Should drugs be legalised?

[MJ]

ah, so that's where all the stuff on radio Scotland came from

A drugs expert has called for a scheme where addicts are given heroin to be trialled in Scotland.

I remember as a teenager meeting an ex-junkie fae Switzerland, was quite amazed how he got treated. Made sense really. Was suprised to hear that it was a standard treatment until the early 1970's in this country.

[Twerto]

Couple of interesting reports on how genuine drugs on the market really are.

 

Both done by Forensic Science Service based on drug seizures in the last 6 months

 

Summary Report n47

 

In depth report n46

 

Makes you wonder how any Scientific research can be done on the effects of drugs use, when all illegal drugs are more of cocktail than one particular type of drug.

[Fjool]

And now even Jack Straw seems to be getting it:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8265641.stm

[KOYAANISQATSI]

Legalise it

 

Here in Britain, the statistics show that many more crimes are committed by persons under the influence of alcohol than marijuana. Almost as significant is the argument that it is the illegality of marijuana which causes criminality. If it were legal, the argument goes, the gangs and the violence associated with the drug would disappear overnight.

 

Now, in Argentina, the Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish people for having marijuana for personal use.

The court ruled, "Each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state." In Mexico, the government has decided to stop prosecuting people for possession of small quantities of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

 

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the former Brazilian president, collaborated with two former presidents of Colombia and Mexico to produce a report "Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy". This called for new approaches to the drug problem. Cardoso says, "The tide is clearly turning. The 'War on Drugs' strategy has failed."

 

The last time Mexico tried to decriminalise the possession of small quantities of drugs it was met with ferocious opposition from the United States. So they had to reinstate the law. This time the United States has said nothing. Maybe, under a new president, even the Americans are beginning to realise that the "War on Drugs" strategy has failed.

 

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090905T210000-0500_158994_OBS_LEGALISE_IT.asp

[turningright]

legalise it , decriminilise it, you can even hand it out, as long as publicly funded treatment and NHS supplied services are withdrawn for users.

[KOYAANISQATSI]

legalise it , decriminilise it, you can even hand it out, as long as publicly funded treatment and NHS supplied services are withdrawn for users.

 

I never seen why they should have been given sick books to bleed us with just because they choose to indulge themselves in the first place but it would be a bit tight to deny them medical treatment should they need it.

To be fair, you would have to ban fatties from the docs if they were known cream cake users, take those who indulge in sugar and salt out off the heart attack wards and no stiches for any unidentified drinking injurys.

 

Or were you just spouting the first knee jerk response you could think of.

[turningright]

quote]

To be fair, you would have to ban fatties from the docs if they were known cream cake users, take those who indulge in sugar and salt out off the heart attack wards and no stiches for any unidentified drinking injurys.

 

Or were you just spouting the first knee jerk response you could think of.

 

surely you are aware not all obesity is caused by over indulgence, or removing salt and sugar does not eliminate heart problems,

but taking drugs is a very concsious thing to be doing you cant just pick it up at the shops.

 

or were you just spouting the first people pleasing, trite, liberal drivel you could think of

[MuckleJoannie]

taking drugs is a very concsious thing to be doing you cant just pick it up at the shops.

 

 

From what I hear I thought it pretty well was that easy.

[KOYAANISQATSI]

but taking drugs is a very concsious thing to be doing you cant just pick it up at the shop

 

You still seem pretty picky with who you think should be allowed any human rights.

What did you think all the beer in the shops is bought for?

shampoo perhaps.

[turningright]

and there it is again, if an argument cant stand up, fall back on human rights,

surely you cannot advocate a country in which its acceptable to compare the buying of bottled beer to the purchase of currently illegal drugs.

can you honestly foresee asking your parents/children to pick up a gram of speed along with the papers.

And for all that think it is almost that easy now, the fact is its not. those that take drugs, will, and in my opinion carry right on ahead, fill your boots. but why make it easier for addiction to start and thrive by legalising it and therefore making it more available to everyone.

[Ghostrider]

but why make it easier for addiction to start and thrive by legalising it and therefore making it more available to everyone.

 

What "proof" can you offer that your conculsions will be the inevitable result of the stated given action, and not just sensationalist scaremongering?

[turningright]

it is an unprovable subject without putting an entire generation at risk, but the proof and that i cannot offer to prevent the legalisation of drugs is a lot less damaging than the proof you cannot offer to promote the legalisation and the health effects to an entire generation therein.

[ArabiaTerra]

it is an unprovable subject without putting an entire generation at risk, but the proof and that i cannot offer to prevent the legalisation of drugs is a lot less damaging than the proof you cannot offer to promote the legalisation and the health effects to an entire generation therein.

No it's not unprovable. Every country so far which has liberalised it's drug laws and made heroin available on prescription has seen usage levels drop, deaths drop and drug related criminal activity drop.

 

Look into what's happened in Switzerland and Portugal if you want to find out more. Prohibition has failed, the war on drugs has failed. The sooner we realise this, the sooner we can start implementing sane drug policies and actually start dealing with the problem.

[DamnSaxon]

That BBC prog about "legal highs" was interesting, too. They made the point - actually, a drug-analysing professional made the point - that when something goes wrong for someone on illegal drugs, you know what drug they have taken (ignoring of course what it might have been cut with), so you can make a good guess at what treatment to give them. With the legal highs, it seems almost impossible even to find out what the active ingredient is, so when people have problems you literally don't know what to do. A valid point, that, and you can see why Guernsey is trying to ban the legal, unknown stuff from their shores. (Unfortunately, they apply the same restriction to real drugs.)

 

But AT's right. Prohibition has succeeded in making drug use "glamorous" and "dangerous" to people at the sort of age when most of us want to rebel a bit, it's built a gigantic international business free of taxation but full of seriously nasty individuals, it has created major problems where there were none - even leading people to try totally unknown stuff, as above. In a word, failure. Whatever legalisation might bring, it could hardly be worse.

 

(Edited almost immediately, as 'drugs' only has one 'u' )

[Fjool]

^ And not to mention the fact that the only reason these so-called 'legal highs' were even invented is because of prohibition. People seeking a high will get around the law one way or another, even if it means taking animal-worming tablets and paint-stripper.