The problem is: It's a taboo. You can't talk about drugs. There is only one answer to this question: Drugs are evil. Stop questioning it!! To most people it seems totally ridiciolous to even assume there are people who really defend certain substances. Sure, they're likely to admit that "some crazy folks" take "funny things" to "destroy their lifes" ..but they're noit acoustomed to the thought that completely sober people are able to intellectualy defend certain substances...it can't get in their mind.

Every politician who works for a legalisation would quickly be caught between the boulevard press and the raging mob of uninformed culturally biased idiots.

I think the only way to make a difference is to stop referring to substances like DMT as "drugs" ...they're not. They're either "medicine" or "spiritual tools" or "therapeutic helpers"

we can all help by not ever buying drugs again but only making them ourselves for us and our friends to share. where there are no dealers there is no need for DEA or something similar. nobody really gives a crap about what people do in their kitchens as long as it doesn't turn up on the streets.

Free the innocent, stop deaths, help the police, stop crime, stop terrorism, protect our children, save the country billions, speed up advancements in science, bring back family values and legalise all drugs
Please read all of this, this is a very serious issue, many innocent people just like YOU, are currently incarcerated, having their lives ruined, being beaten and raped as we speak, this is a very serious reality, a very serious situation that needs to be rectified. Spread the word.
We aim to get enough voices/signatures together so that the government has to listen to us and legalise all drugs. There are millions of innocent people out there; whose only crime is ingesting a substance that someone in the past has decided should be illegal, being locked up with muggers, thieves, conmen, rapists and murderers. These people are not violent, not the minority and pose no threat to society. I hope you will join my cause, as we are meant to live in a free world.
Once I have figured out the best way to do so, I intend to get as many signatures (online petition) and as much backing from as many people as possible. If all goes well then we can find people to be heads in cities, towns and counties to round up people in their area. There is power in numbers and I know for a fact that there are enough of us out there to change these stupid rules, we can make a difference, all we need to do is stand up.





10 Reasons to legalise all drugs+6 more
comment from Transform: the campaign for effective drug policy+ I’ve added a few more arguments that I feel are important.

1-Address the real issues
For too long policy makers have used prohibition as a smoke screen to avoid addressing the social and economic factors that lead people to use drugs. Most illegal and legal drug use is recreational. Poverty and despair are at the root of all problematic drug use and it is only by addressing these underlying causes that we can hope to significantly decrease the number of problematic users.

2-Eliminate the criminal market place+save the country Billions of pounds
The market for drugs is demand-led and millions of people demand illegal drugs. Making the production, supply and use of some drugs illegal, creates a vacuum into which organised crime moves. The profits are worth billions of pounds. Legalisation would force organised crime from the drugs trade, starve the terrorists and criminals of income and enable us to regulate and control the market (i.e. prescription, licensing, laws on sales to minors, advertising regulations etc.)

Billions of the tax payers money goes up every year, spent fighting drugs when it could be put to much better causes like the NHS, our public transport system, helping drug addicts, raising drug safety issues, the roads or education.

On top of the billions we would save that at the moment we spend fighting drugs, if legalisation were put in place then tax on drugs would give the government/country billions of extra pounds, which at the moment are in the terrorists and criminals pockets.

3-Get our kids of drugs
As illegal drugs are purchased from the streets, there is no age limit for the buyers and in the dealers eyes, no distinction between selling drugs to adults from selling to minors. If drugs were made legal, very high penalties could be introduced for the sale of drugs to minors helping getting our children off drugs. Also our children could be monitored much more effectively as awareness would go up, signs of use in young people would be much more recognisable.

4-Family
Families are torn apart. Many of you (which is comforting) are strict law abiders and when a son/daughter, brother/sister etc is recognized to be using an illegal drug, divides can occur and unnecessary stress arises making life hell for those users who usually turn to drugs as a relief from stress in the first place, which only leads to further problems.

The illegality of drugs also starts people lying to each other, children lying to their parents, brothers lying to their sisters, lovers lying to their partners. This is because a lot of people think, that if something is against the law it is immoral (understandably as apart from taking illegal drugs all other crimes are immoral) these people, maybe even you, think that illegal drug use is bad.
People let their family/friends/partners know their views, so if they question their family/friends/partners “Do you take drugs?”, their family/friends/partners, will lie about it. This is because users see that the drugs are ok but do not want their friends/partners/family to think any less of them. This starts people lying to their friends/partners/family.
The only reason they are lying is because they feel they have to, to save the feelings of their friends/partners/family, and the only reason they feel they should lie is because, the people who think illegal drug use is wrong have been lied to in the first place.
This then makes it seem to people (especially children) that lying is ok, because they know best, when in some circumstances they won’t. They then might go onto lie about other things, more often and from this, bad situations could occur.
Also, it is very sad that a lot of parents don’t know their real sons and daughters and that a lot of friends/partners/family don’t know their real friends/partners/family. There are a lot of families who don’t even know who each other really are, legalisation could bring back lost family values, which, would in turn help this country in many other ways.

5-Massively reduce crime
The price of illegal drugs is determined by a demand-led, unregulated market. Using illegal drugs is very expensive. This means that some dependent users resort to stealing to raise funds (accounting for 50% of UK property crime - estimated at £2 billion a year). Most of the violence associated with illegal drug dealing is caused by its illegality

Legalisation would enable us to regulate the market, determine a much lower price and remove users need to raise funds through crime. Our legal system would be freed up and our prison population dramatically reduced, saving billions. Because of the low price, cigarette smokers do not have to steal to support their habits. There is also no violence associated with the legal tobacco market.

Also it is not just drug crimes which are not reported to the police because of prohibition (i.e. someone could get assaulted and have their drugs stolen off them but not be able to report the crime as it incriminates them), other crimes go unreported as users of illegal drugs fear most contact with the police. A female drug dealer could be raped and not report the crime as she fears contact with the police, this leaves a rapist (who otherwise wouldn’t be there) walking the streets, to potentially rape ANYONE. Also any drug user can be beaten up, robbed and not report the crime as they fear contact with the police, this leaves thousands of thugs and thieves running free to potentially mug or rob ANYONE, it is not just drug users who are affected by this. If legalisation were to be put in place, not only would drug related crime go down (that of addicts who need help, having to steal, and sell their body to pay for their habit.) but arrests of the real villains out there would go up making our streets a safer place to be.

