Saintandy666

I see the season ticket conspiracy theories have already begun.

Did you not study prohibition, the number of bars sky-rocketed and they were all underground and funded and owned by big gangs. The crime as a consequence was staggering, not to mention the quality of the alcohol decreased and people also tended to drink stronger stuff. And again, the statistics show that less people get hooked on hard drugs when it is legal.

No, the statistics(for the millionth time) show that drug usage has DECLINED, therefore there wouldn't be a whole lot more people who get to the stage you describe, there would be less.

When have I said that drugs are awesome and drug dealers are amazing?

But legalisation has been proven to raise and save billions, and reduce drug use and so stop the cases you describe from happening as often. Everything is excess is bad. What would happen to me physically and mentally if I sat here and drank alcohol all day?

That's absolutely incredible!

It's a cultural thing. With drinking, if you look at places like France and Italy where they are very relaxed on alcohol, they have no such drinking culture as ours. Sure, if you changed the rules of alcohol you might have a temporary peak, but I can guarantee to you it would come down afterwards. My dad's generation didn't do drinking like my generation did drinking precisely because from a younger age(16+) they could go and sit in a pub and with a wink from the barman have a pint in a civilised decent environment. That wasn't available to my generation, so instead I(personally) ended up buying something stronger and cheaper, i.e vodka from someone who knew someone and drank it down the park instead. Do you see the parallel?

So...? The new policy worked to decrease that... and it has worked in the Netherlands and other mini-experiments in other countries like the one in Germany I said.

I know for a fact that heroin usage in Portugal and Netherlands is down where it is legal. And they did a trial in Germany where they gave out heroin on the state to the worst addicts and results of that were successful also in rehabilitation rates.

The stats on hard drug usage from countries who have taken this route counter your claims.

So in summary, less people screw up their lives.

I understand your concerns, but here are the facts. In countries where heroin has been legalised: A. Heroin usage has decreased. B. Medical issues from heroin have decreased. And that is everything from even more dogey impurities than heroin to AIDS being transmitted by needle sharing. C. People admitting themselves to voluntary help schemes has increased.

That's ridiculous. How is someone smoking cannabis in their own house equivalent to stealing a car?! :/

Like lighthouse said they already do that and often with funds from drug streams. By legalising drugs you are cutting off a huge revenue stream for them.

Yes, but you need to think of it in terms of what is the greater evil... A. Getting the drug off some dogey dealer funding crime and possibly getting drawn into crime yourself to fund your addiction. B. Getting it off the state in a controlled safe environment while being offered help to get off the drug. The statistics show in countries where B is the norm, heroin use has decreased as has medical issues arising from heroin use!

Oh right, sorry. My sarcasm detector is off today.

Indeed, Al Qaeda as an organisation are wrecked. You can't kill the idea though and other groups will attempt to take their place. Indeed, I dread to think what would happen if nuts like the Taleban got their hand on nuclear weapons because a lot of these people wouldn't even care about being bombed back because they are going to heaven anyway.

I'm sorry to here about that, but the facts about legalisation speak for themselves. Heroin usage has gone down in Portugal where it has been legalised. Also, voluntary admission to drugs clinic for users of harder drugs like heroin is up. Also, medical problems from those who take it up is down because it is all regulated and clean.

Thankyou, finally someone says the real reason we went to war in Afghanistan!

That's not a lot of oil. And it was only discovered last year.

What oil did Afghanistan have?

Yes, drugs can sometimes wreck lives, but many of the reasons they do is exacerbated by it being illegal. 1. Under prohibition, people go for the higher risk drugs, sometimes because it is pushed upon them by dealers. 2. The drugs are impure due to lack of regulation, causing side effects not usually associated with a pure version of that drug. 3. Drugs fuel a vast crime empire around dealing, and counter-drug measures are so stringent that only large cartels can get through it which puts all the money in the hands of big gangs which is then used to fund other illicit activities. 4. People are stigmatised and cut off from society for doing not much wrong which can then lead to them to the hands of the gangs, i.e smoking cannabis by themselves. That's just 4 reasons I can think of. People in this debate are too quick to say, 'drugs are bad'... yes, we know they are bad, but prohibition makes it worse. Just imagine what would have if they made smoking illegal tomorrow! Just imagine this, zones where you can buy and do these drugs legally. Taxed and regulated, saving the state millions, perhaps billions on healthcare costs and policing costs because the gangs will be put out of business. They've done this in other countries and medical need after drug usage has fallen, overall drug usage has fallen(especially harder drugs). Prohibition NEVER works.

Yer, but golf is not as physical as tennis. It's one hit... and then another go a bit later. Very technical and hard, but not the constant physicality. Some people underestimate just how hard playing tennis to a decent level is.

Srs?

I hate the humanity sometimes.