Legalise drugs.

U

UptheDeise

Registered User
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272
Yes, I'm serious we should legalise all drugs. How many people are in jail , costing the taxpayer a fortune because of drug usage? Look at all the time, money and resources of both the Garda and courts, that are wasted on this war on drugs.

We could make huge savings here, let alone the benefits to our society overall.

Portugal has adopted this policy. [broken link removed]
 
I have moved this from An Bord Snip to Letting Off Steam.

While there are financial implications, it is not primarily a financial issue.
 
UptheDeise said:
Yes, I'm serious we should legalise all drugs. How many people are in jail , costing the taxpayer a fortune because of drug usage? Look at all the time, money and resources of both the Garda and courts, that are wasted on this war on drugs.

We could make huge savings here, let alone the benefits to our society overall.

Portugal has adopted this policy. [broken link removed]
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Are you saying that we should legalise drugs to save/make money?
Why not look at our prison system first and see is there a way to make it less costly. Prisons should be high on security on low on amenities. The amenties should be limited with no tv etc.
 
Yes, I am saying we should legalise so we save money on garda and court resources and prison places.

We would also save on lower crime rates and less problems associated with chronic addiction like HIV and Hepatisis.

Also, look at all the social issues caused by drug taking and addiction.
 
I was suggesting the same policy as Portugal. Maybe we could go one step further and legalise it all together and treat it like any other commodity with a tax on it?

Also I'm coming in from qith the view that we could save the State an enormous amount of money. Money that we have to save under our current circumstances.
 
UptheDeise said:
I was suggesting the same policy as Portugal...
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Portugal has no "legalise drugs" policy.
UptheDeise said:
... Maybe we could go one step further and legalise it all together and treat it like any other commodity with a tax on it? ...
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So which commodity would you liken currently illegal drugs to? What taxes would you levy on them and what savings would you anticipate making annually? Do you propose abolishing all controls on these substances or would you install some mechanisms to limit availability (like with prescribed meds, alcohol and tobacco)? Who would administer these and what would that cost? If you want to legalise drugs, where do they get manufactured and who does quality control, or do you foresee manufacturing continuing in dustbins in back-alleys?
UptheDeise said:
... Also I'm coming in from qith the view that we could save the State an enormous amount of money...
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How much?
 
UptheDeise said:
we could save the State an enormous amount of money. Money that we have to save under our current circumstances.
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So you'd rather save the state some money instead of saving future generations from becoming strung out heroin users and d1ckhead coke addicts. Id rather spend the money.
 
Tomodinhio said:
So you'd rather save the state some money instead of saving future generations from becoming strung out heroin users and d1ckhead coke addicts. Id rather spend the money.
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I dont really buy this argument. You cant expect the state to save people from themselves. If people want to become strung out heroin addicts they will do so whether or not drugs are legal. Its not like they are difficult to get ones hands on while illegal.
 
UptheDeise said:
Also I'm coming in from qith the view that we could save the State an enormous amount of money. Money that we have to save under our current circumstances.
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How much money would we really save though? Alcohol and smoking cost the healthservice a huge amount in care so why would drugs be any different? I think some sides of the argument are valid in terms of taking the money made from drugs away from the criminals but including all drugs is a step too far. Although there's the argument that soft drugs eventually lead to hard drugs bundling cannibas in with heroin is a step too far for me.
 
We legalise drugs, we apply high level of duty, & VAT, just like ciggies & booze. We get more people using, we get more demand on Health service, and just like ciggies we get smuggling of inferior drugs as they will be way cheaper.

Sound like a Brilliant idea.

Keep taking the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX pal !


Secman
 
I love this thread. The righteous indignation of some when loosening the prohibition of drugs is mentioned is sadly all too predictable.

