Discussion: Why The World Should Legalise Drugs..
I’m in support of all drug’s being legalised. I think it’s worth saying, I’m not a ‘drug’ user, so don't I have experience of the benefits or costs of using/addiction. I am looking at this from a completely practical perspective. I am however happy for someone to educate me as to why this would be a really bad idea…
When I consider (what I believe to be) the positives and negatives of legalising drugs, I’ve ended up with 'I must be missing something...'
Imagine I world where all drugs are regulated, made by pharmaceutical companies sold in pharmaceutical stores..
State regulation
This will protect drug users from quality and strength related issue’s. Having a consistent safe product is a clear positive of Pharmaceutical Style regulation.
State Taxes
In 2013 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated the Global Drug trade to be worth $320bn. The cost base on this revenue would be minimal, meaning taxation could raise significant funds to be invested into deprived communities.
Price Controls
Regulation could keep the costs at a more reasonable price point to reduce the burden on some Drug takers to committee crimes to purchase drugs.
Safer Sale Point
Drug takers could purchase the drugs in a safe and controlled environment.
Drug related crime should be banished..
I know this won’t necessarily solve crime problems, but cutting cash flow off to drug related criminals should reduce the attractiveness of joining such ‘gangs’.
Direct access to drug takers for rehabilitation purposes
Having a record of how much people are taking and how often can allow social services to target help to the people who need it the most..
Reducing the burden on the Prison system and Police Force
So many people are in prison for non violent possession related crimes. These people could be functioning member of society and don’t necessarily pose a risk…
Take the cache away from doing something illegal
This i believe will reduce consumption of drugs. Will it be a rebellious 'cool' thing to try if you have to go to a Pharmacy to buy them..
Anyone can get hold of it anyway
They are easily accessible anyway, so why let drug traffickers sell a dangerous, non standard product when regulation could make it much better for society
State already allow addictive prescription drugs, and know they are way over subscribed…
I struggle to see a viable negative when you reference them against the positives. The only argument could be around whether usage would increase? I personally don’t think it would.
If usage increased, it would be an infinitely safer product anyway..
You're correct, Prohibition is the problem, not the drugs.
Society's whacked idea about "addiction," is the problem, not the drugs.
One thing though, price regulation? Best to leave that one alone, encourage lower prices through assisting production/distribution/innovation efforts. Price is chained to supply/demand.
Keep it Clean!
TheCleanGame Blog Posts, Neatly Categorized
@thecleangame On Price regulation: I meant, regulation to keep them low, so people don't have to go to desperate measure to get hold of them. I appreciate your opinion though, light hand of government is the game here...
Ahh, but that's the kicker. Prices need to be left alone, so the individual can benefit.
Regulation is a form of prohibition and it does weird things to prices. History says we should leave it alone. Corn farmers in america often plant and destroy half their crop, all because of price manipulation.
Considering there is no intellectual property, prices should reflect supply and demand fairly..
I'm all for free market @thecleangame, I probably had a worry in my head about Big Pharma taking over and inflating prices.
Your argument makes complete sense. I will bow down on this one, and agree with you.
I read an article about the Portugal model. Legalize and put money into rehabilitation instead of correction. Apparently, many of the Big dealers moved to Spain.
That's interesting @cryptobarry. I think Holland (for an example) give Heroin to addicts for free, as long as they give it administered in a controlled environment. Prevents the addicts reusing needles, and prevent Overdoses...
I think the Swiss guys really know what's up. It's amazing how they treat drugs and their drug addicts. check this article out steemers, the swiss are freakin role models! - http://www.smh.com.au/comment/swiss-recipe-for-dealing-with-drug-addiction-proves-a-success-20130622-2opcj.html
Good article @shredlord Thanks for that.
All excellent points. Thanks for posting.
The Portuguese system still seems to be working very effectively, where they tackled the problem from a harm-reduction perspective, allowing social services to assist people who genuinely have a drug problem, just as you said.
Personally, I don't think state regulation or taxes are necessary or desirable, because it creates system with a high concentration of power - which is what allowed governments to start these wars on drugs to begin with, causing all this violence and wastage of resources.
Kudos!
@churdtzu I will have a good think about tax side of it, not my ultimate aim here anyway. On the regulation side, I think it would be good for the Drug makers to be regulated (on a quality basis), so that they are liable for mistakes, in the same way Pharmaceutical Companies are..
Yes, they absolutely should be liable for their mistakes.
Would be great to hear from someone with a contrary view. I've seen 2 down votes for this post which is a shame considering there has been no contribution from these people...
Check out Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari. Very insightful book.
Thanks @sportfan I will.. You have any personal views to add...
As @chrudtzu cited, the Portuguese model has been running since around 2001 and has seen a dramatic change. If you can give hardcore users a safe environment to use it certainly benefits the wider public. The rehab programs actually work there too. Drug use there has decreased. And no, it didn't become a drug party tourism capital either like had been suggested when the program launched. People were saying it would be like what Amsterdam is for weed except 10 times worse. That hasn't been the case.
The current system needs to change. How can you have a war on drugs approaching 100 years?! The war was lost a long time ago. How have we not tried a different approach until now? Because there are far too many beneficiaries to change the system that is why. I have strong rooted feelings about the world we live in and how it needs to change. See my 'introduceyourself' post. I will write more on some of those topics too.
@sportsfan Great post!! Nothing to add, we seem pretty aligned with our views. I will take sometime today to read through your posts..
Cheers. Good to have some discussion on the above.
I have only been here for a couple of days so far. Been really busy with work so haven't been able to write much. Hopefully next week I can add a post or 2 to my introduction post.
This is always a controversial topic where many arguments can be made. I guess I can say that since prohibition has proven not to work already in history there is a possibility that it may be better to legalize, not that I am saying it should, but is a reason. Also it has been said that it would decrease or reduce crime and drug dealers and make drugs safer, which may be a good thing in the long run.
@travelista appreciate your contribution. I can certainly see that it would controversial, especially if you have been directly affected by drugs.. that's something I have been lucky not to have been.
Cleaner Drugs
The health effects from contaminated drugs on the streets are awful.
Look at the declining physical and mental states of "Meth" users, over the last several decades. As restrictions on base chemicals went up, the illegal producers of meth have turned to more and more contaminated sources to make it with.
Adderall is clean though, also subsidized by the feds. Cute.
Better days are coming! :D
Wiki about inventor of LDS Albert Hofmann who died at 102 years of age.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Hofmann
My wife read of a study recently stating "open minded" people live longer. :)
Stress is a big killer, I genuinely wouldn't be suprised if that was true...
Jeez I love Steemit for this reason too, we can actually have a proper discussion about it. Cheers hisnameisollie, rock on brother!
I'm with you @shredlord. I haven't encountered trolls, and everyone has conducted hinselves like gentlemen/gentlewomen when in disagreement :) Great platform for discussing things like this..
Totally agreed. But I think it's very difficult to know what would happen to cannabis prices after legalisation. For example, in Amsterdam it's very expensive to buy weed.
I have just created a new post because I think this is a very interesting subject, hope you guys want to participate!
https://steemit.com/marijuana/@fumeta/this-is-how-much-weed-you-can-buy-for-usd3-in-guatemala-what-about-your-country