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I support the legalization of marijuana. Nothing else at this point, but I'm happy to consider some psychedelic drugs for legalization.
Everything else should be decriminalized. I don't think you should go to jail for having meth, though strongly suggest no one ever do meth. If you do, I think you need medical help, not prison.
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But simply having or doing drug shouldn't be a criminal offense, and certainly not one that involves prison time.
What sends people to prison for a long time is normally not the drugs themselves, but the other crimes they commit to continue to get their hands on drugs. You have an occasional long repeat offender sentence that gets a lot if publicity, but that is only a few hundred out of the tens of thousands of prison sentences for drug-related thefts, burglaries and robberies.
I believe if oxycotin or hydrocodone was available, cheap, and not mixed with acetimenophen, people who are now heroin addicts would switch over to oxy or hydrocodone.
Hydrocodone does not work without the acetaminophen. But you really think oxycodone is "safer"? Especially considering its tendency to cause clotting when injected?
They should all be legal in certain "zones". Let them do whatever they want in the drug zones and just keep them away from decent people. They should not be allowed to leave their drug zone unless they can pass some basic drug test (that they pay for). Any drug that anyone can dream up to get high on? Make it legal in the zone and tax it.
What sends people to prison for a long time is normally not the drugs themselves, but the other crimes they commit to continue to get their hands on drugs. You have an occasional long repeat offender sentence that gets a lot if publicity, but that is only a few hundred out of the tens of thousands of prison sentences for drug-related thefts, burglaries and robberies.
Depends where you are, there are still plenty of places across the US where personal possession can/will end up with a prison commitment. In California until a few years ago you could get charged with transportation of a controlled substance for walking across a parking lot with dope in your pocket, there was no requirement that there was an intent to sell, and any usable amount was sufficient for a conviction, the law has changed, but for years, in some jurisdictions, simple possession was charged as transportation and resulted in plenty of prison sentences for no good reason at all.
Prison or jail? Jail is still very common for possession, but not so much prison (and obviously a jail sentence cannot be very lengthy except in a few states).
No sense tap dancing around the issue. Government prohibition has been a big, expensive failure. Does anyone believe the masses will turn into raging crack and meth addicts without the government to tell us "no"? Get real. Anyone who wants to use these substances can use them.
I do not think these items should be sold in stores like alcohol or tobacco though.
For those of you who support some drug legalization, would you prefer to have every drug legalized and for sale at a drug store location, or would rather have some remain illegal/prescription only?
I think I would prefer that cocaine/crack remained illegal. I think that that drug is probably the worst one there is, no real medical benefit and a HUGE urge to redose. Most previous users from what I've read look back on their binges on crack as horrible decisions, moreso than people who used opiates or some other drug they got addicted to. Also a lot of people die from ODing from injecting too much. People are curious, but I think crack/cocaine should not be a legal option when making the choice to try a stimulant.
Also I think I would keep both meth and heroin illegal as there are safer, better, less intense alternatives. I would support legalizing lighter opiates like hydrocodone and possibly oxycotin, but not heroin. Likewise with meth, I would support legalizing some of the lighter stimulants, but meth is so intense and is neurotoxic, I feel it should remain illegal.
I would only be okay with weed becoming legal and taxed. Everything else should remain illegal.
Prison or jail? Jail is still very common for possession, but not so much prison (and obviously a jail sentence cannot be very lengthy except in a few states).
It depends where you are, in Nevada it's fairly common to end up in prison for drug possession (1-4 years) I'm not 100% sure this is still correct, but a few years ago a Nevada attorney told me that a second conviction is not probation eligible; and if you get a third felony even if the only convictions you ever had were for drug possession the DA can charge you as a career criminal with a life sentence. Unfortunately Nevada isn't very 'transparent' so it's almost impossible to find figures on how many people are doing prison terms for drug possession.
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