Why exactly are drugs illegal?

[Daneman]

To stop degeneracy from spreading.

[Teri]

Because a lot of hard drugs are very dangerous, and hospitals would be full of addicted/overdosed people from misuse.

[Dsonsion]

Why is murder illegal? Why is rape illegal? why is breaking the speed limit illegal?

Because it ends the life of other without their consentment. Because it greatly harms the physical and mental well-being of others, and goes against their consentment. Because it directly endangers the lives of others.
Pray tell, are you saying that drugs are illegal because they are bad? Or because they directly harm other people? If so, then why is alcohol legal under certain limitations, as well as cigarettes?

Because a lot of hard drugs are very dangerous, and hospitals would be full of addicted/overdosed people from misuse.

So instead, what is full of people are the jails due to drug related crimes, and the American taxpayers end up spending more money on those convicts than what they would spend on addiction treatment.

[Nerovar]

Because a lot of hard drugs are very dangerous, and hospitals would be full of addicted/overdosed people from misuse.

That's simply wrong. Portugal decriminalized drugs and it didn't lead to an increase in drug use.

http://content.time.com/time/health/...893946,00.html

Edit: also this
"HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half."

[De Lupe]

Just wait until a family member of yours dies from some shady drug and let me know how you're feelings are towards drugs after that.

You cannot hold the effects of the drug responsible for the actions of the addict. Just as you cannot hold the gun responsible for the person who pulls the trigger. My feelings towards the drug would be irrelevant.

[Teri]

That's simply wrong. Portugal decriminalized drugs and it didn't lead to an increase in drug use.

http://content.time.com/time/health/...893946,00.html

Edit: also this
"HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half."

Still doesn't mean it's 100% legalized in Portugal, you can't go to a supermarket and buy it.

Weed isn't 100% legal in Amsterdam either, you just cannot get arrested for smoking it in a coffee shop.

[Jinpachi]

Short answer? Because Big Pharma hates competition.

[Nerovar]

Still doesn't mean it's 100% legalized in Portugal, you can't go to a supermarket and buy it.

Weed isn't 100% legal in Amsterdam either, you just cannot get arrested for smoking it in a coffee shop.

I think no one is suggesting that you should be simply able to buy that stuff in a supermarket. It's more about treating it as a health issue instead of simply locking the people away hoping that it will somehow fix this issue.

[Shadowferal]

Got a big problem with heroin right now...and people have the stupidity to think it should be legal..

[Teri]

I think no one is suggesting that you should be simply able to buy that stuff in a supermarket. It's more about treating it as a health issue instead of simply locking the people away hoping that it will somehow fix this issue.

Well, some people put Legal drugs in the same categories as alcohol and cigarettes.

I do agree people should be treated medically first before anything else, especially the ones that WANT to get rid of their addiction.

[Nerovar]

Well, some people put Legal drugs in the same categories as alcohol and cigarettes.

I do agree people should be treated medically first before anything else, especially the ones that WANT to get rid of their addiction.

This is desperately needed. I mean, I'm not from the US (obviously). But I think it's pretty obvious that instead of solving problems connected to drug abuse the war on drugs has created a plethora of new issues. Yet people still think taking drugs is as bad as murdering or raping someone and that you should simply put these people into jail and throw away the key. I really can't wrap my mind around this.

[Aphrel]

So I've been thinking on this topic for a while to be, for the past few years there has been a surge in research chemicals and synthetic drugs that either mimic the effects of illegal drugs or are monocularly identical to illegal drugs. Some have caught the attention of the media and been outlawed, but only about 1>% of these chemicals have actually been outlawed. Many of these chemicals are more dangerous for human consumption than the drugs we spent billions of dollars to keep off the streets and some aren't as dangerous.

