Should Drugs Be Made Legal??

gcgirl

This is the burning question !

Mr. CooL ICE

All drugs?

gcgirl

yes everything!

super_furry

Nope.

Mr. CooL ICE

The holier than thou side of me says no. Some should, some shouldn't.

Xavi6

gcgirl wrote: »

yes everything!

Are you serious? Cop on. Of course they shouldn't.

I take it you're either a coke head or a junkie.

Fad

legalise them all!
then natural selction will kick in

gcgirl

Xavi6 wrote: »

Are you serious? Cop on. Of course they shouldn't.

I take it you're either a coke head or a junkie.

I don't do Drugs at all
Drink is Legal and I think that has caused more Heartache for People that anything else!

homah_7ft

Legalise all drugs for all people or all drugs for some people?

gcgirl

It Either Yes Or No !!

leninbenjamin

gcgirl wrote: »

It Either Yes Or No !!

then i'll pick Yo

l3LoWnA

Legalised and controlled - yes!

Guy:Incognito

gcgirl wrote: »

I don't do Drugs at all
Drink is Legal and I think that has caused more Heartache for People that anything else!

Exactly. So you want to make things worse by legalising drugs? :rolleyes:
The only reason the drug problem is as small as it is (sic) is because they are illegal. How many more people will try heroin if they can walk into a shop and buy it?

Drink, for the most part doesnt create muggings and crime in the way drugs do. We have lived with drink for a long time and its part of society.

People need to look beyond their own "ahh sure I just smoke a bit of hash" and look at the fact that your also talking about legalising hard and addictive drugs.

homah_7ft

If it's either yes or no then I will have to say no.

Seth Brundle

Drugs are bad - mmmkay

Dave!

Stekelly wrote: »

Exactly. So you want to make things worse by legalising drugs? :rolleyes:
The only reason the drug problem is as small as it is (sic) is because they are illegal. How many more people will try heroin if they can walk into a shop and buy it?

Who says it has to be on sale in every newsagents?

Answer me this -- where do you think someone is more likely to try heroin, at a party with mates, or in (for example) a GP's office?

Stekelly wrote: »

Drink, for the most part doesnt create muggings and crime in the way drugs do. We have lived with drink for a long time and its part of society.

Ask any domestic abuse victim, and chances are alcohol was a factor in the abuse. Marriage break-downs. Drink-related fatalities.

Just because "it's part of society" does not mean it's a desirable part of it. It's well recognised the heartache that alcohol causes to alot of people.

This is not a post to compare alcohol to other drugs, but alcohol has caused this country alot of problems, and it's about time people recognise that.

Stekelly wrote: »

People need to look beyond their own "ahh sure I just smoke a bit of hash" and look at the fact that your also talking about legalising hard and addictive drugs.

Well as a start, you don't seem too opposed to legalising marijuana. Is that right?

WindSock

Well we can't even take booze responsibly...


But it would free up our prisons and Gardai time.

Sam Vimes

Stekelly wrote: »

Exactly. So you want to make things worse by legalising drugs? :rolleyes:
The only reason the drug problem is as small as it is (sic) is because they are illegal. How many more people will try heroin if they can walk into a shop and buy it?

you're so right. no one does heroin now because its completely impossible to get. its illegal so how can anyone possibly get it !?!?!?!?!??!?!?

if heroin was legal i'd forget that it wrecks your life and pop down to the local centra and shoot up right now. the ONLY reason i don't do heroin is that i can't get my hands on it because its illegal and the government are 100% effective in keeping it out of the country.

and of course, that one guy in the country who flouts the law by selling it illegally is so conscientious that he asks for ID from all his clients because he couldn't live with himself if he gave it to someone under 18. its so much better that we're letting this guy sell it rather than one of those evil shops that would peddle it to all the kids

daiixi

Hell yes. I'd much rather the government tax drugs, let people know exactly what they're buying and stop dealers dealing. If drugs were legalised all those people who don't do drugs would still continue to not do drugs and those people who do take drugs will be having a much safer experience.

martin84

I think some should. Maybe just hash. I think it would be great to be able to go down to your local Spar and say, Hi just the indo (compact edition) and a quarter? Cheers.

RandolphEsq

Yore ma should be made legal

Capt'n Midnight

Alcohol and Nicotine are legal and kill more people than illegal drugs. That said there are a lot more users and I don't know the stats.

