The War on Drugs

[Mothership]

How do you feel about the war on drugs? Not really just marijuana, but all drugs. Is it necessary and needed or is it just pointless?

Personally I believe it's pretty unnecessary.

[Φρανκομβριτ]

Completely pointless.

Take the marijuana plant for example. Everyone thinks it's illegal because it's a horrible drug. No one thinks for even a second that it has to do with the fact that hemp would put many industries that are well established out of business, including pulp and paper mills, cotton manufacturing, and possibly ooil companies.

All you need to do is look at a company like Portugal and see how things went when they legalised ALL drugs. It's pathetic....

[Gigablue]

I agree with the idea of wanting to reduce drug use, but the war on drugs (I'm assuming you mean the American one) has been a terrible failure. The way to reduce drug use is through education and reducing poverty, not increasing sentences for drug use. Legalizing drugs would help in regulating them, and would also let the government make a huge amount of money.

[Human]

Legalize marijuana and most drugs, regulate and tax them and everything is good.
The war is useless as it's just a waste of millions to billions and ultimately, it's pointless as drugs are always getting through.

[Twilly F. Sniper]

How do you feel about the war on drugs? Not really just marijuana, but all drugs. Is it necessary and needed or is it just pointless?

Personally I believe it's pretty unnecessary.

Partially necessary.
Drugs cause:

Violence (often murder/manslaughter)
Rape
Car Accidents (theres alot of truth to that)
Trouble in general.

If people want that though its alright.

[Korashk]

Partially necessary.
Drugs cause:

Violence (often murder/manslaughter)
Rape
Car Accidents (theres alot of truth to that)
Trouble in general.

If people want that though its alright.
In general, drugs don't cause those things; drug prohibition does.

- Prohibition FUNDS drug cartels and allows them to do all of the things that they do, like murder 50,000+ Mexicans.
- Because of prohibition drug addicts can't seek the help that they need, which causes them to remain addicts and do things like rob places and/or hurt people for money
- Prohibition ALLOWS law enforcement to murder otherwise peaceful people in drug raids without repercussions

Your car accident point is rather meaningless, the drugs that people typically use and then drive on are legal.

[West Coast Sheriff]

I agree with the idea of wanting to reduce drug use, but the war on drugs (I'm assuming you mean the American one) has been a terrible failure. The way to reduce drug use is through education and reducing poverty, not increasing sentences for drug use. Legalizing drugs would help in regulating them, and would also let the government make a huge amount of money.

I think the war on drugs is just pointless, yes drugs are a terrible thing [excluding marijuana(but it still is terrible for teens)]. It's a war that's isn't going to be won over. It is just resulting with more deaths than there already are from this cause. Drugs shouldn't be used by anyone(like I'm one to talk) but still. They are a terrible thing and I'm not saying they aren't but I think trying to fight the cartels is out of our reach and we have bigger problems to deal with.

[Zenos]

The war on Drugs is a failure started by late Prsident Nixion back in the 70's,and the governemt's been profitting off of it ever since.

[Guillermo]

The way I see it is that it's a repeat of alcohol being banned back in the 1920's. When this happened, crime (unrelated to smuggling alcohol) went up and people found a way to get alcohol anyway. So, prohibition obviously doesn't solve anything and spending billions of dollars trying to stop drug cartels and from people smuggling drugs in is not working either. It's just pointless and too much money is spent that could be used for other programs.

[bloodshot_eyes]

Drugs are always gonna be around. The war on drugs isn't really of much use because even if you illegalize drugs such as marijuana, coke, or stuff like that, you still have to worry about prescription drugs and inhalants since those are way easier to aquire than some people think.

[ArsenicCatNip]

In general, drugs don't cause those things; drug prohibition does.

- Prohibition FUNDS drug cartels and allows them to do all of the things that they do, like murder 50,000+ Mexicans.
- Because of prohibition drug addicts can't seek the help that they need, which causes them to remain addicts and do things like rob places and/or hurt people for money
- Prohibition ALLOWS law enforcement to murder otherwise peaceful people in drug raids without repercussions

Your car accident point is rather meaningless, the drugs that people typically use and then drive on are legal.

Drug addicts can go to rehab for illegal substance abuse, but I do agree that prohibitions do fund druglords, the prison system stimulates the economy and because of that they enforce stricter laws. I don't exactly know why politicians spout "If we don't learn from history, we're doomed to repeat it" when prohibitions never work. In fact Illegal drugs are created BECAUSE of prohibition. For example Meth, and crack. They aren't natural as say tobacco or marijuana and were made because substances are illegal.