The point is what exactly is the point of the War on Drugs? We incarcerate people for this and only 2 things have happened. 1 is the obvious which is making a black market controlled by cartels (which everyone knows). The second is we have created another market of research chemicals that is growing to soon become just as profitable as the illegal drug market. These research chemicals are flooding the American streets and young people are buying them thinking they are whatever the person selling them says they are (mdma, coke, lsd etc). Because there are hundreds of different chemicals on the market right now that mimic every popular street drug right now and are perfectly legal to buy online. And most of these chemicals haven't been around long enough for people to actually know the health risk of taking them unlike illegal stuff.

This goverment "war" is backfiring very quickly.

Because slavery, american corporations love slavery. And since one of your amendments say that slavery is only ok if its a punishment for a crime, this means that you have gigantic industries lobbying for extreme punishments so they can have a larger slave labor force to work for them.

[Eliandal]

I think no one is suggesting that you should be simply able to buy that stuff in a supermarket. It's more about treating it as a health issue instead of simply locking the people away hoping that it will somehow fix this issue.

. . . and this is why Portugal is winning, while the US and many other Western states haven't even left the starting area yet. Lets face it, the "war" on drugs is big business. It is profitable for too many. Special interests will not let it die without a nasty fight!

[Nyoken]

Cause most people are fucking idiots and they will overdose. They will do it TOO much.

[Shadowferal]

Anyone that thinks Portugal is doing well hasn't been paying attention to the country's overall economic stability.
They're not far from the economic shit-hole as Italy, Greece and Spain. I have to imagine that they'd do anything to get out of that, even though it looks as if they've voted against austerity.
Maybe those making the decisions are stoned...

[Nerovar]

Cause most people are fucking idiots and they will overdose. They will do it TOO much.

Wrong.
http://content.time.com/time/health/...893946,00.html
Decriminalization led to a decrease in druge use in Portugal and also less people died to drugs or HIV.

Anyone that thinks Portugal is doing well hasn't been paying attention to the country's overall economic stability.
They're not far from the economic shit-hole as Italy, Greece and Spain. I have to imagine that they'd do anything to get out of that, even though it looks as if they've voted against austerity.
Maybe those making the decisions are stoned...

You're just grasping at straws at this point. Portugal was successful with decriminalizing drugs. If anything achieving this while being an "economic shit-hole" makes this even more impressive.

[Pantalaimon]

True, legalities are very much a deterrent for some people. It still begs why we should arrest an individual simply because he/she wants to get high in his/her own home without bothering anyone.

This is assuming a lot though. We're assuming that 'standard do-gooder citizen A' who is interested in using drugs is in fact in their own home by themselves with no possibility of putting anyone else in their home at risk (ie they have no children in their home), and second we're assuming that when they do get high that they will absolutely stay in their home instead of going out into their immediate neighborhood or beyond and engage in dangerous or criminal activity while high.

We have no way of policing the honesty of such users to ensure none of the above would happen, and as a result if the drugs would be legalized we would pretty much potentially be asking for issues with the above to begin happening eventually. In the end people are typically dishonest people, especially when drugs are involved, and we arrest people to attempt to be more proactive in our means to prevent issues that could easily arise when a user would get high.

[Nyoken]

Wrong.
http://content.time.com/time/health/...893946,00.html
Decriminalization led to a decrease in druge use in Portugal and also less people died to drugs or HIV.



You're just grasping at straws at this point. Portugal was successful with decriminalizing drugs. If anything achieving this while being an "economic shit-hole" makes this even more impressive.

I work in a hospital so i've seen my fair share of drug overdoses, I see it with my own eyes. Maybe that's not the case for every single human on this planet, but as I said....most people. Not everybody. And everyone is equally important.

[Zoneseek]

Cause most people are fucking idiots and they will overdose. They will do it TOO much.

In that case, why are donuts not illegal?

Police enforcement should never be involved in anything like this. They should only be enforcing laws to protect people from other people, not to protect people from themselves. The last thing police should be enforcing is morality, and drug possession laws and enforcement are exactly that.

[Orange Joe]

Is this a joke question? Some are because they can be deadly if not consumed correctly or are abused. And not all drugs are illegal.

Bleach is harmful to the body if consumed. Why is that not illegal?