Legalizing drugs

[dmeetro]

I think the best way to solve the problem with drug usage in united states is making them legal. If you do then the addicts will take care of themselves.


Discuss

[extermin8r]

I do think that at least Marijuana should be legalized, since its effects aren't too drastic. The government should tax it, just like alcohol, to increase revenue. I really don't see all the fuss.

[dmeetro]

Yes a rumor that often gets tossed around with marijane is its an introductory drug into harder drugs. Well i have different views of this b/c i agree taht when a lost soul starts using it they sometimes are looking for friendship and if those friends are using harder drugs then the victim gets pulled in. But i also disagree on the note that there are people that only smoke weed to enjoy it and actually look down on the harder drugs. Legalizing it would take all the taboo out of it and it would drawn some sort of a line between hard drugs and weed. The best part is taxing it, i bet they would make just as mutch as the taxes for cigs.

[millyowner]

Pot being a gateway drug is absolute rubbish. How do we know that those who gravitate towards risky behavior wouldn't have ended up with a crack pipe in their hand anyway? Too many correlation = causation arguments for the anti-drug camp. In Amsterdam, some substances have been legal since the 70s and at the same time, Dutch children absolutely trounce American children at Math and Science scores as well as just about everything else.

All the while, drug use among the youth there is still much lower than it is here. Hmmm... doesn't sound too consistent with the "say no to drugs" Nancy Reagan mantra of the yanks does it?

[dmeetro]

No it doesnt make sense at all, how can a nation that spends billions on fighting a war on drugs have dramatic increases in drug crime, use and distribution? My whole theory on it is because its illegal is why some people do it to be cool or w/e.

[extermin8r]

I agree, smoking pot still feels taboo in this country, and that is a contributing factor for a lot of people it seems.

[millyowner]

Surveys in the UK suggest that among 20-30 year olds, cannabis use is around 50%. That's right...half are smokin' doobies.

[Duncan]

Regular, plain ol' marijuana (not the super-powered hybrid stuff with five times the THC) is about the safest "illegal" drug of them all. Legalize it, regulate it, sell it in packs to people 21 and older - that'll remove a crap-ton of the needless drug possession arrests in this country, along with all the paperwork and bureaucracy that entails.

And how do we regulate marijuana? The same way you regulate alcohol - those who are not of legal age to consume it, or those who consume more than a prescribed legal limit and endanger others, will be prosecuted to the fullest and most appropriate extent that the law allows. (Laws, of course, will vary from location to location, but marijuana has to be approved federally before anything else can happen.)

Now, if we want to fight a so-called drug war, then let's get rid of the really dangerous concoctions like methamphetamine or crack cocaine. Put the bastards who make and sell that crap behind bars for as long as legally possible - or maybe longer.

[SteveSter]

I'm also a strong believer in legalizing Marijuana I first tried it when I was 15 and since then I havnt founf anything wrong with it. I dont even believe it impairs any ability. I think if it was legalized the life expectancy of senior citizens would rise because of its good affects on many problems. The country could make alot of money on this also by taxing it the same way cigarettes are taxed who knows maybe even a company like Marlboro will start selling weed.
-Steven

[millyowner]

I heard California just started distributing vending machines for medical marijuana.

I've spoken to a few people who vilify marijuana as the beginning of a downward spiral toward homelessness and crystal meth use(the "gateway drug" types). These people typically have problems with impulse control (perhaps 5-7% of the population or so). These are the same people who drink themselves to death, gamble themselves into the poor house, etc., because of biological or environmental factors that affect their ability to regulate their own behavior. These people have to stay 100% clean from these substances or behaviors or they will completely fail at life.

The rest of us can handle it, but unfortunately the laws are written for that 5-7%.

An ideal system would account for those people with impulse control problems and direct them toward the help they need while at the same time dispensing marijuana (or alcohol) for the rest of us. This would require a robust national mental/medical health care system. Since US health care is non-existent at the moment, I don't see widespread legalization happening anytime soon.

I've noticed a lot of people who think marijuana is really nasty stuff have never actually tried it for themselves...too scared of it from the years of being indoctrinated with false propaganda. In high school, we were told that it can make your testicles smaller...from someone who was supposed to know what they were talking about no less. I was also told that condoms aren't effective against AIDS, but that's an Oklahoma high school for ya.