Whats the opium convention of 1912? Never heard of that.
The US will not be the first to legalize all drugs, in Portugal, I believe pot is most common, but heroin and coke are also legal and available in shops, but I think public use of these 'hard' drugs is still frowned upon...heck thats fine with me, Id be extremely happy and content to swing by a shop, pick up couple grams of 'mexican mud' and head home for the night! LOL
Drugs are actually only decriminalised in Portugal, which means you won't be arrested or charged for possession/use, but they're not sold openly in government regulated shops. Legal = Cannabis in Colorado or Washington for example, Decriminalised = Most drugs in Portugal, Mexico, the Czech Republic for example, or Cannabis in the Netherlands (yes believe it or not, it's still technically not legal/regulated there in the traditional sense, coffee shops work via a lot of legal loopholes).
I can see decriminalisation of recreational drug use happening fairly soon, I think the fact prohibition against it has gone on so long despite the hard emphasis on the failures of past prohibition of alcohol and why we shouldn't repeat its mistakes is more surprising to me than it would be for it to be legal to shoot up dope or whatever.
There'll be restrictions, like I imagine IV drug use will likely still be illegal in public for health and safety reasons and for the sheer fact most people who aren't IVers themselves don't want to see someone shooting up - I think for a long time penalties for non-alcohol based intoxicated-driving will be a lot harsher than drunk-driving penalties, as will the penalties for mass production/mass sales if there's any sort of government regulation on who exactly can make and sell the drugs.
I also think more than likely we'll see a small introduction of certain drugs being taxed and regulated first, as we're seeing with cannabis in the US at the moment. I think we may see other drugs follow this trend, like other GABAergics (benzodiazepines, GHB, 2M2B etc or future analogues) being available as an alternative to alcohol, or more than likely some of the physically safer drugs like psychedelics will follow cannabis in being fully legalised and with their production regulated, however I don't think you'll be seeing LSD or Shroom shops popping up anywhere soon, and I think you'll probably have to go through official channels to get your hands on psychedelics, since there's still a bit of unnecessary fear surrounding them (and worthwhile fear about what would happen if people used them in the manner they do alcohol, as party drugs).
I think by the end of the century most/all of the world will have decriminalised all drugs, I very very much suspect it'll be much sooner than that. As for full legalisation, I don't think full legal (i.e. available in shops) type laws will happen for "all illegal drugs" any time soon because a) there's too many, and b) while of course anyone should have the right to choose what they put in their own body, there are some (read: many) drugs that rightfully shouldn't be made more easily available than they are now.
I think the best way to go about it would be to take off the shipping restrictions that large chemical companies have on their recreational drugs that they produce in small amounts for research/lab/analytical purposes, and have them produce the majority of the world's supply - that way purity and availability are ensured, and the black market is cut off. But I also think that other than a few things like alcohol, GABAergics, weaker opioids (and opium itself), cannabis, tobacco, kratom, kava and such things we shouldn't have most substances sitting in shop windows - and instead one would have to place an order with such a chemical company, wait a couple days for delivery, but get their substance at an affordable price, with ensured purity, and with instructions on safe handling, the relevant over-dose treatment substance included (i.e. if one orders Fentanyl they would be sent a Naloxone kit with it) where possible, and ideally some prior education required.
Drugs are like cars, cars are giant metal chunks weighing tons that you hop into and zoom around in at ridiculous speeds, on lanes filled with other huge metal death chunks also zooming around at ridiculous speeds, relying on everyone's reflexes being in order to avoid a huge pile up of death. Yet when everyone's been trained how to drive, the roads remain safe with the exception of a few idiots who just can't be taught or who decide to get into a vehicle impaired etc. Drugs are similar, and I feel there should be formal certificates required for a person to order drugs if they become legal, a course that would cost and take about as long as your driving lessons.
This would end with a test at the end that the user would be required to pass, which showed they knew:
- How to measure drugs safely in pill, powder, liquid, blotter and other forms
- How to identify their drugs using common reagents, how to titrate up to their desired dose without overshooting
- How to identify the signs of an overdose and how to get emergency help or how to treat the overdose themselves if possible
- How to recognise signs of an unwelcome habit forming and where to go to seek help if they suspect they're using more than they should be etc
- How to properly understand the drugs they're using and what the potential risks or benefits are and how to decide whether they're using something safely or not.
If they passed with flying colours they'd be awarded a set of precise
microgram scales and their license to indulge.