A large argument against legalising drugs is that a black market would still exist, this is true as it is for all things like cigarettes etc but the drug barons profits would be so severely slashed that they would not be able to afford to pay workers or avoid arrest as currently there ridiculous profits which is something between 75 and 90% means they can bribe some corrupt officials and keep up with the latest technology. Any way the fact that a black market would still exist is irrelevant, as less money for drug barons, criminals and terrorists is better than loads of money for drug barons, criminals and terrorists which at the moment they have.

6-Help the police
Prohibition of drugs makes our police force enemies (or at least seem like enemies), to millions of otherwise, perfectly nice, law abiding people. Should those who are there to stop anti social behaviour have to be feared, even hated by millions of people, who would otherwise have no problem with them. It makes many of us loose respect for the law and trust in the law which is a very tragic thing. Legalisation would mean that the police could go from being a good 6 million peoples enemies to their friends. This would help the country enormously.

7-Drug users are a majority
Recent research shows that nearly half of all 15-16 year olds have used an illegal drug. Up to one and a half million people use ecstasy every weekend. Amongst young people, illegal drug use is seen as normal, you are 95% guaranteed to know a user or someone who has used illegal drugs, even if you don’t know it. Intensifying the 'war on drugs' is not reducing demand. In Holland, where drug laws are far less harsh, drug usage is amongst the lowest in Europe.

Legalisation accepts that drug use is normal and that it is a social issue, not a criminal justice one. How we deal with it is up to all of us to decide.

In 1970 there were 9000 convictions or cautions for drug offences and 15% of young people had used an illegal drug. In 1995 the figures were 94 000 and 45%. Prohibition doesn't work.

Number of drug users among 16 to 59 year-olds in England and Wales, 2005/06 (British Crime Survey)[2]
Drug Lifetime Last Year Last month
Cocaine 2,273,000 (7.2%) 776,000 (2.4%) 376,000 (1.2%)
Crack 270,000 (0.9%) 53,000 (0.2%) 25,000 (0.1%)
Ecstasy 2,279,000 (7.2%) 502,000 (1.6%) 216,000 (0.7%)
LSD 1,733,000 (5.5%) 83,000 (0.3%) 25,000 (0.1%)
Magic Mushrooms 2,311,000 (7.3%) 302,000 (1.0%) 68,000 (0.2%)
Heroin 203,000 (0.9%) 39,000 (0.1%) 23,000 (0.1%)
Methadone 149,00 (0.6%) 33,000 (0.1%) 24,000 (0.1%)
Amphetamines 3,655,000 (11.5%) 426,000 (1.3%) 176,000 (0.6%)
Tranquillisers 868,000 (2.7%) 118,000 (0.4%) 64,000 (0.2%)
Anabolic steroids 194,000 (0.6%) 42,000 (0.1%) 20,000 (0.1%)
Cannabis 9,475,000 (29.8%) 2,775,000 (8.7%) 1,644,000 (5.2%)
Amyl Nitrate 2,661,000 (8.4%) 397,000 (1.2%) 179,000 (0.6%)
Glues 751,000 (2.4%) 30,000 (0.1%) 11,000 (0.0%)
Class A 4,416,000 (13.9%) 1,082,000 (3.4%) 513,000 (1.6%)





8-Restore our rights and responsibilities
Prohibition unnecessarily criminalises millions of otherwise law-abiding people. It removes the responsibility for distribution of drugs from policy makers and hands it over to unregulated, sometimes violent dealers.

Legalisation restores our right to use drugs responsibly to change the way we think and feel. It enables controls and regulations to be put in place to protect the vulnerable.

Human rights
It is your right as a human being to do what you want, to have what you need and to enjoy yourself, as long as you are not hurting anyone. This is an issue of choice, a breech of human rights. People should be allowed to do as they please in their own private time. Prohibition was only brought about within the last century. The declaration of human rights states under article 27 “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and it’s benefits. And under article 29’1) everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his/her personality is possible.
2)in the exercise of his/her rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due to recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and general welfare in a democratic society.”

Most of you opposed to drug legalization would suggest according to article 29 of human rights part 2 that drugs are illegal to maintain public order and if made legal people would start doing them and there would be chaos well my reply would be, people already take drugs My question to you would be does that warrant criminalizing them, criminalizing millions of otherwise nice, functioning ordinary law abiding citizens. All of us in fact take drugs the only difference is 2 letters IL. I can think only of enlightened eastern priest’s who do not.

9-Race and Drugs
Black people are over ten times more likely to be imprisoned for drug offences than whites. Arrests for drug offences are notoriously discretionary allowing enforcement to easily target a particular ethnic group. Prohibition has fostered this stereotyping of black people.

Legalisation removes a whole set of laws that are used to disproportionately bring black people into contact with the criminal justice system. It would help to redress the over representation of black drug offenders in prison.

10-Global Implications
The illegal drugs market makes up 8% of all world trade (around £300 billion a year). Whole countries are run under the corrupting influence of drug cartels. Prohibition also enables developed countries to wield vast political power over producer nations under the auspices of drug control programmes.

Legalisation returns lost revenue to the legitimate taxed economy and removes some of the high-level corruption. It also removes a tool of political interference by foreign countries against producer nations.

11-Give poorer countries more trade, better working conditions
Drug barons we have already noted, make billions free of tax every year. They employ thousands of people in poor countries, to produce drugs but the pay is not very good and the conditions are even worse. Also these people who have no other source of income are criminalized by the illegality of commonly used drugs and are to victims in the drug war. If all drugs were legalized, legal jobs would be provided for thousands of people living in poverty and these innocent people would finally be given proper working conditions, where they could not be taken advantage of, as at the moment they have no other option, we can give them one. The poor countries in general would be given trade.

