***note: When I say something is "safe" or a variant of that word I mean this applies only with occasional/recreational use. An excess of even legal drugs like alcohol and cigarettes are harmful, even deadly, to the body. The drugs I discuss below are as safe as moderation allows***
I can see both sides of the argument so I can't really commit either way.
The arguments against the legalisation of drugs are obvious, the devastating effects it has on health, or even the deaths drugs can cause. We all know these problems. We have all seen, read, heard all about them. Certain aspects of the drug trade support terrorist cells; poppy fields in the middle east providing opium and heroin for example.
It's obvious that the war on drugs isn't really working. Dealers and suppliers are arrested but new ones always spring up. More drugs are taken world wide in the last decade than in the two decades before that. Perhaps instead of trying to shut down the drug industry by arresting and cracking down, governments should shut down the drug trade by taking control of it
There are many practical arguments for legalising drugs. First of all it would shut down all these street dealers who charge enormous prices, which sometimes causes addicts to steal in order to support their habit. By having licensed vendors of substances means that prices would be more reasonable, cutting down crime.
With licensed vendors it would also mean that the government would be able to tax the drugs like they do with cigarettes and alcohol. More revenue for the nation.
Licensed vendors would be able to ensure a quality and safety. Clean needles for example. Medical help if required. Quality can also help with the drugs themselves. Take coke for example. Pure cocaine powder is deadly, so it needs to be "cut", the power is in effect diluted by mixing it with another powder. On the streets this powder could be anything from ground up aspirin to ground up dog worming tablets, or worse. Sometimes it is the ingredient used to cut or dilute the drug that causes the death of the user.
Licensed vendors would also mean licensed suppliers, which would eliminate the trade of drug smuggling. No more people getting arrested at the airports with several condoms of drugs in their stomachs.
By having licensed areas where people can obtain these safer (by comparison to the stuff on the streets) drugs they could also received medical attention and/or counselling if they want or need it. Maybe helping increase the recovery rate for addicts before they end up hitting rock bottom and end up in hospital OD'ing. There are the stories of addicts selling their bodies for the drugs; meaning addicts are giving birth to children who are often born addicted to drugs. Licensed vendors would eliminate this.
With drugs becoming legal there could finally be detailed and legitimate research into any beneficial medical effects they may or may not have. Recent research suggests an ingredient in Ecstasy can help people with Parkinsons disease. There can be no effective research done into this to discover, isolate and develop the ingredient because of the illegality of the drug. Doctors in certain states of the US already prescribe medicinal marijuana for pain relief to cancer patients and to help people with certain disorders.
I learned today that in the 50's and 60's in the US there was research into LSD and Acid because there was evidence to suggest there was an ingredient in them that could help treat people with serious depression or bi-polar disorders. Naturally they couldn't have people hallucinating everywhere, so the research was to discover and extract the beneficial ingredient, keeping the helpful part of the drug while removing the more harmful aspects. Then things like the Hippy movement began, where people took such drugs recreationally. In the ultra conservative America of the time the government had to be seen doing something so it started its "war on drugs" made drugs illegal and stopped all research.
Cannabis has been seen to have many beneficial effects. Which is why medical marijuana is now prescribed to certain cases. It has been proven to be less addictive, easier to give up and less harmful to the body than smoking. At least it was. Since it became illegal in the 60's dealers have been showing their green thumbs by growing and breeding a type of cannabis that is highly addictive. This marijuana is known by its street name of "Skunk". Many people don't know that skunk is a type of cannabis and not just a nickname for it. Its this skunk that produces the harmful affects that are advertised for mariijuana paranoia, schizophrenia, seizures, brain damage etc. These are side effects that the dealers don't care about. They are by-products of breeding the more addictive marijuana. ensuring their repeat business. Licensed vendors of real cannabis, and not its dealer bred equivalent, would shut down this aspect of the drug trade and save hundreds of people every year from beings hospitalized by the negative effects of Skunk.
