MP suggests decriminalising hard drugs.

[dabees]

Brighton Kemptown MP Des Turner has called for hard drugs to be legalised.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/generalnews/dis play.var.2186883.0.mp_suggests_decriminalising _hard_drugs.php#comments_form

I for one agree with his comments, drugs are freely available to anyone that wishes to take them. If they are regulated, they are taken out of the hands of criminal gangs, and the doses are regulated and not mixed with talc and worse.

Whatever control methods have been tried before, they have ultimately failed. If the sale of drugs is legal and controlled, it will reduce many crimes related to obtaining the finances to buy them.

After all, alcohol related deaths far outweigh those of illegal drugs. And another plus, the government have a new method of obtaining tax.

Your views please.

[stokemaveric]

you must be on drugs as well as this clown to even suggest the idea.....

[Ice.Maiden]

Hi dabees - and no, for 2 reasons.
1) The extra strain on the NHS when people become ill.
2) The danger of someone causing a traffic accident, or veering into pedestrians.

PLUS - the government are making enough money out of people as it is.

[dabees]

I don't see your point Ice, the people who take drugs are already a strain on the NHS. If the drugs they are taking are clean and have disclosed amounts printed on them, then the chances of OD and other related problems will lessen, thus be less of a strain on the NHS. Plus the taxing of drugs could be used to fund the NHS (I know that's not likely).

[IggyB]

i think they should be available on prescription from the doctors for those that are addicted - money saved from fighting drug crime would more than pay for it, supply is better controlled and whilst the market for drug dealers would still exist (those refused a prescription, first time users etc) it would be a much smaller market and hopefully the majority could be put out of business

[stokemaveric]

so lets say its �20.00 for a bag of heroin,a smackhead doesnt have �20.00 because he hasnt been to work cos hes a drug addict so then he goes and robs an old age pensioner or a house.....yes its a great solution.......in reality it doesnt solve the problem at all does it?

[Skreecheeboy]

I agree with you dabees. State control would lessen the power of the drugs communities, people wouldn't have to associate with the criminals peddalling the drugs and thus end up sucked into a lifestyle that doesn't belong to them. It's the peer pressure in these circles that turns the heroin addict into a theif, not the drug itself. Take it from one who knows.

[dabees]

Ok then Stoke...

Following on from Iggy's good idea.

If it was available on prescription, then it wouldn't be �20 a dose, but whatever the current rate for a prescription is. If said smackhead isn't working then they will receive free prescriptions. Thus negating the need to go and mug an OAP.

[stokemaveric]

yes lets put drugs on prescription all the unemployed,those on income support and whoever else gets free prescriptions IF THEY ARE THAT WAY INCLINED will get free drugs yes thats a brilliant idea isnt dabees.

[dabees]

Are you trying to say drugs aren't available on prescription already Stoke? I thought most prescriptions contained drugs? Legal or otherwise.

From Wikipedia

In the United Kingdom, heroin is available by prescription, though it is a restricted Class A drug. According to the British National Formulary (BNF) edition 50, diamorphine hydrochloride may be used in the treatment of acute pain, myocardial infarction, acute pulmonary oedema, and chronic pain. The treatment of chronic non-malignant pain must be supervised by a specialist. The BNF notes that all opioid analgesics cause dependence and tolerance but that this is "no deterrent in the control of pain in terminal illness". When used in the palliative care of cancer patients, heroin is often injected using a syringe driver.

It's already legal for pain reduction, why not make it legal to reduce crime? Seems a no brainer to me.

[Skreecheeboy]

I don't think free drugs are anyway to go, although it is nice to be nice now and again! What I was saying is clean drugs from a drugstore is a much better way to go than having to travel your chosen city of residence trying to find your mate that's got your stuff and having to associate with undesirables whilst doing it. I don't think the numbers of people taking drugs would increase either because most people havent got the mental capacity to handle any of the decent drugs. You'd probably freak out if you tried them stokey, you seem very pessimistic and paranoid as it is. Don't judge others or you too shall be judged you donut!

[Ice.Maiden]

Still think it's a bad idea dabs. If the type of drugs you're on about were freely available to anyone that wishes to take them - your words - then there'd be even MORE of a strain on the NHS, and of COURSE people'd still OD on them, as a prescribed amount probably wouldn't suit the user, so they'd still go out and try to find more.
You've seen what they do to people, and drugs often have long-term effects on the mind and body. Why fill your body with chemicals, anyway?

[dabees]

I completely agree with your sentiment Ice, BUT, drugs are freely available to those that wish to partake in them. Giving them the choice to obtain clean and measured doses would be a good thing IMHO.

