Legalize Drugs, Why?

[High_Gravity]

Crack came about AFTER cocaine was made illegal.

Yeah I know, I just don't think all hard drugs like crack, heroin and meth should be legal though. Cocaine maybe because I have known people who could hold down a job doing it, the other drugs not so much.

Heroin is already legal, it is called Oxycotin. It is legal for big pharma, but not the little guy. I had two friends become addicted to oxys, then start heroin because it was cheaper.
I think drug use should be decriminalized. The only thing the War on Drugs has accomplished, is wasting tax dollars, making drug lords wealthier, and creating more drug addicts.

I agree that the war on drugs has caused street dealers to become wealthy and caused our crime rates to soar because of wars over drug turf, I just don't know if legalizing stuff like meth and heroin would be good because I have seen first hand the effects those drugs have on peoples lives. If someone is addicted to drugs and needs a fix he will still kill/steal/ to support that habit whether it is legal or not.

 

[JBeukema]

Portugal..

 

[MikeK]

FTA-The Office of National Drug Control Policy did not provide a breakdown of the drugs found in drivers who died in accidents....

Gee I wonder why?

[...]

Because this is one of those very few times the ONDCP tacitly acknowledges that beverage alcohol is a drug. Notice that no mention is made of how many of those killed in vehicle accidents were DUI of alcohol. Are we to assume there were none?

Now that pot legalization is a rising issue it is Kerlikowski's job to convey the impression that one out of three highway fatalities are the result of driving stoned -- even though that would be impossible to determine.

The report is pure drug warrior propaganda.

 

[Modbert]

Additionally, citing this study as an argument against legalizing drugs when the numbers include prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs is whack.

Agreed. Plus, as we all know, possession of aspirin can get you 15-20.

 

[MikeK]

Driving high?

Better than driving drunk.

Certainly true.

Stoners keep to the right and drive very slowly.

 

[Modbert]

For those who actually want to read something that makes sense:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/26/AR2010122600610.html

 

[JBeukema]

For those who actually want to read something that makes sense:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/26/AR2010122600610.html

Portugal..

 

[JBeukema]

http://www.usmessageboard.com/law-and-justice-system/135532-the-results-of-legalizing-sin.html

 

[Modbert]

Portugal..

Netherlands has a good system in place as well. Didn't see that post when I was reading through the thread the first time.

 

[Bones]

A first-ever drug analysis of drivers killed in car crashes found one in three tested positive for drugs in 2009, the Office of National Drug Control Policy reported Tuesday.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the National Drug Control Policy, said the percentage was alarming and should serve as a wakeup call.

“We have not paid very much attention to the drugged driving issue,” Kerlikowske, President Obama’s so-called drug czar, told CNN. “It is a significant problem.”

Kerlikowske said he wanted to raise awareness not only of the dangers of driving under the influence of illegal drugs, but of getting behind the wheel while taking powerful prescription or over-the-counter medications.

As part of a Fatal Accident Reporting System, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration tests drivers killed in crashes for narcotics, stimulants, depressants, marijuana, hallucinogens, PCP, anabolic steroids and inhalants. These include illegal drugs, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines.

Funny how they don't include alcohol which is one of the most lethal and most abused drugs of all.

By the way, it's nobody's business what I put into my body as long as I do not maim another living thing in the process.

 

[MikeK]

Crack came about AFTER cocaine was made illegal.

Yeah I know, I just don't think all hard drugs like crack, heroin and meth should be legal though. Cocaine maybe because I have known people who could hold down a job doing it, the other drugs not so much.

While crack and methamphetamine are biologically and psychologically damaging drugs it is possible to lead a relatively normal life while maintaining a regulated heroin addiction -- provided one is not employed as a driver, machine operator, etc., and is able to obtain pure, accurately measured dosages.

The problems presently associated with heroin addiction derive from that drug's illegal status which leaves the addict at the mercy of criminal suppliers. They never know the potency or purity of the drug they purchase on the street.

Switzerland's experiment with making heroin available to addicts has been relatively successful thus far. While it has not reduced the number of addicts it has eliminated the crime and overdose rate associated with illegal heroin and the rate of HIV infection has been significantly reduced.

The Netherlands recently adopted a similar program which has been similarly successful.

Portugal recently legalize all drugs and so far the result has been totally positive.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Go to Amsterdam and have a walk around. Take in all the sights. After you see that cesspool, and you still want to legalize drugs, you are worse off than I suspected.

 

[Modbert]

Go to Amsterdam and have a walk around. Take in all the sights. After you see that cesspool, and you still want to legalize drugs, you are worse off than I suspected.