12-To current users
Those of you who use drugs I know you have thought if drugs were made legal, tax will be extortionate well the price of illegal drugs at the moment is ridiculous example £20 for an eighth of an ounce of weed the same weight as a penny. The cost of producing an eighth of weed ranges from about 0.0000000000010p to 0.001p so even with high tax on drugs they will still be much cheaper than they currently are. Compare it to tobacco, it costs £2.60 for a pouch of 12.5grams of tobacco, this item already has very high tax, 12.5grams of weed is about a half ounce (14 grams) a half ounce costs £60 to £80 so to go back to my point before, if you had the choice to buy a half ounce for £2.60 or £80
What are you going to do. As the legitamite companies will be able to sell for much cheaper this will slash criminals profits to a point where it won’t be worth braking the law anymore.

13-Provide access to truthful information and education
A wealth of disinformation about drugs and drug use is given to us by ignorant and prejudiced policy-makers and media who peddle myths upon lies for their own ends. This creates many of the risks and dangers associated with drug use.

Legalisation would help us to disseminate open, honest and truthful information to users and non-users to help them to make decisions about whether and how to use. We could begin research again on presently illicit drugs to discover all their uses and effects - both positive and negative.

14a-Make all drug use safer
Prohibition has led to the stigmatisation and marginalisation of drug users. Countries that operate ultra-prohibitionist policies have very high rates of HIV infection amongst injecting users. Hepatitis C rates amongst users in the UK are increasing substantially.

In the UK in the '80's clean needles for injecting users and safer sex education for young people were made available in response to fears of HIV. Harm reduction policies are in direct opposition to prohibitionist laws.

14b-Raise awareness
With alcohol, paracetamol and antidepressants deaths are sometimes self inflicted, people get depressed and destroy themselves (the same goes for heroine), sometimes this is just a cry for help. But with drugs like ecstasy, deaths are never intentional, no one takes ecstasy with the intention of killing themselves. Deaths in these cases are caused by dirty drugs or poorly informed users.
The very few deaths that happen at the moment with illegal drugs would go down as drug awareness would go up. Just as every Sarah tom Sharon dick or Harry knows that drinking to much alcohol kills you people would become aware of proper safe drug use stopping unnecessary deaths like those of ecstasy which in all cases an autopsy has always shown to much alcohol in their system and or overhydration or dehydration.

As drugs would be purchasable from shops or chemists there would be no, more tragic deaths of people who have taken dodgy drugs mixed with poisonous substances so criminals can further there profits. Also the money and time that legalisation would save the government, would help us stop problematic use and help reduce deaths from misuse of legal drugs like paracetamol, alcohol and antidepressants, and illegal drugs.
Lastly as mentioned before the system where addicts register themselves to get their drugs for free and increased penalties for anyone found in possession of addictive/destructive drugs would mean help reduce the already quite low death rate of addictive drugs like heroine and crack.

To those of you who have had problems due to illegal drugs or who have lost someone to illegal drugs I am very sorry and sympathise with you, I have lost a friend to heroine. I know you want something to blame but again I mention drugs being illegal doesn’t stop people doing them so we need to legalise/medicalise-(addictive substances) to raise awareness and stop deaths.

15-Help advances in science
A University of Birmingham study suggests the popular rave drug ecstasy might be effective in treating cancer.
A five-year study found ecstasy and many other drugs used as anti-depressants -- including prozac -- have properties that stop cancer cells from growing.
Scientists often have to go through a lot of long procedures that can sometimes take years to be able to study illegal drugs. If legalisation were put in place then it would make life easier for the scientists and health professionals out there to analyse and extract the useful properties of thousands of potentially life saving drugs. Cannabis has already been shown to have numerous health benefits and everyday scientists are discovering more useful properties of illegal drugs (before prohibition came into place psychiatrists were using some hallucinogenic drugs to effectively treat people with depression, also, before prohibition ecstasy was being used as a very effective marriage counselling drug.). With legalisation, we could speed up this process of scientific discovery, to possibly help us find a cure for cancer or aids.

16-Prohibition doesn't work
There is no evidence to show that prohibition is succeeding. The question we must ask ourselves is, "What are the benefits of criminalising any drug?" If, after examining all the available evidence, we find that the costs outweigh the benefits, then we must seek an alternative policy.

What are laws for, but protecting people from violence, hate crimes, theft and violation of a persons body.
Legalisation is not a cure-all but it does allow us to address many of the problems associated with drug use, and those created by prohibition. The time has come for an effective and pragmatic drug policy.
Whose side are you on?
Lastly if you oppose legalisation, then you are on the side of the drug barons, you are helping the mafia, all of the criminals and terrorists who benefit from the huge profits that prohibition creates, the answer isn’t more police to solve these problems, as the people at the top of the drug chain, the real criminals, the real bad people, are almost untoucable and a lot of them are making billions of pounds from another country, living it up on an island, that prohibition and any one who supports it is paying for. Think about who you want to support, the criminals, the terrorists or our government?
Taken from urban75.com and statistics from transform-http://www.tdpf.org.uk/ On the 20/9/07 . Added to by me ;-)
Arguments against legalisation
From non users
1-More people would start doing them
A lot of people use the argument, that if we legalised drugs then more people would start doing them. Repeating a statement from earlier, in Holland, where drug laws are far less harsh, drug usage is amongst the lowest in Europe.
With legalisation drugs would be clean, awareness would go up and therefore use would be safer. Also mentioned earlier, addictive/destructive drugs like heroine and crack would only be available to people who register themselves as addicts, and very high penalties (higher than they are at the moment) would be introduced to anyone selling addictive drugs. This would dramatically lower crime and problematic use.

Also an adult in this country can make up there mind and has the right so should be able to make up their mind, whether they want to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or take an illegal drug, but children may not be as well informed, or mature enough to make that decision, again repeating a statement earlier, as illegal drugs are purchased from the streets, there is no age limit for the buyers and in the dealers eyes, no distinction between selling drugs to adults from selling to minors. If drugs were made legal, very high penalties could be introduced for the sale of drugs to minors helping getting our children off drugs. Also our children could be monitored much more effectively as awareness would go up, signs of use in young people would be much more recognisable. Also the illegality of drugs just like that of joy riding or running across train tracks encourages use in a lot of rebellious teenagers

2-You would be helping criminals
Allowing hard (class A) drug dealers to freely make money from innocent people would make the problem worse. Some people would see selling drugs as an easy way of earning a living, and they would now feel able to do this without prosecution.

