Understandable, but I'm sure you've heard that anictodal evidence is not always the truth.

Although I understand the chicken and the egg dilemna that is introduced here.  Although I tend to dismiss this argument based on several studies and general statistical comparisons between US and Canada.  Studies clearly show chances of becoming addicted to a drug are increased dramatically based on your social standing while growing up, this also gets rid of the poor from drugs problem.  In Canada, the government spends a much larger percentage of money on social programs, designed to get people out of poverty, these government actions show that there is a decrease in drug use, health problems, unemployment, etc. based purely on giving poverty stricken families the ability to help themselves.

@bardicverse

As if the alcohol consumption of the founding fathers negates the fact that alcohol kills brain cells. Just as you singled out the exceptions that we call responsible users I too have already done for cocaine. Both are hard drugs, nearly identical in terms of the negative impact on individuals' lives. As for physique, I take it that you haven't seen many beer guts then? Alcoholic beverages are loaded with calories and excessive alcohol consumption is almost guaranteed to eventually make you fat. There's nothing grosser than seeing 50% of an entire body mass at the mid section, well except for seeing it on the majority of your alcoholic family members and friends. Yet it is their decision to make just as it should be for coke. Any problems that arise are the fault of individuals and not the drugs themseles. I do not blame alcohol for the deaths in my family and the irresponsibility of others should in no way limit my own responsible experiences with drugs.

bouzane - ahh I thought you meant facial appearance. haha beer guts, I know that one. I got a mini keg *pats belly*

One thing Ive noticed is that the most vocal pro-legalization in the US are people NOT in the US =) Can someone explain that trend?

In the end, we're just on way different spectrums and life paths to ever come to a mutual decision, so I'm going to respectfully back away and agree to disagree.

If I was in power I would take a much more lenient stance on drugs. Not because I think people should be allowed to do them but so you can monitor the drug trade instead of forcing it underground where unreasonable cash is being made and being sold to anyone. You can monitor what the drugs are cut with then. Also, that's bring a little extra income as a bonus.

There is no real easy answer to this ...

There are some fairly well known drugs that are illegal for some pretty arbitrary reasons, but the majority of illegal drugs because of how highly addictive, dangerous and destructive they are. At the same time you have to consider that making something illegal doesn't seem to prevent people from having access to it, and there are countless ways for people to use similarly addictive, dangerous and destructive that can never be made illegal to get high. 

My personal belief is that we should first create less arbitrary reasons why drugs should be illegal, and criteria surrounding how addictive a substance can be and how easy it is to overdose should be established for determining which drugs should be illegal. The second step should be to fight the (moronic) mindset that our society has where we believe that we can fix all of life's problems with drugs ...

@bardicverse, do you think that if heroin was legalized MORE people would want to do it?

That implies that there is a group of people that really wants to do heroin, and the only reason they won't is the law. That doesn't make sense. If you want heroin, you find it and do it immediately. It's easy to find anywhere.


It's like this one wacko who called a radio show and said prostitution should stay illegal because if it was legal, every single woman in the world would instantly become a whore for easy money. The host asked him exactly if that was what he meant, because he couldn't believe him, and the caller said yes.


I don't think legalization promotes usage. Not every tourist in Amsterdam does every drug and prostitute in town just because it's legal and they've been waiting their whole life to get it out of their system. They might just buy one pot brownie or something, or nothing. Alcohol is legal and I know tons of people who are smart enough not to drink it. If alcohol was made illegal, I wouldn't stop drinking. If heroin was made legal, I wouldn't start shooting. The law on these sorts of things doesn't affect people's behavior.

But making it legal makes it easier to help the people who need help. In fact, if you have the rehab clinic in the same building as the dispensary, with a clean needle exchange, it's really really easy, and in countries that do legalize harder drugs, more people actually quit.

@rubang - Stop pulling me back into this off topic post ;) Fair points around, though i disagree. Yet, I'll just make one point - You say that making drugs legal makes it easier for addicts to get help. What about making an enforcement system so strong that it makes finding illegal drugs IMPOSSIBLE? The addicts will go into withdrawal, and eventually come out of it entirely in time, with the drugs not being in their systems any longer. As they say "quitting cold turkey". Best help they can get

That, and we have to fight the moronic mindset that our society has where we believe we can fix all of life's drug problems by making drugs illegal.

Hahaha, I don't think that's possible.  Give me a drugfree society and I'll show you a bunch of liars.  The harder they are to find, the more expensive they are, and the more expensive they are, the more powerful the drug cartels are, and then more people die all over the world.  Making drugs legal is the easiest/cheapest/fastest way to eliminate drug cartels, which I know we can agree is a very good thing.  They kill innocent people who have never done drugs.

I also think that the amount of taxes needed for such a ridiculous enforcement system would drive everybody insane, whether they use drugs or not.  A War on Drugs is seriously like a War on Videogames.

You're joking, right?

There is no way to create an airtight law enforcement system, even if you went to Big Brotherish measures.

Where there's a will, there's a way. The more drugs remain taboo and the less intelligent discourse that surrounds them, the more they remain a mystery to be abused by various subcultures and anti-establishment types in society. The more law enforcement cracks down, the more money there is to be made from selling those illegal products. Meaning that there will always be drugs available through various black markets, so long as they remain illegal.