Curiousity on what people think...

[sumeragichan]

Okay then, I came across this letter to the editors in a recent political party periodical that gets mailed to my husband and I recently. It brought up a somewhat potentially controversial and provocative point on a- at times touchy- subject. Should hard drugs- and drugs in general- be made legal? Personally, I live in the USA, but I figured everyone had an opinion and might like to try and weigh in on this topic as well. I'll list some of the things mentioned in the article right now:

1) If they were legal, couldn't reputable businesses sell them at lower than street prices for a higher quality product since they would obviously want to keep repeat customers?

2) Wouldn't this free up scientists to do research and possibly develop safer, lesser lethal forms of these drugs?

3) This could free up marijuana for medical use as well without the government red tape.

4) For the drugs that require needles, couldn't the medical field OPENLY encourage using new and sterile needles (this would help prevent the spread of blood borne diseases)?

5)There could also be places for these goings on (like how smokers have their hidey holes in some buildings) that would keep it away from young children and children in general.

6) Reputable business would be far less likely to sell to minors due to steep potential penalties and other such consequences.

What do you guys think about all this?

[CloverReef]

I voted on a limited basis. In truth I've never done drugs so I'm hardly an authority. My only real exposure was my brother coming home high and waving bags of shrooms in my face lol.

In my opinion though, it depends greatly on the drug. I think pot should be legalised, and maybe some of the hallucinagens, (forgive me if I spelled it wrong.) but certain drugs that make people act different, and violent over time should not be. Even in a safe environment to use, and high quality products may not be doing enough to protect the people around them and living with them. I'm talking about drugs like meth, I hear that one makes people prone to anger and violence. Maybe cocaine? Steroids...

If there's little risk of people hurting others and lives deteriorating over prolonged use, then sure. I'm all for legalisation. After all, Alcohol and caffeine and all the chemicals in cigarettes are basically drugs, aren't they? Our society has pretty much coped with those.

So yeah. My conclusion: Depends on the drug, and its effect over time. If that makes any sense?

[Windrider Shiva]

I've got mixed feelings about this myself. I've never done drugs either; I've got no real interest in doing them personally (if I want to escape, I'll just pop a video game in a console or read a book). While I understand how it would be "good" to legalize them - in other words, to have a total control over them - would be nice... but I still see hard drugs as totally destructive. Then again, we have beer legalized - while it's not a hard drug, check the death toll caused by DUIs and the problem caused to child who were born from alcoholic mothers. Or seeing a loved one become an alcoholic.

Though when you think about it, everything in excess can become destructive.

I guess that a "safer" version of hard drugs would work well. As long as moderation is a key word in it, else it'll end up being the same all over again.

Sorry if I sound confusing. Ranting a bit here, lol.

[CloverReef]

I've got mixed feelings about this myself. I've never done drugs either; I've got no real interest in doing them personally (if I want to escape, I'll just pop a video game in a console or read a book). While I understand how it would be "good" to legalize them - in other words, to have a total control over them - would be nice... but I still see hard drugs as totally destructive. Then again, we have beer legalized - while it's not a hard drug, check the death toll caused by DUIs and the problem caused to child who were born from alcoholic mothers. Or seeing a loved one become an alcoholic.

Though when you think about it, everything in excess can become destructive.

I guess that a "safer" version of hard drugs would work well. As long as moderation is a key word in it, else it'll end up being the same all over again.

Sorry if I sound confusing. Ranting a bit here, lol.

I agree. In moderation. At the same time, the people controlling legalised drugs would only be able to control it so much. Sounds difficult to me to have control over how much people take in their personal lives. If drugs are legalised there -will- be problems, but in my opinion, we already have so much problems with drugs in the illegal market. I think legalising would provide some control and possibly make the drug scene less attractive to minors, and of course as said at the beginning by hopebringer, provide safer solutions.

As with anything, even legalised there'd be potential for corruption. But I think it could still work if there were... safeguards? Well, not the word I'm looking for but you get my drift. Hard to talk while I'm watching a debate about homosexuality in Africa XD. Anyhoo, that was a long way of saying "I agree but I don't trust THE MAN!"

... bye!