This argument would only be valid if the government made absolutely no attempt to legislate against this kind of behaviour. Increasing penalties against un-licenced drug sellers would be a simple solution for this problem, in the same way that a person selling home made morphine or asprin would be penalized for breaching copyright laws and purchasing chemicals without a pharmacutical licence. In this way, only people who are determined to make money from selling drugs, rather than helping a friend to get an ounz of weed would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

3-But drugs are bad for you?!?!
For the argument “but drugs are bad for you!” if this was the reason that drugs were illegal then tobacco and alcohol would be forbidden as they have more health risks and cause more deaths than all the non addictive illegal drugs out there put together (literally, look below, do the math.). Also anyone can legally buy a knife, a baseball bat, an axe or an air gun. Our homes are full of weapons, though people are allowed to have them. Anyone can go out and kill someone with these items. Gun and knife companies make billions and the sole intention of a gun or weapon, is to harm, is to kill. All people want IL-legal drugs for (just like legal drugs) is to have a good time, drugs aren’t meant to hurt people.
Numbers of deaths where selected substances were mentioned on the death certificate in England and Wales, 2005[5]
Drug Deaths
Heroin and morphine 842
Methadone 220
Cocaine (including crack) 176
All amphetamines 103
(of which MDMA/ecstasy) 58
Cannabis 19
Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) 4
All benzodiazepines 190
Zopiclone/Zolpidem 48
Barbiturates 14
All antidepressants 401
Paracetamol (including compound formulations) 466
Codeine (non-compound formulation) 44
Dihydrocodeine (non-compound formulation) 106
Aspirin 19
Tramadol 53
Alcohol* 6,627
Tobacco** 86,500


Numbers of deaths where selected substances were mentioned on the death certificate in Scotland, 2005[7]
Drug Deaths
Heroin/morphine 194
Diazepam 90
Methadone 72
Cocaine 44
Ecstasy 10
Temazepam 7
Alcohol* 2,052
Tobacco** 11,300

Also a lot of people say that if legalisation were put in place, then the few deaths there are from illegal drug use at the moment, would increase. Firstly the percentage of deaths of people who use illegal drugs is much lower than that of legal drugs like alcohol and as mentioned before, with tests put in place before anyone could take any drug (for allergies, physical problems or mental health problems) and much higher penalties than there are at the moment, for people selling drugs illegally, which would stop criminals from making money/remove dirty drugs from the market, the few deaths that there are at the moment would be reduced instead of increased. As mentioned before, all the deaths that happen due to illegal drugs (and legal) are either caused by dirty drugs, misinformation or problematic use, with before mentioned systems put in place use would undoubtedly be safer and the government would have billions more pounds, and thousands more hours to help problematic users of all drugs, this would help reduce the very high death rate of people who drink alcohol (6,627 a year).

Also if the reason drugs were illegal were health risks then Mcdonalds and sweet production companies would be shut down in a day along with all fried foods and desserts band.

Arguments against legalisation
From users
Here is a reply to my initial argument from someone called Craig, showing that it’s not just people who don’t like IL-legal drugs who can sometimes oppose the argument. :

Ok the cusp of this argument I cannot agree with due to my own personnel beliefs.. When I said I felt this was idealistic I was not intending to insult/offend your personnel world view or mo’s view. You see I don’t think certain drugs should be legal for various reasons, I’ll start with what I know though – psychedelics and psychoactive.. Okay I know what your thinking here this is going to be quite preachy right? An acid casualty – well I was one at one point saying don’t legalise psychedelics?? Well I am talking about a few specifics here notably psilocybin mushrooms {so called magic mushrooms,} lysergic acid diethylamide {or acid, LSD} and the compound known as dmt – sometimes referred to as vine of death or ayahuasca.

Psychedelics :

Okay firstly I don’t think acid and magic mushrooms are for everyone. Indeed my own personnel research supports this. I know for a fact that whilst psychedelics can expand the boundaries of your imagination and your consciousness {as they un doubtfully do,} they can also bring on latent psychological problems and a sense of things never been the same ever again. I guess this is why a lot of people go crazy – they don’t see that nothing is a given and you can make what you want out of the psychedelic landscape. You imagination has no limits once the doors of perception are flung wide.. I also have seen glimpses of future sight on acid and mushrooms, can you imagine dealing with that on a mass scale? I guess a lot of people have seen glimpses of their future whilst in a dream like state – pre cognition even, but to see actual sections of your life that haven’t happened yet and then years later get a sense far stronger than deja vu when these events actually occur- that’s quite a fucked up feeling take it from me. I don’t think the psychedelic experience is for everyone. Not everyone can deal with it, my last acid trip took me from late December last year to April this year to totally recover from.. The human mind can only take so much. One of my close friends got sectioned because some new age shaman prick {as in not a shaman at all he just thought he was because he was once in Peru chomping shrooms,} gave him acid – the guy was fully aware this friend had a history of schizophrenia and what a surprise it bought those problems back to the surface – an absolute catalyst in fucking him up again.. Luckily that’s way behind us all now but the lesson is there – don’t take psychedelics lightly.. If they weren’t illegal the situation could be much worse and on a wider scale. People just do not have the respect for a drug of such power and beneficial properties. Most people just want to have a laugh, if I do acid again {and I don’t think I will for a very long time,} I will do it for absolutely the correct reasons and make sure set and setting are followed accordingly..

Last year I wouldn’t have been thinking like this but I have learnt a lot since then. Psychedelics don’t open everyone’s mind, some people are just as stupid on them as off them. Just as close minded after as before they took them. So for these reasons and to respect the very ideals and teachings of shamans I think these substances now been illegal is a very good move. It doesn’t mean we can’t use these chemicals anymore it just means we have to seek them out. I think that is far more effective then making them all legal.

