Legalization Of Illegal Drugs
There are simply no positive reasons to criminals any illegal drugs and plan to show you why. The fact that keeping the same laws on drugs won’t change anything is a pretty basic concept. To put it another way, people already take drugs and if we don’t change anything people will continue to take drugs, get addicted and potentially commit any crime from petty thievery to murder. That may seem an exaggeration, but a report back in 2003 from the Joseph Renowned Foundation found that 50% of people in custody and awaiting trial admitted they were dependent on a drug.
Given that the Scottish Social Attitudes survey of 2009 found an increase of 6% from 2001 (41% to 47%) in Scottish adults close to someone who has used illegal drugs, it would be safe to assume this figure has also risen. So, with it now established that people take drugs despite it being against the law, we need to try and make drug consumption more structured, more stable and ultimately safer. As production is illegal, the drug trade lacks all health and safety restraints put on other legitimate markets such as quality control and warning labels.
Therefore if someone decides they want to sample cannabis, et their weekly heroin fix or even buy some cocaine for a night in as if it were a box of Principles, they have almost literally no idea what they are buying from a drug dealer. The value is so high that drugs are often diluted with similar looking substances thus leaving consumers with drugs like heroin that’s only 3 to 6% pure. This opens up a whole host of other problems- if you’re used to a 3% intake of heroin and your drug dealer changes to a 6% you’ve unknowingly doubled your intake.
In a system of controlled legalization (that I will detail later) these problems and a few others become history. Don’t take drugs. You (hopefully! ) don’t take drugs. Yet despite this we are both still at risk from drug related crimes and street violence related either directly or indirectly to drug use. Due to the illegality of drugs the supply and manufacture is obviously limited, meaning the price rises. As an example, a kilogram of cocaine worth $3000 in Colombia (where cocaine is legal) sold at retail price in the USA for $300,000.
This type of money isn’t obtainable through legitimate means for most ordinary people, especially when they become addicted and have to keep coming back for more. Therefore they turn to crime, whether organized or not. These people steal whatever they can to fund their habit and depending on the severity of their addiction could end up killing in order to try and collect funds. This puts completely uninvolved members of the general public, like you and me, at risk and means any one could be harmed by the drug trade. As well as that, those purchasing the drugs legitimately or not find themselves in completely unnecessary danger.
The drugs or so valuable they became targets for theft and assault. This is another thing that can be avoided by the controlled legalization will outline soon, as prices will collapse and with it the need to teal or commit other crime to obtain drugs. I’ve mentioned it a few times, and it’s now time for me to outline what I mean by controlled legalization and the positives think it would bring to our country. Drug consumption rooms are a very successful method of controlled legalization that is growing in popularity in Europe.
Consumption rooms in Copenhagen, Denmark Consumption rooms allow people who want to take drugs to inject them under supervision and in a safe environment. In the Danish rooms, despite over 1 00 overdoses there has not been a single death to date. The major positive is the government can now control drug use. An alternative to drug consumption would be a more full and dramatic method of controlled legalization. Legalize all aspects Of the trade surrounding a particular drug, but in doing so create strict controls on manufacturing and sale, not unlike the current prescription system.
Starting with the likes of Cannabis and Cocaine and if this is successful soon moving on to harder and more serious drugs. Lord Sugar is one well known businessman and role model who supports this. In his Autobiography he talks of selling Cocaine and Cannabis in small sachets in pharmacies for just E, with around El tax on each. As well creating safer drug use, being rid of dealers and cartels it also creates more money which the government could then spend on genuine issues like poverty and education.
Who knows, if people are educated better and grow up in nicer environments they may not even turn to drugs in the first place. As means of a summary of all this, if we want to improve our drug culture and the way they are treated here then something needs to change. Personally I lean towards full controlled legalization, in the form of selling drugs to over ass through pharmacies in a controlled, stable and educated way, but I see he merits of consumption rooms and would be for their use in the UK.
