Should all drugs be legalized here in the United States? Why or why not?

Question

The "War on Drugs" is obviously a losing battle. Like it or not, illegal drugs are out there. Because of the fact that they are illegal, there are people illegally selling them. If there was no need to buy and sell these drugs illegally, perhaps there would be no need for much of the violence and the crowded prisons. Plus, government regulated drugs (like marijuana) could generate literally billions in tax revenue. This money could be spend on real problems like the healthcare crisis that we are facing here in this country. Anyway, what are your thoughts?

Answer 1

Marijuana- legalize, tax it and regulate the quality. That's a no brainer. To me, pot is equal to beer, except the users are mellower (drunks can get violent!) and it's illegal. Pursue DUI for pot the same way as they would for alcohol. Don't Party and drive.

Real drugs- heroin, meth... My first instinct is I'd have to vote to keep them illegal. IMHO They are much too damaging to peoples lives to make them legal.

OK, If they were legal, they would need to be expensive enough to pay for rehab and healthcare for all the problems their use creates. It would definitely take away the drug cartels profits on them, as well as reduce violence and the need for prisons. I still think you would have some violence from the bad behavior in ppl they create, and you would also have theft, prostitution, whatever being done for people to pay for their " fix". Not sure we wouldn't just gain a new set of problems if we legalize the heavy drugs.

Just my 2 cents worth... take care, Mary

Only problem with keeping the heavy drugs illegal is th

Answer 2

This is a very intelligent question! I think all we have to do is look at some other countries where drugs have been legalized like in Holland. The crime rate is almost zero-and the Aids rate is almost the same. Regulating these drugs is the best thing we could do. And just in my opinion-why is alcohol legal and pot illegal? How many news stories do you see about violence related to pot or traffic accidents related to same? How about alcohol? See the difference? But the bureaucratic machine has it's hands in the pockets of the illegal drug trade so my hopes of seeing any changes in this are low. After all, the worst addiction in this country is money and greed. Where are the rehab centers for that? Email me!

Answer 3

Not gonna happen, not if the 300 million of us go to the White House next year on April 20th and light one up. Why would the government want to export another product when they are already getting people hooked on the drugs they are selling? The pharmaceutical industry in the United States and the whole world is growing so fast and in the most profitable and problem-free way: LEGITIMATELY.
Now, and give it some thought, you're saying that we should be free to smoke battery acid and toxic fumes to get a high, since you imply that meth should be legalized too. I've tried to see the point in every stoner I have encountered that preach legalization, but you have to draw the line somewhere. We could also legalize heroin, and have addicts drop like flies O.D. ing in every other alley.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy recreational drugs as much as anybody, but we should be realistic, if real protesters like our parent's generation failed in trying to legalize marijuana, how can you or me even compare in the effort?

Answer 4

We need to start with the root of the problem - demand.

Removing the demand would dry up the supplies.

How can we get all persons to voluntarily submit themselves to rehab? Not likely. So, what alternatives are there?

Well, when former President Nixon visited China back in the early 1970's, he complained to the Chairman of the drug and prostitution industries.

The Chairman complied. He had millions of people rounded up under the pretext that they were guilty of drug use, sales and prostitution and executed them all. How is it today? Just where it was before and more. Did nothing.

There seems no solution, and allowing more people to have dangerous drugs readily available with no consequences isn't the answer either. It's utterly impossible to put this devil genie back into it's bottle. It's a no-win situation anyway you work it.

Answer 5

While the black market does promote a criminal underworld, what the pro-legalization arguments inevitably leave out is the effects of legalizing the drugs (and, therefore, making them much less looked-down upon and much more available). (I'm not arguing marijuana, because its effects are around the same as alcohol, but for harder drugs.)

Simple questions: do you want people walking around and -driving- who are using LSD? Should a drug be legal that makes people think that they can fly -- and then drives them to test that belief from the top of their house? If all drugs are legal, how easy will it be to buy three and mix them into a deadly cocktail? How will the murder, rape, and date rape frequencies be affected? How will they be affected by drugs that cause uncontrollable rage in some people?

I honestly don't care what you do to yourself. It's your body, and you can screw it up if you want. My concern is the effect on society as a whole and the danger to other people.

Answer 6

If the government legalizes drugs, they could put a heavy tax on them. By doing that, they can keep demand of drugs at about where it is now, being illegal, but actually make a great deal of money doing so.

Answer 7

They should at least be decriminalized. First, to help lessen the overcrowded court system and prisons. Second, to get rid of the need for the black market. Third, to generate tax dollars for our government's revenue system. We already know Prohibition didn't work, why can't we learn from that mistake? It seems to be a matter of using common sense, yet our government is so slow to act.

Answer 8

loads of questions rolled into one. you will possibly desire to separate this into numerous questions and re-submit. common, there could be a huge volume of issues if drugs have been legalized. check out Holland the place approximately 80% of the national funds is spent on taking good care of the druggies and different drug proper issues. precise now, the U.S. regulations have their finger in an somewhat leaky dike. do away with the finger (regulations) and the dike will wreck inflicting a flood of social ills. the only way maximum folk could be keen to vote for a transformation could be if the druggies have been denied public advice. Your option to alter right into a junkie, do no longer assume every physique else to pay on your care.

Answer 9

Yes - people will do it regardless. As evidence - prohibition of alcohol just increased organize crime and wasted the oppurtunity to tax the beverage!

Such is the case with drugs. Plus then countries like Columbia would be less corrupt at it would be legal to import these products to the US.

Answer 10

More people die out on the streets due to the drug distribution than actually die OD'ing on the stuff. Sometimes I think the only reason they're illegal is for the benefit of the DEA and the Police...it gives them job security!