Viewing Thread:
"Legalisation"

No doubt many members and staffies of SR, no matter what their ages, have taken drugs. Recently, there's been an even bigger chance that marijuana will get legalised, with trials in London to not even bother arresting people caught possessing...and I remembered a talk on drugs we had in school, where a policeman asked us if we'd ever considered the possibility and consequences of all drugs being legal.

Would it be a bad thing?

My first instinct was no, and pretty much the whole class laughed at Ben and Joe who had their hands up to support the idea...but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes.

It's a radical idea, yes: legalizing ALL drugs, including those very addictive and very lethal ones, such as the aforementioned cocaine and heroin. I doubt it will ever happen in this country, and it would be a very controversial idea...but I'm already sold.

The war on drugs is not only being lost, it's being lost at an alarming cost. However, if the government (or any government, for that matter) decided to cut out the drug dealers, and actually sell these substances legally, it would first and foremost free up a lot of police time spent chasing up big time dealers. Sure, a black market would exist just like with any other product, but the business would be nowhere near as lucrative. As is done currently with cigarettes, taxes could be put on the prospective products and rather than soaking up money for funding work, it would actually MAKE money.

Without any competition, most traders in the drug business can mark up prices to such heights that addicts are forced to mug people on the streets, and break into houses in order to fund habits - I'm not saying that this will be totally eradicated, but drug-related street crime would surely go down. Of course, the drugs would only be sellable to over 18s (on the basis that by this age they are able to make an informed decision on whether or not they should take something that will probably start an addiction) with the exception of ones lower down the grade scale, such as dope, which would be put around the same level as cigarettes.

Naturally each container would have warning labels all over, even more than on cigarettes today. There would be no doubt in anybody's mind that, when buying a drug, they were running the risk of hallucinating and tripping (which could lead to them doing something they may not want to), getting addicted to the said drug and, in many cases, dying, be it from dehydration or an overdose. There would be labels on ecstacy boxes saying only to take one every how many hours, and to remember to drink lots of water...and the same with all the other types.

Another possibility would be creating the same sort of atmosphere that America has been building, by banning drug use anywhere outside of your (or a willing associate's) house. Of course, as a non-smoker, I would like to see smoking cigarettes in public place banned first and foremost, but if any/all drugs were legalised, this should prevent people being forced to breathe in cannabis smoke, and seeing people shoot up whilst they prepare to eat a meal. A license system would be brought in, much like the current rules and regulations for selling alcohol - only licensed stores and places could sell drugs, and any other place or person could be arrested just as they would be today, for dealing.

Of course, there is the hazard that a person could come out of their house stoned out of their mind, and do something terrible...but then, very few people do not take drugs because they simply aren't available - this problem would not be reduced, but many others would be. For instance, problems with injected drugs. Each heroin 'pack' would have a separate needle, only usable once, to stop the transferring of AIDS, and other such viruses. Another thing would be the trouble that you never know what is inside the tablet, or vial. When you pop a pill in a club, there could be all manner of dangerous chemicals that you didn't want to find in there...but if the stocks were controlled, everything would be as clean as it could be (given the nature of it).

There would be no advertising anywhere. Money could be spent on anti-drugs adverts like the recent 'doesn't smoke' campaign on TVs today.

I'm not saying this would be a perfect system, but I think it would be a damn fine one, better than the current one, anyhow. What are your thoughts on the subject of cannabis, or legalizing all drugs? I'd be glad to hear them.

Thanks for reading.

-El Blokey

Hey man, it's my planet and I live how I want to.
It's either that or deal with reality and end up changing my name to D-Fens.

Goatboy wrote:
>I'm shiny and much better than most.

Debatable. Maybe in your own head :P

~~Belldandy~~

That's quite alright!

I was made Notable *because* I post crap - seems a shame to change now I'm shiny and much better than most.

It's nothing really

Hurrah for the notables, making the usual great contribution there....

~~Belldandy~~

Wouldn't you love to crash his house?

" No leave the vase... LEAVE IT... LLEEEAAAVVEEE IT... Goatboy don't pee there"

And some porno.
Maybe a shoota or 2 as well.

Toga! Toga! Toga!

So it's agreed? Everyone round to Belldandy's for a modern drugs party. Yay!

If say, Cannabis were legalised, then you'd have fewer people buying it illegally. And as so many people argue about soft drugs leading to hard drugs, I don't think that's right. There's always people who would never consider hard drugs, but use soft drugs. And you say about how drugs fund criminals and all, but if it's legalised and government controlled it's not funding criminals is it? (well, okay, it probably still would, but if it's government controlled it it'd be funding elected criminals ;-) ). And another point is that how do people get onto harder drugs? It's likely be going to their dealer and him telling them that he doesn't have any dope on him, but he has something else... If the government is selling the cannabis there's no "well, we don't have any cannabis today, but we've got some harder drugs" (assuming that only cannabis was legalised). And maybe it does cause some damage to the human body, but scientists are still debating this hotly, and it depends who you talk to. And coming back to the alcohol/cigarettes debate, what makes you think cannabis is any more harmful than either of those? Of course the anti-drugs brigade will tell you it is, but this isn't backed up by solid proof. Of course inhaling the smoke is harmful, but you don't have to smoke cannabis anyway.

Oh, and another thought on the soft-hard drugs issue, I'll bet that a lot of people have taken ecstasy without taking any other illegal drugs prior to it because of the kind of dance/club culture behind it, and peer pressure.

Sorry if the post is kinda bitty, but they're my thoughts on the issue anyway.

What can I say, I'm a shallow hypocrite interested in the booze and the broads and the drugs and guns.

Bling Bling!

Now I'm off home to force-feed little neighborhood kids some crime and porno laced with gun-drugs