[Φρανκομβριτ]

Legalize marijuana and most drugs, regulate and tax them and everything is good.
The war is useless as it's just a waste of millions to billions and ultimately, it's pointless as drugs are always getting through.
:checkmark: you got it. Just like tobacco!

In general, drugs don't cause those things; drug prohibition does.

- Prohibition FUNDS drug cartels and allows them to do all of the things that they do, like murder 50,000+ Mexicans.
- Because of prohibition drug addicts can't seek the help that they need, which causes them to remain addicts and do things like rob places and/or hurt people for money
- Prohibition ALLOWS law enforcement to murder otherwise peaceful people in drug raids without repercussions

Your car accident point is rather meaningless, the drugs that people typically use and then drive on are legal.

:checkmark: Again, look at Portugal and how crime rate and addiction have dropped since the legalisation of ALL drugs!

The way I see it is that it's a repeat of alcohol being banned back in the 1920's. When this happened, crime (unrelated to smuggling alcohol) went up and people found a way to get alcohol anyway. So, prohibition obviously doesn't solve anything and spending billions of dollars trying to stop drug cartels and from people smuggling drugs in is not working either. It's just pointless and too much money is spent that could be used for other programs.

:checkmark: An even better point, why outlaw something when we can just tax the shit out of it?

[Mothership]

All you need to do is look at a company like Portugal and see how things went when they legalised ALL drugs. It's pathetic....
Portugal didn't legalize all drugs, they decriminalized them. Legalization and decriminalization are two very different things.
The way Portugal runs this situation is every drug is decriminalized, meaning that it's still a no-no to the police and government and whatnot but doing the drugs isn't really that big of a deal to them. So technically you could shoot up heroin in the streets if you wanted to, and the police probably wouldn't do anything. But if drug use starts becoming a problem, instead of fining the users or sending them to jail or prison, they send them to counseling and rehabilitation centers. Some argue with "why should I be spending my tax dollars on these druggies so they can get help when it's their problem in the first place?" Well, either way you're going to be paying your tax dollars for them because even if they go to prison you have to pay for the processes that get them into prison. And personally, I would rather be spending my money on helping people curb their addiction as opposed to just throwing them in jail.

To the war on drugs in general, like I said before, I don't believe it's necessary at all. Prohibition of drugs has caused more problems than it would if all drugs were decriminalized. Take the prohibition of alcohol for example. As said above, people found a way to get alcohol anyway, and huge criminals such as Al Capone and the Kennedy's arose and got alcohol around even though it was illegal.
As a teenager myself, I know that it's actually easier to get illegal drugs than it is to get legal things such as alcohol or tobacco. With alcohol and tobacco, not only do you have to have the money to buy the products, but you have to have someone of age to go in and buy it. They would probably want a little extra money just because they went in their and got it, and if they're adults they probably don't have a whole lot of time on their hands because of work and whatnot so they couldn't always perform that task for you. But with illegal drugs, all you need is the money. The dealer couldn't care less if you're 10 or 100 as long as you have the money to pay for it.
Basically the whole point of this post is prohibition has caused more problems than solutions. If drugs were decriminalized or even legalized, they would not only be harder to get but the "joy" of doing something illegal because it's illegal would be lost. If there are no dealers to introduce users to harder drugs, then users won't do harder drugs, which goes with the "marijuana gateway theory" bullshit.

[Φρανκομβριτ]

Portugal didn't legalize all drugs, they decriminalized them. Legalization and decriminalization are two very different things.
The way Portugal runs this situation is every drug is decriminalized, meaning that it's still a no-no to the police and government and whatnot but doing the drugs isn't really that big of a deal to them. So technically you could shoot up heroin in the streets if you wanted to, and the police probably wouldn't do anything. But if drug use starts becoming a problem, instead of fining the users or sending them to jail or prison, they send them to counseling and rehabilitation centers. Some argue with "why should I be spending my tax dollars on these druggies so they can get help when it's their problem in the first place?" Well, either way you're going to be paying your tax dollars for them because even if they go to prison you have to pay for the processes that get them into prison. And personally, I would rather be spending my money on helping people curb their addiction as opposed to just throwing them in jail.

To the war on drugs in general, like I said before, I don't believe it's necessary at all. Prohibition of drugs has caused more problems than it would if all drugs were decriminalized. Take the prohibition of alcohol for example. As said above, people found a way to get alcohol anyway, and huge criminals such as Al Capone and the Kennedy's arose and got alcohol around even though it was illegal.
As a teenager myself, I know that it's actually easier to get illegal drugs than it is to get legal things such as alcohol or tobacco. With alcohol and tobacco, not only do you have to have the money to buy the products, but you have to have someone of age to go in and buy it. They would probably want a little extra money just because they went in their and got it, and if they're adults they probably don't have a whole lot of time on their hands because of work and whatnot so they couldn't always perform that task for you. But with illegal drugs, all you need is the money. The dealer couldn't care less if you're 10 or 100 as long as you have the money to pay for it.
Basically the whole point of this post is prohibition has caused more problems than solutions. If drugs were decriminalized or even legalized, they would not only be harder to get but the "joy" of doing something illegal because it's illegal would be lost. If there are no dealers to introduce users to harder drugs, then users won't do harder drugs, which goes with the "marijuana gateway theory" bullshit.

