Legalization of drugs, pros and cons!
 

Should drugs be legalized?

Yes, no; if yes what are the consequences, benefits. If no, can we continue waging another losing war?

Who gains, who loses?

Opinions, facts, etc, all are welcome as long as cookies are provided for the OP.

:)

Legalize marijuana and mushrooms and use the tax money to pay for health care.

Keep Chrystal Meth and other "hard core" drugs illegal.

Would make for way less people in prison for us to pay for and increase revenues and taxes. No one loses.

Cookies all around! :)

Opinion only...

Legalize pot. Never heard of anyone od'ing on pot or committing homicide in a pot induced haze. Never heard of anyone jonesing so bad for pot they commit larceny or murder or rape. Keep narcotics/ opiate derivitives /methamphetamines etc illegal.

Legalize ALL drugs and prostitution.
Who gains? Everyone but the criminals.
Who loses? The cartels and the CIA.

But it MUST be done at a Federal Level otherwise you end up with the mess we have here in CA. Medical Marijuana growers being prosecuted by the DEA and a Federal Jury not being told about the state law. Long sentences handed out.

I agree with Superfemme

make prostitution legal and drugs legal and tax the hell out of both

treat adults like adults let them make thier own choices since we all know that people are going to do both no matter what....


by having drugs and prostituition illegal all that does is make more money for the government and the cartels....

oh and it does create a hell of a lot of jobs and fills up prisons which create more jobs......

But legalizing it would -also- create a tonne of jobs. They would have to go real heavy on education and harm reduction - and they'd have to hire people to do that.

Like I said in that other thread: making it legal doesn't mean that people who don't currently do drugs are going to start. I don't do any currently illegal drugs - at all. I don't even smoke pot. And my not doing drugs has -nothing- to do with it being illegal - legalizing it isn't going to make me start sticking needles in my veins and stuff up my nose. It's just not.

People are going to do what they are going to do. We may as well create an environment where they are less of a danger to themselves.

Pot needs to not be an offense at all. It is just dumb. I agree with SF, it need to be legalized at the Federal Level. Mushrooms, Poppies, Peyote, etc.

I do think Chrystal Meth is scary and it makes the entire area it is cooked toxic and can explode easily and kill innocent bystanders. Other than that, I really don't care. Decriminalize away. Yes, prostitution too.

I agree that the government does not need to legislate morality.

I'm "anti-drug". Don't like them, don't do them.
But I think all drugs including pharmaceuticals should be legalized and the taxes put towards treatment for addiction.
The practical problem with this is that there is a massive economy built around drugs which would collapse. If the black market was wiped out and most of the prisons closed by legalizing drugs what would replace this economy? What would happen to all the people who make a living on the black market? Would they sell Avon or what? It's not just "cartels" that make a living in the drug economy but lots of regular people too. There are not enough jobs in the legal economy as it is without displacing the massive underground economy and all the legal jobs that feed off it. Would the average street dealer be re-trained as an addictions counselor in the new "treatment economy"?

Of course for those people who think pot is a gateway drug and leads to Crystal......

I think they need to read up and look a their logic.

We could legalize and treat addicts for the disease of addiction.
Offer a safe place to buy/use and save tons on future medical care costs by taking away the risks of HepC and HIV.
Open up rehabs to ALL who need it, not just the folk that can afford a 30k stay.

And no, nobody is gonna start shooting heroin just because they can. I agree with Betenoire.

Check this out:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8255418.stm

Legalizing drugs benefits us all for many reasons!!

Here are some off the top of my head.

1-Societal Benefits- Illegal drug sale creates a criminal culture. People, such as myself (recreational user),has to come in contact with not so nice people. It also affects our youths and creating a space to choose a life of crime selling drugs on the street.

2-The Potency Effect- Remember prohibition...more people chose to drink alcohol over wine or beer because it was more potent. Alcohol related deaths skyrocketed. When it comes to drugs if a dealer is gonna take a risk, then the dealer is more likely to risk transporting/selling a more potent product for the public to purchase. Potency does not equate quality!!

3-Health Benefits- Legalizing would ensure market driven high quality substances to purchase. There would be brand name competition and accountablity.

4-Reduction in Crime- four reasons for this thought
1-reduction in market prices from the influx of users that were normally deterred because of criminal laws.
2-substance related crime will decrease because the courts will now be open for companies to settle disputes in court.
3-Profits for cartels = money for terrorists!!!
4-legalizing sale,transport and possession will now be viewed as legal buisness transactions.


This is all I have for now...

The Great Depression happened and crime got organized to bring in the booze.

gave up drinking and drugs 21 years ago. (one relapse).But I agree that pot should be decriminilized. And I also come from the economic stance as well as the quality control stance. Other drugs I am not ok with becoming legal. I cant imagine walking into Main Street Market and buying some acid to go along with my Orange Juice for my lunch break.

