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Why EVERY drug should be legalized

posted 15 years ago by Rorix_2
11 replies | jump to latest

In most countries, drugs like marijuana, heroin, and cocaine are illegal. Many people argue that one drug or another should be legalized, and even more people argue that drugs should remain illegal. Instead of regurgitating what other people have said in my own words (things like 'my body, my descision', or 'How can it be illegal to ingest a plant?'), I will address the issues surrounding illegal drugs and discuss why there is really no reason for them to remain illegal.

Every drug should be legalized because:

Children would have a harder time getting drugs.
This may sound absurd, but think about it. Most drug dealers have no problem selling their products to children. If they were selling a legal controlled substance, such as alcohol or tobacco, they would most likely not sell to minors. People who sell alcohol and tobacco products have plenty of customers who aren't minors, and they face stiff penalties for selling those products to minors. For a drug dealer, there is little difference in selling drugs to minors or to adults. Selling to either is illegal and will land the dealer in jail. In fact, selling drugs to children is much safer for the dealer since he knows his customer can't be a Narc and is also very unlikely to try and rob him. If drugs were legal and government regulated (as alcohol and tobacco are), drug vendors would be disinclined to sell drugs to minors, having no shortage of adult customers to sell to.

Most of the violence associated with drugs would be eliminated.
The violence associated with illegal drugs comes from drug dealers fighting over territory with each other, drug dealers fighting with the police or people they believe to be agents of the police, and drug dealers and/or users from ripping each other off. If drugs were legal and sold in stores, drug vendors would not need to worry about being arrested, and they would worry less about getting robbed. A drug user is much less likely to rob a store on a city street while being watched by security cameras than he is to rob a person standing alone in an alley or park.

Doing drugs would become safer.
Most of the time, drug related deaths are due to violence or ignorance. Many drug users do not know a lot about the drugs they are taking. If drugs were legalized, the packages drugs came in could have warning labels on them, as cigarette packs do. These labels would warn users about substances that should not be mixed with their drugs, as well as the health risks associated with taking them. Labels on drug pacakes could also warn users about drug addiction and have information regarding treatment options on them. Addicts would be able to get treatment more easily if their drugs came with a phone number they could call and they had no reason to fear police involvement.

Legalized drugs would improve the economy.
Governments make piles of money through the taxation of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages. If drugs were legalized, governments could make even more money from taxation, and they could stop spending millions of dollars fighting an unwinnable war on drugs. In addition, it is likely that drug users from neighbouring countries would streeam across the border to drop off their money and get high.

The war on drugs in unwinnable.
You might not agree with me on this one. You might say that the fact that drugs are readily available just about anywhere on the planet that people are is no excuse for giving up the war on drugs.
It is certainly possible that someone could become a junkie for life after just one hit. But it's also possible to become hooked for life after one beer, one cigarette. Most people simply do not understand drug culture at all. Some poeple like to go out Friday night and get wasted on liquor and Red Bull. Others like to throw some weed or cocaine into the mix. There's really no difference. It's all just a form of escapism. And believe it or not, most weekend partiers do go in to work on Monday. A lot of them feel like *beep* Monday morning and feel that they could really use a drinnk or a half-gram. But do they skip work to go get wasted again? Some do, and they suffer the consequences. Most don't. They go to work all week like good, productive citizens. They wait until the weekend to get the party started.
Drugs can be transported in many ways. It is simply not possible to search every car, ship, airplane, or backpack for drugs. People can also smuggle drugs by swallowing small packages or putting small packages in their rectums or vaginas (which can lead to massive overdoses and death of course). Good luck catching all of those people.
Creating a small drug operation such as a meth lab or marijuana crop is very easy. Small operations based in a house in a residential neighbourhood can be very hard to detect if the person running the operation knows what he is doing. Information on keeping things out of sight, proper ventilation, evidence disposal, and dealing with the police is readily available. Just check the Internet.

The war on drugs does more damage than the drugs do themselves.
- Drug users can face substantial jail time (or even death, in some countries) if they are caught with drugs. This makes users more paranoid and prone to violence.
- Anti-drug propaganda scares people. Many parents believe that if their children try drugs even once, their kids will become junkies, hooked for life. Because of this, rather than trying to teach their children how to develop good judgement, parents simply tell their kids never to do drugs. Many parents use this same tactic for alcohol and cigarettes. And we all know how effective that is.
- Drug users can face a lot of jail time if they are caught. This means many non-violent people with no criminal history are thrown in jail, where they often suffer enormous emotional and psychologiocal trauma.
- The farmers who grow opium poppies and coca plants are not rich. They work harder than you ever have every day, just to feed their families. These people do not want to get your children hooked on drugs, nor do they want you and all your friends to become hopeless addicts. All they want is to be able to live and to take care of their families. Destroying coca and opium crops starves these people.

