Why ban smoking drugs IF..

[Bonzo77]

Cigarettes are legal yet criminal gangs counterfeit and sell them.

 

Criminal gangs won't just disappear because you legalese cannabis, they will just find another way of making money illegally.

 

That's because our government tax cigarettes so much.

 

Anyway, counterfeit cigarettes and drug crime are really not comparable.

[angos]

That's because our government tax cigarettes so much.

 

Anyway, counterfeit cigarettes and drug crime are really not comparable.

 

Is that one of the arguments for making them legal, it will allow the government to tax them, or do you want them to have special treatment and be legal and tax free.

[Cyclone]

I haven't argued that the government could make money by taxing it. But this is a bit of a concern don't you think.

 

 

What will the cost to the NHS be as consumption increases.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 08:52 ----------

 

 

 

Treatment would appear to be the reason crime fell, and not just making it legal.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 09:00 ----------

 

 

 

 

So again its not the legalisation of drugs that will cut crime, consumption and the hill effects of drug use, it is treatment and encouraging people to stop using them.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 09:01 ----------

 

 

Criminal gangs smuggle and sell alcohol and cigarettes, they can both be bought legally yet many people choose to buy from criminals.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 09:03 ----------

 

 

All the links you supplied claim they are bad, why else would people using them need treatment.

 

The improvements studied in those links have all come about as a combination of legalisation and treatment. Treatment on it's own is already available.

You obviously cherry picked the bits you thought you could spin, ignoring the drop in drug use that occurred after legalisation in Portugal for example.

 

The evidence quite clearly shows that legalisation is better than the failed "war on drugs". So why do you continue to argue against it?

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 09:48 ----------

 

That's because our government tax cigarettes so much.

 

Anyway, counterfeit cigarettes and drug crime are really not comparable.

 

They are comparable, particularly when considering decriminalisation. If some drugs were on the same footing as tobacco then the level of crime would likely be the same as well.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 09:54 ----------

 

To quote a few parts of those articles myself

 

The study estimates that a lower cost of policing, criminal justice and drug treatment could save the country £200-300 million.

 

Meanwhile, tax revenue from licencing the drug could raise between £0.4-0.9 billion

 

The no-win 'drug war' keeps driving up the price.

Users commit crimes to cover the cost.

The public is the loser.

 

How the law should treat the distribution and consumption of psychoactive drugs is an issue on which reasonable people can differ. There is, however, no room to doubt that legalizing such drugs would greatly reduce our crime rates.

 

Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half

 

So, it reduces crime (primarily petty theft and mugging), it also reduces the 'crime' of actually possessing drugs since that is no longer a crime. It free's up the police to focus on other areas, it costs the country less in enforcement, policing, treatment, court time, prison time and space, it increases safety for both users and the general public, it generates tax income... And so on.

[angos]

The improvements studied in those links have all come about as a combination of legalisation and treatment. Treatment on it's own is already available.

You obviously cherry picked the bits you thought you could spin, ignoring the drop in drug use that occurred after legalisation in Portugal for example.

I was thinking the same about you, you posted links to support your stance which clearly supported my stance.

 

 

 

The evidence quite clearly shows that legalisation is better than the failed "war on drugs". So why do you continue to argue against it?

I agree, we need legislation which seriously restricts drug use, criminalises its distribution and provides readily available easy to access drug rehabilitation.

 

 

 

To quote a few parts of those articles myself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, it reduces crime (primarily petty theft and mugging), it also reduces the 'crime' of actually possessing drugs since that is no longer a crime. It free's up the police to focus on other areas, it costs the country less in enforcement, policing, treatment, court time, prison time and space, it increases safety for both users and the general public, it generates tax income... And so on.

 

All of which can be achieved without legalising drugs.

[RootsBooster]

Mr.Smith/Maxmaximus/Angos, would you mind sharing the source(s) of your information with us?

[Peer Gynt]

Yep and we all end up funding their treatment.

 

There is growing evidence that people with serious mental illness, including depression and psychosis, are more likely to use cannabis or have used it for long periods of time in the past. Regular use of the drug has appeared to double the risk of developing a psychotic episode or long-term schizophrenia. However, does cannabis cause depression and schizophrenia or do people with these disorders use it as a medication?

 

Over the past few years, research has strongly suggested that there is a clear link between early cannabis use and later mental health problems in those with a genetic vulnerability - and that there is a particular issue with the use of cannabis by adolescents.

 

You won't convince the druggie fans on here.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 13:55 ----------

 

The large body of evidence that shows that this is the likely outcome.

 

Show us then.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 13:56 ----------

 

Mr.Smith/Maxmaximus/Angos, would you mind sharing the source(s) of your information with us?

Why don't you look it up for yourself then you won't be able to ridicule it.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 13:57 ----------

 

Any evidence for that or is it just an empty soundbite?

Too idle to look it up for yourself are you.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 13:59 ----------

 

Originally Posted by Halibut View Post

Any evidence for that or is it just an empty soundbite?

 

Do you have any evidence that the study is fraudulent.

 

Halibut never contributes to any topic, Halibut just snipes.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 14:01 ----------

 

I haven't argued for it being illegal or legalised, I simply stated the fact that its not only the people that choose to take drugs that suffer, many people suffer as a consequences of other people choosing to take drugs.

And that is another good point, children have died through spaced out parents leaving drugs around.

 

---------- Post added 25-10-2013 at 14:02 ----------

 

Yes I agree the "war on drugs" isn't working, we'll have to see what happens in the USA, and hope that politicians and medical experts won't continue to be so divided on the issue.

 

So you'd like another danger let loose on the streets would you?

[RootsBooster]

Show us then.

Too idle to look it up for yourself are you.

So you demand that Halibut provides evidence for his claim, then call him idle for not trawling the internet for evidence of Mr.Smith/Maxmaximus/Angos' claim?

Why don't you look it up for yourself then you won't be able to ridicule it.

...this bit doesn't even make sense

[Peer Gynt]

So you demand that Halibut provides evidence for his claim, then call him idle for not trawling the internet for evidence of Mr.Smith/Maxmaximus/Angos' claim?

 

...this bit doesn't even make sense

 

You don't have to trawl it it's quite simple unless you're on something that is.

[RootsBooster]

You don't have to trawl it it's quite simple unless you're on something that is.

 

Is it something simple enough that you could do it, with regards to Halibut's claim?

[Peer Gynt]

Is it something simple enough that you could do it, with regards to Halibut's claim?

Why should I look it up for Halibut he is the one refuting evidence just like other idle people or is it that they're really in denial and jealous of those of us who don't need to become junkies to enjoy life.