And I think, because we have outlawed smoking in almost every public place, containing pot smoke in public would be so limited it would not be difficult to control for those who dont wish to be subjected to it, like myself, who counts contact highs with relapse.

and I wish to god they would make prostitution legal and regulate it and get a union going for the sex workers. Its insane that its not.

but then this is a nation that allowed bush to reign for two rounds and picked the actor over the jackass before bush.

shaking my head...in my head there is a much kinder simpler world...too damn bad it has as much clout as playing with Barbies....

No acid for lunch?

*POUT*

No, but only because I'm sure our employers wouldn't like us doing that on our lunch breaks any more than they want us to have a martini on our lunch breaks.

I'm not allowed to have any alcohol within the TWELVE hours before I go to work. I'm sure it doesn't take that long for a person to sober up - but the rule is fair.

Legalize everything and tax everything. I'd much rather have meth manufactured in a controlled environment and sold with an ingredients list than have it manufactured in someone's shed where it's polluting the water and endangering lives.

There's no down side to full legalization. Massive layoffs in the prison industry and DA's offices don't count as a downside in my book.

That's a bit rough. For most folks, that means not even being able to have a glass of wine with dinner if you work the next day. I guess it depends on what one does for living.

Good point on the Meth, I had not thought of that. Thank you!

Maybe if one were a surgeon or airline pilot?

I don't know anybody who eats dinner after 9pm, though.

I work in healthcare. If I worked in an office, the rule would be stupid. But the nature of my job means that there can't be any doubt that I have my shit together.

I often do if I am working (eat after 9pm I mean), but my job is frivolity incarnate.

Constitutional Rights

Right to choose what is good for me. Pursuit of happiness.
It is every persons constitutional right to control their own body. When the government oulaws drugs it is essentially taking control of our bodies and partially enslaving us.

You said earlier..

"I think I may have heard of someone breaking into a bakery to steal the brownies, but maybe I am just making that up.

Why keep the hard stuff illegal? Not that I don't agree, I am just curious. "

Not sure if you are playing devil's advocate or just waffling. Playing D.A. without stating it as such doesn't bode well here. Jus sayin.

I don't agree with legalizing chemically altered or produced drugs as that involves pharmaceuticals to become legal. I say keep the drug companies and insurance industry out of it altogether. They legalized alcohol again, but only govt certified regulated companies can make it and sell it legally. What about the organic home distilleries who have generations of producing "shine" in their lineage? What about organic "growers" who spend countless hours toiling over their crop? Why just hand this to Pifzer?

Let the govt run the man made drugs. They have enough resources to perfect meth. Fuckabunchathat anyway. I don't use pot or any other drug, so it truly is of little personal concern to me. However, I do see benefits in marijuana that far outweigh the prohibition placed on it here in the states.

The notion that "all" drugs should be legalized is just silly in my book. What practical purpose does meth serve? What "healing" properties does it hold? How do you go about acquiring a script for it? Go in to your doc and say "I am feeling way too normal and need a break" ??? WTF?

I have my opinions which will always differ from someone. One of those is that this is an interesting topic that unfortunately derailed an interesting thread.

For clarification, I am asking if you were being a "devil's advocate" as it has been stated by more than one member here that it ain't cool unless you say you are "upfront" and even then.. not cool unless you are going along with the popular opinion en masse. Do I need to pull up examples? I will do so in pvt if needed. I could not discern by the contrasting statements of your previous posts if you were A) agreeing with everyone B) being devil's advocate to further the discussion to some more pertinent destination or C) just talkin or D) had no real opinion and just made this thread cause someone suggested it on the AZ boycott thread.

I was confused. Seeking public opinion is cool in my book. if that is all this is about then cool. Carry on.

For me, legalize means over the counter, not by prescription. As for practical purposes or healing properties, one could ask the same of pretty much every food item sold in a convenience store. There's no practical purpose to twinkies. Oh, wait, except for pot munchies.

Question for everyone. If all drugs were legal, would people still do shit like meth? Or would they opt for a good high that doesn't fuck you up so badly?

I can't find the original post, but in the other thread someone alluded to the fact that you can tell who has children and who doesn't have children based on their stance on this subject.

I really -really- just need to say that I don't think that's a fair statement to make at all. My choosing not to become a parent has no relation at all to my political or morale stance. On this issue or -any- issue.

Sorry but the only reported case of murder/ mayhem by twinkie was the Harvey Milk case and we all know what a fucked up piece of legalese that was. Buying a handful of meth over the counter and a twinkie is kinda apples to oranges. Evil fucked up oranges.