Reply #13: What's legal mean? [View All]

[Asgaya Dihi]

If legal means free use it would be a disaster. If legal means regulated it would be better than what we have now. What we have now is free use, the dealer sells to who they want to, where they want to, and at what quality and purity they want to. Regulated we make the rules, they are whatever we say other than automatic prison.

What I'd imagine is a commission of scientists to establish the science base for illegal drugs and to separate them into categories of risk. Ones like pot more available, ones like heroin by prescription only and to addicts only. We've had trial programs on some of them that have worked well, as we get room to work with some of the others we can fill in the gaps and find a policy based on science and experience rather than on ideology and hysteria, one that works.

Here's an example of a program with heroin that shows great results, if you'd like I could go over other aspects of the drug war as well in more detail.

http://www.dpft.org/heroin.htm

Just for contrast, the results for heroin the way we do it now. Prices have fallen sharply, purity has climbed as have death rates and use is hardly changed.

Trends in Average Heroin Prices (1981 - 2002)
http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/fed-data/heroin-prices.htm

Trends in Heroin Use (1979 - 2004)
http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nsduh/heroin.htm

Opiate Induced Deaths (1979 - 1998)
http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/death/opiates.htm

Trends in Average Heroin Purity (1981 - 2002)
http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/fed-data/heroin-purity.htm