my innerself said:
So would you prefer the government make lots of heroin and flood the the market with it? make heroin legal? supply it on every corner store maybe? try not to take too much offence to what I am about to say but what you said was the stupidest quote I have ever read. I have several friends hooked on that shit, and they all changed from good decent people to being almost complete fuckwits, and you want them to be able to get easy access to this shit? save them a few $$$ so they can buy more and maybe OD? Hey dont get me wrong I love my drugs, speed, LSD, weed, pills, mushies etc, but I have never been addicted to any of it, and I have never committed crimes in order to get it. Heroin is not a social recreational drug, I know. The world would be alot better place if there wasn't any of that shit on it. And all you BL'ers out there that are gonna reply to this thread saying "heroin is good" and "you dont know shit", dont waste your time, I know what happened to my friends and seen the way have changed.
Firstly;
Drugs don't turn people into "almost complete fuckwits"; people turn themselves into "almost complete fuckwits". So don't take any offence to this, much like I wont take any offence to what you said, but your friends are the fuckwits. Not the heroin. Heroin is an inanimate arrangement of atoms with no consciousness; as such it can't be blamed for the downfall of your mates. They did it, not the heroin. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Get the point?
Secondly;
I am not in favour of legalising heroin (nor am I pro-gun, it's just a handy analogy). I don't know how you managed to come up with the suggestion that my beliefs supported legalisation and unrestricted sale of heroin, but it doesn't really matter as you now know where I stand on the matter.
Thirdly;
There is no point in saying that the world would be better without heroin. Obviously there's no way we'll ever find out. The fact is heroin exists in this world, and causes problems. So long as it does, I ask you what is the more rational approach?
1. Make heroin illegal, and as hard to get as possible by busting dealers and suppliers alike. This brings all manner of illegal activity - where there's money to be made on the black market there's guns, there's violence, there's prices to be paid, there's goods to be stolen. There's money to be spent policing the black market. Now that's just the cost borne by society as a whole. Users have to keep things shady, increasing health related complications from injecting. Then there's also the issue of contaminated products and unknown purities, which lead to a lot of overdoses.
2. Decriminalise heroin, but keep it restricted. To whom it is supplied and how is not for me to decide. Perhaps people who are addicted can visit doctors, prove they have addictions in one way or another, and obtain a permit to obtain some that way. I don't know. Regardless, what does it change? Those with addictions can get their hit with 0 risk of contamination or unknown purity. So it's safer and healthier for the addicts. The black market shrinks. It'll probably never dissapear, but gang activity, theft, break & enter and violence related to extreme heroin addictions would go way the fuck down.
There is no "answer" that solves all the problems posed. But the harm caused by heroin could be significantly reduced by taking a different approach, in my humble opinion.
