This site is filled with a lot of very smart individuals, and this is a topic that concerns me greatly and a subject of many a debate.

If anyone has read the book ‘High Society’ by Ben Elton, you will be familiar with these ideas. I would like to open this topic for discussion, and hopefully get some educated opinions on the matter.

As we are from all around the world, I expect the opinions will vary greatly, but I would like to see the discussion none the less.

The topic is drugs, and the legalisation of certain substances.

We all know that drugs have an adverse effect on the human body. For a small amount of pleasure, your brain/body will definitely be paying for it in the long run – essentially, this is why drugs are illegal.

We also all know that Alcohol/Tobacco has a rather adverse effect on our bodies, but these substances are legal, so we divulge and binge as much as we see fit – governments around the globe make a lot of money of this, and essentially, this is why these substances are still legal.

The question I ask is this – Why don’t we legalise class A drugs and regulate the use?

My argument for this would be that the money people use to purchase drugs certainly goes to the wrong kind of people at the moment – people who practice prostitution, slave labour and racketeering in general. Drugs have the capacity to generate ridiculous amounts of cash, simply because of the supply and demand – a lot of people want them, only a few people, who have to take a lot of risks, have them – so they can sell them for ridiculous amounts of money to contribute to their own personal wealth.

If the government were to regulate the use, they could be the beneficiaries of these stock piles of cash. Imagine what cocaine or marijuana revenue could do for the public health/education/welfare system? Not only do you prevent these exorbitant amounts of cash getting into the wrong hands, I would say you would put a severe dent in racketeering in general. These are all hypothetical, because we have never seen this in working order. The same people, who sneak the illegal immigrants across the border, are generally the same who sneak the drugs across the border.

I definitely see issues with the regulation of the drugs though – who is to say some 10 year old kid wouldn’t get his hands on a bit of cocaine, and who knows what could happen then. With the money raised, you would hope a fair amount of it would be issued to the education of the negative side effects of drugs to the youth; hopefully this would be a sufficient deterrent.

Whether the authorities like to admit it or not, I can get any drug I want… and I dare say it would be the same for you that live in the cities. People are always going to take drugs… it’s a pro-choice thing. I would like to think that if drugs became readily available, we would still see the same numbers of people abusing them. I don’t think mainstream society would all of the sudden quip ‘yes – its legal to purchase and consume drugs now, I think I might give it a try’ People just aren’t that naïve. They know that the drugs are bad for them, and they should stay away.

In Australia, it is estimated that Alcohol Abuse costs $8billion annually. It is estimated that Australians consume roughly 8 litres per capita (France is 10 litres per capita, but even their children drink wine!), as a Nation of 20 Million that is an awful lot. Alcohol use is also a major cause of drug- or alcohol-related deaths in Australia. In 1998, around 2,000 deaths among persons aged 0-64 years were attributable to the use of alcohol, accounting for 28% of all drug- or alcohol-related deaths in this age group. Tobacco use is the major cause of drug or alcohol-related deaths in Australia. In 1998, around 19,000 deaths were attributable to the use of tobacco, accounting for 80% of all drug-or alcohol-related deaths. It is also concluded that in the 20-29 age group demographic, 40% have used an illicit substance in the last 12 months. Illicit drug use is estimated to have accounted for almost 2% of drug-alcohol related deaths. That’s a pretty strong argument.

I believe there has to be a middle ground somewhere – even if you don’t legalise all class A drugs, the argument in my opinion is a rather strong one, and there has to be room for a compromise somewhere.

I am rather interested to hear your perspectives on this issue – some of you are 18 from Minnesota, and some of you are 32 from London, I would like to know a global view, and educate myself better on this issue.

Thanks

(as a side note – yes, I have taken drugs, and honestly, I believe I am responsible enough to choose what I do to my own body, and yes, I would like to see them legalised and regulated to a degree, so its easier to get them, and when I do purchase them, I know the money is going to our government rather than financing racketeering.)