I will type about dmt some other time as this is all the time I have right now. But please take my points into account and don’t just dismiss this opinion.. I think some drugs should be legal such as weed but to say coke should be legal – what the hell does that solve? The very ethics involved in Columbian farming of coke – the gangsters the innocents involved the bollocks is enough to make me think twice fuck no more than twice before snorting a line for kicks.. Coke and heroin are just plain evil.. I enjoyed tripping because I was seeking answers to mysteries that I could not of solved otherwise I also have a very poetic imagination so the visual aspects of psychedelics appealed to me massively/ Ironically been short sighted {as in I don’t have 20/20 vision,} is a benefit for me as I could visualise anything I wanted during a trip and it would always be dream like and far more real then most people would experience..

What about salvia? I have a friend who had a profound experience on salvia that was so real he was convinced he had died until he heard the music that triggered this vision months later whilst he was sober.. Then he thought "oh so I didn't die that music was real and made the trip what it was".. I could go into more detail on that one but you should ask him about it sometime..

But I digress here are some points please read and address them.. I don’t think this idea of legalising all drugs does anything towards making the world a better place. To make the world a better place we have to analyse the idiots in power making decisions for us.. That’s where change starts.

Here is my reply/rebuttal
Defence
I agree with your points that some drugs are bad for some people, example, some people with addictive personalities shouldn't do addictive drugs and some people with mental problems shouldn't do psychedelics (even though people with addictive personalities are going to get addicted to something, be it food, TV, alchohol, relationships or violence), but at the moment they do these drugs, and there is no screening process to stop them, someone might not even know that they have an addictive personality or mental problems, do a drug and get really messed up on it, this already happens. Legalisation/medicalisation of drugs means more control, systems would be put in place where you'd have to pay for a psych and mental examination before you could purchase/take certain drugs, this way people with tendencies towards schizophrenia etc would know to stay away from certain psychedelics and people with weak hearts or other physical problems like allergies towards certain drugs (who otherwise wouldn't know) would know what drugs to stay away from. This wouldn't completely stop problems but it would definately reduce them. Deaths and cases of people developing serious mental problems would go down.

Also if drugs were legalised then warnings would be put in place on packets, and limits could be assessed for drugs like acid, so say for instance, you could only buy 6 trips a year (also the end all, be all argument, people do drugs anyway, legalising would make them safer, and ensure that incidents like the one you mentioned would be reduced and more controlled.)


To address your question about cocaine and other addictive drugs I do not agree in addictive drugs. I am not a fan of addictive drugs and I never intend to do addictive drugs like heroine and crack as they have ruined 2 of my friend’s lives. One is now an idiot and the other is dead. I used to smoke cigarettes but I do not even do that now anymore, as I believe, addictive drugs stop people from living their lives and are pointless. Though I think all this I still think they should be legalised/medicalised, as people who are addicted to these drugs don’t need locking up they need help. Also a large percentage of the deaths associated with addictive drugs like heroine are due to the drug not being pure. If it were legalised this would no longer happen+I will bring up this argument a lot people already do drugs and no law will stop them so we might as well help them and less money for drug barons is better than more, as the drug barons are the ones who are trying to get people addicted to these drugs I’m sure the number of addicts would go down.

To the issue of legalisation/medicalisation of addictive substances like cocaine and heroine which most of you out there, even light drug users would oppose I would answer with this solution/suggestion. First of all (on a different note) those many celebrities and people in high places that you admire are users of the drug cocaine. This is not a problem for them as they can afford to pay for their habit just a s smokers can pay for theirs.

For these addictive substances I suggest decrimalisation or medicalisation as not so much legalisation as they are addictive and destructive, but I feel a system should be taken up where as instead of locking up a heroine addict/coke/crack addict and surrounding them with criminals and getting them more involved in crime/make their life worse/give them more reason to escape reality by using the drugs, it would be better instead to let them register themselves as an addict, to get the drugs they need for free so as they do not have to mug (and potentially kill), rob, beg or sell their body to keep up their habit. Because you would have to register as an addict this would obviously limit jobs. No registered addict could be a manager or other high positioned job, though menial jobs would be offered for them and help if they wanted to come of the drug. This sorts out the argument that a lot of people bring up when legalising all drugs is mentioned. A lot of people say if all drugs were made legal everyone would start doing them. First of all this is a very stupid argument (as users of cannabis, ecstasy, lsd etc all know to stay away from addictive drugs like heroine and crack anyway) and second if you had to register to get these addictive drugs that do destroy lives (+ pay for the license to take safer/non addictive drugs) then no one in their right mind would start doing them in the first place anyway. This would mean that addicts would get the help they need and you wouldn’t get new people trying the drug as the dealers profits would be so severely slashed they wouldn’t be able to make any money and therefore wouldn’t be able to get new people hooked.

One last point, this argument is the main point, no matter what you say, no matter how bad any drugs are, people do them anyway, them being illegal does not stop people. Medicalisation/legalisation/decrimilisation would mean that drugs would be safer and as I mentioned before tests could be put in place to make sure risks are minimised. Millions of people die from car crashes every year, but we do not ban driving (though we do have regulations to make driving safer, just like we should/could/will have for drug use), thousands of people die from obesity and weight problems but we do not ban fatty foods, people die from crossing the street but we don't lock everyone up in padded rooms, (forgive my French) shit happens, shit has happened to me, my friend died due to a heroine overdose the drug was illegal but it didn't stop him doing it, if anything drugs being illegal make it easier for people who shouldn't do them, to get them, I believe if all drugs were legalised/medicalised this wouldn't of happened as the tests that I mentioned earlier would be put in place. Punishing people for having drugs does not help anything, drugs being illegal causes crime and dirty drugs, also dealers don't have health and safety checks, and a smack dealer won't (like a barman say) sorry mate I think you have had enough. There are endless reasons to legalise, and I know on the surface it seems like a logistical nightmare but when you think about it logically, it would be safer, innocent people would not be in jail, the government would save billions and the world would be a safer, better, happier place.


(There was no rebuttal to this.)








