I agree that no ideal solution exists.
But as to whether the black hole is ignored, minimized or misrepresened by the supporters of legalization, or is grossly exaggerated by the supporters of continued criminalization, is a legitimate issue for discusson.
Marijuana was once a perfectly legal drug to use -- the old reefers. Society didn't fall apart.
Opium was legal in England for many years. Some people suffered from its effects, and of course didn't have the benefit of rehab programs if they decided they wanted to quit, but society didn't fall apart.
Many drugs have been and continue to be used in various societies, and those societies haven't fallen apart.
Many drugs are legal in Holland, and Holland is doing okay.
IMO the horrors that the anti-drug crowd parade are not vastly over-exaggerated for effect, not for truth.
The current ad campaign that i've just seen recently, where they show the evils that drug use causes, is in fact an argument for legalization. Because if the drugs were legal, and sold like alcohol or tobacco all that crime they are pointing to would vanish. It is illegalization, not drug use itself, that is responsible for those admittedly nasty uses of drug money. But Philip Morris doesn't kill law enforcement agents in its pursuit of the sale of tobacco because it's legal. Make cocaine legal, and save lives. |
