if that was available in every newsagent?

moneypenny20

I certainly don't think you could 'trial' it for 10 years.

Wol

Who else?