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Certainly crime would go down because there'd be a bunch of laws no longer on the books. Why would hard drug USE go down? I can see it going up for at least awhile with people enjoying new found freedom and then hopefully getting smart about it.
Crime wouldn't only go down because of less laws on the books. Right now Cops spend up to 70% of their time fighting "drug crimes"-essentially protecting adults from themselves. With so much time, resources and man-power freed up to go after murderers, rapists, etc. it would create a much more effective crime fighting technique.
Sadly, even with advanced DNA testing and modern technology, (and the lowest murder rate in decades) murders and rapes are going unsolved AT RECORD RATES. This is precisely because Cops spend so much time harassing and going after non-violent criminals where the only victim was the "criminal" him or herself.
They do this because drug crimes are the most lucrative to enforce. Drug crimes have been made the priority. The Federal Government gives much incentive for fighting the faux war on "drugs" and it also allows the state to go after all assets/money/homes/cars/etc of the "criminal" through asset forfeiture programs. There are also many add-on fines imposed on "drug criminals" that keeps the system humming-mostly all stemming from Reagan.
Also-drug criminals are sentenced much more aggressively today. It has created a prison system where murderers and rapists often serve less time than someone that is a non-violent "drug offender" but got caught up with nonsensical laws like the 3 strike and 100-1 crack-cocaine disparity.
I think hard drug use would go down if people were forced in public to visit medical offices to get "their dose". They would no longer be hidden away in dark alleys, and offered everything under the sun when they just wanted some pot. This is a much safer system for children too. Dealers do not ID. Liquor stores today do it very effectively, and study after study shows that illegal drugs are easier for high-schoolers to obtain than alcohol.
Healthcare and related expenses would also plummet. Today, most death and disease in relation to drug addiction comes from addicts using unknown/mixed substances, non-sterilized needles, etc. That would never be the case in a medical clinic or professional business-again like liquor. People died in mass when alcohol was prohibited from poisonous substances produced in someones basement.
Portugal is a real world example of what happens when drugs are legalized. Use-way down, crime-way down, spending-way down, etc.
I won't even get into further aspects of the hypocritical nature of the whole war: The CIA using drug money to fund illegal wars/missions, big banks laundering drug money, the pharma industry already LEGALLY prescribing heroin and meth TO CHILDREN, etc.
To those that say dealers should be sent away for life while users deserve sympathy. It is not that simple-usually there is no difference. Most dealers use and most users sell to support their habit. Nobody is forcing anything on anyone.
If you are advocating legalizing all illicit drug including hard drug with the stance that the would would be all rainbows and and sunshine if they were legal is a naive one. The woes of illegal drugs are not only caused by the enforcement of the laws but by the crimes people commit to get those drugs. Let's just legalize all crimes like "The Purge" what's the worse that could happen.
Say tomorrow we stopped putting people with drugs in jail/prison and stopped actively trying to stop dealing with people that do/deal drugs wholesale, what do you think would happen?
For things like weed where you could find it on every corner, no problems. For things like psychedelics, I could see this as a serious issue. I think psychedelics would become less of a niche market and I don't think that's a good thing.
I think you'd get a lot of idiots daring eachother to do ridiculous dosages of various substances. People would be ODing to try to look cool, and they'd ruin it for the true psychonauts.
We use the wrong approach, you see, it is not a supply problem and never was, it is a demand problem. The way to change it is reduce the demand, not worry about supply.
Bingo.
People use ... drugs, alcohol, whatever ... for a number of reasons, most of which have to do with not feeling good/right about themselves or their situations.
Address root causes as a society and most of us benefit (more fulfilling life, better neighbors, better job prospects, better employees, less crime, etc.). However, too many people are profiting off the current model, either through money and assets or power.
If we stop the "war on drugs," do the rest of us have to support the losers who can't function because they are stoned?
If so, I'm not for it. I'd rather keep trying to educate against drug use and punish dealers. Let's address the root cause(s) of weakness in people who can't face life.
If not, then go for it. I'm up for trying to protect me and mine from lazy ba****ds that would want to steal rather than work. Though, even then society in general would have to support the unfortunate children of the drug-addled.
Say tomorrow we stopped putting people with drugs in jail/prison and stopped actively trying to stop dealing with people that do/deal drugs wholesale, what do you think would happen?
More people would be begging and not working. Crime would still be there if not higher...Prices mmight drop a lot, but if you're not permitted to work with drugs in your system, then why work?
Hard drug use down, crime down since Cops can focus on actual (violent) crime and stop trying to protect people from themselves, more money available for drug treatment/education, more men and women in the workforce and contributing to the economy, less people on welfare.
The positives are endless and it's a wonder the Government has been able to brainwash people into continuing this destructive war for so long.
That's an oversimplification, I think.. But.. Mostly I agree with you.
There'd be more ODs.. We can look at that as thinning the herd, though.
Prices of the drugs would go down, which would lead to the more ODs.. But, as you mentioned, with police able to focus on other crimes, while there may be a 'burp' in robberies, burglaries and the like.. That would probably be short lived.
Over time.. I believe that heart disease and some other illnesses from long term users would increase. Not alot, but.. If there was no alcohol industry, i'm pretty sure the 200k cirrhosis cases per year wouldn't happen..
Tax coffers would grow, because you know that crap will be taxed. Plus, the revenue from new "Driving while impaired" cases.
I think your workforce theory is a stretch.. As others have mentioned, drug testing would still happen, so you'd probably have alot more people fired due to usage. I think this goes the other way. You have higher unemployment for a time.
