drug crime part 2?

Question

my previous question http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061108152634AA0hPGo&r=w
Alot of people are saying legalize drugs but will this sort out the violence that comes with drug taking.
So if drugs was to be legalized how could theft/muggings for drugs and violence be stopped?

Answer 1

People are going to do drugs legally or illegally. Legalizing them however would put an end to many negative effects of illegal drugs. The costs of trying to stop them are extremely high and ineffective. Prisons are filled with people with drug related crimes, another very costly approach to solving the problem. If governments controlled the drug, let's call them stores, and kept the cost down so people could actually afford their addictions it would put a stop to many problems. It would cut out all of the dealers and street people selling them because they could not compete. The savings in taxes would put vast sums of money into the government coffers instead of taking money out. Prison populations would drop considerably. Violence from competing drug dealers trying to control their turf would disappear, they no longer would be in business. Lastly if drugs were legalized many people still would not use them knowing the very severe down-side to having an addiction. People learn from experience. I would not take hard drugs even if someone offered me money to do so. I learned that for myself the hard way, and it has been fifteen years since I have done any. For me they do nothing but create problems. Looking back, twenty years of my life I wasted doing drugs, and I'm paying the price for those twenty years.

Answer 2

I feel a great amount of the personalised violence ( burglars muggings, opportunist theft...........etc ) is to finance drug use. This in turn feeds larger criminal gangs. Legalisation, as well as raising tax, would deprive criminal corporations of large incomes. Prohibition clearly dosn`t work. Also of course, removing the theft driven by the need to pay for the use of drugs, prices no longer being artificially high because of prohibition. Many of These drugs are after all produced from weeds.

Answer 3

People that use addictive drugs such as Meth, Coke, Heroin, etc..etc.. very seldom can function in a work enviroment for long. Most are unemployed. I have worked with a Sheriffs Dept for over six years now and 75 % of all robberies and thefts that occur in our jurisdiction are drug related. They steal to get the money to buy the drug. Making the drug legal will not change that.

Answer 4

It cant, the only way you will stop drug addicts steeling and mugging for drug money is give addicts free drugs, and I don't think that is going to happen, but if you did give it to them for nothing, It would put all these f**king so called gangster's out of business, that would be a good thing.

Answer 5

Because they would be able to buy what they needed - like alcohol - generally alcoholics don't go out mugging old ladies to buy cider - because it is cheap enough.

However I do see your point - maybe they need to be legalised AND given free to those who want them.

"Hello Doctor I've come for a repeat prescription of Crack cocaine" etc.

At the moment, by the way, GPs can prescribe some drugs to drug users in the UK eg Injectable morphine (heroin), cocaine, amphetamine but it is not widespread.