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Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

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Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#71

Post by [deleted] »

vidarh wrote: post #15
smegel wrote: post #2

It really is a difficult problem. Sweden legalized heroin in the 60s and it was a disaster. On the other hand, enforcement only has a moderate impact, but comes at a huge financial and social cost. And while I don't support it, the only country with a measure of success seems to be Singapore, where you just hang anyone who has more than single dose in their possession. Maybe the grim reality is hanging a few hundred…

> Sweden legalized heroin in the 60s and it was a disaster. I can't find any source for this. What I can find is information about legal prescription from '65 to '67 to a limited number of addicts, who were able to get sufficient doses that they in effect became a source of drugs for drug dealers. So they continued to have the same problem of dealers, but with substantially increased supply. Note that many countries…

[deleted]

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#72

Post by anon4 »

What about the fact that drugs are incompatible with the lifestyle we want our society to have? Isn't it better instead of legalizing them to find the root cause which is forcing these people to seek escapism from reality in psychoactive substances?

I don't want to live in a society of drug addicts, I want to live among people of sound mind, body and spirit, who conduct themselves honestly and honourable among their peers.

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#73

Post by ommunist »

coldtea wrote: post #24
ommunist wrote: post #8

Decriminalising ganja will also boost textile industry.

Not really, since the textile plants are of different varieties of canabis, and already allowed in lots of countries.

I actually tried to make a business plan on that in one country. To my surprise there is a huge burden of proving what exact varieties are you growing and your entire textile crops can be destroyed by police raid just out of suspicion.

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#74

Post by tim333 »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #69
vidarh wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sweden legalized heroin in the 60s and it was a disaster. I can't find any source for this. What I can find is information about legal prescription from '65 to '67 to a limited number of addicts, who were able to get sufficient doses that they in effect became a source of drugs for drug dealers. So they continued to have the same problem of dealers, but with substantially increased supply. Note that many countries…

Not sure how you're claiming prescription heroin is not a problem in the UK. It is a big one.

Prescribing heroin to addicts seemed to work quite well for society

http://www.badscience.net/2006/11/methadone-and-heroin/

Unlike our former business of selling the stuff to China

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_opium_in_China

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#75

Post by david-given »

atemerev wrote: post #67

Here's what we have in Switzerland: http://www.premiereligne.ch/quai9/ (basically, a drug user's paradise: a "consumption space" injection rooms, clean drugs available, medical attention and reanimation in case of overdose, therapy programs and support programs with the intention to help people quit drugs without stigmatizing them and pushing them to it). It is immensely successful. Drug crime becoming nonexistent he…

...I was at Sechseläuten a couple of years ago --- an end-of-spring festival where the city of Zürich explodes a snowman --- and was standing behind a couple of people sharing a joint.

The friend who'd taken me there was absolutely livid. He said it was the most incompetently rolled joint he'd ever seen.

Truly, it is a different place here.

(Although the downside is that tobacco smoking is rife and getting away from the smell at bus stops, station platforms etc can hard.)

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#76

Post by anon4 »

tomp wrote: post #68
tim333 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nearly all countries have some ban so I doubt full legalization is the answer. I think if you approach it to minimise harm you'd probably have varying policies depending on the drug and the situation. For example cannabis, maybe legalize and tax like cigarettes. Stuff like Heroin and Meth don't legalize private sales but let drug counsellors hand it out to addicts to kill the illegal market, prevent them being harmed…

> Stuff like Heroin and Meth don't legalize private sales but let drug counsellors hand it out to addicts to kill the illegal market, prevent them being harmed by contaminated drugs and stop them breaking and nicking stuff. That's the worst of both worlds. What will happen is a lot of people will become "addicts", get the drug (legally), then sell it to drug dealers to cash out. Criminals will keep their profits high…

Who will the drug dealers sell it to?

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#77

Post by jfmfhhdkdkd »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #41

The drug problem was studied years ago by the RAND corporation and the US Military - a pure cost-benefit analysis. They found that treatment and education are the most cost effective way to deal with the drug problem, and that prohibition was the most costly and ineffective means of dealing with it. Therefore the government understands that the war on drugs is likely to be unsuccessful, and we have to ask ourselves,…

And yet, there are plenty of Asian countries (Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, etc) where drug laws are much stricter than the US's, there are very few drug addicts, and there is very little crime.

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#78

Post by melling »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #41

The drug problem was studied years ago by the RAND corporation and the US Military - a pure cost-benefit analysis. They found that treatment and education are the most cost effective way to deal with the drug problem, and that prohibition was the most costly and ineffective means of dealing with it. Therefore the government understands that the war on drugs is likely to be unsuccessful, and we have to ask ourselves,…

Politicians do whatever gets them, and keeps them, elected. If they poll and find 70% of their electorate are in favor of something, guess how they're going to vote?

I really don't understand why people put themselves in echo chambers then complain to each other why the world is the way it is. It's a waste of time.

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#79

Post by atemerev »

david-given wrote: post #75
atemerev wrote: post #67

Here's what we have in Switzerland: http://www.premiereligne.ch/quai9/ (basically, a drug user's paradise: a "consumption space" injection rooms, clean drugs available, medical attention and reanimation in case of overdose, therapy programs and support programs with the intention to help people quit drugs without stigmatizing them and pushing them to it). It is immensely successful. Drug crime becoming nonexistent he…

...I was at Sechseläuten a couple of years ago --- an end-of-spring festival where the city of Zürich explodes a snowman --- and was standing behind a couple of people sharing a joint. The friend who'd taken me there was absolutely livid. He said it was the most incompetently rolled joint he'd ever seen. Truly, it is a different place here. (Although the downside is that tobacco smoking is rife and getting away from…

Tobacco smoking is unrelated to other drugs consumption. But yes, in Switzerland it is more popular than in most of the rest of Western Europe and certainly more than in California.

It's becoming better, though. Smoking in bars and restaurants recently been banned — finally we can enjoy our remaining favourite drug — alcohol — without any distractions. :)

Re: Kofi Annan on Why It's Time to Legalize Drugs

#80

Post by anon4 »

cm2187 wrote: post #55
tomp wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The beauty of drug dealing (from a criminal's perspective) is that it's easy and profitable - there's a high demand from customers willing to spend a lot of money on drugs, and enforcement is very poor (judging from the ease end-users can buy drugs). Prostitution is very similar. So, if you legalize all businesses with which criminals easily earn a lot of money, a lot of them will be economically incentivised to star…

And the alternative ways to make money for a self respecting criminal are getting harder every day. Cars are more difficult to steal, people use a lot less cash, you have CCTVs everywhere, now the police even collects DNA for a robbery. I can't think of an obvious substitute to drug trafficking for these criminals. I would be also ready to bet that Tinder must have made a dent in the prostitution trade! But not all d…

They could always open a bank or become a hedge fund manager...
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