What should our national drug policy be?

[Lyric]

Just trying to see what the consensus on DU is.

For the record, here are some base definitions for the terms "legalization" and "decriminalization":

Legalization: A legalized drug is able to be manufactured and sold openly without penalty. Legalization would involve taxing drugs and regulating the drug-production industry for cleanliness, dose accuracy, and safety. There are often age restrictions that go along with legalized drugs, and using a legalized drug while driving/operating machinery/etc. still remains a crime. Alcohol, for example, is a legalized drug.

Decriminalization: A decriminalized substance is one which, while technically illegal, is not pursued as a priority by law enforcement. People are rarely, if ever, arrested and/or fined for using a decriminalized drug, although people who manufacture, grow, and/or sell significant amounts of these drugs are sometimes still targeted by police. A good comparison would be the seatbelt laws in some states; although not using a seatbelt is technically illegal, many states don't prosecute people for it unless they have committed some other detainable offense first.

These are just base definitions, and do not represent every single variation, difference, and characteristic that exists within global drug laws.

[Ohio Joe]

1. I would go with full legalization

As you defined it.

[Lyric]

3. I agree with you, personally.

I don't think the government has any place telling adults what they can and cannot ingest into their own bodies. I also think that full legalization is the only way to effectively abolish the drug-crime subculture. When the government takes away the biggest source of profit and conflict, the violence and property crime level is going to plummet.

[Echo In Light]

4. ...especially since law makers in general have ZERO concern for public health

[LeftinOH]

2. "Just Say No"

'...today, on a *Very* Special DU..'


Just kidding. I voted for #3.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. I can't see legalizing stuff like PCP

But I also see little point in mugging and fingerprinting people who use heroin or other opiates, any more than doing the same to people who use prescribed benzodiazepines. The practical differences are only in dose (and not always that) and acquisition.

As some here have been saying, it's well past time to put an end to the War On Some Drugs.

[Lyric]

6. Here's what I think:

I think that once we rationalize banning one or two things, it becomes all too easy to find rationalizations for banning just about everything. Take PCP, for example. It makes people insane. However, LSD can also make people insane if they take an enormous dose and have a really, REALLY "bad trip." I've witnessed such a thing happening: we had to physically restrain a high school friend from trying to jump from the rooftop-deck of his house into their backyard pool while using LSD.

However...that kind of overblown, crazy reaction is not universal. It doesn't happen to everyone--not to all PCP users, and certainly not to all LSD users. So where do we draw the line? Where do we say, "THIS substance is okay, but THAT one is not." Because our experiences are all different, we all have our own ideas about which drugs are worst and why.

My thoughts are that it's not so much the drugs themselves that are the problem. It's the uncertain dosage (because they're not being manufactured safely,) the additives and cutting agents, and the fear of legal consequences for seeking medical help early that combine to cause most of the worst episodes. If we legalize, then people will always know exactly what their dose is, they'll know that it hasn't been cut with poison, and they won't be afraid to go to the ER if they start tripping out badly. They'll also be more likely to seek rehab and therapy for addiction, because they aren't going to be afraid of arrest.

Moreover, I'm afraid that if we keep just a few drugs illegal, then the illegal drug crime subculture will simply shift to pushing THOSE drugs exclusively (to protect their profits,) and we'll see an *increase* in people using stuff like PCP and meth--which is the absolute last thing that we want to happen. Drug pushers are very good at what they do. If the only things left to push for profit are PCP and meth, then the use of drugs like those is going to go through the roof.

What do you think?