It could be you
A lot of us who use drugs/friends/family of people who use drugs forget the illegality of such drugs as the use is so casual and the drugs cause little to no harm (as pointed out before, alcohol and cigarettes cause far more deaths a year than all of the illegal substances put together). For a lot of users, it feels like drugs are already legal, until we are arrested. Those of you who use drugs/friends/family, do you think your friends deserve to be in jail? Drug users harm no one. What are the police for but to enforce the law, what is the law for but to keep people safe? Drug users don't go round fighting people, and the only crime they do commit is due to the illegality of the substances they like to use. A heroine addict wouldn't have to, steal, mug and potentially kill someone or sell their body, if the government provided them with help rather than locking up and surrounding them with real criminals. When someone is arrested for basic possession, they could have their life ruined, all they are doing is carrying round a drug that they want to take, the equivalent to someone walking round with a packet of cigarettes/alcohol. They have not done anything wrong, they are not harming anyone, arresting them does not solve anything, it isn’t protecting them or anyone else, in fact arresting people does not just not help the world it makes it worse. When someone is arrested it makes them angry/upset and feel vulnerable and lost, so a person who is otherwise a nice caring gentle person; from being arrested could go and beat someone up or drink themselves (on a legal drug) to death. Giving otherwise good innocent people bad records can leave them no choice but to get into the world of crime. Example-if someone wants to work in care and they get caught with some drugs they could potentially never get to work in the field that would make them happy, if they already have a record, and their life has been snatched away from them then why bother trying to work legally when they could make a lot of money committing crime.

Police obey these laws without questioning them, because they have to, they know that the masses use drugs but all you have to do is be unlucky and then YOU an innocent person can be arrested fined or incarcerated. Imagine yourself or a friend of yours called mike is asked to get the supplies for a night out. Say 10 of their friends want 5 ecstasy pills each (for those of you who don't know, ecstasy is a drug that gives the user energy and feelings of love and empathy, doctors say that for your body, doing ecstasy is equal to a night of binge drinking, something that a good 2 thirds of the country has been guilty of at least once or twice, and something that a good quarter of the country does nearly every night). If 10 of your friends wanted some alcohol then you are not all going to go to the shop, only one or two of you would. Mike agrees to go get the ecstasy from the supplier as usual (It is not like he is forcing anything on anyone, his friends, would of got drugs from somewhere else, if he hadn’t.). At this point I would like to note that mike is doing a nice thing, he is doing his friends a favour, as I mentioned before, the equivalent to getting peoples alcohol from the shops. So mike is walking back from the suppliers and sees some police, he becomes nervous and looks a bit suspicious, the police see this and decide to search him. Upon searching him they discover the 50 ecstasy tablets and arrest him. For doing this favour mike can get 8 years to life in jail, where he will be surrounded by hardened criminals, who maybe just started out the same way he did. Mike being in jail in the first place is wrong, as he has harmed no one and done nothing wrong, but on top of mike being in jail, mike gets raped, beaten up and addicted to heroine trying to escape the horrible reality of his life. If and when mike comes out of jail do you think he’s going to respect the law, do you think it would have made him a better person (as that what the judicial system is meant to do, help people, help people get better, help the world be a better place), or do you think mike is going to be bitter angry and now a hardened criminal himself, taught the tricks of the trade, picking locks, fighting moves, places to get in contact with more criminals. Mike probably won’t be able to get a decent job so will almost undoubtedly turn to crime stealing, beating, raping, mugging, murdering. All mike is doing is inflicting the same pain, the same hate that the government and people in jail have inflicted on him. Mike is now a monster, a monster that the judicial system has created, mike wanted to be a care worker, he wanted to help people. If you use IL-legal drugs, this could be you, all you have to do is be in the wrong place at the wrong time and you could end up in prison. This doesn’t just affect those of you who use IL-legal drugs, it could be your friends, it could be your parents, it could be your children, it could be any member of your family, or your partner and remember users of IL-legal drugs are not the minority, you DO know someone that has used or uses IL-legal drugs, even if you don’t know it. They aren’t doing anything wrong, they aren’t hurting anyone but they could end up in prison, so help protect the people that you love. These people are being made bad, made angry made upset. In this case the judicial system is not making the world a safer, better place, it is making it a more dangerous worse place.











Help the country
The Government/police, keep saying they need more funding, more recruits and more time. They also say that the prison system is grossly overcrowded. Well if decriminalisation/medicalisation/legalisation came into place, the police would save millions of hours of time, billions of pounds of money (which would help lower taxes) and the overcrowded prison system would have more room for the real criminals out there.
The last count of recreational drug users in the UK (taken from transform) was 4.5 million, that's a lot of people to watch, that's a lot of time being wasted, that's a lot of money being spent. The UK spends £1.6bn each year on drug-related activity - and £1bn on reacting to the consequences of drug misuse through the criminal justice process (on top of that there is a lot of crime that only exists due to the illegality of drugs, I'm sure you could add another billion). Take that £1.6 billion put it into the NHS, put it into education, put it into helping the poor; put it into the public transport system, put it into the police to help them stop real criminals. On top of the £1.6bn the government would earn billions (with tax on drugs rather than money spent fighting them). This money could be put into any of the areas I have just listed.
Every time a police officer has to arrest a recreational user/dealer, either a fight is going on, a child is being abused, a girl is being raped, and a shop is being robbed. All the hours that the police are forced to spend arresting innocent people and doing paperwork for a recreational users/dealers arrest could be spent stopping a fight going on, a child being abused, a girl being raped, a shop being robbed. The police could be using their time so much more wisely, making this world a better place (that's what the police are meant for).