Legalizing drugs is a good idea. Making drugs illegal creates far more problems than it solves. Many people think that legalizing drugs may create more addicts. This remains to be seen, but I doubt it very much. Just because drugs should be legal doesn't mean that driving or working under the influence of drugs should be tolerated. Most people can control their vices and will not buy things that they can't really afford. Some people are junkies and become slaves to heroin, booze, caffeine, valium, television, shopping, gambling, etc.

Opinions? Comments?

[–] Thuglife1 15 years ago

Yeah I 'll agree with that. Certain drugs are illegal(mainly weed) because it threatens other industries. Cannabis will never be legal in the UK because of a UN convention with USA.

[–] H-e-L-L-i-F-i-E-D 15 years ago

I will slightly agree with you, only one I think should never be is meth... f that s

[–] rhyscooper82 15 years ago

Marijuana should be legalized because is harmless, and is the biggest profit for dealers; it would dramatically drop dealer's initial profit, which is used to make those harder drugs. The reason why harder drugs get no attention is because everyone knows that they are more dangerous (not just for the individual consuming it) and addictive.

I don't believe that people should be able to legally market hard (they are called hard for a reason) drugs. There is no use to have them in our society, when marijuana can achieve what most individuals' are after in their drugs (an up, a low, a high, a stone, a depressant, a stimulant, a hallucinogen, an experience, etc).

Your idea of "regulation" is purely just stating that it should be easier to access. Marijuana would be perfectly fine under regulation as it is harmless. How many under aged people haven't drank alcohol or smoked a cigarette? When it is legalized people don't take them seriously. I don't want ANY ONE to think that ice and crack are just toys to play with.

Marijuana shuts down the illegal drug markets and would therefor shut down the associated violence. There is no need to make everything else legalized. There is generally a good reason why these drugs are illegal (meth for example, is almost instantaneously addictive and requires more and more each time to get a high, and it is fairly easy for someone to overdose).

There is NO REASON to have all drugs legalized. There are many drugs that are illegal for VERY good reasons. Marijuana gives people what they want without those negative and seriously life threatening side effects. I know people who have tried to drink alcohol to the point of hallucination. Why should someone do that when they could have a healthy amount of marijuana and get what they would like?

You cannot make meth, cocaine and benzos much healthier. The fact that you believe you can shocks and saddens me. They are VERY dangerous and should not be messed with. Yes, there is propaganda surrounding marijuana and such, but with many drugs they stand illegal for good reasons.

The war on drugs would not exist if marijuana was legalized, and I have stated that before. Marijuana is the profit, without no money, there are no hard drugs, no dealers, no DEA, no death and no war.

There are drugs that do stand for rethought, like perhaps psychoactive mushrooms and marijuana, but most remain illegal for good reasons. Could you please refrain from using a good marijuana legalization argument for all drugs, when those drugs are so CLEARLY devastating? It really sickens me that you have twisted it to think that all drugs are as soft as marijuana.

There is a VAST difference between developing a habit starting from ONE beer and ONE cigarette that leads to someone using it often and THEN growing an addiction, to doing meth once then NEEDING to do it. Alcohol and cigarettes are considered soft drugs because they are NOT that addictive (but can be after many uses) take some time to overdose with, and have a relatively low death ratio.

"Some poeple like to go out Friday night and get wasted on liquor and Red Bull. Others like to throw some weed or cocaine into the mix. There's really no difference. It's all just a form of escapism."
As I have said, there are VERY good supporting arguments for marijuana (it has killed no one), does not detriment health and is not addictive. Cocaine has a low LD50, can make people aggressive and is fairly addictive and bad for health. There is a HUGE *beep* difference. Marijuana can be used for self-exploration and relaxation, but cocaine and alcohol are just used ignore their life.

People shouldn't NEED to escape, and they shouldn't just be given the open, legal opportunity to. People should be able to use a substance (marijuana) that can be used to heighten their happiness and make them appreciate what they do have, rather then make them hate it all and feel like *beep*

There is a reason why BOTH hard "party" drugs and suicide are illegal. They *beep* up society. If it really was a PERSONAL choice and effected NO ONE and NOTHING but yourself, I would tell you to jump that cliff, but the world doesn't work like that. It's time to wake up and understand that you are alive for a good *beep* reason. If you're that depressed why escape when you can join in?

