What If All Drugs Were Legal?

[superjoint]

By Harry Browne
Source: WorldNetDaily

The Drug Warriors' biggest argument against medical marijuana is that it's only the opening wedge in a movement toward total legalization of drugs. So, supposedly, we have to "nip it in the bud" – in the words of Deputy Barney Fife, the nation's first Drug Czar.
What if the Drug Warriors are right?

What if legalizing medical marijuana turned out to be the first step on a journey that ended in the outright repeal of every drug law? What would America be like?

Understandably, many Americans fear that with no drug laws, we would have hundreds of thousands of addicts, crack babies, children trying drugs, and other evils. But that's what we have now.

Let's assume the worst:

If all drugs were legal, addicts would no longer pay black-market prices to criminals for drugs of questionable and dangerous origin. They would get drugs produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies and pay market prices. They would no longer die from buying toxic drugs, and they would no longer have to mug innocent people to support their habits.

If all drugs were legal, addicts could seek help by going to doctors – no longer afraid of being prosecuted for their medical problems.

If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer be on our streets. They couldn't compete with the low, free-market prices for drugs sold at pharmacies.

If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer prey upon our children – any more than distilleries and breweries try to infiltrate schools to hook kids on alcohol. When I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1940s, the worst schools were safer than L.A.'s best schools are today.

If all drugs were legal, our government would no longer be dispensing propaganda that makes children want to try the forbidden fruit.

Reducing street violence:

If all drugs were legal, our prisons would be emptied of hundreds of thousands of non-violent people who have never done harm to anyone else. No longer would over-crowded prisons cause truly violent criminals to be free on early release and plea bargains to terrorize the rest of us.

If all drugs were legal, law-enforcement resources would be available to fight violent crime, instead of being used to chase people who may harm themselves but are no threat to us.

If all drugs were legal, much of the street violence would end – as it did when Alcohol Prohibition ended – because gangs of thugs would no longer be fighting over drug territories.

If all drugs were legal, police corruption would diminish, because criminals could no longer use black-market drug money to gain immunity by subverting weak policemen.

If all drugs were legal, the government could no longer use the Drug War as an excuse to tear up the Bill of Rights and pry into your bank account, strip-search you at an airport, tear your car apart, monitor your e-mail, or seize your property without even charging you with a crime.

Why do we know this?

Why do I think America would be like this if all drugs were legal?

Because that's the way it was before the drug laws were passed. Yes, there were people whose lives were destroyed by drugs then – just as some people today destroy their lives with drugs, alcohol, financial mistakes, or various character weaknesses – but far fewer people lost their lives to drugs when they were legal.

And America's streets were peaceful.

Has America changed since then? Of course it has. But cause-and-effect relationships don't change. Force still begets force. Government programs still lead to unintended and destructive consequences.

Re-legalizing drugs would put a stop to those destructive consequences – end the criminal black market, end the violence, end the incentive to hook children, and end the production of toxic drugs that kill people.

We have to quit being afraid of the unknown, and instead recognize what we do know – that the Drug War is doing enormous harm to society.

If we care about our children, if we care about our cities, if we care about our country, we have to end the insane War on Drugs.

Harry Browne was the 2000 Libertarian presidential candidate. More of his articles can be read at -- http://www.harrybrowne.org/ -- and his books are available at HBBooks.com.

Complete Title: What If All Drugs Were Legal? (Gasp!)

Source: WorldNetDaily (US Web)
Author: Harry Browne
Published: June 7, 2001
Copyright: 2001, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
Contact: letters@worldnetdaily.com
Website: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/

[n0rm]

nice article!

[Iluvatar]

Good read, thanks! The "War on Drugs" is pathetic.

[Shazbuckle]

The article brings up many points which are indeed correct, but one cannot predict how society will change if say crack or heroine were available to the general public.

It's impossible to say how many people will try it, get hooked, and ruin their lives. The worry is many will, and the country will become weak.

[Joe Luxon]

If all drugs were legal, you'd be enjoying your day in a Park on Mescaline, smoking some fine herb...

