Would legalising drugs solve crime problems?

Question

There is a clear link between crimes such as burglary, robbery, and muggings and drug use. Drug addicts will commit these crimes to get the money for their next fix.

If hard drugs such as heroin were available legally by prescription, would this help curb crime figures, as addicts would know where their next fix was coming from, and would not need to resort to crime to get it? It could also stop the helpless downward spiral of crime meaning addicts would not have criminal records stopping them from gaining employment.

Answer 1

By legalizing drugs, there would be less crime, but this is simply because there are LESS CRIMES. All drugs should be banned, inlcuding ones that keep people alive well and truly past their expiration date and esp. cigarettes.

Answer 2

Hi Helly,
In one way legalising drugs would probably reduce crime for a short while but like one of your answerer's above said,this would only be until the addict needed more and more to get the same high.
This is all ready happening with the prescribing of Methadone to heroine addicts but a lot of them are still on heroin as well because the methadone doesn't give them enough of a high,this also occurs when their GP won't increase their dosage because they are on heroin at the same time.
So no i don't think that crime will reduce.
Another thing that you've got to bear in mind is,What are all the dealers going to do,because their very lucrative income has stopped,so they are going to start thieving and burgling to keep the lifestyle that they are used to.
There are many factors to consider when thinking about legalising hard drugs.

Cheers ...


Cheeky.......

Answer 3

All drugs should be legalised and sold in generic packaging and all children in school should be fully educated about the effects of different types of drugs. Just saying 'drugs are bad' is pointless. Any kid can work out that alcohol, caffeine, aspirin and nicotine are all readily available drugs - so the message fails immediately.

In areas where doctors prescribe heroin rather than methadone shop crime (ie shoplifting) is drastically reduced as the addicts can get on with their lives without resorting to crime to get their next fix.

Answer 4

Yes...thats true. Drugs and alcohol are the main ingredients behind such motives like burglary, robbery and crimes. They are the first listed. They cause much harm not only to the public but can also create a problem even with their own family. They do things not a normal person would do. They go insane thinking of nothing else but drugs and alcohol and how to procure them easily without sweating and how to fulfil their own bodily demand.

Answer 5

First, I'll answer Mary's question and then yours: No, Mary, I wouldn't. But I wouldn't want them to be doing their jobs drunk either, and alcohol is legal.

I really don't know if it would reduce crime. A lot of the crime associated with illegal drugs is because they are illegal, and legalizing these drugs would certainly reduce the crime rate--after all, if it's no longer illegal to possess and sell marijuana, then that means a lot of people who are now considered criminals wouldn't be. It would also free up space in jail for violent criminals.

I really don't think cocaine or heroin should be legal, as they are dangerous and dangerously addictive drugs. Marijuana, on the other hand, should be legalized, regulated, and taxed. And no, I wouldn't want someone to smoke pot and then fly my plane/perform an operation/drive a bus any more than I would want someone to drink alcohol and try to fly my plane/perform an operation/drive a bus.

Answer 6

Please keep in mind that people burgle and break and enter NOT because recreational drugs are illegal, but because they don't have the wherewithal to pay for them-not even co-pays, so they resort to crime.

Although I believe America's stance on some drugs is too severe, legalizing Heroin would be especially self-defeating. Just because it's legal wouldn't mean that the user would need more and more to get the high. Sooner or later, they would die, but not before their judgment and ability to care for themselves completely disappeared. The same goes for Cocaine and God-forbid, Methamphetamine.

It would not stop the helpless downward spiral. They would still have criminal records thanks to their impaired judgment and belief that they don't have to align themselves to society's expectation.

Alcohol is legal and look at the enormous trouble and suffering it causes for not only its drinkers, but the victims of its drinkers (DUI fatalities, domestic abuse, lost jobs, failed relationships), all leading to disenfranchisement of the individual from society.

To answer your question, legalization would not solve crime problems, as 80% of crime is a fx. of economics.

Answer 7

how 'bout free for all the qualifiers- those rehabilitated hardliner-repeated addicts? the police department should be able to contribute to this 'social service' with their confiscated items/ evidences from their warehouse- a better way to dispose of drugs. Drugs manufacturers and addicts will soon disappear from this one and only planet Earth. (1)Drug dosage increases as days go by, how u expect addicts to go to work while they can't even control their minds? (2) who will produce things that's free for all (addicts)? (joke lang)

Edited: cheers, Cheek: the logics is: those heavy weight addicts will soon perish because of overdose, coz i really mean free of charge. as to those producer and dealer they'll have to risk their own lives to rob or for whatever they commit instead of ruining other's future. hope it makes sense.

Answer 8

This may or may not be the right answer, but I used to think that legalizing Pot would be a good idea. But if weed were legal Who would market it!? More than likely the Tobacco industry..scary....

Answer 9

would you really want someone high on drugs coming down the road at you in a car?

or a dr. operating on you high?especally heart surgery.

or a clerk waiting on you in a store thats on drugs and trying to give you your change?

a mechanic trying fix your automobile while on drugs?

making them legal just makes the problem worse. say NO to drugs..

i would never hire someone on drugs.

Answer 10

you bet ye.