Leslie

If they were legalised then of course it would encourage their use, already happening with re-classification of cannabis, and that is the first step to total addiction to class A drugs.

I still think that a concerted effort at education of children about the seriously dangerous effects of drugs might do a lot to reduce their indiscriminate use. I realise of course how difficult it is to beat the dealers, but no excuse for giving up.

I would not like to see the government making money out of the misery caused by drug taking PSL, seems like a pretty selfish and irresponsible idea to me.

Les

RB5 Paul

I think that there would be a better education system concerning drug use if they were legalised but to be honest how things are now you can get hold of whatever you want anyway easily enough,doesn't mean everyone uses them though,i don't.
When i was at school over 12 years ago i used to get offered everything but never bothered because i didn't wanna mess myself up,everyone that did take them isn't addicted to drugs now or really messed up,i just think it's no worse than alchohol or tobacco,you either drink or smoke or you don't,it'd be the same with drugs.

I just don't understand that people think that it's so great protecting people from theirselves.

Your life....your choice.

milo

i agree with you about the education aspect.

but suppose your kids wanted to do drugs... and they're GOING to do recreational drugs whether you like it or not. would you rather they purchased the drugs from a pharmacy, or would you rather they purchased them off a backstreet dealer? because if they buy them off a backstreet dealer, they're may well get ripped off and end up with a bunk product that will kill them.

with regards to encouraging things that are legal... are you suggesting that the government encourages people to drink alcohol, smoke and eat bad foods just because they're legal too? legality and encouragement arent the same thing. unless you're suggesting the govt should place a ban on anything thats bad for you, including alcohol?

much of the crime associated with drugs comes from the nature of them being black market products, NOT from people who safely use drugs. get rid of the black market, and you get rid of a LOT of the crime.

drugs should be legalized and taxed highly enough that the govt can use the funds to educate people on drug use and side effects, but not taxed so heavily that it causes the black markets to still exist.

Leslie

Milo

Yes they probably would take them if they really wanted to and if they do then there is little I could do at the time.

However I would feel that I had failed them as a parent because it would be my responsibility in the first place to make sure they know the dangers and how easily you can get hooked and screw up your life as well as shortening it significantly.

If they still want to take drugs then because of the easy availabilty as you say, it is not much of a step to do it as things are.

This is why I think it would be a total cop out by the Government to sit back and let the dealing continue. There should be an international effort to really get to grips with this and make it much more difficult to get them and risking extreme sentences to be a supplier. In some countries you can get topped for it and bearing in mind what the dealers start off with their dealing, that might not be too drastic a sentence.

Les

Brendan Hughes

Leslie

There has been "an international effort to really get to grips with this" since 1961 and before.

The more you make it difficult to get, the more the price rises (high demand vs low supply) and the more the dealers make profit on succeeding. So when it's difficult to get, the dealers have more interest in taking part. Same goes back to poppy farming - the peasants in Afghanistan aren't interested when there are loads of poppies and they get a low price for the crop. Wipe out 80% of the crops (an achievement only managed by those fair and equitable rulers, the Taliban), the market price rockets, and they all start to grow again.

As for getting topped for it, China puts a bullet through the head of several (20-30) drug dealers every year on World Drugs Day, 26 June. It doesn't seem to dissuade them.

A different solution is needed.

mark6

it would be a bit more interesting if everyone who has posted on this thread edits their post and states whether they have taken(illegal)drugs before or not,i used to and think legalising drugs is definitetly worth trying,the current system is not working and is causing many problems for many people,police are too busy,jails are full and many law abiding citizens are being classed in the same group as junkies and are having to buy drugs from lawless drug dealers.if drugs were legal then the goverment could control/tax and more important learn from the experience that not all drug users are from broken families or losers or a burden to the goverment,maybe more people of the current drug taking generation(users or not) will use or try drugs at first but the new generation will have the true facts about drugs and what can happen when abused.don't get me wrong it could make it worse but if it does at least the government would have tried a different solution to the one they are too far out of touch with at present and one that is failing too many people who want to be law abiding citizens but have free choice.