In the UK drugs such as opium, morphine and cocaine were recreational until shortly after the first world war. A person could go to any chemist and pick up needles and solutions for use at home. During the war a person could actually go to Harrods and order a hamper for their family members at the front. the hamper contained top quality cocaine, morphine and opium all sufficiently diluted with saline solution to make them safe (the solutions would almost contain about 5-7% of their respective drugs) along with needles along with a guide for the proper use and preparation. Using such drugs was considered no different than having a glass of wine or a pint of beer in the evening. It was after the first world war, when shell-shocked and traumatised soldiers started using these drugs more than occasionally, more than recreationally, that people started seeing the dangers of the excess. subsequently these drugs were made illegal and morphine was only for medical use. it was done because it was deemed simpler and easier than trying to place restrictions and controls on the drugs, if they had instead, for example, developed something similar to the cannabis cafe`s of Holland; where people who take the marijuana are monitored and looked after by trained staff, perhaps drugs like cocaine wouldn't have become the dangerous street drug of the early to mid 20th century.
The trade in Heroin would be effectively shut down as people would be able to obtain its variants morphine and opium which are safer (by comparison to Heroin) less addictive when used recreationally and less damaging to the body.
In conclusion though I reiterate that we know the cons. the damage and deaths drugs can cause. While legalising drugs may give people access to safer and cleaner drugs we can by no means pretend this will eliminate addicts. We have marginal control over cigarettes and alcohol and we still have alcoholics and people who smoke 40 a day. Potentially more addicts could emerge after drugs are legalised. There could be persons out there who may become addicted after trying these legalised drugs; an access and opportunity they wouldn't have had before. However addicts would also have greater opportunities to seek help and receive care in licensed centres. The problem with many addicts is that they don't end up getting the end they need until they're at their worst, when it becomes hardest for them to recover. Perhaps by going to a licensed centre and receiving care and support from the starts means that, potentially, this could give people the help they need before recreational use becomes a serious addiction.
Don't be fooled by my smooth skin. The deepest scars are the ones unseen.
Remember compliments you received, forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how..~ Baz Lurhman.
Letting it get to you - You know what that's called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now that's all that counts. ~ Doctor Who "The Doctors Wife" 06.November.2011
I'm on my phone so i wont read all of that until i get home then i'll chuck in my 2 pence. I will say for now while i believe that certain recreational drugs shouldnt have been so strictly controlled in the first place, changing rules and laws that have been established for years would cause more harm than good. For example the reason the relaxed soft drug laws in the netherlands work is hecause that's the way its always been.
I think this would be more appropriate in News & Debate.
Anyway, I can see both sides. However, I don't think legalising drugs will really solve the problems of addicts and associated crime. How would it? You have (more) people thinking the drugs are "safe", then they get addicted and then what? Surely the current cycle just repeats itself.
Legalised 'zones' could work, possibly in conjunction with health workers (condoms, STI tests, needle exchanges, blood tests, etc), but of course that has its own problems. Would it work in a country as densely populated as the UK? I'm not sure. And it pretty much gives over an area to complete decline and desolation, to become a drugs-filled wasteland.
Legal drugs = more users = more chances of sex under the influence = more chance of a disabled baby = more strain on the health care system = more money being spent (in addition to providing 'stop drug' treatment like they are having to with smoking).
There's more and more evidence that use of (currently) illegal drugs alters the genetic material in a mans sperm so faulty material is passed on at the point of conception, regardless of the mothers drug state.
That said, so does alcohol. But I don't think adding legal drugs to the mix would be helpful.
As a hold over from my time as a straight edger, I don't believe we need any more drugs in circulation.
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"
Thomas Parke D’Invilliers
Making drugs above board would help towards controlling the criminal side of things such as the violence and theft, drug trafficking and exploitation etc., and perhaps a chance to regulate what goes into the drugs and such. I don't know that a significant number of people would turn to drugs who haven't already as they are quite easy to get hold of if you really want to. It's not a case of many people sitting around thinking if only such and such was legal, then I could buy some. Though, legalising something kind of says to people on the whole that it's 'okay' so people who are currently deciding not to get involved with drugs because of worry about the danger to their health might feel that because the government have made it legal practice that it's safer and more accepted. Some people may be under the impression that something that has been made legal is also now being deemed morally acceptable.
On the other hand, some users who are recreational as opposed to hardened addicts might even stop buying and taking drugs because legalising something somewhat takes the fun out of obtaining and enjoying it!
There's a lot more detail I could go into,.. but that's my general view.
Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?
As a person with very little exposure to drugs, who suddenly moved to canada and is now surrounded by people smoking pot (and doing far worse on my street too!) i gotta say i don't want even pot to be legal. It really sucks to walk outside in summer into a fog, and only be able to smell drugs (which give me severe migranes) and see people on their front porches 'enjoying' themselves having injected who knows what into their bodies.
