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DanaC · 03-02-2008, 05:08 PM

I haven't followed this thread and haven't read the whole thing, so forgive me if I repeat ideas that someone else has posted.

I believe that prohibition of drugs or alcohol has a negative effect overall. That said I do believe that certain substances ought to be 'controlled', by which I mean only purchasable from those with a licence to sell. My rationale for this is: most of the serious dangers involved in drug use comes from the unreliability of the substance used and the lack of reliable information about its use and possible effects of different dosages and how they may interact with other substances; with the substances legal but in a controlled form, where the dosage and contents are measurable and guaranteed, there would be far fewer fatalities amongst heroine users, for example and certainly 'ecstacy' would be a far safer drug than it currently is given that MDMA seems to have been swapped in many cases with dangerous doses of ketomine and a chemical soup of other ingredients. Take drugs out of the criminal arena and bring them within legal controls, in the same way that alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are, and the levels of danger will reduce. Add a change in attitude towards addiction (look at how cigarette addicts are treated as compared to heroine addicts) and we may see less criminalising of people who are not naturally criminal in tendency.

In addition, the bottom would drop out of the criminal drug market if those drugs were available at a reasonable price (even with high taxation rates seen in alcohol and tobacco, their impact on prices is, I believe much less than the impact of 'black market' economics).

On an idealogical level I do not think that we should legislate what adults are and are not allowed to consume. This is my prime reason for believing that all and any drugs should be legal, but subject to whatever health warnings and controls are necessary in order for those adults to make a reasoned and informed choice on their consumption. I find it slightly strange that societies who have a horror of 'big government' or 'nanny states' also have very strict legislation as to what adults can and cannot choose to consume.

eta

Specifically on cannabis: I have never been able to understand how the state can legislate against the cultivation and use of a herb. Might as well ban nettles, or parsley. Hell ban apples, they can be fermented to produce a mind altering substance.

03-02-2008, 05:08 PM	#60
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	I haven't followed this thread and haven't read the whole thing, so forgive me if I repeat ideas that someone else has posted. I believe that prohibition of drugs or alcohol has a negative effect overall. That said I do believe that certain substances ought to be 'controlled', by which I mean only purchasable from those with a licence to sell. My rationale for this is: most of the serious dangers involved in drug use comes from the unreliability of the substance used and the lack of reliable information about its use and possible effects of different dosages and how they may interact with other substances; with the substances legal but in a controlled form, where the dosage and contents are measurable and guaranteed, there would be far fewer fatalities amongst heroine users, for example and certainly 'ecstacy' would be a far safer drug than it currently is given that MDMA seems to have been swapped in many cases with dangerous doses of ketomine and a chemical soup of other ingredients. Take drugs out of the criminal arena and bring them within legal controls, in the same way that alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are, and the levels of danger will reduce. Add a change in attitude towards addiction (look at how cigarette addicts are treated as compared to heroine addicts) and we may see less criminalising of people who are not naturally criminal in tendency. In addition, the bottom would drop out of the criminal drug market if those drugs were available at a reasonable price (even with high taxation rates seen in alcohol and tobacco, their impact on prices is, I believe much less than the impact of 'black market' economics). On an idealogical level I do not think that we should legislate what adults are and are not allowed to consume. This is my prime reason for believing that all and any drugs should be legal, but subject to whatever health warnings and controls are necessary in order for those adults to make a reasoned and informed choice on their consumption. I find it slightly strange that societies who have a horror of 'big government' or 'nanny states' also have very strict legislation as to what adults can and cannot choose to consume. eta Specifically on cannabis: I have never been able to understand how the state can legislate against the cultivation and use of a herb. Might as well ban nettles, or parsley. Hell ban apples, they can be fermented to produce a mind altering substance.