Why drugs should remain banned

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Jun 3 2011, 3:35 am
Exactly the reason why it's illegal, F0lak. Because it isn't taxed. Whatever the government can't stick their greedy paws into is illegal. If you're going to make something a crime, do it for the right reasons - because it has harmful effects, because it can lead to harder drugs, because people are likely to commit even more crimes while under the influence. Not just because the government can't get their cut.

Also, a lot of people move from one drug to another because their current drug isn't getting them high enough anymore. I don't see how putting the weed in shops stops people from moving onto other drugs.
Jun 3 2011, 3:53 am
EmpirezTeam wrote:
Also, a lot of people move from one drug to another because their current drug isn't getting them high enough anymore. I don't see how putting the weed in shops stops people from moving onto other drugs.

Of course, it doesn't stop it completely, but there have been tremendous drops in the amount of people getting into different things from marijuana use. This is because they've effectively separated the pot crowds from the harder drug crowds. People no longer have to meet a drug dealer on a dark corner in the middle of downtown at 3 am just to get a gram of weed.

The illegalization of marijuana is actually a relatively recent occurance. At the beginning of the 20th century it was legal worldwide. It eventually became illegal in the United States for a variety of reasons, the main ones being that it simply became popular among black people, and the other being the impact that hemp had on the pulp and paper industry as a viable alternative. This led the big-wigs to lobby for illegalization based on narcotic use. Around the 1950's the US began to pressure the rest of the world for illegalization as well.

Sure, it's not good for you to smoke pot, but it's nowhere near as bad for you as smoking cigarettes and drinking on a regular basis. Comparatively it's practically not addicting at all, and it doesn't destroy as many organs, or affect them as fast as smoking and drinking.
Jun 3 2011, 4:02 am
The main gotcha applies with all addictions, being psychological and eventually physical fallout when you finally run out of something.

You see it with smokers and serious hardcore drinkers all the time, in terms of body craving, irritability etc.

What's important to remember, is that it's not just an issue of decriminalising a drug, it's an issue of culture and the kind of education you need to support that before you can decriminalise something.

In the UK in particular, it's fairly apparent that our alcohol culture is all wrong. We taboo the subject of drinking in schools through overly-sensitive parenting, so our main authority figures never get to apply their influence on young people. Meanwhile, the popular media is, and it's a more dangerous culture they shift you. These two factors combined make for a terrible culture, and one we need decades to correct.

The Netherlands has the culture situation much better handled and has done for decades. That's why it works for them.

If you're pro-legalisation of a given drug, you too need to force that shift in culture (and common understanding) to make any resulting legislation broadly safe. It's not a matter of medicine or the health argument that sways legislation, as alcohol shows, it's culture.
Jun 3 2011, 5:20 am
While, we're at it, let's illegalize caffeine, a drug that 92%* of Americans are addicted to.

*statistic made up on the spot.
Jun 3 2011, 5:24 am
The culture for caffeine is all wrong, Iain. It needs to be a Class A drug.
Jun 3 2011, 11:27 am
You will always be able to get Marijuana. Doesn't matter if its legal or not.
Jun 3 2011, 12:37 pm
@Acebloke - Not to nitpick, but I'd like to know what you think banning is in the context of your headline.
Jun 3 2011, 6:24 pm
Whys it gotta be the "black" market?
Jun 3 2011, 7:46 pm
IcewarriorX wrote:
Whys it gotta be the "black" market?

Because only the negros use it.
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