Drugs that are physically addictive should stay illegal.

The law should reflect that if a person took drugs then they should be liable for any and all consequences of their actions and no mitigating circumstances would apply. If someone needs a car for work then they should not have taken the first drink.

A lot of car accidents occur while people are under the influence, but not all drugs can be tested for as easily as alcohol. If you were to legalise X drugs then the Guards would need X breathalisers OR they could use a competance test like some sort of video game or balancing, not to see if you are drunk enough to require an alcohol test but as a sobriety test where failure means points etc. Go down like a lead balloon but how else can you ensure that people are fit to drive if they have a cocktail of substances each of which is just below their respective limits.

On the financial side, most petty crime in Dublin comes from two small areas and from junkies. The whole robbing/mugging to pay for the habit and other drug related crime would represent the main risk to a large section of the population. So maybe legalising some soft drugs might be the answer, but only as the lesser of two evils, have it highly taxes with health warnings and provide detectors for it so people under the influence could be prosecuted. Let's not forget that morphia and other such things were legal and acceptable at the turn of the previous century, but so was child labour and capital punishment and dumping unmarried mothers in psychiatric hospitals.

Guy:Incognito

Commander Vimes wrote: »

you're so right. no one does heroin now because its completely impossible to get. its illegal so how can anyone possibly get it !?!?!?!?!??!?!?

:rolleyes:

Theres a percentage of young people that grow up that would probably do drugs but arent around them so never get into it. Drugs being widespread would reach all those people. It would be socially acceptable to drugs so , like smoking, they'll probably "i'll give it a go"

Cheeky_gal

leninbenjamin wrote: »

then i'll pick Yo

bahahaha! I thought my bro ws the only one who did that....!! Makes me LOL every time!

On topic though, I think they should be made legal, it's people's perrogative what they want to do in life whether it's something brilliant or dumb, either way we're all humans, shouldn't have to live life been told you can't do this, you can't do that, you should know what you can and can't do. lol

is_that_so

I'd have to say no to all, but there are some worth considering, like the medicinal use of marijuana. As regards the social side of drugs, every one of my family and a good number of people I have met have "tried" smoking but few if any took up the habit. I am inclined to believe that drugs which are physically addictive will pose a much greater risk. Legal status IMO adds a degree of respectability to drugs, which I believe would make more people curious about them.

Alcohol which is always thrown up as the bete noir here is a personal choice. Its risks are well-known, the effects of its abuse are well-known and it can have a terrible toll on lives affected by it. On that basis and from what we have already seen from hard drug abuse I can see no sensible argument for the legalisation of such drugs.

Pigman II

I think middle-class drugs such as cocaine, wine and marijuana should be legalised but that working class drugs such as heroin, lager and tobacco should be banned.

jcoote

drugs should be legal i think..people seem to be dying from drug related incidents every day and you can be sure its not the drugs that kill em,its the stuff the drug in question is 'watered down' with thats messing people up...legailzed and controlled +1 here

dlofnep

I pick "yo". It's a cool combination of yes and no.

Sam Vimes

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Alcohol and Nicotine are legal and kill more people than illegal drugs. That said there are a lot more users and I don't know the stats.

Drugs that are physically addictive should stay illegal.

you're assuming that there is some sort of correlation between the legality of a drug and the propensity for someone to take it. the evidence shows no such correlation

Stekelly wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Theres a percentage of young people that grow up that would probably do drugs but arent around them so never get into it. Drugs being widespread would reach all those people. It would be socially acceptable to drugs so , like smoking, they'll probably "i'll give it a go"

drugs are already widespread. anybody who wants to do drugs can do them. making them illegal doesn't stop anyone


and making them legal and heavily regulating them doesn't automatically make them socially acceptable any more than making them illegal stops them being socially acceptable.

what gives you the impression that people aren't already saying "i'll give it a go"?

people know the risks of cocaine and heroin already. some people still choose to take them. if you change the legal status of the drugs, you don't change the harmful effects. i don't think that anyone who doesn't currently do heroin would start just because the government decided to sell it in shops to take the power away from the gangs.

here's the post i made on the likely affects of legalisation last week
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=54561248&postcount=350

doonothing

Stekelly wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Theres a percentage of young people that grow up that would probably do drugs but arent around them so never get into it. Drugs being widespread would reach all those people. It would be socially acceptable to drugs so , like smoking, they'll probably "i'll give it a go"

Why would making drugs legal make people "give it a go"...?
Drugs are readily available in Ireland. I'm pretty sure more people choose not to do heroin because it is dangerous and not because it's illegal.


