Drugs

[RFNAPLES]

[purple]

marijuana should definitely be legalized in the US. safer than alcohol or cigarettes. Though more immediately potent, weed really doesn't have many proven harmful side-effects and does just make you veg out... no worse than cable TV.

I feel like coke should be legal too... but that's just a personal wish

[Bork]

The US has a peculiar love story with marijuana not found elsewhere in the world, not even in The Netherlands, but that said it is difficult to argue against legalizing this particular drug when the opponent brings alcohol or cigarettes into the debate.

For pretty much every other drug though (including coca cola) the argument against is pretty solid.

[HigherThanTheSun]

[Bork]

[HigherThanTheSun]

[Bork]

No brainers on controversial subjects only applies to religion. For all other no brainers they are being argued for a reason (the reason being that they aren't really no brainers).

Looking forward to having the actual discussion on the subject once you get out of your drunken stupor.

[HigherThanTheSun]

Jeremy: She's trying to shaft me, Mark. You've got to dump her, it's a no brainer.
Mark: It's not a no brainer, I'll have to think about it. It's a brainer, it's a real brainer.

Gotta love Peep Show

I suppose what I should have said was that in my opinion it's a no brainer, that is to say if I were in charge it would be a done thing immediately. I wasn't suggesting that there was anything near a consensus on the issue because there's clearly not.

Like your point about religion, to you it may seem obvious but to many others it's clearly not. You might think not believing in god is a no brainer just like I think legalising cannabis is a no brainer, not everyone agrees though.

If you already agree that cannabis should be legalised then I won't waste time convinving you that it's a good idea but many of the same arguments for legalising cannabis apply to other illegal drugs too.

For me the biggest reason for legalisation is one of personal freedom, I don't see why people should be treated as criminals for getting mashed but it's perfectly acceptable to get off your face on alcohol. This is why at the very least drug use should be decriminalised.

Then you've got the issue that drugs are incredibly easy to get hold of. Drop me off at nightime in any city in the UK and I'll find you drugs in 10 minutes. So it leaves you asking if drugs are this easy to get hold of then what on earth is the point even trying to restrict supply? Where there's demand for drugs somebody will manage to meet it whether legally or illegally. At current the operation is carried out by criminal gangs and drug dealers which isn't ideal.

Then the issue of safety, drugs bought on the street aren't exactly safe and people do die from taking contaminated drugs. Legalise and regulate and you wouldn't have this problem. Also addicts should be treated the same way alcoholics are treated, which you can't do if drugs are illegal. On a side note, there's a tendancy for people to believe that anybody who takes drugs is addicted which just isn't true, most people choose when and where they want to take drugs and have no problem controlling their drug use. The assumption is as dumb as assuming everyone who drinks alcohol is an alcoholic.

In my opinion the chief aim of any drug policy should be to lower drug use in the population. Trying to cut off the supply of drugs will not work, like I say it's incredibly easy to get hold of drugs and they're cheaper than ever. The only way to lower drug use is to lower demand for drugs, which is a hard task but could be done and is the only sensible way of tackling the problem. If there is a demand then it will be met so trying to cut off supply is completely futile.

Also if you compare the annual deaths from different legal and illegal drugs it's pretty crazy. Hundreds of thousands die each year from alcohol and cigarettes, the average amount of 'ecstasy related' deaths per year is around 6 for the UK. Zero people have ever died from cannabis or LSD.

Decriminalise drug use at the very least, this article is very interesting looking at decriminalisation in Portugal.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article...46,00.html
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[HigherThanTheSun]