Drug Laws

[Whiptonite]

Surely with all the talk of cuts in public spending, a sensible move would be to ditch this country's prohibition of drugs.

How any government can dictate what substances people are allowed to put into their own bodies is beyond me.

Legalise it all. Portugal did, and saw no rise in drug use or associated crime, and of course the police are freed up to tackle 'real' crimes i.e. crimes where there is a victim.

Discuss.

 

[ecfc01]

Surely with all the talk of cuts in public spending, a sensible move would be to ditch this country's prohibition of drugs.

How any government can dictate what substances people are allowed to put into their own bodies is beyond me.

Legalise it all. Portugal did, and saw no rise in drug use or associated crime, and of course the police are freed up to tackle 'real' crimes i.e. crimes where there is a victim.

Discuss.

very smart. Legalise class c Drugs and claim tax of them,

 

[Mr Jinx]

You'd think it was a no-brainer.

When California voted against legalisation last week, you could probably hear the cheers all the way down in Mexico and up in BC Canada where drug cartels and grow ups are probably around 1/5th of the total economy there.

 

[mfcrocker]

No argument from me, but I'd go further - state control the lot. Price is set, quality is controlled, the deficit just disappeared.

 

[Whiptonite]

No argument from me, but I'd go further - state control the lot. Price is set, quality is controlled, the deficit just disappeared.

Philly Blunts - by appointment to His Majesty Prince Harry perhaps. I like it.

 

[Jason H]

Surely with all the talk of cuts in public spending, a sensible move would be to ditch this country's prohibition of drugs.

How any government can dictate what substances people are allowed to put into their own bodies is beyond me.

Legalise it all. Portugal did, and saw no rise in drug use or associated crime, and of course the police are freed up to tackle 'real' crimes i.e. crimes where there is a victim.

Discuss.

Portugal didn't legalise drugs. Actually.

 

[Hermann]

I've always advocated a sensible discussion on legalising both drugs and prostitution. Probably regulated and taxed it might just work.

 

[mfcrocker]

Portugal didn't legalise drugs. Actually.

Decriminalisation isn't legalisation now?

 

[Jason H]

Decriminalisation isn't legalisation now?

No it's not. There is a difference.

Portugal's change was to not make possession of small amounts illegal as long as the person in possession is an addict - and then if so the drugs are still confiscated and the possessor is sent on to rehab/community work.

Trafficking, large scale possession, possession if not an addict - still illegal.

 

[mfcrocker]

No it's not. There is a difference.

Portugal's change was to not make possession of small amounts illegal as long as the person in possession is an addict - and then if so the drugs are still confiscated and the possessor is sent on to rehab/community work.

Trafficking, large scale possession, possession if not an addict - still illegal.

Ah, my bad - didn't have the best source when reading up on it way back when. Still, to see that overall usage and HIV/AIDS infection rates fell after decriminalisation was introduced is encouraging, and shows that the "war on drugs" was lost a long time ago.

I'm aware my view on the subject is fairly extreme, but from a more moderate left standpoint, I wish the government would actually LISTEN to it's drug advisory board, instead of sacking it when it goes against policy. Little bit China-tastic for my liking.