I have been beaten up a few times, the police have never been able to come to my aid, when I have called them reporting people beating me up, they have not been able to help, so no one has been caught and these violent people get away. No doubt while I was being beaten some teenage boys life was being ruined, arrested for possession of some drug, which isn't taxed. Also I was abused at home for many years, this is why I turned to drugs in the first place (that and getting addicted to tobacco, drinking alcohol), I would call for help, I would tell people but nothing was done.
With all the time spent fighting the war on drugs, the police don't have time to stop a lot of real injustices; they have to leave a lot of people hurt with no help. Then when these people turn to drugs to medicate themselves/have a good time/sort themselves out the police have to arrest them for it.
So on one side, they are arresting people purely for having a good time, not hurting anyone, not doing anything wrong and on the other side they are punishing people for having problems, punishing people for sorting their lives out/escaping unfortunate realities that the police/government would be stopping if they had more time.
At first when I was younger, I didn't see my use of drugs as problematic. I started using drugs at an early age, they helped me to talk through my problems, they helped me stay sane, they stopped me from topping myself, they helped me a lot more than the anything else did. But I started smoking pot everyday, getting wrecked all the time etc same old story, turned into problematic use, just like people can get addicted to antidepressants-which I was prescribed from the age of 14, (prozac,mirtazapam, sertraline and temazepam)-(still better than drinking everyday might I add).
I am fine now, I don't NEED any drug be it paracetamol, prozac, alcohol or ecstasy, when I do use my use is purely recreational and I regularly go on complete detox's (which is more than a lot of law abiding drug users can say). I have been accepted into University to do a mental health-nursing course, I got a B and 2 merits (BTEC national award, equivalent to 2 Cs) at college. I produce music, give money and do work for charity and am a perfectly functioning member of society (more so than a legally sound, legally fine, government approved alcoholic, that if we had more government time and money we could help.). Ironically (and this just adds to my point) the only thing that might hold me back, is that I was recently arrested at a FESTIVAL, I pleaded with the arresting officer, telling him that he could be potentially ruining my life, as it is hard to get a job in care work+I might have my place at UNI revoked due to my new police record but there was nothing he could do.
The only cause of problematic drug use is problems. My point here is that if the government/police had more time/money to spend stopping the real injustices/helping the poor/helping the uneducated/helping the homeless/stopping domestic abuse, helping people/stopping these problems that people have, then there would be no problematic drug use (including that of legal drugs alcohol, benzodiazepates, tobacco, pain killers etc).

So as you can see unquestionably, legalisation/medicalisation/decriminalisation would help no end, freeing up government and police time/money and prison space to help make the world a safer, nicer, happier place, with more time/money for the police/government to attack the source of social problems, to attack the route of all this pain and hate.

I believe people are inherently good and the only reason a lot of them don't agree in legalisation is just because they have been lied to/they don't know the facts+a lot of people get morality and law confused (as mentioned before all other crimes apart from IL-legal drug use, are immoral), but I know that if everyone knew the truth, if everyone stood up we could set everything right.

Respectable supporters of legalisation
They are repeating the same points but if you don’t want to listen to me, listen to them

'Legalise all drugs' - Mowlam

Mo Mowlam says many people support her view
Former cabinet minister Mo Mowlam has called for the legalisation of all drugs - including ecstasy, heroin and cocaine.
Dr Mowlam, once responsible for the government's anti-drugs policy, told the Independent on Sunday she would tax drugs and use the revenue to help reduce addiction.

"You'd have the money from tax, which if it were ring-fenced for working with addicts whether cannabis, pills, barbiturates, coke or heroin you'd have a chance of beating it," she is quoted as saying.


We have to face up to the reality

Mo Mowlam

Her comments, made ahead of the launch of her autobiography next week, follow anti-drugs visits she made to Colombia.

Dr Mowlam told the newspaper she had been struck when in Colombia by the money which drove the drugs market there.

If the black market prices were removed by legalising the trade, she said, there would be less incentive behind it.

Reclassification

"I think that is the most effective way because in the end I don't think you could ever stop it," she is quoted as saying.

"Why not regulate it, take the tax from it and seriously deal with addiction which has been around since the 1900s?"

Dr Mowlam, who stood down from politics at the last election, claimed there was support for her idea all over the world.


Calls have been made for heroin to be available on the NHS
"I don't think we can stop it, and there are a number of people in other countries and police and social workers who agree with me," she said.

Earlier this week Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tongue said cocaine should be legalised and that heroin be made more available on the NHS.

She said the drug should be "medicalised" in order to treat addicts.

The government has signalled that it wants to re-classify cannabis from a class 'B' to a class 'C' drug.

But Home Secretary David Blunkett has emphasised that although he wants to reclassify the drug, he does not intend to legalise or decriminalise it.

Dr Mowlam's views on drugs are the latest outspoken comments which have arisen from her much-leaked autobiography Momentum, to be published on 2 May.

Other allegations have included claims she was "knifed in the back" by the Labour party because of her popularity with voters.

She also accuses Peter Mandelson of campaigning for the job of Northern Ireland Secretary while she was still in the post.




Legalise all drugs, say Lib Dems

'Licensed drug dealers could undercut illegal counterparts'
Senior Liberal Democrats have urged the party's leadership to consider backing the legalisation of all drugs.
Chris Davies MEP said the "war on drugs" had been lost and the only way to undermine the criminals controlling the trade was legalisation.

Speaking at a fringe meeting at the party's Brighton conference, he urged Lib Dems to lobby home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg to change policy.

He was backed by education spokesman Baroness Walmsley.

She told the meeting it was time to "think the unthinkable" on the drugs issue and consider legalisation.

"I think the issue is a no-brainer. We have got to go along this direction," she said.

Drug capital

It would contribute to harm reduction, tackle gun culture, save police time and reduce the amount of drug-related crime including theft.

"We are not talking about selling penny packets in a sweet shop. We are talking about sensible controls," she told the meeting.

She urged party members to "perhaps write to Nick Clegg and say we want more discussion in the party".

She denied the stance was seeking to turn Britain into the drug capital of the world.

"The last thing we would want is for any child to take drugs," she said.

"But also people should have the freedom to put into their bodies what they want without any more harm than they would want."

'Ammunition'

Mr Davies, who is an outspoken campaigner for the decriminalisation of drugs, said he wanted the Lib Dem policy on drugs to be "looked at again".

"I hope Nick Clegg will explore this issue again. I know from brief talks with him he is mindful to do so but I know he is mindful of giving ammunition to his opposition," he told the meeting.

The North West MEP likened the "war on drugs" to the Emperor's new clothes. "We keep saying 'war on drugs' year in year out but it achieves nothing.

