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Legalise all drugs?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hi all,
I have a feeling that this may have been brought up before (though I couldn't find a specific thread). Sorry if I'm dragging up old issues!
The apology over with; when I was reading the brothels thread, I remembered similar arguments being presented by Ben Elton in High Society as part of the case for legalising all drugs.
So what do you think? If people are going to use them anyway, should we have laws, taxes, regulations, licensed dealers, etc.?
Surely risks such as impure drugs, HIV from sharing needles, and the like could be severely lessened? Would the attraction to drugs wane if they were to be legalised, or would it simply cause more usage, addiction, death, pain?
What do you reckon?
Picc.
xxx
I have a feeling that this may have been brought up before (though I couldn't find a specific thread). Sorry if I'm dragging up old issues!
The apology over with; when I was reading the brothels thread, I remembered similar arguments being presented by Ben Elton in High Society as part of the case for legalising all drugs.
So what do you think? If people are going to use them anyway, should we have laws, taxes, regulations, licensed dealers, etc.?
Surely risks such as impure drugs, HIV from sharing needles, and the like could be severely lessened? Would the attraction to drugs wane if they were to be legalised, or would it simply cause more usage, addiction, death, pain?
What do you reckon?
Picc.
xxx
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Comments
The state shouldn't determine what a person can put into their bodies. Also the 'war on drugs' is a failure.
So yeah I think it should be legal. Sorry I have not put much information, but im saying yes
it doesn't make sense to me to be putting all those billions into the hands of organised crime and terrorists.
it's the biggest source of income for islamic extremists ...by prescribing heroin and opium, something very positive would be getting done in the fight against terrorism. until the first world war you could walk into any chemist shop and buy heroin and opium. it's reckoned that the entire admiralty and most of the british cabinet were opium users ...but it wasn't frowned on.
there is very little death from ilegal recreational drugs compared to alcohol, tobacco over eating, heart disease etc. the numbers of addicts who die is seriously tiny and it's usualy an accidental overdose ...very rare though.
the U.K now produces more cannabis and of a much higher quality than morocco. we export more of the stuff than we import for the first time in history. so ...ilegal though it may be ...british pot growers are actualy doing something very positive in the fight against crime and terror.
Mmmmm... Y'know I had some homegrown last night at a party and have had scuff before. It's nicer than a lot of crap going around too.
hmm i dont know about full legalisation, because it will land up with the companies that produce them having a lot of power, like the tabacco companies, but even though its better than organised crime, people will begin trying to sell you them on tv etc
so if it were to be legalised it should be highly controlled in terms of pricing advertising packaging etc because many medicines are banned because they have bad side effects,and many of the side effects of current illegal drugs are unknown so i say legalisation after long term research and treatment for current users
addiction to opium, heroin and morphine has no neglilable effects whatsoever on your mind, heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, muscles etc.
being ilegal is achieving sod all other than handing the biggest money spinner in history to crooks. and being ilegal is what leads to massive crime rates. legalise and actualy take control of the situation and the prisons will be half empty ...street crime and burglary will plummet.
the war on drugs ...any other war that had turned up the results it has would have been declared lost 20yrs agao.
but i agree as in gradual relaxation of drug laws can only be a good thing
me and a few million other people are all the evidence you need for a long term study today. i've been puffing away for 35yrs ...very fit and healthy. i'm also an ex heroin addict. physicaly i'm in very good shape compared to old school friends who's drug of choice was a few pints at the weekend. there all fat and nackered! i'm saying nowt about my mental state as it will be an invite for a mass attack!
society are scared of taking responsibility for something that effects us all. using the stuff or being robbed by addicts we are all effected. who's in control of the situation ...villains and terrorists thats who! and fuck the long term effects if any on the individual. lets think of the effects on society as a whole.
at the start of the 20th century everything was available from chemists and herbalists perfectly legaly with few problems. the first world war needed fighting so in came serious controls on drugs and even alcohol. we have only recently got rid of the laws that said pubs couldn't be open sall day ...they could before the great war. drugs could be purchased openly before the first w war ...always had been and guess what ...we owned the world ...we ran the whole show.
since man began walking the earth he has used herbs, roots and potions to enhance his performance, relax etc.
most ex heroin addicts would love to be able to perform ...be as driven and determined without heroin as they were with it as a driving force in their lives. most heroin addicts are as i'm sure you know, very determined and driven. if YOU ...could perform at that level you'd out earn most of the people around you.
and good for you and your drugs man!
amphetamines were the most freely and over prescribed drug in history through the second world war to keep the troops fighting long hours and the years after the war to get the workforce motivated ...mainly targeted at women. right up till the late sixties. ever heard a song by the rolling stones called 'mothers little helper'? the song is about dexamphetamine, which most working class mothers were prescribed by their gp's to get them to be mothers and much needed workers ...due to the shortage of men who had been killed. my mum and most of her friends and nieghbours were speed freaks without even knowing it. so there is masses of information available about amphetamines. my mum and dads generation never thought of this as recreational drug use ...it was what most women ended being prescribed as word of mouth spread the government message to the gp's. get them moving. didn't seem to cause them any problems but did contribute in a very positive manner as regards rebuilding europe after the worst war in history.
i think the youngsters in the dam see the shooting galleries and see them as very undesirable places for losers ...compared with the cafes where everyones having a jolly old time. i think part of the problem is hiding it away ...covering it in a dark shroud of mystery and adventure and even romanticism. when it's on full view it strips away the myths. seems to be less sexual crime there as well ...possibly for those very same reasons?
