Ok so just to put this out there I dont use drugs, the only drug I use (i dont consider a drug) is weed. Coke, ecstacy etc are gross, they are unnatural feeling and its nasty. Anyway, back in 2001 Portugal's government decriminalized all drugs, if you get caught with a small amount you either get a small fine (no jail) or the option of receiving treatment for the problem. Drug distibutors will still get in trouble but not if its for personal use. Here in the US there are SOOO many people who are in jail for drugs who really don't need to be there. If we decriminalized drugs we would save alot of money. It worked for Portugal and all the statistics show that there is now a drop in drug usage. What do you think? Here is a link to the article so you can see for yourself : http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization
Law & Ethics - 9 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
No...
2 :
We have far too many retardo's now in our population. Legalizing drugs would just kill this nation even faster.
3 :
Yes, look back into American history during prohibition the surplus of organized crime that took place the countless killings. I agree with you entirely. Even prostitution should be decriminalized. Not only that people have failed to relise the lack of scientific evidence and legislation that went into making marijuana illegal. Im not a pot smoker im just saying it is ridiculous M lets say the guy was drunk instead of high you would still be in the same situation. But lets look at the bigger picture why did he run (because the substance is illegal) but he may have been charged with a hit and run, at most for the substance fined depending on how much he had in his possesion, and proplably lost his license. But if it where regulated like alcohol then his punishment would have been that more severe. No one is saying let people go and smoke in the street or while driving they are just saying decriminilze it and regulate it. Remember it is going to be easier for your child to get an eight ball of cocaine then it is for him/her to get a six pack of beer because of the unregulated black market.
4 :
It is rare for people in the US to serve prison time(maybe short stints in the county or city jail) for simple possession of a controlled substance. Most people in prison for drugs are in for distribution. Your example of portugal sounds like it is almost the same with the exception of the local jails. It will not reduce the number of inmates in prison and therefore not save much money at all.
5 :
Absolutely is should be legal.....and....it should be legal to commit suicide. People who want to engage in this WILL do it...regardless. In my opinion, the majority of the crime is attempting to circumvent the law to get it. They get it eventually, so....let them have it. If they kill themselves....oh well. If people are stupid enough to destroy themselves with this stuff, then who gives a sh!t if they kill themselves on it. It's one less toad out there we need to worry about.
6 :
People who do drugs do not care if it's legal or not. So making drugs illegal is not going to stop drug use among the populations. Some people are always going to find a way to get high. Why turn them into criminals if they are not doing anything harmful to anyone else?
7 :
Some people may abuse it, just how they have abused prescription drugs. I guess I different point of view since I was rear ended so hard because someone who was high on marijuana was too slow to react to stopping at a stop sign. I was barely 29 weeks pregnant and got rear ended so hard that my belly shook like jello. He did not pull over to see if I was ok but rather backed up and took off. I got his license plate number. The detective had his truck towed and found remnants of marijuana in his truck. 3 weeks later I had a premature baby because some idiot was not paying attention and getting high while driving and too scared to pull over. So thats my thought on legalization. Hope that gives you an insight on a victims standpoint. Take care!
8 :
Interesting article, but I hated how TWO podcasts auto-played simultaneously as soon as the page loaded. Clearly, it would be vastly better to follow their lead. Here, even if you WANT help with your addiction, you're told to come back in 9 months, because they don't have the resources to help everyone when they first show up. But I'm afraid the idea is very unpopular here.
9 :
We should legalize them but keep tabs on who uses them. Like, if you smoke (weed, coke, tobacco, etc) or use drugs your insurance premiums go up, you're unfit to raise children, and you're ineligible for welfare or other forms of federal aid. Every time a meth-head goes to the emergency room they're just squeezing another grand out of a tax fund as emaciated as they are.
