Would you be for or against legalizing drugs in USA?

never taken a drug, not even a cig.

Legalizing drugs will not cut down on crime. If you follow that logic, then drinking and driving should be almost non-existent. Legalizing it would only serve to worsen the effects on society. Think of how messed up this country would be if hardcore narcotics were legal and easily obtainable. The health effects alone would kill it. Yeah, no thanks.

While more time is needed to really see the long term effects of crime and legalized drugs, Colorado's legalization of marijuana has had no significant effect on crime. In fact, its gone down a little is most categories.

The health effects of Portugal's decriminalization has shown very promising health benefits. I dont think anyone cares about drug use - the real problem is drug addiction. Statistically, while portugal has had an increase in adult drug use, they've had a significant decrease in drug addiction and an increase in drug rehabilitation. You end up getting more people interested in trying drugs but far less likely to abuse it or become addicted to it.

So, no, the reality is quite different than your expectation.

That article is based on marijuana alone. I'm talking about other narcotics like heroin, crack, cocaine, meth. If THOSE drugs were to become legal we'd be in a helluva bind.

...because?

lol at this guy implying I wanna do meth and pcp etc. I just wanna save the tax payers some cash. But jail is big business and the government wouldn't want to take away too many of their easy targets

Then what's the problem?

@jasean79: "Think of how messed up this country would be if hardcore narcotics were legal and easily obtainable. The health effects alone would kill it. Yeah, no thanks"

What planet are you on bro? Hardcore drugs may not be legal but they are already so very easily obtainable :P

Lol, you think just because if hard drugs are legal, people who otherwise wouldn't do them would start doing them?

Yea...I doubt that.

Because people on meth/pills HAVE to have their meth/pills. We have a big issue with both around here, and the vast majority of home burglaries here are meth heads/pillbillies who've sold all their shit and are now planning on selling yours.

Many of the drugs such as pot needs to be decriminalized and prison for drug users needs to be used for rehabilitation and not punishment.. The War on Drugs is a fvcking failure and scam in which billions of tax dollars is used in keeping privately owned prison systems (and the companies that supply them) with a steady revenue of substandard services.. Over 50% of the prison population are in there for drug based offenses, the US currently has more prisoners than fvcking communist China for crying out loud. John Oliver's segment hit the nail on the head about whats wrong with our prison system and the War On Drugs took center stage.. Pretty sad state of affairs in which satire and comedians are doing a better job in reporting major issues then politicians and major news organizations..

So what drugs do you do?

None of the above.. I have never tried pot, and I rarely drink..

Well, it's pretty odd to not do something illegal, but then say others should be allowed to do it.

Well, you have now. I've never done drugs in my life, but pot, at the least, should absolutely be legalized.

Against. I've seen what they can do to a family, an individual, and society.

I'm the same. I don't get your view @aebghdfsc it's easy to take a stance on something when you're informed without actually participating. I don't go round marrying homosexuals but i think gay marriage should be legal.

If a drug is no more harmful and causes fewer social problems than other legal drugs then why should it not be legalised?

There's also the argument that offering pharmaceutical quality drugs would be a lot better for people's health by reducing overdoses and cutting out all the crap drugs tend to get cut with. There's also the medical applications that are currently bogged down by legal requirements like MDMA for PTSD and so on.

Here in the UK our drugs policy is quite disliked as it's pretty much just down to how the politicians themselves feel about a drug. We had a government advisor who was a scientist sacked for speaking out against weed being a class B drug (iirc, it was that or ecstasy) which just goes to show their disdain for the scientific facts around the issue.

@aebghdfsc: your stance makes no sense

trollin trollin trollin...keep them doggies trollin

I quit all drugs; I piss clean just so I can brag about how many drugs I've used and turned out great. Got a high paying job and enrolled at a university.

It's just such an oddly specific line of trolling

nothing is too odd for gamespot

The war on drugs is an UTTER FAILURE. I'm all for a change in this joke of a drug policy. Legalize it, tax it, and get help for the people with real drug problems (obviously not an issue with marijuana) instead of jailing them like assholes.

It's going to happen some day soon, just accept it.

@doozie78: Easy for a stoner like you to accept it.

Obviously there chief, now just to inform all the misinformed (such as yourself).

No, I'm well-informed about how all drug-free people are against legalizing drugs.

@aebghdfsc: that's not true

Sure had a good laugh over what you said. You must be quite misinformed on marijuana, it's potential benefits, and the willingness for "drug-free" people to legalize it.

When even the right wing "old guard" and the left wing folks agree on this situation it's obviously time to end the fake ass "war on drugs".

(EDIT: This is sitting at 88% currently so it went down a massive 2% after 10,000 more votes... http://www.billoreilly.com/site/Survey)

Bryan Cranston says it better than I would and you can't mess with the Heisenberg...

“To me, marijuana is no different than wine," he said in an interview with High Times. "It's a drug of choice. It's meant to alter your current state -- and that's not a bad thing. It's ridiculous that marijuana is still illegal. We're still fighting for it ... It comes down to individual decision-making. There are millions of people who smoke pot on a social basis and don't become criminals. So stop with that argument -- it doesn't work.”

@doozie78: Still not buying it. Find me an actual drug-free person who thinks I'm wrong and I'll accept that I was wrong.

You can believe what you wish, I do hope you're prepared for the butt-hurt though. Some day soon these laws are going to end.

Just watch some videos where the discussion is brought up in the Senate to legalize it. Most of the people that testify are professionals and not "druggies".

Get it through your stoned heads: Only stoners support legalizing pot and other drugs. No exceptions.