I'd agree with you. But I think we are becoming a lot more liberal as a nation, in fact I'd go so far as to say we are probably one of the most liberal nations on earth. With religious dogma collapsing all around us people are actually making rational decisions about our morality as a nation and in most cases we say that it doesn't matter. I think we're about 10-20 years behind the Netherlands in terms of liberalism. Take the boom in shops like Ann Summers there's one in every high street now on full display, ten years ago you would have had to go to somewhere like Soho to find those kinds of shops, twenty years ago they would have been hard to find.
Taxation is theft. Narcotics (if ever legal) shouldn't be taxed!!
As for legalising drugs, well I'd say that cannabis should be legal, and opiates should be on script. Rehab centers should be trippled too.
MDMA, LSD, mescal, and many of the other related drugs should be decriminalised with moves towards legalisation. Education is the key though, the english dont really have a great record of sensible use of the drugs we have already.
Yes they should - drugs damage your health, and the NHS would need the funds to treat those that mess themselves up. Many of us may moan about tobacco and alcohol tax, but then when we have lung cancer or liver damage we expect to be treated for it. I do however, believe the treatment should be the best in the world (which it's not) - considering the duty we pay on them is one of the highest in the world.
As for cannabis,mushrooms and other recretional drugs should be made legal and sold in outlets all over the world, mdma,lsd, all properly tested and not any dodgy shit.
Then there's the case with the jails,there's alot of unnecessary jail sentences for drug offences, todays society dosen't have a right to tell people what drugs they can and cannot take.
The French have the best NHS in the world because they pay for it, company taxes there are WAY higher than here and other taxes too. They are also much healthier than us which makes hospitals cheaper to run.
Questions of legalising drugs are not concretely liberal or conservative as seen by the Swiss attitude toward drugs. Hard to find a more conservative and structured a society than Switzerland, yet even there they take a tolerant approach to drugs.
Its more a matter of expedience and social costs in my view. By legalising drugs the black market is essentially destroyed and many facets of crime that accompany the illicit trade.
the above thread makes an interesting read
would you expect more or less of this if drugs were legal and easily available?
*being devils advocate*
Why do you think drugs like crack, coke, , lsd, e and brown are illegal? so the govt can piss you off? rule your lives, take away your freedom to abuse body?
not really, but because these drugs are dangerous.
to say taking a pill is as dangerous as crossing the road is missing the point - it doesn't make it safe by saying it is as dangerous as something else.
the police don't have enough person power to catch all those who still drink drive, now imagine if drugs were cheap and legal... well I suppose then taking a pill would be safer than crossing the road.
the legalising drugs debate needs to take way more into account. Who on here has had their life completely ruled by a drug? Mr Roll knows about this with his experience with heroin....
a dependent 5 bags a day heroin user won't be physically able to do much more than get clean pins and their gear. so they would still need to find the money to by their gear. where is that going to come from? why should I pay for someone else's habit?
Any addiction can turn people into selfish social outcasts who’s lives don’t revolve around being reasonable and rational.
*returning to normal mode*
don’t get me wrong, I not against the legalisation of some drugs, I am still waiting to be convinced that it is a good thing. It is unlikely some drugs will ever be legal, so campaigner should focus on those where the chance is a little better.
Food for thought maybe?
No one is going to deny that drugs are damaging, the point is that people beleive that things like ecstasy are far more dangerous than they actually are. Fishing and horseriding are perfectly legal activities and they both carry a simialr risk to ecstasy and people don't even thing twice while doin them. Why can I not participate in my activity without the risk of landing myself in prison? The law as it stands is making criminals out of otherwise ordinary law abiding citizens.
Pills are cheap and people do take them and drive - it's quite obvious that the fact that they're illegal doesn't make a lot of difference.
Addiction shouldn't be a crime anyway. Prosecuting addicts simply for posession does them no good whatsoever.
Which is important. Correct me if I'm wrong but most heroin addcits die from diseases. Clean needles and clean gear with safe places to do it would be a HUGE step forward.
Prescibing addicts clean heroin and needles is in my mind the obvious thing to do. Not only would you see addicts stop commiting crimes to fund their habit, but you would also be taking money away from the organised crimminals selling the stuff in the first place.
