For you guys i must look out a short video of a california judge, who is against the current drug laws. He actually names 5 bodies that benefit from drugs being illegal.
As much as I agree with both of you regarding reasons not to take drugs I realise that I am more than liberal on the subject in that I would fully legalise ALL drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine.
Before anyone stands aghast at this seemingly reckless attitude to dangerous substances, here out my reasons why I think the war on drugs is wrong, legally, morally and medically. It is my sincere belief that legalisation in the long term would lead to less dangerous drug use and most certainly less harm for the users and society at large. My reasoning is as follows and this is nowhere near a comprehensive list of points to back up my thinking:
1. i think it is up to individual adults to decide what to put into their own bodies.
2. people take needless risks all the time for enjoyment - should we ban dangerous sports and skiing because you may come to harm? no-one needs to go skiing or drive round a racetrack etc
3. for the most destructive drugs like heroin, users are not intending to kill themselves when they O.D. it is because the purity is unknown. medically it is a simple process to find doses that an addict can tolerate. a lot of harm is done to users bodies because of all the adulterants used to cut the drugs. by making heroin a prescription drug i can guarrantee that there would be far, far fewer overdoses and lost limbs due to circulation problems caused by blockages of adulterants.
4. i do believe there is a 'glamour' factor in drugs being illegal. if all people saw were hopelessly addicted people queing to get their fix legally, i think it would put more people off by knowing and seeing where using the hard drugs will lead. people are introduced to hard drugs by mixing with certain people to get softer drugs and they often start off on a course of use without knowing where it may end. no-one starts taking something fully intending on becoming an addict.
5. amsterdam in holland has less users of cannabis than comparable size cities elsewhere. it is just not a big deal there and not seen as cool even though using brings no legal problems
6. by legalising drugs we could possibly test people who may have bad reactions just as we find out people are allergic to certain things.
7. most drug users would say that the legal status that using gives them, causes way more problems than the drugs themselves.
8. the cost of illegal drugs bears no resemblance to their actual cost. this leads to crime being commited to pay exorbitant amounts for things that should be cheap. the crazy lifestyle of users would be greatly improved if the little money they did have could be spent on food and rent and medicine instead of it all going to line some drug kingpins pockets. a small tax on legalised drugs could allow them to be cheaper, controlled purity and the tax go to funding rehabs etc.
9. the war on drugs has cost many more lives than the drugs it is supposed to prevent. it does not prevent them in any way getting through.
10. taxpayers money is going on police, courts, prisons etc all to lock up people who otherwise would be law-abiding citizens.
11. why should the non-drug using public have to bear the hassle of theft, increased insurance premiums, chance of mugging, murder etc? the law as it stands affects those who don't use in a huge way. if users had no issues getting the drugs they are going to get anyway, they need not have any negative contact with users and not be affected.
12. we can still have drug testing as now for jobs etc, so that people would have to make a conscious choice not to do certain things if they use.
13. i can assure anyone that the war on drugs cannot ever work, it does not prevent harm, does not prevent use and if we continue for the next 50 years we will have spent untold billions still not fixing anything but making people get on the wrong side of the law for a personal choice. all that money could be better spent on education and rehabs etc. all the money spent thus far could have almost paid for one to one care for every problem drug user.
i have many more points and they are all in the same vein, pardon the pun, in that i know the overall harm to people and society is greater when we criminalise drug use.
gordon
ps i have had plenty personal experience of the bad side of drugs, my own brother died. so i know exactly the harm they can do. i contend my brother would still be here if he had not taken an illicit drug that was very, very pure. he may have lived with a problem but at least he could have the chance to fix it. no-one need die from drugs and it is a horrible thing to see. don't even get me started on alcohol. it is absolutely up their with poisons, and we tax that. it fills up emergency rooms and police cells, destroys families etc. i think it is the worst 'drug' there is!
