RightNation.US: Would Prisons Be Emptier If All Drugs Were Legalized? - RightNation.US

This happened even though Meth was illegal. Must mean these laws are definitely working

DodgerKing, on Nov 8 2010, 09:29 PM, said:

No the laws aren't working but making these drugs legal will just create more addicts. I do not use things that are illegal but in my younger years I probably would have tried some of the things that are illegal if they had been legal and there is a very good chance that I would have gotten hooked on something since many drugs are addictive for many people the very first time they use.

katnapper, on Nov 8 2010, 06:48 PM, said:

Perhaps, particularly at first. I think in the long wrong there will be no more addicts than there are now. Countries like Portugal, which have legalized drugs, have actually had a decrease in the amount of abuse.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article....criminalization

The laws against all these crimes are not working either. link so why not legalize them too?

katnapper, on Nov 8 2010, 06:58 PM, said:

Legalizing drugs may make it easier to fight these other crimes that violate the laws you linked

An act done against an individual by another individual that robs that individual of life, liberty, property, freedom, or possession is illegal and must be enforced by the government. One of the few roles of the government. The act the person does while on drugs or not on drugs that involve any of the items mentioned does just that, and it is that act that should be illegal, not the drugs themselves

A person should have the right to rob him/her self of life, liberty, property, freedom, or possession, and the government should have no right to stop them. In doing so, the government is no longer protecting others from individuals being robbed of theses things, they are instead robbing this individual their right to do these things to them self; as the government does not own them.

IMO, a good way to create less government involvement in one's personal life, while not wasting resource, is to legalize drugs. This may free up resources that make it easier to prevent, respond, prosecute, and imprison people robbing others of their rights, and it may also reduce the incidences of drug abuse

DodgerKing, on Nov 8 2010, 10:07 PM, said:

And what will you do if you are wrong? Prohibition again? After millions of new addicts are created. I remember how well that worked the first time.

Man, you talk about drugs like an AA member talks about booze: all the time! If there's a post about drugs, you started it. You aren't a recovering addict, are you?

Kat,

Did you read the article? That will answer your question.

Plus, don't assume millions of addicts will be created. Do you actually believe the only thing preventing an addict from doing drugs is the law?

dan, on Nov 9 2010, 08:49 AM, said:

Nope. I live in an area full of alcoholics, pot heads and crack heads. I was beaten up by a meth head over nothing and my truck was hit three times by a guy who was probably high on cocaine. He hit it so hard he kept spinning it around and hitting it again. I see the effects of illegal and legal drug use every day.

DodgerKing, on Nov 9 2010, 09:12 AM, said:

No, I do not think that the only thing stopping ADDICTS from doing drugs is the law. The reason I do not believe that is because addicts are breaking the law and that is how they became addicts. I do believe however, that the fact that drugs are illegal stops law abiding citizens from using drugs and becoming addicts, esp as young adults when experimentation and rebellion is a normal part of growing up. Knowing that you will not get into college or get a good job because of a drug conviction makes many people think twice about using.

Just because people want to do something doesn't mean it should be made legal.

It depends a lot on the drug. In the case of marijuana, the answer is a definite yes.

Pid, on Nov 11 2010, 11:42 AM, said:

You and I think alike.

Timothy, on Nov 11 2010, 05:27 PM, said:

I am not as opposed to marijuana as I am other drugs. I still do not think it would be good. To me it is just opening another door to problems.

katnapper, on Nov 11 2010, 04:43 PM, said:

What problems?

Driving and other things while high? Marijuana doesn't make people want to do things. And in any case no-one is suggesting that driving while high should be legal. We can devote more resources to stopping that if we stop devoting so many resources to stopping marijuana use in general. This also is predicated on increased marijuana usage. Marijuana is already very widely available and used. I doubt its usage would increase much with legalization.

Health? Legalization would allow for regulation which would have more of an impact. Except for the smoke, which isn't a huge thing, marijuana is pretty harmless. And it comes out favorably compared to cigarettes, the amount you have to smoke to get high is much less than what someone would usually smoke from a tobacco cigarette. It is impossible to overdose on it (unlike alcohol).

Kids using it? The fact that it is illegal makes it MORE available to kids. No marijuana dealer cares about who they sell to because it is illegal anyway. Legal dealers would have greater reason to care and not sell to kids, because they don't want to lose their legal license. Marijuana use among teenagers is very high compared to other substances (especially when compared to adult usage), higher than cigarettes IIRC.

Compared to these you have a large host of reasons for why keeping it illegal is harmful:
- It introduces buyers into the black market, making it easier for them to become acquainted with harder drugs.
- The fact that it isn't harmful undermines attempts to warn young people about other, legitimately dangerous, drugs.
- It lowers the bar as far as respecting the law, and encourages lawlessness. Similar to the above in undermines attempts to make people obey the law when we have such stupid laws.
- Drives it into the black market, driving billions of dollars of business into the arms of cartels and other violent murderous elements very harmful to society. The lives saved by undermining the cartels and other black market violence should easily balance out marginal more accidents from driving while high.
- Makes it impossible to regulate it to make it safer and less harmful.
- We waste billions of dollars trying to fight it and imprisoning those associated with it.
- Imprisoning so many people, taking away their liberty for something that really isn't that bad.
- We lose out on sales, income, and other taxes associated with it, and so other things have to be taxed more heavily to make up for it.