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i am not suggesting that being addicted to anything is desirable but surely it would be healthier for the addict and society as a whole if that addiction was in the hands of the propper people and not gangsters and terrorists.
we are all addicted to food ...without it we die. first we go into withdrawl, illness and then death ...opiates arent as severe ...you go into withdrawl but survive. food is readily available ...should that situation change and food becomes scarce and villains and terrorists control the supply see how honest and capable you remain.
the fact it is ilegal and there has been a WAR fought against it's use and spread means there is a huge demand and that the WAR has been lost. more and more and more people are taking the stuff. so ilegal isn't working. all through the 18th and 19th centuries opiates were consumed on a massive scale ...far higher than today ...with few problems. of course some individuals would have had problems just as some do with alcohol. the vast majority won't.
i have to cite amsterdam again with it being the most closely studied modern experiment. you can smoke weed and many do. you can shoot heroin in designated places. the age of heroin addicts in the dam is mid forties ...younger people aren't getting sucked in ...one reason being they don't have to buy their weed from dodgy people selling harder stuff. here in the uk where its been strict ...more and more young people are becoming addicted to heroin.
the reality is that as long as it remains ilegal absolutely nothing is being done about the problem ...you will continue to see crime rise and jail populations go through the roof.
it's time we the people, by way of government, health etc took charge of this problem, took it out of the hands of bad men in the shadows. WHAT HAVE WE GOT TO LOOSE?
If heroin was made legal for addicts and have a designated area to go for it why not let them get on with it.
look at america in the 1920's. they decided to make the consumption and production of alcohol ilegal. the production was then taken over by organised crime along with the distribution. the quality varied greatly across the land. the violence and death that came with it was horrendous. police forces and government became badly corrupted due to the massive amounts of tax free money that could be made. the money to be made was vast.
respectable distillers in scotland and ireland ...bells ...glen fiddich ...jaimeson etc etc all loaded up huge cargo ships and anchored just outside american waters ...where they legaly unloaded millions of casks and bottles at inflated prices to ...the gangsters. these companies were not breaking the law as long as they stayed outside of american waters. the price they could charge made it worth them constantly shipping millions of gallons of booze out there. read some of the history about prohibition and you'll find that spirit prices in this country and across europe started rising as the distillers were shipping most of their production to america ...thats what ilegal does for you.
Prohibition was a terrible time in history, the amount of deaths in America and organised crime through alcohol, no wonder, alcohol is great though,brilliant buzz.
Morrocan - Though I appreciate your experience of heroin, I'd have to say that making all drugs legal would not be a good thing.
You say that "opium, heroin and morphine has no neglilable effects whatsoever on your mind, heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, muscles etc."
Wrong, drug use has very definite effects on the mind and the body.
Addiction is a terrible thing, it can be all-consuming, and, on the face of it, can cause otherwise pleasant, rational people to commit brutal crimes in order to satisfy it.
Amphetamine abuse can lead to violent outbursts, schizophrenic episodes, paranoia, heart and blood vessel problems.
MDMA causes serious reduction in the brain's production of seratonin, leading to unipolar and bi-polar depression.
Very true, yet the negative effects are there for all to see. Do you really believe that it's GOOD to pump people toting guns full of amphetamines? It's GOOD to slip mothers a nice little pill that'll have them racing around a hundred miles a minute? Doctors thought so, then discovered the negative effects and stopped, just like they stopped thlydomide.
My theory is that if you were to legalise all drugs as of tomorrow, the country would enter a crisis. Addiction rates would soar, why? Because young people would come into contact with "hard" drugs, and in the spirit of youth, experiment. Unfortunately hard drugs are highly addictive, so that experimentation has dire consequences.
Once all drugs are legalised and it's perfectly acceptable to use them, accidental deaths increase. Yes, we already have drink drivers, but legalising yet more drugs would lead to the roads becoming even more of a death-trap.
Many people skip work because they're doped-up on whatever, the economy suffers.
You say that heroin users are perfectly capable of out-performing "clean" people in work. Well, that's a helluva generalisation. While you/people you know are quite capable, you may be the exception to the rule.
Yes, cigarettes and booze are legal and they can be just as damaging as illegal drugs. I admit I'm a 20-a-day man, and I enjoy drinking, so maybe I'm being ignorant and hypocritical.
But just because we have two legal drugs doing the business doesn't logically mean we should have more.
Yes, because they're illegal people give money to criminals, but I think that drugs' illegality generally makes your average person think that they're "bad", and you should steer clear. Thus the amount of money going to criminals is reduced because most people don't do illegal drugs.
To me it looks like a catch-22 situation. If they're illegal, money goes to criminals and addicts/users have to buy dodgy stuff and get arrested.
If they're legal it's all out in the open, proper provision can be made for addicts/users and the government gets extra taxes for healthcare/whatever, but there's a very real danger that it'll all go pear-shaped and we'll have a serious problem on our hands.
I agree that people should be allowed to do whatever they want, as long as it doesn't affect others. As John Stuart Mill said "Over his body and mind, the individual is sovereign.". It's just when that sovereignty harms others that it all gets a bit complicated .
Wouldn't it all be a lot easier if everyone just went "Ahhh sod it, let's just get our kicks from fags and booze."?
Bahh, we humans, always wantin' more