Love weed. When I was in my twenties I enjoyed MDMA, speed, coke & alcohol. I've grown out of those and enjoy a joint at the end of the day.

With weed I'm happy to sit in, drink tea, watch Netflix & relax. Unlike the four pissed up blokes punching sh*t out of each other outside my house at 11pm last night.

Odd as this is going to sound, drugs are not banned based on their harm or potential to cause harm. Their legality is based on potential for abuse and medical use.

Which is why heroin and cocaine have a lower schedule rating than cannabis and ecstasy (and its also why dissolved amphetamine is class A and solid (powder / pill) is class B (dissolved speed can be injected which amphetamine in legal medical use is not).

Most of the common illegal drugs have had very extensive periods of being legal. The media tends to over report their dangers, and does so according to a moral agenda.

Oddly in the UK we are now in a weird situation in which we have more dangerous drugs in circulation than the ones we're trying to prevent (PMMA and PMA instead of MDMA, the first killed more people in the last few years than MDMA did in over a decade).

Adulteration of street heroin kills more people than diamoprphine (medical heroin).

Of course its probably true that less people use drugs now than would do if they were legal. However, its interesting that among the Dutch, where weed is legally available, the number of regular smokers of cannabis is around the same as in the UK (25%), and they've seen no rise in heroin addiction either (dismissing the idea of it being a gate way drug).

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

Surely if you increase the access to drugs you increase the numbers taking it and hence the problems that come with it.

I'm not sure what the right answer is but I'm suspicious of those who ignore the downsides of positions.

Many places have legalised drugs....I think your 'tax refund' angle is perhaps a little selective and I'm sure there is more to it.

When I looked at this I remember finding that this didn't result in eliminating this source of income for crime and street gangs. When you think about it the reasons why it wouldn't are obvious. They can always undercut and create new products. The black market always finds a way.

Also I don't think it's honest to deny that there isn't a cultural cost to legalization. Good families will always do their best to culturally insulate their children while the state if it legalised is effectively condoning and normalizing access to recreational drugs..Adding to fags and booze..So in effect the less fortunate are being thrown to the sharks while the state earns money from it.....Sod tax refunds I'd prefer to have the best options whatever that ultimately turns out to be.

Edited by Stirlingsays (17 May 2017 1.24pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I see the sense in legalising prostitution with certain safe guards built in.

Our position on this is just as ineffective as it is with drugs.

Edited by Stirlingsays (17 May 2017 1.38pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

The stats for cannabis are interesting.

[Link]

The stats for general drug use in the UK is under ten percent according to the home office....it's dropped by more than two percent in the last decade.

[Link]

So perhaps the 'fudge' approach directly undertaken is working?....Or more likely the less disposable income you have the less likely you are going to spend it on spiffs.

Edited by Stirlingsays (17 May 2017 1.55pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

In the short term yes, in the long term no. Its not like the access to drugs like weed is restricted. Move to a new area, it might take a day or two. Reading dealers operate a kind of 'Dial a Deal' system - Where in there are phone numbers that you can call, that periodically change, that will get you a deal delivered to your door pretty sharpish.

They even have bloody business cards.

I think there are probably very few down sides with weed, given its relatively harmless as a drug, and that people tend to either use weed or drink, but not both. Addiction isn't really a problem, and the few risks (accelerated psychosis and cannabis syndrome are either rare in users, or resolved after a few days of not smoking).

For the record, I don't like weed, and never really did. My thing was always stimulants and psychedelics.

Most of these are in the US.

We will never eliminate organised crime. In the drug market though, their profits are astonishing, and they couldn't really undercut a reasonably priced legal market. Crime has never had it so good since the days of prohibition. It won't 'stop gangs and crime' but it will reduce their income, because the demand for drugs, especially recreational drugs like Weed, are very high among the general public.

Bit too late for that. Drugs are a part of our culture. They've influenced and been influenced by artists, music, cinema and so on. Its inescapable culturally, no matter how 'good' you are as a parent.

Like I said, most people I know who smoke weed, don't drink often. I don't smoke weed, my wife does - She doesn't drink, she prefers to smoke a joint. Most people who mix the two learn pretty quickly that the too don't really go well togeather.

Realistically, its not a problem drug. That's a hangover from the hysteria of a moralistic past. Plus in terms of trouble, I've never in 25 years of so, ever seen stoned people causing trouble. They tend to be sat around at home contemplating their hands and the like.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]