Legalise Drugs ?

[Gord]

In this country at the moment we are spending £100m a year on treatment for drug addicts and spend £177m on defence barristers and solicitors defending people in courts because they are stealing to fund their addiction.

This is clearly nonsense

We need to completely change the way we deal with drugs - an huge amount of crime is drug related as addicts become desperate to feed their addiction.

I think we could legalise drugs - in a controlled way - sort of like a doctors prescription - this would stop the black market , give women addicts a choice as oppossed to prostitution and maybe do something about our crime rate

 

[nitelite33]

Decriminalization is already happening in Canada...

I hope legalization is next.

The herb is life.

 

[LadyG]

Decriminalization is already happening in Canada...

I hope legalization is next.

The herb is life.

Well for weed anyway. I don't think I would agree with decriminalization of Heroin/Cocaine.

30 grams and under...no criminal charges WOO HOO!

 

[weed]

Legalize weed. (Please don't make posession of me a crime.

Decriminalize possession for personal use the rest. Require AA/NA/some kind of rehab plan for addicts.

 

[LadyG]

You are never a crime, Weed

See, I think that if they decriminalize it here, and sold it like they do liquor, in a liquor store, with an age limit, that it would make less of an attraction than it is.

Does that make sense?

I mean, yeah, I used to get beer/liquor under age but not often, because they checked ID.

 

[nitelite33]

I don't think I would agree with decriminalization of Heroin/Cocaine.

I don’t touch the stuff personally, other then a brief experiment with coke... But when it’s a criminal matter you drive it underground and then the dangerous shit happens.

 

[Killswitch]

Say no to drugs.

 

[nitelite33]

Say no to drugs.

Say no to frying pans with eggs. It's the cholesterol that will kill you.

 

[LadyG]

Yeah you have a point there. But I think that since it is an addictive drug (heroin/cocaine), it would need to be regulated a lot more than weed.

I tried coke twice. The first time, nothing happened. The second time was because a friend insisted I hadn't "done it right" the first time. Same thing.

I guess I just prefer the natural stuff.

 

[ithaqua]

What was the purpose in making drugs illegal in the first place?

 

[nitelite33]

What was the purpose in making drugs illegal in the first place?

During the 1930's, machinery was developed for separating hemp fiber from the stalk, thus making widespread industrial use feasible. Hemp's future looked promising, but this was not to be.

DuPont and others had just obtained patents for making nylon from coal, plastic from oil, and paper from trees. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon (an oil baron) was DuPont's chief financial backer. the Hearst newspaper empire owned enormous timber tracts. The oil, synthetic fiber, timber, and cotton industries stood to lose billions of dollars if hemp was not outlawed.

Treasury Secretary Mellon appointed his nephew-in-law, Harry Anslinger, to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Hearst newspaper introduced the word "marijuana" into the language and inflammed the public with outrageous stories of drug-related violence. The strategy worked, and in 1937 Congress outlawed hemp by imposing a prohibitive tax.

As a model of deception and orchestrated media manipulation, the anti-hemp crusade constitutes one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people. Few public- relations campaigns in history can match its success in eradicating competition while transforming citizens into unknowing pawns of big business.

Industrial hemp is worthless as marijuana since its THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content is so low. Industrial hemp contains no psycho-active effects.

Major polluters such as DuPont, Monsanto, Dow Chemical, and Standard oil are protected from competition by the marijuana laws. The major considerations blocking hemp's utilization are not agricultural or botanical but political.

But police scanners cannot seperate 'narcotic' quality MJ from industrial hemp so the song plays on...

 

[ithaqua]

I do know that several of the states are repealing their hemp laws. Of course the national laws take precedence, but it is a start.

 

[Gord]

I am in favour of ALL drugs being legalised. Sure it must be heavily regulated - ie you cant just go and buy coke in the corner shop - but addicts should be able to obtain a safe supply. Of course the best possible result would be to get them clean - but while they use lets try and keep it safe.

Imagine the affect in the petty crime rate - street walkers, muggings , drug gangs etc.

I think it would be worth the risk.