Taking drugs out of the hands of dodgy bastards on the street and bringing production into laboratories will make them safer, less readily available, and reduce crime.
Isn't something crazy like 10% of the worlds economy is in the illegal drugs trade? Let's take that money and build a hospital...

Rb

If it were up to me, I'd legalise, regulate and tax marijuana and MDMA/E, then make the sentences a lot tougher for possession/sale/intent to supply of coke/speed/heroin/etc.

Stekelly wrote:

Theres a percentage of young people that grow up that would probably do drugs but arent around them so never get into it. Drugs being widespread would reach all those people. It would be socially acceptable to drugs so , like smoking, they'll probably "i'll give it a go"

Drugs are already widespread. Unless you're talking about a very, very small percentage (who probably live in the back arse of nowhere with a population of 50 and never leave the place), everyone will encounter drugs at some point, and also be given the opportunity to try them.
Those who choose not to would likely stick to their choice if drugs were legalised.

doonothing

doonothing wrote: »

Taking drugs out of the hands of dodgy bastards on the street and bringing production into laboratories will make them safer, less readily available, and reduce crime.
Isn't something crazy like 10% of the worlds economy is in the illegal drugs trade? Let's take that money and build a hospital...

Yes, just think of how life would be different...
No crack dens, No rich people with no apparent income, fewer deaths caused by bad drugs, fewer taking it up in the first place, HUGE tax take for the government.

But the OP is asking for a black white answer to an area with many shades of grey!

Are we including DDT for example.

Would be better to target the third world countries where the drugs are grown in the first place and enable the farmers to earn a living from growing something else, bio-fuels anyone.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Lands Leaving

It would be better to legalise drugs if, and only if, it was handled properly.

A registration system, so users are known and as such if they commit a crime under the influence of a drug they will be punished more harshly, for abusing the system, it would also help with keeping tabs on how much drugs are being consumed by people and so it would be obvious if they spent over their means that they were stealing from somewhere.

Total personal liability. It would have to be totally clear that its your own risk, and there would need to be no way someone could sue the government if they OD or suffer ill effects.

If they could also ensure the drugs are 'safe' (in terms of nothing added that isn't mentioned) then thats another bonus, jobs could be created in manufacture, distribution, registration, etc. So it would hugely benefit the economy in terms of jobs and the tax on the drugs, also less strain on the gardai and emergency services.

So it becomes simply a personal choice, closely monitored, cutting out the dealers, running druglords out of business, basically stopping a lot of organised crime, while monitoring the people who commit petty crimes like mugging and theft to fund their habit, so that its more obvious who's committing the crime.

The only argument against legalisation is that people will abuse drugs or think they're safe because they're legal. But we're not stupid. There would be health warnings. If you choose to take drugs you risk the consequences of addiction or health problems. Simple.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

constitutionus

i'd be infavour of legalising and producing drugs ala the pharmacutical trade. mainly to ensure what drugs are out there are produced to standard and to take out the criminal element.

when prohibition was in the states in the 20s its virtually created the mafia and the eventual legalisation of drink took away alot of their power (which coincidently is now in the OTHER prohibited substances ) and during that peroid a hell of alot of people died and went blind from substandard hooch cooked up in bathtubs to supply the demand. whens the last time ya heard of someone going blind from a pint of bud or a gin and tonic?

i dont like saying this, and im not happy about it, but if a large enough number of the population is doing drugs and the rest of society dont dob them into the gardai then you have to accept that by consensus society wants drugs and you either face up to that and leglislate accordingly to look out for the wider national intrests or you do what we're doing now which is stick our collective heads in the ground and ignore it.

personally if i have to choose i want the gov making the drugs. taxing them. and using the ringfenced money to build rehab centres and funding education campaigns focusing on primary school kids so we end up with something akin to whats going on against tobacco now.

as things stand all were doing is making millionaires out of thugs who are absolutely delighted with the way things are.

Genghiz Cohen

No, and drink and fags should go too.

dlofnep

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

No, and drink and fags should go too.

And we should all be forced to go to church every sunday!