Then a monster On Steriods, PCP and Meth would come out of nowhere and stomp you into the ground for Fun.

The End.

[weednotcrack]

And the African American community wouldn't be so afraid to call the Police for fear of losing their freedom for enjoying a plant.

[RebelINS]

Originally Posted by Shazbuckle

The article brings up many points which are indeed correct, but one cannot predict how society will change if say crack or heroine were available to the general public.

It's impossible to say how many people will try it, get hooked, and ruin their lives. The worry is many will, and the country will become weak.

Heroin is already available to the public, it's called oxycontin. And people already shoot up heroin and smoke crack with it being illegal. Go around. Ask everyone, "If crack and heroin were legal, would you try it?" 999999999999999% of all people are going to say NO. Drug use doesn't increase with legalization!

Originally Posted by Joe Luxon

If all drugs were legal, you'd be enjoying your day in a Park on Mescaline, smoking some fine herb...

Then a monster On Steriods, PCP and Meth would come out of nowhere and stomp you into the ground for Fun.

The End.

A bit paranoid aren't you stoner?

Of all people STONERS should understand the stupidity of ALL PROHIBITION. People already smoke PCP and Meth, and do steroids. And I can't think of ONE who stomped someone into the ground for fun at a park during the day.

Even Marijuana users are blind to the insanity of prohibition. It's not for you to say, "I like this drug, so it should be legal for me to use. But this one, I hate it, so people should get arrested for using it."

Prohibition doesn't DECREASE use. So either we continue on this road we're on, imprisoning WAY TOO MANY people for things that should NOT be a crime. If your reasoning is a meth, pcp steroid addict is going to physically harm you because "YAY! MY METH AND PCP AND STEROIDS ARE NOW LEGAL!" that is just absurd. Sober people have done worse, The other year a guy decapitated this dude sitting next to him on a BUS. HE WAS SOBER! So why don't you fear sober people just as much? Should we make being sober illegal?

Besides, at least someone on drugs is FUCKED UP making it quite easy to not be harmed by them (motor functions impaired...)

Your statement sounds like something a drug prohibitionist would say to be honest. I could see John Walters saying that now. Except without the mescaline and MJ.


Use brains!

[weednotcrack]

yeah meth is already legal and people are giving it to they're kids...it's called Ritalin. It makes me sad to know that people are giving Methylphenidate to 5 year old kids just because the parent doesn't know HOW to parent. They don't know how to handle their child so they just give them a pill to pop.

[Shazbuckle]

RebelINS, prohibition for marijuana is just plain stupid, mainly because there are so many lies or myths about the drugs which have since been disqualified, but various governments fail to ackknowledge the evidence( for now )

I do however agree with prohibition for drugs such as meth and heroine. And yes, I have thoroughly researched all these drugs, mainly on erowid.org, and I trust that site as a source. They do not tell you "DONT DO THIS YOU WILL DIE" they just state the plain and simple facts.

How many times have you heard the story of the guy who lost his family and his friends and his job and his home because of addiction to marijuana, he just couldn't stop, so he stole to get his fix. How many times have you heard that story RebelINS?

Point is, heroin and meth are physicaly dangerous and they do ruin lives. Saying that they don't is just lying to yourself. Just read reports on erowid. Most of them go something like this: I thought I could handle it, it went ok for a while. Before I knew it my dose was going up and up and up, next I couldn't go a few hours without my fix.

[RebelINS]

Originally Posted by Shazbuckle

RebelINS, prohibition for marijuana is just plain stupid, mainly because there are so many lies or myths about the drugs which have since been disqualified, but various governments fail to ackknowledge the evidence( for now )

I do however agree with prohibition for drugs such as meth and heroine. And yes, I have thoroughly researched all these drugs, mainly on erowid.org, and I trust that site as a source. They do not tell you "DONT DO THIS YOU WILL DIE" they just state the plain and simple facts.

How many times have you heard the story of the guy who lost his family and his friends and his job and his home because of addiction to marijuana, he just couldn't stop, so he stole to get his fix. How many times have you heard that story RebelINS?

