Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordon Booth
I know someone(a heavy smoker) who could say 'I want a new camera,I'm stopping smoking to save up'.It never bothered him, when he got the camera he started again.I hated him, every time I tried it drove me mad.
I think some people are vunerable to certain addictions, certain drugs-alcohol and tobacco for a start. If you make even more drugs legal, common sense and self control won't always work- you'll have more and more people addicted to more and more drugs.
As for the 'load of money'-rest assured some cynical so and so in Government or the civil service has already thought of it-'if fools will pay £6 for a bit of tobacco,how much could we raise on weed?'.
|
An argument I can't bring myself to accept is that making drugs legal will increase the use. The fact that certain drugs are illegal does not prevent their use. Anyone wishing to use a particular drug will do so regardless of its illegality. If one made, for example, heroin legal I do not believe that there will be a mass movement toward smashing it. Most jurisdictions in my country allow and even promote safe drug use by having needle exchange programs. This allows addicts access to clean machines and prevents the spread of AIDS etc. through the sharing of needles. Also there are methadone programs ... in my community they are operated by Street Health and several govt. funded agencies. Harsher punishments for drug users will not work. The US has tough laws against drugs ... and the worst drug problem in the developed world.
I've offered little in the way of suggesting solutions. Here are a couple of things that could be done. Education: get the kids informed early. Try some prevention, difficult, but a helluva lot easier than coming up with a cure. Programs aimed at parents: better parenting will prevent a lot of problems from developing. Funding of programs for youth: alternatives to hanging around on street corners firing up cannons. Things like this sound simple; but they could work. Problem is, it will require lots of money; and with the suppositories in power don't hold your breath ... (How long before I read "thirteen years of Labour misrule"
)