Is prohibition of alcohol and other substances a good thing for society and should it be practiced today?

Question

I need this information for a debate.

Answer 1

I believe people should have the choice, but I think that age is a horrible way to judge whether people are responsible enough to drink. I see plenty of 21+ yr olds that are more immature than 18 yr olds. I don't drink. I wouldn't if I were old enough. However it still agitates the crap out of me that some of the retards that I see around me that are 21+ yr olds are less mature than I am, yet they have more rights than me. People need to start getting psychiatric evaluations once a year with their annual checkups. Just as you would get restrictions on your driver's license for bad vision, you should get restrictions on your privileges for immaturity. That will never happen of course, but in a perfect world...

Answer 2

When you prohibit something, the people who sell it wind up making a lot more money off of it. For example, when the United States passed prohibition, then number of bars increased about 150%, the price of liquer went up, and the amount of liquer being shipped into the States increased. The only thing outlawing a substance does, is help fund the criminals who sell them, by allowing them to make more money. The people who sell illegal alcohol and drugs would make virtually know money if the substances were legal

Answer 3

Well no, it won't work. Prohibition didn't work in the first place, it won't work now.

As for other substances, some should be legalized because they're already so pervasive and relatively harmless. Like marijuana. There's also drugs in other countries that are made by pharmaceutical companies to make people high, without any side effects of regular narcotics, which those governments have legalized to help curb street drug use.

Answer 4

In my opinion, no, because it won't make a difference.

If smoking cigarette's was outlawed, people would find a way to smoke it anyway...

We've already seen how well prohibition worked with alcohol...

And as far as I'm concerned, smoking marijuana should be made legal. It's a great pain-killer to start-- and it's already all over the place, for two... does it seem like having marijuana be illegal is making a difference? People still find it and smoke it, don't they? The only reason it's illegal in the first place is because money can be made on it, over and over again, when the Government collects it off the streets and resells it back onto the streets... only to collect it back up and sell it again.

You probably think I'm a pothead now, but I promise you, I'm not. I stopped smoking the stuff because it makes me intensely paranoid. But, between one of my sisters and I, we've come up with an idea on how to legalize and regulate pot...

There could be an age limit, to begin with... like smoking cigarettes at age nineteen, and drinking at twenty-one. The Government could sell the stuff in specialized places, something like a liquor store-- or maybe even AT the liquor store, so the age to smoke it legally would be twenty-one. It could be bought in small amounts: in eighths and in quarter ounces, but no higher. Driver's licenses and ID's already have a bar-code on the back of them, making things a lot simpler for the police to look up criminal records to arrest people with warrants; a similar program could be used to regulate marijuana. A computer program could make a log of when someone bought their legal personal use amount, and they can't buy any more than a quarter ouce for personal use within seven days timeframe. That way, the Government can still make their money off the selling of marijuana, and can even put a Government sticker or seal on the bags, proving the marijuana's legal. The same rules could apply for marijuana as with drinking: it can be smoked at home or somewhere you're planning on staying until you sober up, but after having a certain amount-- whatever would be considered too intoxicated to drive-- a cab would have to be called in order to take you wherever it is you would need to go, unless there's a designated driver. In my mind, it only stands to reason that it would be a logical set of rules.

People under age twenty-one who have marijuana on them get a fine, as if for underage smoking or drinking... the pot would be confiscated and parents called-- unless they're between ages eighteen to twenty; then they get fined and have to go to court and explain to a judge why they had it and possibly where they got it. It's the same song and dance minors have to do for cigarettes and alcohol, but mostly alcohol.

Harder drugs than marijuana would still fall under the same regulations as they currently do... that way, the Government can still get their money off heroine, cocaine and other such substances. All they'd lose is marijuana.

I would consider this a logical argument on prohibition. It's got compomise and validity, as I see it, and many of the people I've explained this idea to agree that it would be a reasonable way to monitor and regulate the drug... just like alcohol and cigarettes. Prohibition wouldn't work; it didn't work during the early 1900's and it wouldn't work now.

Answer 5

Ask the DEA this question..it is very profitable for them..the more banned substances the larger their workforce and the more secure their jobs are...no General Motor's layoffs for them while busting poor old Joe, Sam or Bill for smoking a joint. No, the more prohibitions only justifies the existence of more government bureaucracies justifying their own existence.

Answer 6

History shows, that societies don't far better with Prohibitions. As long as it doesn't cause problems for others, like second hand smoke, the Government has no business to get involved.
Prohibitions usually increase crime.

Answer 7

Not good. Prohibition led to bootlegging,organized crime,and real safety concerns(unregulated illegal substances). Have a great day! ;-)=

Answer 8

It did not work when they tried this in the past and will not work today; whenever there is a demand for a product, there will be a supply, whether legal or not.

Answer 9

You need others opinions for your debate? What do you think? Write it down and use it.

Answer 10

Dangerous drugs are banned..yet it still thrives. So banning alcohol would only create more crime.