People are free to make whatever choices they like in life. I smoked for 8 or 9 years and quit of my own free will because I didn't want to smoke anymore. I drink occasionally because I like unwinding and having a laugh.

You only live once, and I'd rather live til I was 50 and enjoyed my life than lived til I was 90 and not experienced life.

dlofnep

dlofnep wrote: »

You only live once, and I'd rather live til I was 50 and enjoyed my life than lived til I was 90 and not experienced life.

That depends on what type of life you want! If you get damaged by drugs in your late teen/early twenties you may well only live to 50 but it'll feel like 90 as your quality of life will be crap!

Genghiz Cohen

dlofnep wrote: »

And we should all be forced to go to church every sunday!

People are free to make whatever choices they like in life. I smoked for 8 or 9 years and quit of my own free will because I didn't want to smoke anymore. I drink occasionally because I like unwinding and having a laugh.

You only live once, and I'd rather live til I was 50 and enjoyed my life than lived til I was 90 and not experienced life.

List 3 good things that keeping drink and fags will do.

MagicMarker

Well this is a well thought out question:rolleyes:

Yes to some drugs, no to others.

herbieflowers

Argh! I'm sick of these bloody drug threads! Do you take Cocaine? Do you take Heroin? Katy French dies! Waterford youth dies! Should cannabis be legalised! Should drugs be legalised! Argh!

MagicMarker

herbieflowers wrote: »

Argh! I'm sick of these bloody drug threads! Do you take Cocaine? Do you take Heroin? Katy French dies! Waterford youth dies! Should cannabis be legalised! Should drugs be legalised! Argh!

Let's not forget my 'do you take sugar' thread. God!!! Credit where credit's due ffs!!:)

herbieflowers

apologies indeed, sir

GerryRyan

They're never going to go away - but Gov. control on them would sort out a hell of a lot of problems. Most of the kick people get from them comes from them being illegal in the first place (at least the way I see it with a group I used to hang about with).

Could someone post up the different classes and examples ? I'm guessing hash is class C or something. Just out of curiosity.

JC 2K3

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

List 3 good things that keeping drink and fags will do.

There's no good reason that the sale and advertising of fags to still be legal IMO, but as for keeping drink legal, it enables people to a have fun in a particular manner which is not possible otherwise. It's not "sad" or "pathetic" and it only becomes that way when it's overused, but just because some people might overuse it doesn't mean it should be illegal. We all should be considered responsible adults capable of making our own choices and our laws should reflect that.

I've thought about this issue a lot, and I come up with different ideas all the time of how a system with drugs legalised would work. I think that alcohol has got to be regulated properly first before any other drugs are legalised. When the other drugs are legalised they would have to be very strictly regulated(at first, anyway. I personally think that the shockingly low amount of damage the drugs would do to society would naturally cause a relaxation in strictness of regulation). Information leaflets on how to use drugs correctly and sensibly would be distributed freely. If done correctly it simply wouldn't be as bad as anti-drugs people make out.

togster

Deja fcukin vu again...

The Real B-man

no.

dlofnep

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

List 3 good things that keeping drink and fags will do.

I don't smoke, and I couldn't care less about keeping smoking legal. Some people find smoking relaxing. If they smoke, it's their prerogative.

As for drinking.

1) Increases the craic.
2) Removes all inhibitions and self conciousness.
3) Improves your dancing skills, tenfold.

I'll tell you - if I went to a club sober, I'd go home after 20 minutes because I'd be bored off me trolley. People drink because when they drink they forget about all the bullcrap conformity they are meant to follow by society and be themself a bit more and just enjoy themselves.

Sure abuse leads to liver damage and so forth - but who gives a crap. Just drink in moderation.

Genghiz Cohen

JC 2K3 wrote: »

Information leaflets on how to use drugs correctly and sensibly would be distributed freely.

You mean something like this?
Thats working so far (yeah right).

JC 2K3 wrote: »

It's not "sad" or "pathetic" and it only becomes that way when it's overused,

No, it is sad and pathetic that people need to alter the functioning of their brain to "have fun".

dlofnep

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

No, it is sad and pathetic that people need to alter the functioning of their brain to "have fun".

No it's not. Under the influence of alcohol, the craic is ninety. Sober people couldn't find craic in a crackhouse.

Life is all about experimenting.. You're just uptight. Now stop moping Harry Potter. This is Ireland. We drink and have a craic. Deal with it.