April 3, 201511 yr Author I deal with it every day. My head is far from planted in the sand. I said making them legal would make them even easier to get for our kids. Heroin is far from alcohol. As someone else in this thread said, until you stop equating hard drugs to alcohol, there is no reason to continue this discussion. I'm for legalizing marijuana. To legalize the likes of heroin, meth, etc. is ludicrous. It would actually make it harder. Once legalized it could be regulated more and people who sell it would have an incentive to NOT sell to minors. As it stands, everything is in the black market and most drug dealers don't care too much about IDing. Serious question, since you deal with it every day and refuse to offer any alternative --- let's hear how you'll help the issue get better? Or do you honestly feel what we are doing today is working?
April 3, 201511 yr What would you rank the worst drugs to deal in and the ones you should serve time for? Here is a list to choose from. Pot Pain Pills Heroin Coke Meth Crack Alchohol
April 3, 201511 yr Author What would you rank the worst drugs to deal in and the ones you should serve time for? Here is a list to choose from. Pot Pain Pills Heroin Coke Meth Crack Alchohol Meth Heroin Pain Pills Crack Coke Alcohol Pot Serve time for just "using" on zero of them. I tiered my rankings a little to show where gaps are.
April 3, 201511 yr Author My idea has been referred to as a "Utopian society" but unless Portugual is Utopia it actually exists and has for quite some time now. The results are astonishing: Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal - Forbes Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States. Fortunately, we have a real-world example of the actual effects of ending the violent, expensive War on Drugs and replacing it with a system of treatment for problem users and addicts. Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half: Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal’s decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked. “There is no doubt that the phenomenon of addiction is in decline in Portugal,” said Joao Goulao, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drugs Addiction, a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the law. The number of addicts considered “problematic” — those who repeatedly use “hard” drugs and intravenous users — had fallen by half since the early 1990s, when the figure was estimated at around 100,000 people, Goulao said. Other factors had also played their part however, Goulao, a medical doctor added. “This development can not only be attributed to decriminalisation but to a confluence of treatment and risk reduction policies.” Many of these innovative treatment procedures would not have emerged if addicts had continued to be arrested and locked up rather than treated by medical experts and psychologists. Currently 40,000 people in Portugal are being treated for drug abuse. This is a far cheaper, far more humane way to tackle the problem. Rather than locking up 100,000 criminals, the Portuguese are working to cure 40,000 patients and fine-tuning a whole new canon of drug treatment knowledge at the same time. None of this is possible when waging a war. Skip down to the "what has gotten better" section in this one for some more detail: 14 Years After Decriminalizing All Drugs, Here's What Portugal Looks Like - Mic Yea, I'm WAY off here....
April 3, 201511 yr Im going to rank it like this. 1. Pain Pills because I think it affects more people. I only mean the hard core pain pills like Oxy, Percacet, etc. They are so hard to get off of and it leads to other crimes like stealing and murder. Even Oversoses. 2. Meth. It also leads to stealing, murder. 3. Heroin, perhaps the hardest habit to kick. 4. Crack 5. Coke. Its so expensive only a few can really do it. 6. Pot 7. Alcohol.
April 3, 201511 yr It would actually make it harder. Once legalized it could be regulated more and people who sell it would have an incentive to NOT sell to minors. As it stands, everything is in the black market and most drug dealers don't care too much about IDing. Serious question, since you deal with it every day and refuse to offer any alternative --- let's hear how you'll help the issue get better? Or do you honestly feel what we are doing today is working? It would make it easier. Mom & Dad have meth or heroin laying around and Jr. can just swipe some of theirs instead of having to search for it on the street. Just like a ton of kids do with alcohol. Legalize marijuana and hammer the hard drug users. Jail is a pretty good detox. While there are ways to get drugs into jail, it is much more difficult than finding them on the streets. Like JD said and I repeated, the other crimes that are tied to abuse are really quite staggering. I would say 70% of all of the shoplifting, burglary, assaults, domestic violence and children being removed from homes are all drug related. If you legalize all drugs, these crimes won't disappear. The same people that don't have money for the drugs now still won't have the money for them then. Do you propose we taxpayers pay for their addiction?
April 3, 201511 yr Author It would make it easier. Mom & Dad have meth or heroin laying around and Jr. can just swipe some of theirs instead of having to search for it on the street. Just like a ton of kids do with alcohol. Legalize marijuana and hammer the hard drug users. Jail is a pretty good detox. While there are ways to get drugs into jail, it is much more difficult than finding them on the streets. Like JD said and I repeated, the other crimes that are tied to abuse are really quite staggering. I would say 70% of all of the shoplifting, burglary, assaults, domestic violence and children being removed from homes are all drug related. If you legalize all drugs, these crimes won't disappear. The same people that don't have money for the drugs now still won't have the money for them then. Do you propose we taxpayers pay for their addiction? Check this out: Link!
April 3, 201511 yr My idea has been referred to as a "Utopian society" but unless Portugual is Utopia it actually exists and has for quite some time now. The results are astonishing: Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal - Forbes Skip down to the "what has gotten better" section in this one for some more detail: 14 Years After Decriminalizing All Drugs, Here's What Portugal Looks Like - Mic Yea, I'm WAY off here.... Portugal is a smaller country with nowhere near the drug problem America has. They are treating 40,000 people. The state of KY has more addicts than that.
April 3, 201511 yr I have no problem legalizing marijuana. Too much money is wasted on trying to eradicate this drug when it's never, ever going to happen. The other drugs - meth, heroin, coke, etc...should stay illegal. Once you get all the potheads out of jail and treatment, you will have more room to deal with those who are trafficking and/or addicted to the more serious drugs.
April 3, 201511 yr Author Portugal is a smaller country with nowhere near the drug problem America has. They are treating 40,000 people. The state of KY has more addicts than that. I expected better than that. Really sucks when facts get in the way of a good argument...
April 3, 201511 yr It would make it easier. Mom & Dad have meth or heroin laying around and Jr. can just swipe some of theirs instead of having to search for it on the street. Just like a ton of kids do with alcohol. I'm sorry, but how is that any different than now?
April 3, 201511 yr Check this out: Link! Read it. We just fundamentally disagree. I think criminals belong in jail or prison. As has been stated in many posts on this thread, no one forces the person to use drugs. They make a choice, knowing it is illegal. Why should they be treated any differently than the person that commits another crime? Are they special because they chose to do an illegal drug versus steal a car? I know what I deal with and I know continued leniency and multiple trips to rehab don't work for most addicts. Again, the person has to want to change, most don't.
April 3, 201511 yr I expected better than that. Really sucks when facts get in the way of a good argument... Refer to post #103 Show me facts for the USA. Show me how well rehab programs work here.
April 3, 201511 yr Author Read it. We just fundamentally disagree. I think criminals belong in jail or prison. We couldn't agree more.
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