Point is, heroin and meth are physicaly dangerous and they do ruin lives. Saying that they don't is just lying to yourself. Just read reports on erowid. Most of them go something like this: I thought I could handle it, it went ok for a while. Before I knew it my dose was going up and up and up, next I couldn't go a few hours without my fix.

If drugs were legal people wouldn't have to steal to get their fix. It's about the black market and the illegality of it all. They are addicted physically to a drug, they have to have it, if there were governmental dispensaries like they're using over in Europe to help treat people with addictions it would be 100% better.

You can't be for prohibition of other drugs and not for the prohibition of Marijuana. Prohibition is a failed policy, and CANNOT WORK. How can you support something that does NOTHING TO DECREASE DRUG USE? What GOOD does prohibition do then? You still aren't thinking everything through with your decision to support prohibition.

Black Market - Funds gangs - Caused by prohibition
Easier access to drugs for children - Caused by prohibition
Massive Incarceration rates - prohibition
Overcrowding of prisons - prohibtion
Privatization of prisons - prohibition
Waste of Money - Prohibition
Does NOTHING to decrease drug use - Prohibition
Purity issues with drugs because of a black market no regulation - Prohibition
Total disrespect for police from public - Prohibition

See where I'm going with this? Support your argument. Why should we not allow humans to consume certain drugs (ones that you deem "unacceptable")? And how would you stop humans from consuming these things? Prohibition? Will it work? Has it? No. And you support it? You don't make sense.

[Shazbuckle]

I don't really understand your point. You claim people wouldn't steal to get their fix if drugs were legal. You aren't implying that these drugs would be given out free are you??? They are still probably going to cost just as much, which means the same people who buy the drugs now and lose everything are going to be in the same amount of shit should they be legal.

It is impossible to tell what will happen to society should these drugs be legal. What would happen if 50% of the population became addicted? How would the human race progress?

[Shazbuckle]

Double posting in case you don't see my edit:

Just to clarify, I don't think drugs should be legal, however I don't agree with the war on drugs either. I agree with Portugal's drug policy. Rather than treating drug users as criminals, they should be treated as people who are ill, and sent to rehab instead of being sent to prison for really only harming themselves.

[weednotcrack]

Originally Posted by Shazbuckle

I don't really understand your point. You claim people wouldn't steal to get their fix if drugs were legal. You aren't implying that these drugs would be given out free are you??? They are still probably going to cost just as much, which means the same people who buy the drugs now and lose everything are going to be in the same amount of shit should they be legal.

It is impossible to tell what will happen to society should these drugs be legal. What would happen if 50% of the population became addicted? How would the human race progress?

50% of the poulation knows to stay away from heroin,meth,PCP,and crack. And no it's not free drugs for everyone.it just be alot cheaper so that their would be no need to be a drug dealer if you make less then minimum wage.And drugs like Heroin,meth,and crack are given to people who are pittyed apond(homeless) not just your average joe..

[willisvillis]

Good article. I find it weird how we criminalize drugs, send users to dangerous black markets, and then call that drug control. Sadly, some people still think incarceration is the answer. Thankfully, it seems this ignorant point of view is dying, albeit very slowly.

[kid kush]

Originally Posted by weednotcrack

yeah meth is already legal and people are giving it to they're kids...it's called Ritalin. It makes me sad to know that people are giving Methylphenidate to 5 year old kids just because the parent doesn't know HOW to parent. They don't know how to handle their child so they just give them a pill to pop.

Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a more complex molecule then meth. thats like saying oxygen and ozone are the same. and i had to take ritalin when i was in school. let me rephrase, if i didnt want to take it, my parents wouldn't force me. but it helped me out so much i would have never gotten through school without it. and i come from as good home, my parents did everything they could to give and my sister the best. thats an ignorant statement to say that paretns give it to their kids just because they dont know how to parent. as people say, you can't know until it happens to you. and just to clarify, im not saying it was ignorant to be a dick. again, you just dont know