Legalize and Regulate All Drugs

if we legalize all drugs Big Pharma is gonna get mad and lose out on hella money.

they got more influence than we do honestly. i think the only one theyll give us is marijuana.

 

I think we should at least legalize all drugs that aren't physically addictive or harmful and decriminalize the rest.

But regardless, people shouldn't be punished for consuming anything.

 

Personally, I don't think we'll ever see marijuana legalized on a federal level. At best, we're looking at them moving it from schedule I to schedule II.

 

Sorry, but I don't agree with this. I'm all for marijuana (and certain other substances) becoming legal, but I don't want to have to hear about all the overdoses/crime 100x a day associated with all the others.

Just think, what else would the drug dealers do? Without a steady source of income (and with no education, set of skills, or work ethic) the only real option would be different crimes. With the job market already narrowing, and jobs requiring unskilled labor becoming few and far between, what else is there? (I don't think all dealers are like this, but a substantial number are)

With more and more unemployment and rising crime rates the only option would become more social programs, ironically funded by the drug taxing no doubt.

Just my opinion.

 

If we legalize all drugs, and that goes bad, then we're probably going to have to start from square one with legalizing marijuana.

 

For one, what makes you think more people would use drugs just because "it's legal now" I've never met anyone that wanted to do drugs but didn't because it was illegal.

Two, MOST of the crime associated with drugs have to do with the buying, selling, and trafficking of them. Obviously some people try and steal to support their habit, but a lot of people don't. I've known of drug addicts who dig through trash for money. I've known heroin addicts that have full time jobs. I'm not ready to assume that everybody who uses drugs is a criminal. Arrest people for committing crimes if they do, leave them alone if they don't.

I also don't understand the "what else would dealers do?" argument. The same argument could be used against marijuana, but we all know that it's a weak argument at best. So, what would they do? I don't know, they may commit other crimes or they may get a real job. But, going by what we know with ending things like alcohol prohibition, crime went down when it was ended, so there is no evidence to suggest that drug dealers will become bank robbers. And even IF they did, they would be much easier to catch, since dealing drugs is pretty easy to get away with compared to other crime. Anyway, this is a temporary problem at best. People aren't born as a drug dealer.

And you are right, we could fund rehab programs with taxes on drugs, so people pay for their own rehab. I see this as a good thing. I've known people that want help but they don't know where to go. Easily accessible rehab facilities would most likely bring down the number of addicts over time.

People seem to forget that for most of America's history, drugs were not really controlled. Cocaine, heroin, etc, were all available at the corner store. And yet we still managed to become what we are today. Our country didn't implode because people could buy drugs. As a matter of fact, we prospered.

I'll also say that I don't believe that telling somebody that they can't put a substance, whatever it is, into their own body is immoral. What freedom do we really have if we don't even have freedom to control our own bodies and minds? That's a very basic human right.

 

what crime? almost all crime comes from prohibition. Think about it, now the crackheads can just go down to the corner store and get their fill for 10$, where would the crime be? All drugs were legal prior to 1914, cocaine was given to school children. I'm not supporting that, 21 seems like a good age, but was the world chaotic as prohibitionists predict? Hell no, it's not a coincidence organized mobs and crime started. Legalize all drugs and set a limit on how much a person can consume per day. I don't really see this happening in my lifetime though, at least for anything other than marijuana and maybe ecstasy, the other drugs just have too bad a rep. I'm not saying drug use should be supported, but how can you say prohibition is even remotely a sucess? The addicts aren't getting help, murder and crime are out of control, and kids are getting drugs with ease, plus we're spending billions to throw americans in jail to do it.

 

Errrr, if we begin to adopt a healthcare for all attitude by the government, expect them to begin to control what we use. Hell, they're thinking about sugar taxes and getting rid of soda in school to make people healthier. Healthier people means less costs for healthcare by the government.

While I agree with you, expect the government to keep an eye on how to keep their citizens healthier in order to pay less in healthcare, if we have a universal healthcare model adopted.

 

we'll never have universal health care in the U.S. Nor do I think we should, but that's another discussion.

Anyway, you can't prohibit things because they're dangerous. How many people do dangerous things for fun across the country? You can argue that they should be charged more for insurance, but they tried that for people who smoke, and it didn't deter them at all from smoking.

 

I thought people who smoke usually get out right rejected or its so expensive its hardly worth it?

Anyways, the DEA and the common man and woman will probably never vote for full legalization. I don't mind it as long as its regulated (and not Heroin...thats one drug that I have seen my friend try to control and always fail). I DO vote for FULL decriminalization of ALL drugs. I find it so sad we're one of the countries that jails and ruins people's lives over carrying a little amount and not help at all...

 

Heroin is a bad drug, but I don't think your friend is reason enough that it should be singled out and banned. For a long time in the U.S. Heroin was not really controlled at all, and could even be mail ordered with a syringe. Most of the people that became addicted became so because DOCTORS told people to use it for everything from menstrual pains to headaches. Also, heroin was heavily advertised, which is something that I don't agree with. I think these are the things which led to most cases of addiction.

and also, here's a little gem from the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 which was the first regulation on opium and cocaine products :

how can anyone agree with policies that are based on pure racism?

 

It doesn't matter if you WANT to hear about it or not. The reality is that you don't have the right to tell anyone how to live their life just because something they enjoy doing seems icky to you. All people are born with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and the right to ingest anything you want to clearly falls under this universal imperative for all sentient beings.