Even if things were legal, they would still cost money, addicts would still use a lot of cash on drugs, and would still end up feeling a need to steal to pay for the habbit. Help to stop is not always the first turn when one runs out of money!
Thats my basic opinion anyways. But im a little biased as im getting really cranky with not being able to open my window at nights :)
and see people on their front porches 'enjoying' themselves having injected who knows what into their bodies.
If you've quoted the word 'enjoying' from my post, it wasn't in reference to drug users who inject. I was talking about less severe forms of drug use such as the very occasional joint etc.
Of course it wouldn't be free but supply could be better regulated as well as cost. Basically the whole thing could be overseen and controlled at least a bit more than it can be at the moment.
Quote:
Help to stop is not always the first turn when one runs out of money!
I think that's obvious.
Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?
well either we should legalise it and make it so expensive that people cant afford it plus taxes they could put on it, it would be a great way to make money
On the other had if we wanted to stop drug use, the death penalty should be incurred by people that use drugs otherwise its never gonna go away
Take me away, I just want out from this self-imprisoned self-made Hell. Don't be surprsed, this is your mind coming to life by self-sacrifice. This tragedy of death will walk hand in hand with every thought of regret. Blame yourself for what you've become. The mind is a powerful thing set to self-destruct.
~I, Dementia - Whitechapel~
^Death penalty doesn't stop people killing, why would it stop them taking drugs?
Also, addiction = an actual problem than needs intervention to overcome. You wouldn't kill a self harmer for being addicted to self harm, you would help them stop. Same goes for drug users who are addicted to their substance.
there is a significant difference between a self-harmer and a drug user, self harmers dont go out and shoot people so they can continue self harming, nor do they sell their bodies to afford their addiction.
Take me away, I just want out from this self-imprisoned self-made Hell. Don't be surprsed, this is your mind coming to life by self-sacrifice. This tragedy of death will walk hand in hand with every thought of regret. Blame yourself for what you've become. The mind is a powerful thing set to self-destruct.
~I, Dementia - Whitechapel~
^ That all depends on the self harmer's mental state, and they can cause immense emotional pain to those around them. No addictive problem is victimless to those around the person suffering. Not saying it's their fault, or that it's deliberate, but it's the hard truth.
I'm torn on this debate for many reasons already mentioned. Although I'm pretty sure that when either Brazil or Portugal legalised drugs usage actually dropped dramatically, I will come back to this when I can find the info.
'Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.'
['There is only one thing we say to death. Not today'.']
'We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’ – Oscar Wilde
‘It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.’ Sydney Carter
Never done drugs, nor do I care about them. I have nothing vetted in this topic, but I see more potential good to come out of the legalisation of some of the "softer" kinds of drugs, namely pot. Drugs with strong health and impairment hazards, such as LCD, should remain illegal, though.
Nous avons abrité tous les rêves du monde,
Et c'est dans le soleil que nous avons grandi.
I forsee this thread eventually leading to whether prostitution should be legal
Take me away, I just want out from this self-imprisoned self-made Hell. Don't be surprsed, this is your mind coming to life by self-sacrifice. This tragedy of death will walk hand in hand with every thought of regret. Blame yourself for what you've become. The mind is a powerful thing set to self-destruct.
~I, Dementia - Whitechapel~
What better way to make sure your prediction comes true than making sure it does by starting it.
Don't be fooled by my smooth skin. The deepest scars are the ones unseen.
Remember compliments you received, forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how..~ Baz Lurhman.
Letting it get to you - You know what that's called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now that's all that counts. ~ Doctor Who "The Doctors Wife" 06.November.2011
^ That all depends on the self harmer's mental state, and they can cause immense emotional pain to those around them. No addictive problem is victimless to those around the person suffering. Not saying it's their fault, or that it's deliberate, but it's the hard truth.
I'm torn on this debate for many reasons already mentioned. Although I'm pretty sure that when either Brazil or Portugal legalised drugs usage actually dropped dramatically, I will come back to this when I can find the info.
Well it's not a crime to disappoint those around you. For the most part, I think the war on drugs is more control over my body than I'm comfortable with giving to the government.
No Fry it wasn't a quote from you or any kind of comment towards what anyone else had said. Simply my own opinion.
N i only stated the obvious as it was made to appear that if things were leagalised and help made available, people would take the help at the point at which they could no longer survive without stealing/other stuff
