For those who believe that we should legalize drugs...?

Question

Some people want to legalize drugs because they don't believe that such crimes can ever be eradicated and that keeping them illegal merely fuels other crimes (robbery, etc) in order to fund it.

The are lots of other crimes that will never be eradicated e.g. Murder, Rape, House-Breaking, etc

Does those supporting the legalization of drugs think that these crimes should be legalized as well ?

I am not refering to "soft" drugs.

There was a recent study shown on the news which stated that legalizing "hard drugs" in a controlled manner would help cut down on those crimes committed to finance a drugs user's habit.

Don't any of you guys watch the news ???

Answer 1

I'm not a user but think it is interesting to debate the legalization of drugs. I think that in the current state that corruption has and will rise. Some of these drugs are defiantly worthless. Meth and Cocaine to be specific. I think drugs being illegal is aggravating other crimes such as murder and corruption.

I also might add that it's far more interesting to why a person wants to use drugs than the actual use of drugs itself.

A crime is and should be when a individual has his or her constitutional rights violated. In our legal system every law or bill passed has to be based on the Constitution. Rape, murder and robbery involves having s the victims rights violated. I don't agree with legalizing such. If a drunk gets in his car and hits and murders an individual, that individual has had his rights violated. If the drunk smartly stays at home and drinks, what right has been violated? Same with other drugs. If a coker snorts or does what he does then starts feeling like a king or someone needs to be erased this is where crime actually is. We have plenty of test subjects to prove my theory not just in the states but around the world.

Am I a fool to think the Constitution could actually work?

Answer 2

I assume you mean "decriminalization," not "legalization."
The strongest argument for decriminalization is on philosophical, libertarian grounds; that is, drug use itself is a personal choice. Despite having become addicted to tobacco in my youth, I find this argument somewhat compelling.
Other arguments are secondary, supporting arguments, not in and of themselves quite so compelling, but somewhat persuasive: that decriminalization would remove the vast majority of the organized crime element of the drug trade, as the repeal of alcohol prohibition did. Not that there aren't still bootleggers and moonshiners, but they're now tiny, local operations with a lot less social impact than the big ones that are so well known, from the Kennedys to Al Capone.
Arguments such as the one you cite are also valid, but seem much more limited in scope.
This all presupposes that there would be no large upsurge in drug use, but company policies needn't change, and what limited experience there is suggests that such might be the case, and overall, it's a matter of how one sees the overall balance of the positives and negatives. The fact that the balance is delicate, rather than strong feelings on one side or the other, is likely why there's been so little movement on this issue in recent politics.

Answer 3

If there were 40 million people in the US committing murders then we would have to take a different approach just because the criminal justice system could never handle the load.

But your question rather assumes that there was a good reason for the drug laws in the first place. On that score you are sorely mistaken.

The primary reason that drugs are illegal is because of racial prejudice against minorities that were perceived to use them. Marijuana was also outlawed for a different reason -- because of fears that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana -- exactly the opposite of the modern gateway myth.

Whenever someone asks this question, I know immediately that they have never read any of the most basic research on the subject. They can't tell you why the drugs were originally outlawed. They can't tell you how many people are actually killed by drugs. (Hint: Alcohol and tobacco kill more people every year than all the people killed by all the illegal drugs in the last century or so.)

Most importantly, they don't know that the subject has already been studied by numerous major government commissions around the world - and they all reached remarkably similar conclusions. They all concluded that the drug laws were nonsense from the very beginning and that this approach does more harm than good.

You are obviously new to the subject so I suggest you start by reading the following:

The short history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm

Why marijuana was outlawed at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/mj_outlawed.htm

The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm If you only read one book on the subject, this is the one to read. If you haven't read it, then you simply don't know the subject.

When you get done with that, you can find the full text of most of the major government commission reports at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/studies.htm

Most of the people who will give you answers here have never read the most basic research on the subject. Read it yourself and you will see what I mean.

Answer 4

I believe marijuana should be legalized because it doesn't hurt anyone (not even the smoker). Not because it can't "ever be eradicated". In fact, I've never even heard that as a justification. Besides, we already have legalized drugs, alcohol and tobacco, that are much more harmful and addictive than marijuana.

Laws should only go as far as to ensure the smooth-functioning of society. Murder disrupts that; theft disrupts that. I believe cocaine and heroine do, as well, because of their highly addictive natures (marijuana is not physically addictive). Drinking, on its own, does not; driving while drunk does. Smoking marijuana does not, and yet it is currently illegal. There may also be one or two other drugs, such as ecstasy, that should be legalized for reasons along the same lines.

Note, too, that "legalizing" something is different from "decriminalizing" it. Legalization implies laws regarding use, such as not selling to minors and not driving under the influence, as opposed to simply, "It's not illegal anymore; do whatever you want."

Answer 5

Not legalization....decriminalization......BIG DIFFERENCE....

Decriminalization means allowing folks posess personal use quantities, and maybe even grow (in the case of pot) a plant or two for personal use. Dealing would still be illegal. But sitting in my living room, smoking a joint with friends, and enjoying ourselves would not be a crime. Hell we even support the idea that the government can have their piece too through taxation.

Check the facts, in countries where they have decriminalized, the rate of crimes associated with drugs has dropped off the charts. Take away the competition of dealers, and the jail time associated with using the drugs. If folks have a legal way to enjoy their buzz, it stands to reason that they will commit less crimes normally connected.

Answer 6

No murder, rape, and house breaking should not be legalized, but if drugs were, the question is would the occurrences of those other crimes go down?

Answer 7

Legalizing hard drugs is stupid, no matter how much it cuts down on other crimes.

But it is certainly true to say that crimes which are committed to fund other crimes do go down if the first crime is legalized or drops.

Answer 8

The difference between using drugs and rape and murder is that drugs are self inflicted. You cannot rape yourself. (Not sexually at least) I don't advocate throwing drugs on the market without any restrictions. Those restrictions would need to be thought out carefully, perhaps like in Amsterdam you could only get them at "Coffee Houses" or whatever you want to call them.

Pot yes I believe it total legalization, taxation, with similar penalties for distribution to minors. Harder drugs if legalized should be done in a controlled environment.

Most importantly I believe that the public should be absolved of any responsibility for self destructive behaviors. If you want to smoke tobacco, go for it, but don't expect a disability check or medicare/medicaid when you've burned out your lungs. Same with alcohol, or any other drug. Legal or illegal.

Answer 9

I will not say legalize all drugs but listen to this

The U.S. government is already growing marijuana,and using it for people with cancer.RIGHT!!!
Just legalize marijuana and think of the money the government would make to fight the other drugs
package them like cigs sells for $20 to $30 and a boat load of taxes like everything else and think of the money they would make.

Answer 10

Low level drug users are generally non violent, and as such are not an imminent threat to the community. If you took all of the money used on the war on drugs and used it to imprison other types of criminals, there would be drastically less crime.