legalize all drugs...

[lasersailor184]

You're trying to draw me into something vulcan, when I've already used the key words.

"that doesn't hurt someone else"

Kiddie porn is far from a victimless crime.

[lukster]

I didn't follow up on what went down in Mexico. Did they decriminalize possesion of all drugs? Let's just send all of our drug users to Mexico. Seem like a fair trade?

[Bronk]

I'd like to add one thing to making drugs legal....

Tax the hell out of them .


Bronk

[mora]

Originally posted by Bronk
I'd like to add one thing to making drugs legal....

Tax the hell out of them .


Bronk

Thats a commie!

Seriously, if you tax the hell out of them nothing will change.

[mora]

Originally posted by Dago
I love touring Amsterdam where the burnouts are constantly bugging your for money.  I love seeing the wasted lives due to easily available drugs.

Do you think there is no crime since drugs are so easy to get?   Do you think drug addicts are differant there?  Do you think they don't steal there to feed an addiction?  If you think any of that is the case, you are mistaken.

Drugs are not legal in the Netherlands. They do not punish the users like they do in the US, so they are more visible. Hard drugs are less easily avilable than in the US. According to all statistics drug use is much lower there than in the US. According to all statistics crime is much lower there than in the US.

[Angus]

From Lazs:
"Don't get me wrong... I am a former drug addict and alcoholic and dealer and criminal... I hate the frigging whole drug scene but.... I know how ridiculous any "war" is on it."

That explains a lot.

Ok, a suggestion. The other way,  like Singapore. Just hang the dealers.
No big drug problem there

[Vulcan]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
You're trying to draw me into something vulcan, when I've already used the key words.

"that doesn't hurt someone else"

Kiddie porn is far from a victimless crime.

And the same goes for smoking weed. From growing the stuff to the users, its an addiction, it does brain damage, its been proven to increase the likelyhood of psychosis in teens (Swedish study).

To hold marijuana up as a victimless crime is either extremely naive or blatant one eyed-ness.

[Mini D]

Why do you think that your car getting broken into would be avoided if drugs were legal? Would legalizing drugs make an addict more likely to get a job?

[AquaShrimp]

People abuse drugs because they have a problem.  Whether its anxiety, depression, bi-polar, situational, etc.  The drugs make them feel better.  People can still become dependent and addicted to drugs through recreational use, but its less common than those with problems.

[mora]

Originally posted by Vulcan
(Swedish study).  

Swedish studies are problematic in this area. Firstly, They tend to be biased(goverment funded studies in a country with the most repressive drug policy in the western world).There's a history of BS drug studies from Sweden. Secondly, cannabis use is hardly mainstream there and people who do it tend to have other problems aswell(more than in coutries where it's more mainstream, and it will affect the results of this kind of study).

I'm not saying that the findings in that particular study were faulty.

Cannabis and psychosis    There is now growing evidence for a small but significant link between cannabis use and vulnerability to psychosis.[15] Some studies indicate that cannabis use correlates with a slight increase in psychotic experience, which may help to trigger full-blown psychosis in some people.[15] Early studies have been criticized for failing to consider other drugs (such as LSD) that the participants may also have used before or during the study, as well as other factors such as possible pre-existing mental health issues. However, more recent studies with better controls have still found a small increase in risk for psychosis in cannabis users. It is still not clear whether this is a causal link, and it may be that cannabis use only increases the chance of psychosis in people already predisposed to it. Additionally, people who are in the process of developing psychosis possibly make greater use of the drug to provide temporary relief to their mental discomfort. The fact that cannabis use has increased over the past few decades, whereas the rate of psychosis has not,[16] suggests that a direct causal link is unlikely for all users.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis#Cannabis_and_psychosis

[Shuckins]

With legalization of drug use addiction would undoubtedly go up, leading to even more health and mental problems for the country to deal with.

Heavily taxing the sale of legalized drugs would have the effect of preserving the status quo, at least in terms of the crime rates associated with drug use.  While drug cartels and gangs "might" be defanged and emasculated, theft and muggings for drug money would probably go up.

Highway fatalities might also rise, with large numbers of stoned drivers wending their way down the nation's thoroughfares.

[WhiteHawk]

Originally posted by Bronk
I'd like to add one thing to making drugs legal....

Tax the hell out of them .


Bronk

Good point.  I dont think illegal drugs has made drugs harder to get.  It boils down to a personal choice.  what is it, 80% of inmates are drug offenses?  80% of law enforcement resources goes towards drug enforcement?  One of those 'no soulution' things.

[lazs2]

Ok... first of all... if getting the government out of your life and making it smaller is considered "leftie"...  then call me leftie... I allready went through all this decades ago with the hippies who thought that me being a biker with long hair made me one of them.

You do not "tax the hell out of it"   the government does not produce it... the government doesn't produce anthing...  you have lily and co produce it and sell it for about a tenth or less than it sells for now on the street.   The cartells die... the dealers dry up.

A heroin addict will be able to buy heroin or methadone for a few dollars a day and the dose will be predictable.  He can pick grapes or run a leaf blower for enough to pay for his habit till he dies... he will be out there as a really bad example of drug use for all to see.

Everyone will know that the really good jobs are open only to drug free people.    Got some in your system?   well..... the DOT (if you are a driver) is not pleased...   have a trace amount in your system and you run nothing more dangerous than a stapler?   your boss MIGHT keep you if you are worth a damn anyway.

As for poisoning drugs...  you need to watch meth being made and cut.   It stops no one.   It never even stopped me and I was in on it and knew all about it.

The cat is out of the bag... there are just a certain amount of people who will destroy their lives.   I simply want them to have as little effect on mine as possible.   I am not their mom and I don't owe them anything.   Let them ruin their lives or not.

And dago.. you spent a lot of time in amsterdam?   Have you spent a lot of time in our big cities where a lot of tourists go?  

lazs

[mora]

Originally posted by Shuckins
With legalization of drug use addiction would undoubtedly go up, leading to even more health and mental problems for the country to deal with.

Why would that happen? I could claim the opposite and even could somewhat back it up by facts. It hasn't been tried anywhere, so it would be just speculation thougfh.

I believe that the numbers wouldn't go up in a country like the US as drugs are so easily available there allready. If they would go up the positives would still outweigh the negatives. In a country like Sweden where drug use is low it would probably happen though. There would likely to be more raise in the number of users than in addicts. It should be done anyway, as IMO the goverment has no business to tell what you can put in your body.

[lazs2]

I don't think the actual amount of addicts would increase or decrease.   there is no shortage of drugs in any city in the U.S.

In fact... the availabilty being artificaly curbed by vigerous enforcement of drug laws often makes things worse....  crack and meth are the results of making some of the slightly less potent drugs hard to get.  

Even at that.. if a dose of heroin was about the same as a six pack.... do you see drunks robbing people?

addict criminals are lazy... once they have enough to fuel the habit they are done.   They are mostly only criminals because...  they have no choice.

An addict will do anything to get the drugs he needs.   No law will stop him.

As for me giving advice to others to "share my sobriety"


I am doing that right now.   This whole thread is about how evil drugs are but....

The addicts on this board reading it won't see themselves anyway.   They may admit that I was an addict with "problems" but they most likely won't admit to their problem sooooo....  

Guy gets fired... he had got caught and had to be tested regularly to keep his job... he gets a dirty test even tho the job was extremely important to him...  he would be an addict.

lazs