Thanks William. I am a proponent for total legalization. Please see my comments
inserted below. . .
On Tue, 09 May 2000, William Shannon wrote:
>
> 10 Reasons to legalise all drugs
> 1 Address the real issues
> For too long policy makers have used prohibition as a smoke screen to avoid
> addressing the social and economic factors that lead people to use drugs.
> Most illegal and legal drug use is recreational. Poverty and despair are at
> the root of most problematic drug use and it is only by addressing these
> underlying causes that we can hope to significantly decrease the number of
> problematic users.
>>>>>(Tenebroust comments indented like this) Indeed, but no one in office wants to
>actually look to solve problems. When there are problems it gives them a reason to
>demand more money and to stay in office longer "to fix things"
> 2 Eliminate the criminal market place
>
> The market for drugs is demand-led and millions of people demand illegal
> drugs. Making the production, supply and use of some drugs illegal creates a
> vacuum into which organised crime moves. The profits are worth billions of
> pounds.
>
> Legalisation forces organised crime from the drugs trade, starves them of
> income and enables us to regulate and control the market (i.e. prescription,
> licensing, laws on sales to minors, advertising regulations etc.)
>>>>>This, of course would greatly curtail the amount of money the "Intelligence"
>agencies have to spend on illegal operations since they are a major supplier. Plus
>when supply goes up as it would if legalized then the cost decreases, and that spells
>less profit.
> 3 Massively reduce crime
>
> The price of illegal drugs is determined by a demand-led, unregulated market.
> Using illegal drugs is very expensive. This means that some dependent users
> resort to stealing to raise funds (accounting for 50% of UK property crime -
> estimated at £2 billion a year). Most of the violence associated with illegal
> drug dealing is caused by its illegality
>
> Legalisation would enable us to regulate the market, determine a much lower
> price and remove users need to raise funds through crime. Our legal system
> would be freed up and our prison population dramatically reduced, saving
> billions. Because of the low price, cigarette smokers do not have to steal to
> support their habits. There is also no violence associated with the legal
> tobacco market.
>
> 4 Drug users are a majority
>
> Recent research shows that nearly half of all 15-16 year olds have used an
> illegal drug. Up to one and a half million people use ecstasy every weekend.
> Amongst young people, illegal drug use is seen as normal. Intensifying the
> ‘war on drugs’ is not reducing demand. In Holland, where cannabis laws are
> far less harsh, drug usage is amongst the lowest in Europe.
>
> Legalisation accepts that drug use is normal and that it is a social issue,
> not a criminal justice one. How we deal with it is up to all of us to decide.
>
> In 1970 there were 9000 convictions or cautions for drug offences and 15% of
> young people had used an illegal drug. In 1995 the figures were 94 000 and
> 45%. Prohibition doesn’t work.
>
> 5 Provide access to truthful information and education
>
> A wealth of disinformation about drugs and drug use is given to us by
> ignorant and prejudiced policy-makers and media who peddle myths upon lies
> for their own ends. This creates many of the risks and dangers associated
> with drug use.
>
> Legalisation would help us to disseminate open, honest and truthful
> information to users and non-users to help them to make decisions about
> whether and how to use. We could begin research again on presently illicit
> drugs to discover all their uses and effects - both positive and negative.
>
> 6 Make all drug use safer
>
> Prohibition has led to the stigmatisation and marginalisation of drug users.
> Countries that operate ultra-prohibitionist policies have very high rates of
> HIV infection amongst injecting users. Hepatitis C rates amongst users in the
> UK are increasing substantially.
>
> In the UK in the ‘80’s clean needles for injecting users and safer sex
> education for young people were made available in response to fears of HIV.
> Harm reduction policies are in direct opposition to prohibitionist laws.
>
> 7 Restore our rights and responsibilities
>
> Prohibition unnecessarily criminalises millions of otherwise law-abiding
> people. It removes the responsibility for distribution of drugs from policy
> makers and hands it over to unregulated, sometimes violent dealers.
>
> Legalisation restores our right to use drugs responsibly to change the way we
> think and feel. It enables controls and regulations to be put in place to
> protect the vulnerable.
>>>>>>>This is the real issue. Give us back the control over our own lives that these
>ridiculous laws have taken away from us, including the right to be irresponsible once
>in a while (as long as we hurt no one, or damage anyones property.
> 8 Race and Drugs
>
> Black people are over ten times more likely to be imprisoned for drug
> offences than whites. Arrests for drug offences are notoriously discretionary
> allowing enforcement to easily target a particular ethnic group. Prohibition
> has fostered this stereotyping of black people.
>
> Legalisation removes a whole set of laws that are used to disproportionately
> bring black people into contact with the criminal justice system. It would
> help to redress the over representation of black drug offenders in prison.
>
> 9 Global Implications
>
> The illegal drugs market makes up 8% of all world trade (around £300 billion
> a year). Whole countries are run under the corrupting influence of drug
> cartels. Prohibition also enables developed countries to wield vast political
> power over producer nations under the auspices of drug control programmes.
>
> Legalisation returns lost revenue to the legitimate taxed economy and removes
> some of the high-level corruption. It also removes a tool of political
> interference by foreign countries against producer nations.
>
> 10 Prohibition doesn’t work
>
> There is no evidence to show that prohibition is succeeding. The question we
> must ask ourselves is, "What are the benefits of criminalising any drug?" If,
> after examining all the available evidence, we find that the costs outweigh
> the benefits, then we must seek an alternative policy.
>
> Legalisation is not a cure-all but it does allow us to address many of the
> problems associated with drug use, and those created by prohibition. The time
> has come for an effective and pragmatic drug policy.
>
> "If the (drug) problem continues advancing as it is at the moment, we’re
> going to be faced with some very frightening options. Either you have a
> massive reduction in civil rights or you have to look at some radical
> solutions. The issue has to be, Can a criminal justice system solve this
> particular problem?"
>
> Commander John Grieve, Criminal Intelligence Unit, Scotland Yard, Channel 4
> 1997
>
> Britain declared war on China to protect its opium trade. Now the war has
> been declared on drug users in Britain.
"Welcome to the desert of the real." Morpheus, in The Matrix
"My God it's full of stars!" Dave Bowman, in 2001: A Space
Odyssey
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