<p><em>Note</em> Godfatherbob is no way endorses the use of illicit substances, such as those that will almost certainly appear in this thread.</p>
<p>Should recreational drugs be legalized in the United States?</p>
<p>I personally believe that all drugs, regardless of potential for addiction, should be made legal to possess and distribute. This includes marijuana, opiates, cocaine, heroin, LSD, LSA, psilocybin mushrooms, amphetamines, mescaline, DMT, etc. (Yes I had fun listing those out).</p>
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Although i'm worried of what would happen to America if marijuana got legalized :/
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It would be exactly as it is now, only with fewer people in jail. Marijuana laws don't deter anybody from using it, they only drive it underground and make the government spend absurd amounts of money enforcing pointless laws.</p>
<p>My philosophy is that the individual should have the right to do anything he wants, provided he does not infringe on the rights of anybody else.
By this logic, possession and use of ANY drug should be legal, provided it is done in a way that does not harm anybody else. The argument about these drugs "destroying lives" is dumb - why should the government prevent you from doing what you want with your own life? My life belongs to nobody but myself.
If the state can prevent people from messing up their own life with drugs, should alcohol be banned outright also? That messes up just as many lives, if not more, than hard drugs. Should anything that is bad for you be illegal?
Should there be state-imposed limits on how many calories you eat in a day? Obesity is as much a public health problem as drug use, if the government controls one why not the other?
Should it be against the law to screw around during high school and not graduate? That will mess up your life just as much as using drugs, should the government step in and say "you need to get your **** together, this is bad for you and if you do not reform yourself you will go to jail"? </p>
<p>Your life is your own to **** over, the only role the government/police should play in this case is to protect the **rights **of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for every individual.</p>
<p>Not only is the illegality of drugs not a deterrent, but most drugs are easily acquired. The fact that drugs can be abused, leading to "destroyed lives," is what deters those of us who choose not to use drugs from using them, not their illegality. </p>
<p>Think of how many millions of man hours are spent by law enforcement agencies to prevent the possession and trafficking of drugs--crimes whose only victims are the perpetrators. Legalizing drugs would not only prevent the myriad of violent crimes committed by underground drug dealers, but free up law enforcement agencies to address real crimes.</p>
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hard drugs are way too habit forming and destroy too many lives to ever be made legal
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<p>Just as mephist said, it's not the government's to say that a person can't develop a habit. </p>
<p>(Damn, I forgot MDMA in my list of illegal drugs :()</p>
<p>The underlying question that must be asked is: Do individuals have the right to ingest a plant or a chemical under their own free will, and if so is it right for a supreme earthly entity(the government) to take that right away?</p>
<p>There is no doubt that the drug trade ruins lives, but the extent to which the chemicals themselves do is an open question in my view.</p>
<p>On principle, I believe people have the right to do whatever they want, including potentially dangerous or self-damaging activities. As such, I advocate the legalization of recreational drugs.</p>
<p>Even on non-ideological, practical terms, I think at least the decriminalization of marijuana would do more good than harm. Maybe some other drugs, but that's the main one. Also, end this war on drugs nonsense. Just treat it like any other crime, rather than attach such outrageous sentences and spend so many resources on it.</p>
<p>The reason why Americans are so irresponsible with drugs and alcohol is because these things are put on pedestals as the ultimate zeniths of taboo. If the US government banned pizza, within two decades, you'd have pizza-fueled crime.</p>
<p>So legalize 'em. Some people will binge and go crazy for the first couple of weeks, but after the taboo feeling is gone, people will be much more tempered.</p>
<p>Taboo isn't the only reason why people do drugs (maybe this is why most teens start, though). You have to keep in mind that most drugs are addictive. </p>
<p>Legalizing drugs will most likely bring about the same conditions as alcohol in today's society (assuming it hasn't already). You'll have a couple of people who smoke pot at the end of a tough work week, and hardcore druggies with a white-powdered face lying in the gutters.</p>
<p>The drug war already kills more people than these drugs do.</p>
<p>Look at it this way. Drugs do kill people. But currently every sale is handled by criminals here, who kill people, who import the drugs from criminals in other countries, and then those criminals kill people. We turned Mexico into a third world country with our war on drugs.</p>
<p>At the very least we should stop imprisoning people for doing drugs with no intent to sell.</p>
<p>EDIT: And AeroEngineer, you think we don't have those people already? The war on drugs has done nothing to actually stop the flow of drugs into this country. At least if drugs were legal those "hardcore druggies with a white-powdered face lying in the gutters" could get rehab without the fear of being arrested and thrown in jail.</p>
<p>yawn, it's not about the taboo, it's about curiosty and experimentation. drugs open up new ideas and views which could nt normally be perceived.</p>
<p>legalizing these drugs would cut down on violence due to drug trafficking. </p>
<p>marijuana, for one, is almost completely harmless (if using a vaporizer), and no proof that it has killed anyone.</p>
<p>ostonzi, please stop playing the insane moral compass. instead, back up your reasoning for why "would end up in a decrepit state of mass chaos".</p>
<p>mephisto, you pretty much nailed all the reasonable points.</p>
<p>Marijuana and mdma could be legalized. LSA is technically already legal and found in plants naturally. Opiates are also technically legal (ie- xanax, oc's). Same with amphetamines and speed (ie- adderall, vyvanse).</p>
<p>I personally that the criminalization of marijuana is bs...much like the growing number of state legislatures each year choosing to decriminalize it. I really don't think I need to delve into reasons. As far as mdma, it could be a useful prescription drug like it was back in the 70's and 80's...but like everything, there is potential for abuse.</p>
<p>Toxicity-wise, the breakdown is as follows: </p>
<p>We spend wayyyy too much money trying to fight the 'war on drugs' and for what? We jail African Americans (for drugs) at a rate that hovers somewhere around 4x greater than South Africa's apartheid. </p>
<p>Obviously it would be amazing if marijuana was made legal, but there is a part of me that likes it being illegal. I feel like marijuana being legal would make it lose some of its soul =/. There is something fun about being all sketched out in cars and going to make trips to your dealers apartment.</p>
<p>Salvia is legal and it's not ruining the moral fabric of society or any of the other lame arguments that people love to trot out. If drugs were legalized they could be sold in a more pure form, making them safer, and they would be much cheaper so people would not have to steal in order to get their fix. The only negative of legalization is the increased accessibility to drugs, but they are all pretty easy to get as it is.</p>
<p>I completely agree with foreman, vaporizing marijuana is one of the safest way and you also receive a high percentage of THC unlike bongs or joints. But bongs are fun. Honestly, alcohol is more harmful than marijuana.</p>
