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Question to liberals: Why should drugs be decriminalized?

As per the question. Also do you agree that soft drugs can be a gateway to harder drugs?

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Original post by JVoorhees
As per the question. Also do you agree that soft drugs can be a gateway to harder drugs?


I doubt there are many people who went straight to crystal meth as their gateway drug. Pretty sure cannabis is the typical gateway drug.

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Reply 2
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Most people will start drinking/start smoking, step up to cannabis (most people will stop here) but then those on harder drugs share the same history coming from Cigarettes, Alcohol and Cannabis (most likely abusing them too)

There’s some good arguments for legalising cannabis but the question is how do you make it publicly available without providing an incentive for people to try it? If that question could be answered I’d be all for legalising it
Original post by JVoorhees
As per the question. Also do you agree that soft drugs can be a gateway to harder drugs?


Original post by Moonstruck16
I doubt there are many people who went straight to crystal meth as their gateway drug. Pretty sure cannabis is the typical gateway drug.



You know the worst gateways drugs are alcohol and tobacco. They are easily accessible and socially acceptable.

Many people who don't smoke often do when they drink. Moving on from this you will find that pretty much all cannabis users (in the UK at least) were tobacco smokers before their usage of illegal drugs. In fact I would think that many people who try harder drugs for the first time do so whilst under the influence of alcohol as it is known to increases ones likelihood of doing something they wouldn't ordinarily do whilst sober.
[video="youtube;W8yYJ_oV6xk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yYJ_oV6xk[/video]


There is no such thing as a gateway drug. The theory is nonsensical.
Original post by Meany Pie
You know the worst gateways drugs are alcohol and tobacco. They are easily accessible and socially acceptable.

Many people who don't smoke often do when they drink. Moving on from this you will find that pretty much all cannabis users (in the UK at least) were tobacco smokers before their usage of illegal drugs. In fact I would think that many people who try harder drugs for the first time do so whilst under the influence of alcohol as it is known to increases ones likelihood of doing something they wouldn't ordinarily do whilst sober.


I strongly doubt OP is considering alcohol or tobacco as part of this.

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Original post by Moonstruck16
I strongly doubt OP is considering alcohol or tobacco as part of this.

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Of course they aren't, why would they consider some of the most prevalent and dangerous drugs we have available to us.
Original post by zayn008
There’s some good arguments for legalising cannabis but the question is how do you make it publicly available without providing an incentive for people to try it? If that question could be answered I’d be all for legalising it


Make it for medical usage.
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Original post by Meany Pie
Make it for medical usage.


Oh that I’m 100% for, but I meant recreational use
Original post by zayn008
Most people will start drinking/start smoking, step up to cannabis (most people will stop here) but then those on harder drugs share the same history coming from Cigarettes, Alcohol and Cannabis (most likely abusing them too)

There’s some good arguments for legalising cannabis but the question is how do you make it publicly available without providing an incentive for people to try it? If that question could be answered I’d be all for legalising it


You do realise you're talking about one of the most widely available illegal drugs, right? Most people that 'want to try it' can do so already.
Original post by zayn008
Oh that I’m 100% for, but I meant recreational use


Age restrict it to 21.

There are no incentives to try alcohol other than societal pressure.
Reply 11
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Original post by JVoorhees
As per the question. Also do you agree that soft drugs can be a gateway to harder drugs?


Because they're not exactly hard to get as it is, so we'd all benefit from the massive tax the government could put on them, and used would benefit from stricter quality regulations resulting in a reduction in the cost for our NHS.

Not to mention if they're not illegal people will be more willing to come forward for help, reducing the addiction levels and dependancy people have.

Decriminalising drugs has been proven to benefit society on multiple counts.
Reply 12
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JVoorhees
OP
7
If Cannabis is already out there as you point out and can raise massive amounts of tax revenue why not legalize Cocaine and Heroin and tax that too, since those are widespread drugs as well?

Unless of course you mean legalize all drugs?

http://sydweakness.ytmnd.com/
(edited 6 years ago)
Because prison is not an appropriate response to drug use. Be they casual users or addicts, putting drug users in prison doesn't help anybody. Those who are anti-drug tell us drugs should be illegal because they ruin lives; well, what do you think prison does? The way we think about substance abuse needs to be drastically reassessed.
Original post by zayn008
Most people will start drinking/start smoking, step up to cannabis (most people will stop here) but then those on harder drugs share the same history coming from Cigarettes, Alcohol and Cannabis (most likely abusing them too)



Cannabis is a far safer drug than either alcohol or tobacco.
Reply 15
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Original post by ChaoticButterfly
Cannabis is a far safer drug than either alcohol or tobacco.


Never said it wasn’t, I think most people are in favour of legalising cannabis, but many liberals argue about making even more drugs legal. I’ve some arguments for it before, logical but not practical
Original post by zayn008
logical but not practical


What?

This is the problem. It's blindingly obvious cannabis should be decriminalised. Yet here we are.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 17
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Original post by ChaoticButterfly
What?

This is the problem. It's blindingly obvious cannabis should be decriminalised. Yet here we are.


Read what I said again, I said that about liberals wanting to legalise all drugs. Some even make a case for legalising cocaine. That’s what I was talking about in the last part.

I think legalising cannabis is a good idea, you get rid of contamination’s, you cut off criminal revenue, you increase tax revenu, you’re able to regulate it, good for businesses that enter the market, people can be confident in what they’re buying. The only real issue which is what’s stopping legalisation is what do criminals do next to recover lost revenue? Do they make their revenue by pushing harder drugs? Do they get involved in other illegal activities? But otherwise I think for cannabis, legalisation makes sense.
Reply 18
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Original post by JVoorhees
If Cannabis is already out there as you point out and can raise massive amounts of tax revenue why not legalize Cocaine and Heroin and tax that too, since those are widespread drugs as well?

Unless of course you mean legalize all drugs?

http://sydweakness.ytmnd.com/


Well your original question was "Why should drugs be decriminalised", you didn't specify what type so I took you to mean all. Portugal has decriminalised all drugs and it's worked wonders.

I think soft drugs, as you call them, should be government controlled and sold on licensed premises, and I think all others should be treated much like prostitution is many places, but in reverse. Owning and using wouldn't be a crime, selling would be, perhaps with supplies available directly through government lines to help with addiction.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 19
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JVoorhees
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Portugal has not decriminalized selling of drugs though from what I read on Wikipedia, only more or less personal possession.
(edited 6 years ago)

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