All drugs should be legal

[Forest Guy]

There should be no laws restricting the purchase of any drugs. If you want to do crystal meth, that's your business. Rather than all these druggies depositing millions of dollars straight into the pockets of lowlifes, legalize all of them. Drug use will go down, and collecting taxes on them will raise a tremendous amount of money (something the market could really use right now)

Go go go.

[MaxVance]

Even though I wouldn't use them, I agree with this.

[nensondubois]

Even though I'd only use pot I do agree with this.

[Trainman]

The only glaring downsides would be that drugs would be introduced to lots of people including kids, obviously, and the fact that tons of people would be openly trippin' in public and prolly do something stupid.

The laws for drugs to be legal should follow how beer is handled. Mario-juana, for example:

-Gotsta be 21 (or 18, I guess) to obtain it.
-If you smoke and drive, and you're driving like an idiot, it'll be the same as a DWI
-If you underage but indoors and guardians are aware of the consumption and are within property lines, it should be legal... (at least, that's how Texas' law is with underage drinking.)
-If you smoke in public it should be considered the same as public intoxication, etc.
-If you purchase it and let minors smoke it and are caught, same rules should apply for buying tobacco for minors (Texas= $500 fine and/or lose your license)
-And like Erik said, they could tax the living crap out of it and then prolly overnight the universe would explode with happiness.

[SolidShroom]

You're such a sick capitalist freak. Perhaps raising money from drugs would generate tremendous profit, it's money that's being made from sick people. It's bad enough that tobacco companies use people's addictions to gain money, but with this idea, there would be companies making money from stronger, more dangerous addictions. Also, people using very hard drugs could hurt other people. Just imagine a mob of people on PCP. This idea would make our world a sick, anarchistic hell.

[Chupperson Weird]

Alcohol is dangerous enough as it is, and people are stupid enough not to realize cigarettes are deadly, so I'm going to disagree, Meow.
Making money is not where it's at.

[Forest Guy]

Hey remember when alcohol was legalized again and the rate of drinking went down dramatically? Legalizing a substance makes it less attractive to the masses, in case you've forgotten.
And SolidShroom, I'm a sick freak for believing in one of the central foundations our nation was founded upon? Go move to Cuba and have fun with socialism.

Puh-lease, spare me. This isn't just a matter of money. It's a matter of civil liberties. The government has better things to do than spend money and effort on drug monitoring. It's a stupid law. There's no need for it. Government shouldn't rule every aspect of our lives. That's why the drinking age should be lowered to 18, as well as the smoking age (in some areas it's 19).
obviously like Trainman stated (by the way man, don't call me Erik here. Or Meow.) it wouldn't just be a big giant free for all. There would be restrictions. A drug age just like a smoking age would be enforced. Even so, the majority of drug users do so in their own homes, not in public. I SINCERELY doubt we would see mobs of users roaming the streets. Do you ever see mobs of drunkards roaming the streets? No. People drink either at home or at bars. Set up specialized outlets, like drug dens, where users are free to do whatever. (Not to mention, your inhibitions are more released and your brain is more dangerous while under the influence of alcohol than when you're high)

And give me a break. Get off your high horse. People being too stupid to not smoke is their business. The government isn't here to babysit us and constantly watch over every single thing we do. As citizens, we're supposed to be informed rather than having Uncle Sam hold our hands everytime we have to make a decision. Tobacco companies don't force you to smoke. If simply don't care or you're ignorant enough to take it up, so be it. That's your problem, not everyone else's.

[Trainman]

Yeah, I agree, but marijuana would be borderline okay if it was regulated like I explained above. I wouldn't be surprised is marijuana is actually legalized in our lifetimes.

[Glorb]

Any drug-dealing crime drop caused by legalizing all drugs would be nullified by the fact that we'd have people:

driving stoned
getting high on PCP and killing each other
throwing their lives away since they're content to sit on their couch smoking pot day after day
etc. etc. etc. etc.

Really, it'd just make everything way worse. Of course, one alternative is making commercial variants of hard drugs that are less potent, but all that'd do is just make addicts go poorer buying more drugs to get the same fix.

[Chupperson Weird]

Also, breathing second hand smoke is actually more dangerous than smoking, so it is everyone's problem. I sure don't want to have to breathe the stuff.

[Forest Guy]

Well I don't know about you, but New York has a public smoking ban. I don't ever have to worry about second hand smoke. Do the same with other drugs.

And Glorb, try reading my post again and then we'll talk.

[Kojinka]

I'm for legalizing drugs like marijuana, which have medicinal properties.  They should be available through prescription, in addition to having an age limit, and an advisory to use the drug responsibly, because it's the idiots who abuse the substance that screws over those who actually need it.

Iowa has banned smoking from public buildings! :)

[Glorb]

And Glorb, try reading my post again and then we'll talk.

I read it again, and it's got the same crap in it.

Making something legal doesn't make it go away or remove its negative influences from society. Say you've got a cousin who had never touched drugs before due to fear of legal intervention. But one day, she decides to buy some meth, and, of course, gets hooked on it. Next time you see her, she's half-dead, missing most of her teeth, emaciated, and wearing them same clothes she's been wearing for the past week since she's broke.

I'd rather not have to go through all that again, myself.

[Suffix]

And this is why legalizing all drugs works only in theory.

Wouldn't the rest of the economy suffer if those who previously would avoid dealers were to be purchasing quantities of mind altering drugs? Only the government would benefit from money people aren't spending to make their lives easier. But even then, the government would have to care for the maintenance that would have to be conducted to clean up after people making poor decisions, such as vandalism, public indecency, vehicular damages to public property... You can't just think that people are going to quarantine themselves to partake of such dangerous compounds. The government saves money by scaring people into not using drugs, from aforementioned clean-up and income taxes.

We'll never get universal health care if people want to pay taxes for it "through the nose." It's not reliable, and it's a circular flow of money that probably ends up being more expensive on the health-care side.

[nensondubois]

-If you purchase it and let minors smoke it and are caught, same rules should apply for buying tobacco for minors (Texas= $500 fine and/or lose your license)

What license? Don't tell me you would need a license for the drugs.