Let's keep this simple. I'm only asking a question here. Let me begin with the broad statement that I don't smoke, drink or use drugs. I hate the drug culture and the people who use drugs for recreation or addiction.I've arrested thousands of users and dealers over the course of time I was a policeman. I always felt that the Drug War was a lost cause and pondered better ways of dealing with this huge problem.
If all currently illegal drugs were made legal the profits from this activity would evaporate. The drug producing countries, Drug, Lords, and Drug Czars would all be put out of business in a single day.
Sure the drugs would be sold legally but the price would drop like a rock since they cost no more to produce than sugar or coffee. The seemingly endless criminal enrichment would finally end. That's the only punishment that would really work.
The huge amount of cash spent on drug enforcement could go directly to help those addicted kick the habit in a voluntary treatment setting. I have long believed that treatment works only for those who want to end their drug use.
The reduction of murders and property crimes brought about by legalization would be dramatic to say the least.
Laws against driving while impaired and such could still be enforced. All government entitlements could be denied to those addicts that don't seek treatment. Legalizing drugs would never or should never make drug use acceptable for society or employers.
I don't think any of us will start using this poison just because it is legal.
I want comments on this issue please.
Comments
Plus, you lose a great excuse for repressive laws.
That's why it will never be legalized.
Vee4250
Things you’re not supposed to have are too often far more attractive than the stuff just anyone can get.
Come on now and give me some clear and convincing evidence that the Drug War does more than make scum bags rich...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/chernikov/chernikov30.html
I don’t care if addicts get “good” stuff or not. The addicts can live by the buyer beware program just like they do today.
On the other hand I support free quality treatment only for those for those who seek it.
First, legalize the use of all drugs. No one should be able to tell you what to put in your body, that is true, so be done with it.
After that... Execute all dealers. Don't pussy foot around with fines or jailtime, just execute them. And, if anyone can help the cops catch a dealer, then pay them for the service. And, as for dealers, define dealers as anyone who transfers the substance to anyone who lives outside of their household. Buddy comes over? Hope he has his own...
What will happen is there will be a LOT fewer people who will be willing to carry it or sell it because the penalty is simply too steep, and people will either end up making or growing their own. Hey, if they can do it on their own, then more power to them. I still think they are idiots, but it is their choice if they want to be a complete tool.
Then Darwinism will take over and kill those who are too stupid to make it right, and there isn't anything overly wrong with that either.
You're serious? Please.
We're having people break into pharmacies and stores now just to steal drugs now. What the heck do you think would happen then?
If they can't buy them on the street, what the hell would happen then?
give me break
Under legalization, what would you do with the millions of people that have criminal records from the 40+ years of heavy enforcement?
I think the only fair thing would be a blanket pardon for mere possession/trafficking offenses.
JM
American businesses and government agencies should be able to avoid hiring people, who use, have abused drugs or alcohol in the present or past.
A blanket pardon may well amount to an ex Post Factos law in violation of the Constitution.
On the other hand, so much of the American economy is based around the drug war. Think of how many people are employed building and manning prisons. And what happens to the economies of Columbia et al when their principal export disappears?
Also, in this day and age, a criminal record has a much greater lifetime effect than it did in the Prohibition era. In the 1920s, you could walk out of prison, move to another state, and reinvent yourself - there was no NCIC, no photo ID, no SSNs. And most jobs were manual labor paying by the piece or hour: the boss assumed you were going to steal from the company, kept things locked up accordingly, and paid you for the work you actually did. Nowadays, a misde arrest in Peoria is accessible to cops and employers in Point Barrow. Most jobs involve trust - no one wants to hire a jailbird to work the till at McDonalds.
(Of course, if the law you broke was entering the country illegally, lots of people will hire you - but that's a topic for another post!)
The War on Drugs has helped create a permanent underclass of men who are unqualified for any decent jobs. Pardoning them would help the economy re-absorb them (and maybe reduce the market for immigrant workers).
JM
One strange worry I have is what happens to all the criminal gangs who've been engaged in narcotics up to now. After the end of Prohibition, we saw the mafia move into less profitable but more sophisticated and socially dangerous areas, like unions and gambling. Of course, a lot of this had to do with the FBI turned a blind eye but by the fifties, a lot of industry in this country was under the direct control of organized crime.
So what happens to this huge class of unemployed males? Does the economy reabsorb them or do they simply move on to other illegal activities?