It reminds me of a story a few years back about cheap wine, some eastern European gangs were flooding the market with cheap wine that had pure alcohol added to it, to lessen the fermentation time. This stuff was cheap,but potentially lethal.

The few that wanted to have a cheap pee up were willing to take the risk, but most stuck to the known brands that had no risk.

The state controls the sale of alcohol for our protection, why not other drugs?

[Skreecheeboy]

People are against it because of bad press, propaganda and scaremongering Dabees. We need to start a media campaign exploring both the pros and cons of taking drugs. I'd happily partake in some research with you if only we can find some government funding for this research.....

[stokemaveric]

mmmmm skreecheeboy ive been called a few things in my life but never a donut,im proud to say that i served in northern ireland and in iraq in 91/92 and have never taken drugs in my life so yes please feel free to judge me yes im proud to be anti drugs ive seen a few of my old comrades destroyed by drugs because of various traumas they have witnessed while you were probably still swinging as sperm in your dads balls.you my friend are the donut..................

[Skreecheeboy]

Fair enough Stokemav. You have my uttmost respect. I'm thinking about signing up myself but I've got a hernia that needs seen to first. Gettign back to the question though, if you're coming from that background, you'll be aware that people joining the army are likely to be shot and killed and their lives can be ruined from the traumas of war, what comparisons can you see there with drugs, or what you know of them? Drugs can ruin lives, they can kill people but in a controlled environment we could lesson the harm they cause to both the users and society. I'm not pro drugs nowadays, personally I take them, that doesn't mean I think everyone should, I too know people who's lives have gone downhill and I know people who have died as a result of taking them. I am however pro choice and I think giving people the option to take drugs in a non-marketed, non-pushy, regulated manner would give people the option of getting out of the circles that they find themselves too often stuck in.

[stokemaveric]

skreecheeboy first and foremost if you are on drugs ,no matter in what form,you will NOT pass AN ARMY MEDICAL.some of the atrocoties you see in a war zone whether it was on the streets ni after a bomb attack or an atrocity witnessed in iraq it does affect diffrent people in diffrent ways,luckily i did not succumb to the use of drugs but a lot of my friends did and to some it was sometimes a devestating downturn in their lives,indeed a couple of them have died through the misuse of various substances.i have seen once proud men who were the epitomy of the royal marine reduced to a shambling wreck inside of 10 years losing their families,homes and in some cases their very lives.yes you could say im anti drugs.

[Skreecheeboy]

Fair doos. The point I was trying to make was that had they had a more responsible supplier, it might have made a difference. The chance to get councilling at the source, the opportunity to get something for the comedown, the option of getting ear accupuncture to help with the addiction, green teas and tinctures to help with detox etc etc. As for the army thing, once the drugs are washed out of my system and I apply to join I'll remain clean for the whole length of my service. The problem I have just now is that I have a hernia and it pops out when I do push ups so need to wait for an operation. I reckon it'll still take 6 months to get fit again after it though, my flat mate was signed off his work for 13 weeks when he had his fixed.

[Kromovaracun]

My twopenneth:

The vast majority of crime in the UK is drug-related (people fuelling drug addictions etc.). This is largely because of price-fiddling and other things on the part of the folk who deal such substances or are in control of them

Legalising hard drugs would not only take this out of their hands - and thus decrease crime - but would also be easier to regulate, moderate and observe people who are drug addicts and aid those who want to stop. It would also be easy to ensure a legal supply was fully 'clean', unlike it is now.

Legalising them would likely result in a moderate rise in addiction but, surely, wouldn't this be worth a sharp decrease in crime? It's better than what we have now with high rates of addiction and the crime that goes with it.

Now, naturally the worry is that drug addiction would increase. But the fact of the matter is that drugs are widely available now anyway, to legalise them would just be admitting it.

There's an instinctive 'moral majority' who beat their chests at this idea but it's really not that daft when you stop and think objectively.

[vehelpfulguy]

In American history the largest growth in criminal activity took place in the 1920s when prohibition was in place (a total ban on alcohol).

This was the period of Al Capone and other mobsters.

Prohibition made drinking illegal, and brought the criminal element into the whole business of alcohol due to the massive profits they could make.

It drove drinking underground, made it seem somehow "dangerous", and even encouraged people who did not normally drink to go to an illegal drinking den just for the thrill of it.

While I hate the idea of drug taking I feel that making it "legal" would remove high profit margin and remove the criminal element overnight.

It would stop morons drugged up to their eyeballs going out to rob and steal just to get �20 to feed their pathetic habit.

Of course bringing back the death penalty for any scumbag who imports drugs into this country, or tries to sell them, would get my backing.