Leslie

As a child I was persuaded by my parents and also by what I was told at school, that drug taking was just not worth the candle in respect of what it does to you. This was done in a sensible manner by the way. I was told the facts, and was shown how addicts just lose their lives to it, metaphorically and in actual fact later.

I was never tempted to try them, never felt I needed to anyway for artificial stimulation, and I preferred not to risk personal damage.

I have never regretted that and would not be tempted to change now either. My parents were very wise and fulfilled that particular responsibility towards me and my sister very well. I found that I have been able to really enjoy my life so far without them too.

I don't see why any parents who really have the wellbeing of their children at heart can't achieve the same result as mine did. And that should be backed up by proper education at school as well.

I realise it won't work in every case, but I also bet it would save a good few and reduce the demand for the drugs.

I don't subscribe to giving up in the face of these evil pushers. Catch them and give them the sort of swingeing penalty that will dissuade the others or just remove their ability to deal any more- however! No mercy.

Les

milo

whoa, hold on a moment bro. you seem to be taking the incorrect view that everyone who does illegal drugs ends up getting addicted to them. this just isnt reality. yes, they CAN get addicted to them... but people who drink alcohol can get addicted to it. people can get addicted to gambling. addicted to the internet. addicted to eating bad foods. etc etc etc. any of these people can lose their lives to. are you saying that just because something CAN be addictive and/or bad for you, it should be banned completely, and everyone should be denied the pleasures of them, simply because of a few who mis-use?

it's fine that you don't do drugs.. but it would also be fine if you did, as long as you kept it under control. this is the same as anything (drinking, eating, gambling etc).

and its just not reality that harsher punishments would get rid of drug dealers - in fact, harsher punishments makes it MORE desirable to many - simply because it won't adjust the demand for drugs, only the supply. you restrist supply of something, and the price goes up. which brings more dealers into the black market (despite the harsher punishments). not only that, but because prices are now so high, the dealers have even more incentive to cut their gear with other products to make even more money (heck, only the ones that REALLY don't give a **** are left in the market because the punishments are so harsh)... which means your children who buy the drugs end up with a much greater chance of getting something cut with rat poison or some other similarly horrific substance.

richieh

trouble is drug use facts in school are more about scaremongering whan truth
someone in my school argued with the advisor that a drug user(not addict-different thing ) could take pharmacutical grade low cost iv heroin/coke etc for an extended time with no difference to their usefulness to society and no health risk
he was suspended for it after he proved he was right
and with that kind of disinformation is the beginning of the problem
we need truth and openness to deal with the real dangers of drugs

a freind of mine was a heroin addict but he wanted to give up so went to get help.
instant criminalisation
total nightmare for him
regular knocks on the door from boys in blue
pulled in for random testing
kicked out of his rented house
really made it hard for him
and if it wasnt for myself and a few other mates helping him through the really bad times he wouldnt have made it

this isnt the way forward
and yes ive tried speed a few times-got boring so i dont do it now-same with lsd,ecstacy and magic mushrooms(grow wild 3 miles from my house)
would still partake in a spliff if offered tho'
i suppose the problem comes when you rely on these things but thats the same with smoking drinking gambling and many other things
richie

Leslie

Milo

Of course we can get addicted to the things you mention. Its a matter of degree though and I am not saying all those things should be illegal. I hold my hand up and admit I was addicted to cigarettes because when I started smoking there was no advice about how much damage it can do to you, and I found that out the hard way.

Drugs are in a different league, the addiction is much stronger and more difficult to control. The effects are worse in a comparatively short period of time. The addiction leads to a terrible crime problem. Dealers are evil people who will do what they can to get people seriously addicted to support their shameful trade. Don't you honestly think that it would be better if people avoided taking them?

