Jeffrey Miron on why we should legalize all drugs

[Padawanbater2]

[youtube]2OP8JFKMTcQ[/youtube]

I'd like to see some greaseball politician argue against this

 

[ClaytonBigsby]

I had to stop before 30 seconds because the problem with this kind of thinking is that most people using hardcore drugs manage to hurt those of us who do not, in one way or another; be it breaking our car window to steal a few quarters, hitting someone with their car and having no insurance, robbery, or eating someone's face while running around naked.


Crack, meth, heroine, etc make people do some crazy shit.

 

[ClaytonBigsby]

Then we, the taxpayers, have to pay for all of the rehab? Not just the first, second, or third time, but the 24th, 32nd, etc...

 

[InCognition]

I had to stop before 30 seconds because the problem with this kind of thinking is that most people using hardcore drugs manage to hurt those of us who do not, in one way or another; be it breaking our car window to steal a few quarters, hitting someone with their car and having no insurance, robbery, or eating someone's face while running around naked.


Crack, meth, heroine, etc make people do some crazy shit.

Not necessarily. If you go on further in the video, you'll hear the guy state something along the lines of, those who use these drugs illegally, are already willing to break the law in order to use them.

There are plenty of people out there who use crack, cocaine, and heroin recreationally, you just never hear about those types because they aren't causing any harm. Bath salts are an entirely different story, as they completely warp your perception of reality, in nothing more than a negative fashion. Stuff like PCP should not be legal for the same reason as bath salts should not be legal.

Secondly, the reason why people people on these drugs tend to hurt others, is either because they're mentally unstable to begin with, or they are seeking funds for an addiction they have acquired through a drug's use. If drugs were legalized the cost would plummet, thus you would have very little drug-related theft, as in comparison to the amount of drug-related theft we have currently, in this nation.

Someone who is an angry drunk, is probably and angry coke/crack user, and it's anyone's guess as to how they'll behave with a heroin addiction. But again, if heroin was legalized, the cost would plummet, causing user's urgres to commit violence in regards to obtaining the drug, to plummet as well.


I would rather have the freedom of knowing I can use my body as I please (given I don't hurt others), and being able to defend myself again people who abuse any one substance, than not being able to use my body as I please, and supposedly being "safe" from these same type of people who cause themselves problems through drug use.

 

[blazinkill504]

i think certain drugs should still be on the no legal list OR atleast the age for those drugs for you to get them should be higher than others. say pcp, meth, coke, an crack should have a higher age restriction than 18 or 21 than weed should. acid an shrooms are iffy just cause most will take em an stay inside or just go walk around not really causin harm unless you have the ppl that freak the fuck out on em an wanna jump out of a window. heroin im not really worried about cause most take that an just dont get up an or fall asleep.

if we were to make all drugs legal we would have to have the same laws as if you were drivin drunk with all of them....well i dunno bout weed, but thats easier to hide than most other drugs. to the point of the crime an gangs that shits right an we need to take the profit away from them an put it into our country. which if they gang members were smart they'd just put the guns down an open stores to sell the drugs instead of havin a war with the country.

 

[ClaytonBigsby]

After my second post, I did go back and hear the man out, but it did not change my mind. Comparing the US to Portugal or Holland is ridiculous. Drug users in many other countries are frowned upon and considered the scum of society (even weed), so it makes sense that not much would change. Also, they do not have the enormous budgets allocated to fighting the war on drugs. There is alot of pork in them barrels.


If we taxed the drugs to pay for all of the healthcare and rehab, and shifted the money from the police (arresting drug users) to encarcerating those who get out of control, we might have something.

 

[Johnnyorganic]

I agree with the head in the video.

It all boils down to freedom. And freedom means the freedom to be an idiot. Freedom means the freedom to fail.

Legalize everything.

The most problems, and the costs to society, arise from the unintended consequences of Prohibition.

 

[InCognition]

After my second post, I did go back and hear the man out, but it did not change my mind. Comparing the US to Portugal or Holland is ridiculous. Drug users in many other countries are frowned upon and considered the scum of society (even weed), so it makes sense that not much would change. Also, they do not have the enormous budgets allocated to fighting the war on drugs. There is alot of pork in them barrels.


If we taxed the drugs to pay for all of the healthcare and rehab, and shifted the money from the police (arresting drug users) to encarcerating those who get out of control, we might have something.

