Abortion and prostitution have never stopped even when they were illegal what good is it to keep drugs illegal

Question

Keeping drugs illegal scares a few people from taking them.
However a million others use them to different degrees. Put in the balance what's the net benefit of prohibition? Not much.

Disadvantages of prohibition
Keeps drugs prices high.
Keeps illegal business gangs, maffia, terrorists going because is a highly priced commodity that it's easily to conceal.
The anti drug laws that pushes their price high also pushes drug addicts to mug, beat, break and enter and steal your car or even murder you.
Huge amounts of money spent incarcerating people at $50,000 a year could be spent on health, education and fighting homelessness, and treating addicts.
We would create a better more viable society by repealling present anti drug legislation.

Answer 1

You are showing signs of being a Libertarian, my friend.

In many countries prostitution *is* legal, for the reasons you have stated. Countries where it is legal become safer, as health checkups and paperwork is required of prostitutes, making the trade a relatively safe and regulated industry.

Abortion is simply a religious matter, as is the US's current marriage law and many other smaller laws (when do the stores in your state open on Sunday? Can you buy alcohol on Sunday where you live?). The stumbling block in keeping abortion legal is the fact that many people see no logic in telling another woman what she can do with her own body and find no reason to take action where the religious get fired up and take action in hopes of forcing people to live like them.

The same goes for drugs, allowing for strict controls on the manufacture and distribution as well as where people are allowed to buy and use the drugs (think Amsterdam). Doing so affords the countries massive revenue which can be put towards enforcement of the regulations as well as treatment for addicts, which costs MUCH less in comparison to encarcerating tens of thousands of minor drug offenses, which is what happens in the banning countries every year.

Many economists have long fought for regulating, and as such legalizing, the drug trade in order to curb the income of gangs and drug lords, making a basically free source of revenue to the government to be put to use for treatment and education, where money has been lacking for as long as drugs have been illegal.

The argument of 'why not just legalize murder and robbery' is normally spoken by those who have never thought things through, as with most apples-to-oranges comparisons, prostitution and drugs are not actions which affect the rights of others, where murder and robbery are.

Billions are spent every year in drug crackdowns and prosecuting criminals for minor offenses, as well as thwarting the efforts of the illicit trade. Money which comes from taxation of legitimate enterprise. Legalizing the trade would allow safer drugs to be distributed by controlling the manufacter and drug taxation would allow the money used to buy drugs to propel the education and enforcement of them.

The stumbling block in doing this is simply the high percentage of religious people who feel a need to force their (usually completely unthought-through) views on others and simply the 'I don't do it, neither should you', basically the ignorant among us. Politicians don't dare introduce such legislation due to the fact that the less people work, the more time they have to vote. Easily deduced, this translates into the worst parts of our society tend to be the ones who make the rules.

Answer 2

I am pro choice for the same reason that I'm pro second amendment. I find the consequences of those positions less disgusting and scary than a government that would usurp those rights by force. While I find the prospect of destroying a fetus in the womb reprehensible, I would not want to live in a nation where a woman is forced to have a baby at the point of a gun. When it comes down to it, everyone has their own opinion on the value of a fetus at various stages of development. Some people believe that as soon as the gamete is formed there is a soul there too that needs protecting. Others believe that once a mother decides she doesn't want a baby that organism becomes a parasite feeding off her body. And, obviously, there is an entire spectrum in between. With such vastly dissenting opinions from anyone you meet, is it right to legislate one way or the other? What makes one opinion more valid than the next? I applaud your for applying rational thought to the issue. And I believe that you are correct. Making abortion completely illegal will only result in increased hanger sales. Kevin, why don't you ever choose a best answer? You always let it go into voting which is weak. Do you even read the answers you receive?

Answer 3

Your logic is lacking..... crime (that which is illegal) always exists. Simply because crime continues in the face of laws that attempt to deter a particular behavior does not mean we should change the law. Some things are simply bad for society. I understand some of your points above and would favor lessor penalties for non-violent drug related offenses. Abortion is a different issue in that it takes the life of a defenseless child. Abortion is a human tragedy and I believe abortion should be illegal.

Answer 4

You are so right the shi for brains in America can see it didn't work for booze but cant see the comparison the brainwashing propaganda machine is mighty and the brains are few

Answer 5

You are right!!! Making laws against murder hasn't stopped murder, making laws against armed robbery hasn't stooped it. Let's eliminate all laws people break because they do not work. Makes sense to me.

Answer 6

Murder and Robbery have never stopped either, despite being illegal. Do you propose that we decriminalize them also? Now that's a great way to lower our crime rate; just make everything legal and there is not more crime. WOW!!! You're really on to something..................NOT

Answer 7

It's a paycheck for DEA personnel, and they will fight changing the stupid laws, any way they can.

Answer 8

you do have a valid point here, another point is, if it was legal the government can collect taxes on it like they do with cigarettes and alcohol