http://www.theprovince.com/health/Sc...799/story.html

I don't really have an opinion on this but find it lightly amusing that the petition was signed by former presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia...

Ah academics. Have any of them suggested what governments across the world should do? Have such policies been offered to the electorate? What has the electorate`s reponse to them been?

Or is this another example of do what we say because we know best?

I think he has a point.

but policy based on facts? thats never going to happen.


The "war on drugs" has been going on as long as I can remember. What has it actually achieved? Pretty sure drugs are just as available as ever, pretty sure those that want them are going to get them anyway one way or the other.

Maybe it is time to spend all that money on something else, but no politician is ever going to run based on that admission of defeat.

There was a scheme many years ago, in Wigan (I think) where there was free access to heroin in an controlled environment. The crime rate for burgalry dropped I think by 9/10th, and of course I dont need to explain the benfits of clean needles. But the press got onto it and the doctor runing it was run out of town or something, and things went back to how they are.

Best way to fight drugs and alleviate the associated social and health problems that stem from it may well be to remove the criminal incentive to it and legalise and control it as best you can. But unless someone tries it we will never know for sure.

I actually wish a politician would have the guts to stand up against the war against drugs, because I'd definitely vote for him/her. The current situation is schizophrenic - blah blah blah drugs bad meanwhile shedloads of people carry on using recreationally with no ill effects.

Lethe - HA!!!

But I think those presidents have a point, too. Look at what the 'war' is doing to Mexico.

Oh dear...shedloads using "recreationally" with no ill effects...what cave are you living in...

There arent many recreational meth and heroin users...Marijuana maybe...

But yes, the war on drugs isnt exactly going according to plan...

Legalizing isnt the solution though...at the very root is cost..and most drug users dont support their habits through work, as hard drug use and work dont really go hand in hand...

Treatment and Rehab can be effective, and locking everyone up doesnt solve anything...

I suspect the majority of coke and heroin users are actually holding down jobs, but cant be bothered to find any link to back that up.

The problem is, while its illegal, its very hard to get any large scale data on the health effects, but given that tobacco and alcohol are both legal and taxed and deadly, its not really relevent to arguing the case for or against legalising other substances.

I think legalising will certainly help reduce the antisocial side effects on society, and I wonder how much it would actually affect participation rates.

I suspect the total opposite

bingo

I guess I'm living in the cave where I see people using and holding down jobs, marriages, homes, like Steve said. I stopped buying the bs about the war a long time ago

Unfortunately, there's no way to prove it because, as IainK (sorry) pointed out, it's illegal so it's not like there's been lots of studies done. The people who are publically using tend to be addicts, which gives a skewed picture.

Who is this "Steve"?

I'm flattered, honest, I am

Spend a little time in the world of creative media......

you'll find many with expensive habits, funded by very good jobs

There is one simple thing that governments seem incapable of accepting. Human beings like to get off their heads. Some form of intoxicant is present in every culture, everywhere in the the world.

Governments may want to stop it because a) its bad for productivity and b) there are adverse health outcomes. However, if people want it they are going to get it, and if people are prepared to pay for it someone will supply it.

Prohibition does not work. It never has, it never will.

Bank to the war on drugs. I have heard it argued, quite convincingly, that the war on drugs makes things worse, not better. Given that drugs are going to be manufactured or grown and supplied regardless of government policy then it is in the interests of all concerned that the supply is stable, controlled and free of violence. If governments are not going to regulate other drugs in the way they regulate alcohol then it is left to the illegal private sector. What business (and this is a business) likes more than anything else is stability. The war on drugs creates instability and this allows the people who prosper from instability - those who use violence - to dominate.