I didn't believe that people who used illegal drugs should face jail time, but you have changed my mind. Those who are STUPID enough, SELFISH enough and IMMATURE enough to give meth and cocaine a go deserve to be in jail. These people need to understand the hard facts of life. Of course there are SOME drugs that deserve legalization, but the majority of those that you have talked about are just a complete waste of our time, and should be forced into extinction.

There is the very real chance of someone becoming a junkie if they do certain drugs. It is not propaganda if what is said is factual. Marijuana SHOULD NOT be put into the same category as EVERYTHING you have talked about. Parents should not tell their kids NOT to do things, but instead show them what can happen. A distant friend of mine showed their kid all the STDs when she suspected they wanted to have unprotected sex. It was the best approach I have ever seen.

What about the physical, psychological and emotional damage that drugs can do? I have heard of trips so terrifying people have taken their own lives, murdered those around them and become vegetables from being THAT terrified. "Drugs" should not be on the open, legal market. What about the date-rape drug? Should that be legal, too? Of course, according to you GHB has positive effects on people.

Legalizing MARIJUANA is a fantastic idea, legalizing everything you have been talking about is the stupidest, most ignorant, most detrimental effect that society could face. Legalizing marijuana cures the problems you say that "all drugs" would. Driving under the influence of anything always has been, and always will remain illegal.

My opinion? You're *beep* brainwashed and bloody stupid. I pray to god you and everyone like you NEVER come into contact with any drug ever again.

[–] ernst-dk 15 years ago

"Alcohol and cigarettes are considered soft drugs because they are NOT that addictive (but can be after many uses) take some time to overdose with, and have a relatively low death ratio."

I am positive that alcohol and tobacco have a much larger death ratio than cocaine, other party drugs and psychedelics/entheogens. Even compared by percents. Tobacco is one of the biggest killers world wide.

Btw. i totally agree with the original poster. A great argument you forgot is how the millions of dollars that the state would earn on the taxation of drugs (and the millions of dollars they would save by stopping the ridiculous "war on drugs"), could be used to help the people which become drug abusers.
Which, i believe, will be a relatively small amount, and not bigger than the amount of drug abusers that already exists today.

[–] rhyscooper82 15 years ago

"I am positive that alcohol and tobacco have a much larger death ratio than cocaine, other party drugs and psychedelics/entheogens. Even compared by percents. Tobacco is one of the biggest killers world wide."

The death ratio is fairly minor considering how many people drink and smoke. Someone can smoke for 40 years and only just develop something, when someone can shoot up meth once and overdose. Alcohol kills a fair few, but most often through things like drink driving. Overdosing from alcohol doesn't happen nearly as often as those using harder drugs.

This argument is completely stupid. Anyone who thinks all drugs should be legalized are supporting rape (from things like GHB) and murder (through things like strong PCP). It is not up to the individuals to decide whether or not they have the right to do something like hard drugs and put other people in danger.

Sure, do it in your own home in a very safe environment, but "all drugs" will never be legalized. This really is the most moronic deranged BS I have ever heard. Also saying "all drugs" implies all those products that were denied the ability to be sold in drug stores; meaning that someone is legally allowed to take a suicide pill, or something that ruins their immune system, or mutates contagious viruses (look at swine flu).

I honestly hope to god that cocaine ruins you.

[–] WeponX 15 years ago

^
"Alcohol kills a fair few, but most often through things like drink driving. Overdosing from alcohol doesn't happen nearly as often as those using harder drugs."

I'm not 100% sure, but I watched a documentary recently that put the death rate of alcohol overdose being much higher then heroin, coke and meth combined.

I read somewhere else (on the internet I must add) that the majority of drug related deaths come from operating machinery or accidents as a result of being impaired, but that "overdose" isn't as common as most believe. Apparently "hot-shots" (drugs, often disguised as heroin, that intend to harm) are one of the most common forms of drug related deaths/overdoses.

Never rub another man's rhubarb

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] master_bait420 15 years ago

"My opinion? You're *beep* brainwashed and bloody stupid. I pray to god you and everyone like you NEVER come into contact with any drug ever again."

Okay some people here need to relax. The Op made some intelligent points, but I don't agree with legalizing hard drugs for the public safety issue. Other than that, those were all very valid points in the legalize marijuana debate. Calling it stupid isnt necessary. The Op probably doesnt fully understand the full damage of hard drugs himself, but that isnt a reason to call someone stupid or whatever else some of the responders said. Maybe a fact filled post without the insults would better enlighten another human being. I think thats what imdb is missing.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] rainleaf 15 years ago

You know why weed should be legalized?
Simply based on the rather faulty reasoning that alcohol is legal and FAR more dangerous. It makes sense though - don't know why potheads are criticized, whereas consistently-intoxicated college kids (alcoholics?) have a blind eye turned to.