JOHN D DALTON typed:
[SNIP LEGALISATION OF ALL DRUGS FOR RECREATIONAL USE]
> Seems sensible to me.
Difficult one, isn't it? However, IMNSVHO, it would be an extremely BAD
idea to legalise all drugs. At the present time. Society simply isn't
ready to handle it. It's all very well for some Iain M Banks type
science fiction yarn, but the legalization of all recreational drugs in
1998 Great Britain would be the end. Today, large numbers of people
cannot cope with the pressure already present in modern life. Imagine
the chaos if the wide array of mind-altering drugs currently available
(fairly easily on the black market already if you know where to look -
allegedly) in some form was available (cheaply, readily, in guaranteed
strengths) from the off licence. Surely things are enough of a mess with
tobacco and alcohol? In some form of utopia, everyone could be relied on
to moderate their intake of consciousness-altering substances. How many
of us GPs cannot think of at least a dozen patients who would not be
dead within a year if *every known "recreational" drug* was readily
available.
Legalization *might* reduce the crime related to the supply of drugs. It
might reduce the crime related to the addicts who need their next fix.
Are you suggesting there would be *no* increase in drug use? Would there
be no increased morbidity (physical, psychological etc) from that
increased use?
Would the criminals involved in the supply of drugs simply give up their
lives of crime and turn into law-abiding citizens overnight?
Drugs are a very serious problem, but *I* don't think that legalising
everything is the answer.
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