Wow, I can't believe I fumbled that one! Thank you for the correction, I had a few beers last night.

I unfortunately don't believe decriminalisation is the answer, as there is a massive tax benefit we can gain from this group of individuals. As you also mentioned above, it controls the quality and vending of the substances, which as well cuts down on gang activity.

[ArsenicCatNip]

Portugal didn't legalize all drugs, they decriminalized them. Legalization and decriminalization are two very different things.
The way Portugal runs this situation is every drug is decriminalized, meaning that it's still a no-no to the police and government and whatnot but doing the drugs isn't really that big of a deal to them. So technically you could shoot up heroin in the streets if you wanted to, and the police probably wouldn't do anything. But if drug use starts becoming a problem, instead of fining the users or sending them to jail or prison, they send them to counseling and rehabilitation centers. Some argue with "why should I be spending my tax dollars on these druggies so they can get help when it's their problem in the first place?" Well, either way you're going to be paying your tax dollars for them because even if they go to prison you have to pay for the processes that get them into prison. And personally, I would rather be spending my money on helping people curb their addiction as opposed to just throwing them in jail.

To the war on drugs in general, like I said before, I don't believe it's necessary at all. Prohibition of drugs has caused more problems than it would if all drugs were decriminalized. Take the prohibition of alcohol for example. As said above, people found a way to get alcohol anyway, and huge criminals such as Al Capone and the Kennedy's arose and got alcohol around even though it was illegal.
As a teenager myself, I know that it's actually easier to get illegal drugs than it is to get legal things such as alcohol or tobacco. With alcohol and tobacco, not only do you have to have the money to buy the products, but you have to have someone of age to go in and buy it. They would probably want a little extra money just because they went in their and got it, and if they're adults they probably don't have a whole lot of time on their hands because of work and whatnot so they couldn't always perform that task for you. But with illegal drugs, all you need is the money. The dealer couldn't care less if you're 10 or 100 as long as you have the money to pay for it.
Basically the whole point of this post is prohibition has caused more problems than solutions. If drugs were decriminalized or even legalized, they would not only be harder to get but the "joy" of doing something illegal because it's illegal would be lost. If there are no dealers to introduce users to harder drugs, then users won't do harder drugs, which goes with the "marijuana gateway theory" bullshit.

Gateway theory is just something they want to pin on the substance because most studies of ill-effects are inconclusive(such as addiction to marijuana) or need further research(such as marijuana causing schizophrenia) so they put together a puzzle of addicts who abused hard drugs AND marijuana, it's all just propaganda in my opinion, a person chooses to do drugs, they're not under the constant "hypnotic spell of the reefer" forever.

[Mothership]

Gateway theory is just something they want to pin on the substance because most studies of ill-effects are inconclusive(such as addiction to marijuana) or need further research(such as marijuana causing schizophrenia) so they put together a puzzle of addicts who abused hard drugs AND marijuana, it's all just propaganda in my opinion, a person chooses to do drugs, they're not under the constant "hypnotic spell of the reefer" forever.
I agree 100%. Most negative things about marijuana were brought up during the 40s and 70s when prohibition first started and when Nixon wanted everyone to hate marijuana. Nowadays most negative things about weed are disproven myths or just aren't known for sure because of lack of research. The gateway theory is most definitely a myth.

[Texas warrior]

Who are the richest people on earth right now. The drug lords, thats right the richest people are earth are crimenuls. Now what's is the problem with this picture people? So regardless of if you think that drugs are bad, is not having a drug lord as the richest person on earth worse?

[Twilly F. Sniper]

In general, drugs don't cause those things; drug prohibition does.

- Prohibition FUNDS drug cartels and allows them to do all of the things that they do, like murder 50,000+ Mexicans.
- Because of prohibition drug addicts can't seek the help that they need, which causes them to remain addicts and do things like rob places and/or hurt people for money
- Prohibition ALLOWS law enforcement to murder otherwise peaceful people in drug raids without repercussions

Your car accident point is rather meaningless, the drugs that people typically use and then drive on are legal.

This changes my whole opinion. This war is as pointless as pornography.