There must be a shit-ton of stoners across the nation and even in congress then! I'll be sure to make a nice post for you here once it's said and done. xD

You're going to love this one...

_____________________________________________________________

CONGRESS VOTES IN FAVOR OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

On May 30, 2014, an astounding 219 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a bipartisan amendment to prohibit the U.S. Justice Department – which includes the DEA – from spending taxpayer money to arrest or prosecute medical marijuana patients in states where it is legal!

Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA) introduced the amendment (which passed 219-189) in a bipartisan effort to tell the Department of Justice and DEA what the public has been saying for years: don’t crack down on states that allow marijuana for medical purposes.

To put just how amazing a victory this was into perspective, the highest total number of votes received on this bill in the past was 165. In a Republican-controlled House, we were able to secure 219 votes to pass this amendment, including 49 Republicans! More importantly, 33% of freshman Republicans voted in favor of the amendment, compared to just 19% of non-freshman Republicans. To see how your representative voted, check the roll call of the vote.

The Marijuana Policy Project, along with our allied organizations, spent countless hours lobbying for this amendment on the hill, reaching out to constituents, and providing support and information to members of Congress. Not only that, but to garner 219 votes for anything is impressive in the 113^thCongress, let alone an amendment on medical marijuana.

Now that the House has passed the amendment, the bill moves on to the Senate, where MPP and our allies will continue tirelessly to make sure it passes. Make sure you reach out to your senators to let them know you support this amendment. With our efforts in Washington, D.C., and with your help around the country, we can usher in a new age of marijuana policy!

http://www.mpp.org/media/op-eds/all-time-record-congressional.html

Obviously.

LOL.

Probably the best record we have for marijuana use is 30+ years of using and 300 pounds smoked, and the guy is a broker and handles millions of cash....hahaha

Meet Irvin Rosenfeld,who gets 9oz a month FREE, from the feds who's own law says it's illegal. lol

Look at what happened during the prohibition of alcohol. The murder rate exploded after the ciminalization of alcohol and returned to pre-prohibition rates after the repeal.

"The most telling sign of the relationship between serious crime and Prohibition was the dramatic reversal in the rates for robbery, burglary, murder, and assault when Prohibition was repealed in 1933. That dramatic reversal has Marxist and business-cycle crime theorists puzzled to this day. For example, sociologist John Pandiani noted that "a major wave of crime appears to have begun as early as the mid 1920s [and] increased continually until 1933 . . . when it mysteriously reversed itself."^[50] Theodore Ferdinand also found a "mysterious" decline that began in 1933 and lasted throughout the 1930s.^[51] How could they miss the significance of the fact that the crime rate dropped in 1933?"

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157.html

I'd be for legalizing drugs... And the options given the current situation don't leave a lot of room for interpretation, IMHO.

Current - Drugs are illegal. Entire criminal organizations have sprouted around this, leading to excessive amounts of crime and murder. The money funneled into drugs makes cartels more powerful and wealthy; the money funneled into the war on drugs is flushed, more often than not resulting in lives lost on both sides to accomplish nothing. Drugs are unregulated, and unsafe, costing millions in lives and emergency room visits. Drugs are laced with chemicals you'd never willingly ingest, and needles are shared, spreading disease and death. Treatment is stigmatized, because you have to admit to doing something criminal to get help and, because of the "war on drugs", you're looked down upon for being a criminal 'junkie'. Tougher access to drugs doesn't mean harder to get, but rather harder to pay for, leading to a spike in drug related criminal activity to procure the funds for purchase, assuming they take that route instead of resorting to selling themselves for it.

Decriminalized - drug cartels go the way of the dodo. It's hard to run a criminal empire on something easy and cheap to obtain legally (corporate hate aside). Money from sales goes into businesses and taxes. Drugs are regulated, safer, and there is no stigma associated with purchasing them, and they're likely cheaper... Far so, in some cases. Clean, easily obtained needles lead to less disease. Treatment is easier to get, with the programs possibly even being paid for with the tax money generated from the drugs themselves, along with more money for education, similar to smoking / alcohol. Our drug habit isn't causing thousands of deaths in other countries (and our own). Prison populations go down. Way, way down. Law enforcement time and resources can be reallocated to other activities.

Problems that might still exist are obvious - petty theft to obtain it from stores, vehicular and related deaths from doing things you shouldn't during use, deaths related to overdose. However, these problems exist and will exist regardless. I don't know about everyone else, but to me the "War on drugs" has been one of the largest wastes of money and lives of the last half century.

Pot destroys brain cells and lungs at the same time, as well as causing mouth and throat cancer.

What kind of an idiot thinks that breathing huge amounts of poisonous smoke into your lungs, is a good idea?

When cocaine was legal - doctors all over the country begged the government to make it illegal,

Suicides, self mutilation, violent attacks and and dozens of drug related health problems, were destroying whole towns.

And now - the uneducated morons, who know nothing of history, and the ignorant hillbillies, want to make drugs legal - and go down that road again .

You're really trying to compare marijuana with cocaine abuse? You are wrong. Obvious brain-washing is obvious.

Also "huge amounts"? You really have no clue what you're talking about, plain and simple.

against all illigeal drugs

In other words, you're a druggie who wants to get high legally.

Yeah, it's sad, isn't it? Down the road and off the cliff like lemmings.

Doesn't matter if it's legal or not. People will do what they want to do. It being legal will just save a hell of a lot more money.

If the only two choices were decriminalization and legalization, decriminalization would be the better choice for modern society.