drug addicts!!

[rugeleyboy]

if you was the prime minister or a person of power, what would you do with drug dealers and addicts??

[samuel23]

I think the point is, that people wouldn't need to be involved with dealers If the drugs were freely available, and the free availability means price wouldn't be an issue. The crime rate would drop dramatically, as the drug users wouldn't have to find ever increasing amounts to pay to the dealers so as they can feed their habit, The other industries that are often a spin off from the drugs trade (prostitution, pornography, money laundering, extortion etc) makes the argument for free availabilty even more relevant. Wouldn't the money spent on customs and police personnel involved in chasing the lost cause of trying to prevent drug smuggling be better spent on supporting, educating and reforming those addicted, and their time be better spent tackling organised crime? The drugs could be dispensed with clean needles, thus reducing the risk of passing on HIV, AIDS, HEP C etc. Addicts could be monitored, and help given when and where needed. At present the only time any help is forthcoming is usually when it's too late and the addict has been caught because they are so far gone that they are robbing by the hour to get by, taking more risks and being more violent, just to get what they want.

[IggyB]

the difference between the two scenarios is that a drug abuser is predominately hurting themselves whilst a child abuser is hurting the young and vulnerable, the two can not and should not be compared as they are in no way the same.

WM maybe you should try making your piont once and then allowing a discussion to develop rather than simply shouting down ever answer that pops up until everyone just stops trying

[samuel23]

Hi WM. I understand the analogy and concede that, yes you have a point. I'm not saying that drug taking is cool, or clever or stopping someone doing it is infringing their human rights, but the sad fact is the dealers are the only people getitng anything out of it. No self respecting dealer would ever consider taking what he sells, so removing them would go a long way to alleviating the misery of the users. The kiddy fiddlers of this world are usually dragged into doing it by historical association or born defective (not sure which is worse) and the majority of druggies are saps that are lured into it by peer pressure and weak will. The facts we should be concentrating on are that most druggies are able (any many want) to clean themselves up and go on to lead a normal life if given time and help, whereas the paedophiles don't want help, they just want to be left alone to continue with their disgusting habit. One of the worst things about the drug culture is the amount of celebrities that seem to promote it at every opportunity, and for that we have the media to thank. They play a double blind, on the one hand carping on about these evil people dealing, on the other showing pictures of high profile people using. It's tantamount to advertising.