Ah yes, what a "cesspool".

nrc.nl - International - Netherlands to close prisons for lack of criminals

The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty. During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees.

12,000 prisoners in a population of over 16.5 million. What a terrible country!

 

[MikeK]

Crack came about AFTER cocaine was made illegal.

Yeah I know, I just don't think all hard drugs like crack, heroin and meth should be legal though. Cocaine maybe because I have known people who could hold down a job doing it, the other drugs not so much.

Heroin is already legal, it is called Oxycotin. It is legal for big pharma, but not the little guy. I had two friends become addicted to oxys, then start heroin because it was cheaper.[...]

I've been using Oxy(codone) on a daily basis for the past fifteen months to control the pain from spinal stenosis. I take half of a 5mg tablet twice a day and thus far I've not experienced any symptom of addiction (craving, nervousness) during those days when I can get by without taking any.

I don't experience any pleasure from the drug. It just acts to transform the gnawing pain into tolerable pressure. So far I haven't built up a tolerance which would require increased dosage, which is where the danger of addiction resides.

 

[Bones]

Go to Amsterdam and have a walk around. Take in all the sights. After you see that cesspool, and you still want to legalize drugs, you are worse off than I suspected.

I suggest you tour a prison or two. One that's filled with non-violent criminals who were busted with a little pot or a few pills and get back to me on how you feel about legalization.

Remember. The United States is five percent of the world's population and twenty-five percent of the world's prison population. So, why are these drug addicts in jail rather than in rehab? Why is someone in jail for possessing a drug? How about we jail a person for what they do rather than for what they inject into themselves.

 

[MikeK]

Go to Amsterdam and have a walk around. Take in all the sights. After you see that cesspool, and you still want to legalize drugs, you are worse off than I suspected.

I've been to Amsterdam, which is a beautiful little city. Where did you hang out -- in the rear of the ver Brugge district?

 

[westwall]

Drugs should have never been criminalized in the first place. Prohibition was only useful for the creation of organised crime. The current drug war is no more than a war on our civil liberties. The last time I looked the Declaration of Independance said we are free to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If somebodys idea of happiness is to get high who are any of us to tell they can't or shouldn't.

Penalize teh criminal misuse of drugs for sure. Drive drunk or high and the penalties should be severe. But growing pot in your backyard? C'mon, take a violent criminal off the street.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

A first-ever drug analysis of drivers killed in car crashes found one in three tested positive for drugs in 2009, the Office of National Drug Control Policy reported Tuesday.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the National Drug Control Policy, said the percentage was alarming and should serve as a wakeup call.

“We have not paid very much attention to the drugged driving issue,” Kerlikowske, President Obama’s so-called drug czar, told CNN. “It is a significant problem.”

Kerlikowske said he wanted to raise awareness not only of the dangers of driving under the influence of illegal drugs, but of getting behind the wheel while taking powerful prescription or over-the-counter medications.

As part of a Fatal Accident Reporting System, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration tests drivers killed in crashes for narcotics, stimulants, depressants, marijuana, hallucinogens, PCP, anabolic steroids and inhalants. These include illegal drugs, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines.

Drugs common in fatal car crashes – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

What an amazing statistic. What does this have to do with the issues of drugs being legal or not? How does the fact that 1/3 of drivers who managed to get killed had some sort of drug in their system, which includes both legal and prescription drugs, as well as illegal drugs, prove anything other than the fact that Americans take drugs? Should people taking anti depressants be prohibited from driving? Those who take Aspirin?

You really need to find better arguments that drugs should be illegal that a study that shows people take drugs.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

How would you regulate cocaine and crack?

How do you regulate prescription pills?
First off, you can make sure some asshole dealer isn't cutting them with vet drugs.
Second, you can put an age limit on their use. It was easier to buy pot in high school, that it was beer. My pot dealer never checked my ID.

I can understand that maybe with weed but with crack? I don't know, I've never met a functional person who can hold down a job who smokes crack, everyone I know who smokes crack lives in abandoned houses and begs for change.

My bet is you have met one or two in your life.

 

[BlindBoo]

How do you regulate prescription pills?
First off, you can make sure some asshole dealer isn't cutting them with vet drugs.
Second, you can put an age limit on their use. It was easier to buy pot in high school, that it was beer. My pot dealer never checked my ID.

I can understand that maybe with weed but with crack? I don't know, I've never met a functional person who can hold down a job who smokes crack, everyone I know who smokes crack lives in abandoned houses and begs for change.

If you legalize coccaine you probably can cut down on crack use.

By the same logic if you legalized Maijuana you could cut down on Hash use too.

Freebase, aka Crack, is a smokeable form of cocaine.