Long and short.. The good probably would outweigh the bad. But, I don't think it'd be the rosy picture you're painting.
If we stop the "war on drugs," do the rest of us have to support the losers who can't function because they are stoned?
No, and eventually, (one way or another) they will cease to be a problem.
If not, then go for it. I'm up for trying to protect me and mine from lazy ba****ds that would want to steal rather than work. Though, even then society in general would have to support the unfortunate children of the drug-addled.[/quote]
I have plenty of friends to assist me in this matter- Sturm & Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Sig & Sauer, Colt, Winchester...
Addressing the question directly, however, I think that for a while we would see a rise in addiction and overdoses. If the products were legally available, as they once were, I should think that prices would drop and if the labeling standards introduced around 1914 were upheld as well as standardization of ingredient quantities and dosage, the incidents of accidental over-dosage would be reduced.
In the 19th century and earlier, Laudanum (tincture of opium) and its cousin Paregoric (weaker, and available into the 1970s and a little later) as well as other substances were freely available. Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Lincoln, was a Laudanum addict. Laudanum was the primary ingredient in a number of patent medicines, used as analgesics and diarrhea remedies, among other things. It was also used by those wishing to commit suicide. Tincture of opium is still available by prescription as a Schedule II drug, listed as "unapproved" by virtue of it having been grandfathered by being sold prior to the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Beginning in the early 20th century, the active components in Laudanum began being separated and synthesized- morphine, codeine, oxycodone, propoxyphene, oxymorphone, etc. These are now only available by prescription from limited sources- the pharmaceutical companies, so, guess who benefits the most...if you say "The pharmaceutical industry" you get a gold star. It's big business, and deregulation would hit them straight in the pocketbooks.
The "War on Drugs" acts to keep prices higher by restriction of the 'legal' supply and the dangers associated with the illegal trade. The major beneficiaries are Big Pharma (in control of the legal supply), the medical profession by being the access route to the legal supply, the health 'insurance' industry by virtue of their relationship with the medical profession and, now, the government forcing people to give money to them.
Also benefiting greatly are the Law Enforcement agencies, in terms of jobs and money to fight the 'illegal' supply, training companies, arms and ammunition suppliers, and of course, the 'illegal' drug dealers themselves (those who don't get caught or killed).
Guess who is *NOT* benefitting from the 'War on Drugs'? Yep, that's right, John Q. Public, whose wallets are being raped in one way or another.
Many, many people benefit from the 'War on Drugs'...at the expense of the taxpayers. These people would need to find other ways to make money if it were ended...and perhaps LE could focus on the robbers, rapists and murderers, some of whom, if the infringements of the 2nd Ammendment were eliminated, would receive their 'just deserts' much more cheaply at the hands of the taxpayers which would save them even more money. A few bullets are considerably less expensive than the court system and lengthy incarceration.
I know that some may find my opinion somewhat...unpalatable...but I do not believe that it should be made incumbent upon the taxpayers to save the [growing numbers] losers from themselves. I'm getting tired of other people spending my money for me, money that *I* need to live and eat.
Addressing the question directly, however, I think that for a while we would see a rise in addiction and overdoses. If the products were legally available, as they once were, I should think that prices would drop and if the labeling standards introduced around 1914 were upheld as well as standardization of ingredient quantities and dosage, the incidents of accidental over-dosage would be reduced.
In the 19th century and earlier, Laudanum (tincture of opium) and its cousin Paregoric (weaker, and available into the 1970s and a little later) as well as other substances were freely available. Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Lincoln, was a Laudanum addict. Laudanum was the primary ingredient in a number of patent medicines, used as analgesics and diarrhea remedies, among other things. It was also used by those wishing to commit suicide. Tincture of opium is still available by prescription as a Schedule II drug, listed as "unapproved" by virtue of it having been grandfathered by being sold prior to the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Beginning in the early 20th century, the active components in Laudanum began being separated and synthesized- morphine, codeine, oxycodone, propoxyphene, oxymorphone, etc. These are now only available by prescription from limited sources- the pharmaceutical companies, so, guess who benefits the most...if you say "The pharmaceutical industry" you get a gold star. It's big business, and deregulation would hit them straight in the pocketbooks.
The "War on Drugs" acts to keep prices higher by restriction of the 'legal' supply and the dangers associated with the illegal trade. The major beneficiaries are Big Pharma (in control of the legal supply), the medical profession by being the access route to the legal supply, the health 'insurance' industry by virtue of their relationship with the medical profession and, now, the government forcing people to give money to them.
Also benefiting greatly are the Law Enforcement agencies, in terms of jobs and money to fight the 'illegal' supply, training companies, arms and ammunition suppliers, and of course, the 'illegal' drug dealers themselves (those who don't get caught or killed).
Guess who is *NOT* benefitting from the 'War on Drugs'? Yep, that's right, John Q. Public, whose wallets are being raped in one way or another.
Many, many people benefit from the 'War on Drugs'...at the expense of the taxpayers. These people would need to find other ways to make money if it were ended...and perhaps LE could focus on the robbers, rapists and murderers, some of whom, if the infringements of the 2nd Ammendment were eliminated, would receive their 'just deserts' much more cheaply at the hands of the taxpayers which would save them even more money. A few bullets are considerably less expensive than the court system and lengthy incarceration.
I know that some may find my opinion somewhat...unpalatable...but I do not believe that it should be made incumbent upon the taxpayers to save the [growing numbers] losers from themselves. I'm getting tired of other people spending my money for me, money that *I* need to live and eat.
Best post in this thread. Couldn't agree more.
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