[broken link removed]
 
Interesting argument,unquestionably without doubt ALL drugs should be legalised.There are so many arguments to support this,it's hard to know where to begin.I'll just mention a few.
Money spent on trying to enforce drug laws is a waste of money simply because,the law is clearly unenforceable,therefore it's a bad law.There is a percentage of the population that is going to use drugs irrespective of whether it's legal or illegal.This money should be used in education & treatment
Yes certain drugs are dangerous(but again acertain percentage of the population will use drugs whether it's illegal/legal),but what makes them very dangerous is making them illegal & allowing criminals to control supply/quality control etc.If we made them legal we could control the aforementioned issues
Hmmm,I could go on,but I think people wont listen.......
 
Then of course because the Govt would be taking in revenue on the "products" we would have to put absolutely huge resourses into Rehab and "picking up the ****" programmes.

Listen to RTE1 now and multiply this many fold


Secman
 
Why are they called 'controlled substances' when they are clearly only controlled by organised criminals ?
 
Ciaraella said:
How much money would we really save though? Alcohol and smoking cost the healthservice a huge amount in care so why would drugs be any different? I think some sides of the argument are valid in terms of taking the money made from drugs away from the criminals but including all drugs is a step too far. Although there's the argument that soft drugs eventually lead to hard drugs bundling cannibas in with heroin is a step too far for me.
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If we were all strung out on heroin it would do wonders for the obesity problem! :D
 
Money spent on trying to enforce drug laws is a waste of money simply because,the law is clearly unenforceable,
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This because the wrong approach is being taken. Law enforcement in this country is focused on the suppliers and importers rather than the users. This would be akin to only punishing people who import or sell guns and not arresting anyone who commits a murder or robbery with a gun.

Illegal drugs is all about demand - and demand will always be there if the user is never punished for use. Start punishing use and the drop in demand will eliminate the importers and suppliers. Going after use is manpower efficient as you dont have large numbers of gardai chasing ducking and diving individuals involved in the drug trade.

Very simple - anyone arrested for a public order or dangerous driving offence or obviously under the influence or openly taking drugs gets drug tested ala sports stars. You test positive, you get a mandatory 6 months in prison during which time you undergo a mandatory rehab programme. No exceptions, no excuses. You take drugs, you do the time. Double it for each successive offence.
 
truthseeker said:
I dont really buy this argument. You cant expect the state to save people from themselves. If people want to become strung out heroin addicts they will do so whether or not drugs are legal. Its not like they are difficult to get ones hands on while illegal.
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Well you start selling these things over the counter and how many more people will think its ok to use these drugs cause they are legal (especially in younger more naive poeple). It would encourage drug use is what i am trying to say, something we could do without.
 
Tomodinhio said:
Well you start selling these things over the counter and how many more people will think its ok to use these drugs cause they are legal (especially in younger more naive poeple). It would encourage drug use is what i am trying to say, something we could do without.
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Dont you think that people should be responsible for the consequences of their own actions? Its not like its unknown that drugs can lead to addiction and illness/death.

Alcohol is legally available. We have plenty of alcoholics.
Drugs are illegal. We have plenty of junkies.
The legality of it does not seem to impact the fact that some people are abusers and some are not. I cant see that that would change in any significant way if drugs were legalised. Youd still get the same people becoming junkies, youd still get the same people experimenting who dont become junkies.
 
csirl said:
Start punishing use and the drop in demand will eliminate the importers and suppliers.
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Unbelievably naive and totally counterproductive.

csirl said:
Very simple - anyone arrested for a public order or dangerous driving offence or obviously under the influence or openly taking drugs gets drug tested ala sports stars. You test positive, you get a mandatory 6 months in prison during which time you undergo a mandatory rehab programme. No exceptions, no excuses. You take drugs, you do the time. Double it for each successive offence.
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See above. The ONLY thing that will happen in this scenario is that you criminalise a huge portion of the populace. What you're suggesting is the same failed policy followed by the US.

Tomodinhio said:
Well you start selling these things over the counter and how many more people will think its ok to use these drugs cause they are legal (especially in younger more naive poeple). It would encourage drug use is what i am trying to say, something we could do without.
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That's not the experience of the Netherlands. Just because it's legal, doesn't 'encourage' it. Nobody is telling the kids to go and smoke dope.
 
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