That is why I consider that drugs should be banned and as far as the other things are concerned, people should be left in no doubt about the dangers of overdoing it.

Les

richieh

sorry to dissagree les but smoking is supposed to be more addictive than heroin etc(dont know about crack).
the effects are less than alcohol or tobacco in the case of pharmacutical grade stuff otherwise it wouldnt be used as a prescribed medicine(heroin and cocaine)
the terrible crime problem from addiction stems from the fact that its stupidly expensive and hard(relativly) to obtain
i think if you made it available on prescription (even private scripts would undercut a dealer)there would be no crime problem as all the dealers would be out of business
then step by step support and help for those that want to give up
the same as people are doing now with smoking
not criminalisation and persecution
and education and the TRUTH for those that dont want to give up

stating drugs are evil and dont do them is as effective as tony b.liar telling us how good a job he is doing as pm
no-one really belives it anymore(apart from pslewis) but the truth is so far buried in bs that its hard to make informed judgements on the subject
richie

milo

i disagree that the addiction from drugs is much stronger. in fact, many drugs that you would presumably have banned (for instance sports performance enhancing drugs) have little to no addictive factor at all.

do i think it would be better if people avoided taking drugs altogether? maybe, maybe not. there are plenty of people who take various illegal drugs for medical reasons, as many have proven health benefits - yet they can't obtain them in a "legal" manner. i dont think it would be better for these people to live in constant pain, no. there are also people with serious anger problems, and those problems go away when they use weed for example. i dont think it would be better for society is those people stopped, no. there are plenty of other cases like this, where the use of drugs is actually stopping the person from causing harm to themselves or others.

on the other hand, do i think people should avoid drinking alcohol? yes. that doesnt mean it should be banned tho. prohibition in the states led to a horrendous black market, where people really couldnt be sure what they were purchasing. prohibition was a total failure. banning something is proven to give rise to much worse of a problem than controlling it.

evil drug dealers will exist as long as these drugs cannot be obtained by legal means, no matter what the punishment (even dealth) as there is always a huge incentive for them to deal.

mark6

i get the impression les that you haven't got a clue what you are on about apart from what you have been made to believe.when you say drugs you don't say which particular drugs as though all illegal drugs are dangerous, which i presume is because you don't know what you are talking about apart from the myth that all drugs are dangerous and that is half the problem with society,also irelevent of what you knew when you was younger why did you smoke??,as you say your parents taught you right from wrong in a sensible manner yet you say you learnt the hard way with smoking??

i get the impression that you don't know the true facts about drugs and the club scene,when i took drugs i learnt the facts first so the biggest risk i was taking was that i didn't know what i was really buying due to it being made purely for profit.

also i think what is happening now is that all the b*llsh!t the government has taught your parents and what your parents taught you about drugs is wrong,now the government has realised this they are trying to take a different approach, some illegal drugs can be taken with less damage than tobbaco and alcohol which are legal,legalising them will take the poor quality/crap that is mixed in with the drugs and they can also tax it,all they have to do first is educate the misled public and then your life is in your own hands like with tobbaco and alcohol is at the minute,some people will live a normal happy life,some will end up addicted(chain smoker,alcoholic,junkie),some will still not take it.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

You are wrong about cigarettes! Well maybe not.... nicotine is one of the most additive drugs known to man yet it is legal. You seem to base your opinion on how you think things are instead of how things actually are. That's fine but I think you represent the number of people in this country who heat the word 'drugs' and thing it's about Junkies etc. It's not the case. So many people take drugs it's untrue. I personally was surprised by the number of people I know or work with who have confessed after a few beers that they smoke weed or snort Charlie etc. They all are in well paid responsible etc and it doesn't impact of their working life but they treat these 'drugs' in the same manor that people who smoke or drink do.

People have to realise that we are all responsible for our own actions and that in order to make a responsible decision people need to be given the facts and the possible consequences. After that it is up to them.... the state should stop trying to control people but instead give them the means to make their own choice.