Where, so far, has the 'war on drugs' got us? Nowhere. Drug use continues to increase and its about time we face the fact that no matter what, drugs are here to stay in society. We need to take a difference approach. I think all drugs should be legalized, for a number of reasons and with a number of conditions.
*If we legalize then we get rid of all drug dealers (which is why we would have to legalize ALL drugs) and lets face it that is who the governments are after, not occassional users who are otherwise law abiding citizens. That erradicates a large drug related problem.
*The money that is saved from doing this can go into rehabilitaton programmes which is the only safetynet that abusers and addicts have. I know that there are some people who will heavily abuse drugs, just like people who abuse alcohol and tobacco, but aren't they going to do that anyway? Lets face it, its not hard to get hold of pretty much anything you want. Some people have more addictive tendencies than others and some are more prone to mental effects like scizophrenia, those are the people who need to be helped. Many of you are against the legalization because of the effects it has had on you, but you were wise enough to realise it was a problem and sought help or stopped, why would this not be the case for other abusers? And surely this is further reason to put more money into rehab.
*Government controlled drugs would be safer in regards to their quality, at least users would know what they are taking. There is no safe drug taking but harm minimization is obviously the best solution when the problem will clearly not go away.
*I understand the argument that if we legalise then the problem could get far worse as it removes the stigma attatched to drug use, but I think the effects of this can also be positive. A large problem with legalization is that there are so many people who are utterly against the use of drugs there would be a massive outcry and governments would lose favour within their consituancies, which is why they are so reluctant to do so. But there is a clear need to bridge the gap between users and non-users. Because of mass media and stereotypes non-users have been led to believe that people who take drugs are not to be trusted and mentally unbalanced. The extent of this is so bad that if the majority of non-users saw a person on the street that had had an overdose, their reaction would be to walk away quickly. This is because of the fear that has been induced, the fear of drug users having AIDS and the dehumanisation of drug users (i.e its their own fault for taking drugs). It is completely beyond me how anyone could leave a person to die on the streets because of their own ignorance. But that is what current drug laws and the media are producing. We need to educate people and stop blinding them with biased information. When do we read about the person who is holding down a professional job, is succeeding in all aspects of their life, is happy and drops a few pills or has a few lines every now and then. We don't, but all users know that they exist. If a successful teacher/doctor, for example, admitted to occassional drug use then they would lose their job regardless of their track record, does that not strike you as completely ridiculous. This gap needs to bridged, there needs to be a common understanding between people, but this pernicious dichotomy will continue until this stigma has been removed. there are free needles distributed in Amsterdam and needle exchanges, but there has not been a decrease in drug related disease (ie AIDS/hepatitis) could this be because the majority of people do not want to admit what they do because of the stigma attatched (I don't know, i am merely speculating here). I am not ignoring the fact that there is (or could be, because when focusing on the negative we really are looking at the worse case scenario) a negative side to legalization, but with intelligent redirection of funds saved and profits made from legalization we can do a lot to counteract these effects.
1)More rehab centers.
2)Proper education on drug taking (It sickens me that all we pump into childrens heads is that drugs are bad, when that child has it first toke on a spliff or drops its first pill, all they can think is 'no drugs are great'). We need to stop shying away from the truth and be blatantly honest, drugs can be great but the effects, addiction and depersonalisation when they are abused are not and this is what we need to delve into with the uneducated, adults and children alike.
3)Controlled drug use. We have more than enough technology to issue adults with ID cards, that keep track of what substances they are buying and have a limit. Heroine addicts should register with doctors to prescribe it to them and should not be for sale for the general public. Cocaine use should be carefully monitored as both of these drugs are physically addictive.
The problem of drugs is not, and will not go away. I know many people will disagree with the things I have said, but find a better solution, I really don't know if there is one.
K Fairy
XXX
go figuare
