Tory think tank recommends drug legalisation

[Bonzo77]

That's a very naive view. Cannabis is well known as a gateway drug and once users get used to the high it gives them they inevitably get bored and move onto harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Once onto these seriously addictive drugs they have to steal to fund their addiction, hence in the long term crime does go up. This is why I believe all drugs should remain illegal.

 

That's not true. I've never been tempted to try heroin. Plus, if you don't have to go to a pusher to buy cannabis, you're far less likely to even consider harder drugs.

[Cyclone]

That's a very naive view. Cannabis is well known as a gateway drug and once users get used to the high it gives them they inevitably get bored and move onto harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Once onto these seriously addictive drugs they have to steal to fund their addiction, hence in the long term crime does go up. This is why I believe all drugs should remain illegal.

 

This is quite simply ignorance and nonsense.

 

How can people post things that are so lacking in evidential support and still sleep at night?

[onewheeldave]

That's a very naive view. Cannabis is well known as a gateway drug and once users get used to the high it gives them they inevitably get bored and move onto harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Once onto these seriously addictive drugs they have to steal to fund their addiction, hence in the long term crime does go up. This is why I believe all drugs should remain illegal.

 

No it's not- cannabis as a gateway drug was a standard part of the old 'demonisation/disinformation' campaign, but it's not true.

 

That's a very naive view. Cannabis is well known as a gateway drug and once users get used to the high it gives them they inevitably get bored and move onto harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Once onto these seriously addictive drugs they have to steal to fund their addiction, hence in the long term crime does go up. This is why I believe all drugs should remain illegal.

 

Not true. I know a lot of cannabis users, and I don't know any that moved onto heroin, or, even tried it.

[Mr Clowning]

I love how people think legalising it will suddenly eradicate all the problems and issues related to it.

 

Thank God they made alcohol legal, that doesn't cause any problems now does it!

 

Would you swap the problems associated with alcohol for those with cannabis ?

 

I would sooner walk past a group of stoners than a group of drunks.

 

I once talked to a prison officer about his stance on cannabis and he said if it was down to him he would give it all the inmates as it makes his job far easier when dealing with them when they were stoned.

 

The prominent argument against legalising cannabis is that it is a gate way drug to harder stuff but if they have no control on its use anyhow after spending billions keeping it illegal and people still end up on hard drugs, then surely they should focus on what really is the problem with the money and just tackle the problem of hard drug use.

[SpikeMac]

How can people post things that are so lacking in evidential support and still sleep at night?

 

Probably stoned:)

[Halibut]

Your first point is laughable.

 

Your second point - If it's not a crime, ie it's made legal, then there would be no need to counter a crime, as it wouldn't be one.

 

Is that an argument for decriminalising everything?

 

Clearly not, unless you're terminally thick.

[turtles]

That's a very naive view. Cannabis is well known as a gateway drug and once users get used to the high it gives them they inevitably get bored and move onto harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Once onto these seriously addictive drugs they have to steal to fund their addiction, hence in the long term crime does go up. This is why I believe all drugs should remain illegal.

 

I've never read such ignorant drivel in my life.

 

How can you possibly call someone naive, and then claim that cannabis is a gateway drug which leads to users stealing and crime?

 

Are you ivanana's alt account?

 

---------- Post added 01-05-2014 at 17:29 ----------

 

Would you swap the problems associated with alcohol for those with cannabis ?

 

I would sooner walk past a group of stoners than a group of drunks.

 

I once talked to a prison officer about his stance on cannabis and he said if it was down to him he would give it all the inmates as it makes his job far easier when dealing with them when they were stoned.

 

The prominent argument against legalising cannabis is that it is a gate way drug to harder stuff but if they have no control on its use anyhow after spending billions keeping it illegal and people still end up on hard drugs, then surely they should focus on what really is the problem with the money and just tackle the problem of hard drug use.

 

There is a bit of a case for this 'gateway' argument, mainly the fact that because it's illegal, they get it off their dealers who can, in some cases, offer them harder things.

[ivanava]

 

 

 

 

Correct, and by controlling the drug market, we take the drugs out of the hands of criminals, reduce the number of drug related deaths dramatically, for both users and innocent people, and the amount of money saved by governments will be pronominal!!

 

Can you argue against that?

 

Only in your dreams, alcohol legal yet criminal smuggle and produce fake alcohol, tobacco legal yet criminal smuggle and produce fake cigarets. Cloths, electrical equipment all legal yet criminals produce fake goods.

 

 

 

 

 

No, it's an argument for decriminalising drugs. Drugs which are, on the whole, reasonably safe and don't harm anyone except the people that are using them (most of the time).

If decriminalising something cuts crime then why not apply that logic to all crime, could it be because it doesn't cut crime by any chance.

 

---------- Post added 01-05-2014 at 18:16 ----------

 

People still drank it when it was illegal. Difference was it was laced with all kinds of crap and ALL the proceeds went to criminal gangs. Now it is clean (except for a very, very small fraction of illegal hooch) and all the proceeds go to the governments coffers.

 

Answer me this, which do you think is the preferable system for a drugs policy?

 

1) Basing legality purely on an historical footing and political expedience with no grounding in the relative harms of each drug costing the country countless millions and fuelling international criminal gangs and the killer of thousands of people or

2) Basing legality on the relative harms of each drug, with each assessed on its own merit/harms, taking the supply away from criminal gangs, saving thousands of lives and putting the money saved (and earned from tax revenues) into a comprehensive educational and rehabilitation package.

 

jb

 

Fewer people drank it when it was illegal and that resulted in fewer health problems related to alcohol consumption and fewer crimes related to drunken behavior.

 

---------- Post added 01-05-2014 at 18:19 ----------

 

This is quite simply ignorance and nonsense.

 

How can people post things that are so lacking in evidential support and still sleep at night?

 

I don't know, could you please share with us all, how do you sleep at night after posted unsupported nonsense.

 

---------- Post added 01-05-2014 at 18:35 ----------

 

Would you swap the problems associated with alcohol for those with cannabis ?

 

I would sooner walk past a group of stoners than a group of drunks.

 

 

The problem being that if cannabis is legalised you will have to walk past the stoners and the drunks.

Edited May 1, 2014 by ivanava

[RonJeremy]

Clearly not, unless you're terminally thick.

 

Is this the second time we have agreed on something H ?

[Bonzo77]

Only in your dreams, alcohol legal yet criminal smuggle and produce fake alcohol, tobacco legal yet criminal smuggle and produce fake cigarets. Cloths, electrical equipment all legal yet criminals produce fake goods.

 

The scale of those crimes are tiny compared to the war on drugs. You're talking about a multi million pound industry rather than a multi billion pound industry. Big difference.