Agreed. Instead of doing the logical thing... taxing drugs in regards to their legalization, we will tax people based on hypocrisy, lies, and the subsidization of other's irresponsibility.

Sounds like a grand idea.

And the reason why drug users are viewed as the scum of the earth, is because the people who view them that way are the real scum of the earth.

Judging others for what they do to their body is more so ignorant, than the ignorance the "scum" are fallaciously possessing by those who judge them as such.

The human-being is a funny creature.

 

[Urca]

I did notie how in Switzerland, when they opened up clinics to give people heroin, their lives did improve. crime decreased, and I think drug related fatalities?
But part of me still cannot condone the legalization of drugs like meth, crack, etc... If there were clinics like in switzerland that gave only an alloted amount of those hard drugs and then slowly weaned people off id be all for it... but complete dicriminalization seems like an open pass to enable addicts, whereas the clinic option allows people to get back to a healthy lifestyle, and got them off of drugs and productive in society.

 

[Johnnyorganic]

I did notie how in Switzerland, when they opened up clinics to give people heroin, their lives did improve. crime decreased, and I think drug related fatalities?
But part of me still cannot condone the legalization of drugs like meth, crack, etc... If there were clinics like in switzerland that gave only an alloted amount of those hard drugs and then slowly weaned people off id be all for it... but complete dicriminalization seems like an open pass to enable addicts, whereas the clinic option allows people to get back to a healthy lifestyle, and got them off of drugs and productive in society.

The topic is not decriminalization. It is re-legalization.

Decriminalization can suck on a fat wiener. It solves nothing.

If a crackhead wants to crack himself to death, no loss.

If a tweaker wants kill herself with that nasty shit, I won't shed a tear.

We've all seen how successful Prohibition has been in preventing use and access to those illicit substances.

Better to remove the expenses and problems associated with prohibiting them.

Screw giving anything to anyone in a clinic or anywhere else.

Remove the artificial pressures associated with the black market thanks to Prohibition, and the prices will take care of themselves.

 

[Padawanbater2]

The topic is not decriminalization. It is re-legalization.

Decriminalization can suck on a fat wiener. It solves nothing.

If a crackhead wants to crack himself to death, no loss.

If a tweaker wants kill herself with that nasty shit, I won't shed a tear.

We've all seen how successful Prohibition has been in preventing use and access to those illicit substances.

Better to remove the expenses and problems associated with prohibiting them.

Screw giving anything to anyone in a clinic or anywhere else.

Remove the artificial pressures associated the black market thanks to Prohibition, and the prices will take care of themselves.

Pretty much this.

My mom is a meth addict, has been on the shit my entire life (damn near 25 years), and suffers the exact same effects, physically, as she would if it was legal. The only difference now is that since it's illegal, she can't keep a steady job, even though she wants to, which means she can't provide for herself and live on her own and is always trying to avoid legal authorities, sometimes having a warrant to avoid, sometimes doing 30-90 day stints in the county jail, sometimes paying hundreds of dollars in fines... what does this do? Is it helping her? No. It's seeping much needed resources and options from her already deteriorated life. It's making her a criminal among 'normal' society when all she does is something that only harms herself, in a legal sense.. Should she be doing it? Of course not. And I wish she would stop. But she won't stop. Like I said, 25 years. Half her life, could you stop something with physically and mentally addicting qualities you've been doing half your life..? I probably couldn't either.. It's sad, but that's the reality of the situation, and making these kinds of people criminals is contrary to the goal that our society should be working towards achieving. Helping them is a far better solution, how is debatable, but putting them behind bars and branding them criminals is the wrong way to do it.

Freedom to do stupid shit is more important than the subjective opinion of what is universally best for society.

 

[Canna Sylvan]

If all the current illegal drugs were legal, they'd be a fraction of their cost. Even if the user base doubled, the drugs would cost less than half. We'd still be ahead. But I doubt users would increase. Countries like Portugal which decriminalize drugs, users decreased.

The majority of the drug problem is the false criminal status for distribution alone. Most people do start out with weed then use harder drugs, but that's because weed is the same illegality as the harder drugs, or more serious penalty. Those seeking weed would have less access to harder drugs, since legalization would practically make profit almost zero. How many people are on street corners or back alleys selling alcohol? How many were doing that during the prohibition?

Making drugs illegal has nothing to do with protecting us, it's about making money.