"It's time to stop pointing and laughing at this piece of nonsense."

Mr Davies said he had never taken an illegal drug but had once been arrested for possession of a tiny quantity of cannabis he was using to illustrate a point at a public meeting.

'Licensed outlet'

He said state licensed drug dealers could undercut illegal dealers on price and put them out of business.

He also called for a debate about how drugs would be sold once they had been legalised, "if you are going to sell it through a licensed outlet, a chemist's shop or something like a sex shop".

He argued that legalisation could not just occur within the UK but had to happen around the world.

He urged party members to lobby the United Nations, which meets in Vienna in March to reconsider the 1961 convention on illegal drugs, which guides policy around the world.

'Fighting hard'

Inspector Jim Duffy, chairman of the Strathclyde Police Federation, backed Mr Davies' call for legalisation.

Stressing that he was speaking in a personal capacity and not on behalf of Strathclyde Police, the inspector said: "We are not winning the war against illegal drugs.

"We are fighting hard, becoming smarter and sharper; as are those we are fighting against. If the current rules of engagement do not change then we are destined to continue to fail."

He said drug addicts should be given access to substances that "do exactly what they say on the tin".

"Lives could be saved if addicts purchasing regulated drugs could be sure of their strength and purity," he added.



Police chief says 'legalise all drugs'

A senior police officer in Wales has been telling a meeting that the only way to win the war on drugs may be to legalise them all.
In a radical departure from conventional policy policy, North Wales Police Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom told his police authority a Royal Commission should examine legalising some or all illegal drugs.


Some addicts use crime to fund their habit
Mr Brunstom said that, despite billions of pounds and thousands of officer hours, the number of addicts and "recreational users" of illegal drugs in the UK has multiplied at an alarming rate since the 1970s.

It is his belief that the war on drugs has already been lost.

The police authority backed his calls during the meeting at Colwyn Bay.

Mr Brunstrom argues the political consequences and effects on society of a serious crackdown on drugs would be too severe to be realistic.

The free movement of people and goods would have to go, to be replaced by a fortress mentality and a police state, he claimed.

"It might just work but the consequences are not palatable," he said.

'Timid approach'

Mr Brunstrom compares the current situation with alcohol prohibition in the USA in the 1920s, which was an "unmitigated disaster".

He maintains a more successful enforcement of the drug laws would actually make things worse and wants a Royal Commission to look into the UK's future drugs policy.


Drugs policy has failed, says Mr Brunstrom
He is also urging them to welcome Home Secretary David Blunkett's recent announcements on government policy.

But he describes Mr Blunkett's moves to legalise cannabis as "timid."

Mr Brunstrom said there is no particularly sound logic to the pattern of proscription created by Britain's 1971 drugs legislation.

"Public opinion is moving rapidly," he told BBC Wales.

"There is evidence to show a main plank of our strategy - to control availability - simply isn't working.

"The consequences of that in crime and societal health are quite frightening - it's time to consider an alternative."

He said simply fighting the war on drugs harder would not work and other options had to be considered.

And, he claimed, North Wales Police was "punching above its weight" within the existing law.


The UK spends £1.6bn each year on drug-related activity - a £1bn on reacting to the consequences of drug misuse through the criminal justice process.

There were currently 200,000 problem drug users in England and Wales, representing about 3% of all drug users.

Former Gwent Police chief constable Francis Wilkinson, who recently called for heroin to be legalised in a bid to cut street crime, supported Mr Brunstom's view.

"There seems to be a lot of common sense in what he is saying," he said.

"The current drug laws make the situation worse and any form of legalisation would be preferable.
UK: Wales

Ex-police chief wants drugs legalised

Francis Wilkinson recently called for drug shops

A former chief constable has revealed that he has become a leading member of a group campaigning for the legalisation of all drugs.
Francis Wilkinson - who retired as the Gwent force's top policeman earlier this year - recently called for heroin and cannabis to be openly sold in shops.

In an opinion piece in the Times newspaper he said legalising, taxing and then publically selling drugs was the only way to beat the drugs barons.

On Monday night he tells BBC1's Panorama programme that he has become a patron of campaign group Transform.

Cannabis is seen as less harmful than coffee
The controversial documentary also reveals results of research showing widespread police tolerance of cannabis, which officers of all ranks say they regard as less harmful and addictive than alcohol or tobacco.

Mr Wilkinson joins a former head of Scotland Yard's Drug Squad, Edward Ellison in calling for drug prohibition to be replaced with an effective system of regulation and control.

Speaking to reporter Peter Marshall, he says: "The British crime survey shows that over the last couple of years cocaine consumption has doubled.

"It will double again in a couple of years unless we do something to manage the supply in a more effective way.

"What I want do is to take the criminal out of the market. At present the whole drugs supply business, this whole international industry, is controlled by criminals.

"If we look at the social damage caused by the present regime - and I mean all the violence and abuse that is carried on through the fact that it's a criminal business.

"If we can get rid of that, then the fact that we are supplying the drug through more highly regulated mechanisms locally will probably be a good thing."


Some police regard alcohol as more addictive than cannabis
The programme features the results of a three-year study tracking the changes in police attitudes towards illicit drugs.

The study, which looked at the reactions of 95 officers in three different forces to various hypothetical cases involving cannabis, heroin and Ecstasy, reveals police are more tolerant of drugs than they were ten years ago.

More than two-thirds of those surveyed said they would probably not prosecute a man for having four cannabis plants, because it was a "run of the mill" case and the suspect was likely to be released with a caution.

However, more than two-thirds said possession of a small amount of heroin was a "serious" drugs case and they would prosecute.

A tough line was also taken with Ecstasy, with nine out of 10 police saying possession of 20 pills was a "serious" offence.

Police officers rated cannabis below coffee on an addiction scale and only slightly higher on a potential harm scale.

Cannabis was far below alcohol or tobacco on both measures.

All 4 articles taken from the BBC website. On 20/9/07

Are you reposting that for me?

I saw it, and I think it's a load of horse shit. I don't want heroin or methamphetamine to be legal, sorry.