If legalising drugs halved the number of hard drug addicts and lowered drug related crime, why is everyone..?

[larry]

I agree that drug use is a social problem and not a criminal one, However I dont see how the DEA is comparable to Nazis. Explain?

[jordi]

To find the answer to your question, just look at the culture and mindset in 1919 when the 18th amendment was passed. The strong moral values and inclination to tell others what to do was the primary reason for passage. After four years of total failure, it was repealed by the 21st amendment, although the damage done remains to this day.
We would be much better off as a nation and a society if we recognized that we cannot legislate behavior, and take a more rational approach to drugs.

[culley96]

in portugal and holland where drug laws have been relaxed the number of addicts has rocketed , what has changed is how they classify addicts as soon as you go on methadone or similar you are not classed as an addict of the drug you are off but recidivism and repeat treatment is increasing fast these people cannot stay off the drugs, the only reason they go to "treatment " centers is because they go to jail if they don't agree to do that
read some history america gave jobs to most nazi soldiers and many scientists who worked for the nazis including people who tortured jews because of the "medical research" they had been doing, about 60 war criminals were spirited out of germany after the war to help america

[caomh]

Okay. The simple hard truth in the USA:
Prisons are a for-profit private venture, which fill a labor void.
We make criminals on purpose in order to have them do what amounts to slave labor.
We have more people in prison than any other country on Earth. This is NO ACCIDENT. We do not have twice as many maniacs here than in Iran or China. For god's sake, it is impossible to have twice as much ANYTHING as china, and yet we have more prisoners. We have no interest whatsoever in decreasing our prison population, and we like our prisoners pliable docile and complacent, so drug addicts are a two4one deal.

Welcome to America. Say hello to your master.
http://www.cca.com/

[crosbey]

This is PRECISELY the problems with liberals. They lack logic.

Basically, what you're saying is that, 'if crime A is legalized, there will be less people charged with crime A.'

That is sort of like saying, "if we lower the age of consent to 13, there will be less people charged with child molestation."

Liberals lack logic.

[collyer]

Considering the Constitution doesn't give the government the expressed ability to regulate what we put in our bodies it should not be allowed to do it. It is a violation of our natural right and is a clear sign of tyranny of the majority.

[bearchan]

I recommend you to check this site. This will provide you with all information about crime and criminals.

http://www.databaserecords.com

[berwin]

Your question was very difficult to follow, as drugs are not actually legalized in Portugal. Drug USE is "decriminalized" meaning no criminal penalties, but that doesn't make the drugs legal. It has become an administrative offense rather than a criminal offense. Drug use doesn't simply go unnoticed (as would be the case if it were legal) in Portugal as the addicts are aggressively targeted with therapy or community service.

Even if there are no criminal penalties for usage, possession has remained prohibited by Portuguese law, and criminal penalties are still applied to drug growers, dealers and traffickers. The drug use offense in Portugal was changed from criminal to administrative if the possessing was no more than up to ten days' supply of the illegal substance.

That'd be great to change this in other countries, however controlled/schedule or even prescription drugs will likely never be fully legalized within any governing body for health reasons obvious to anyone with knowledge in pharmacology. There are far too many narrow therapeutic index drugs whose beneficial and toxic dosages vary by as little as a few micro-grams. Their schedule status and/or regulatory category may fluctuate, but simply removing all regulation would be a great danger to the general public.