General Chat

what do you think :-D :-D

no!!!

well only the ones I'm taking :-D

Any particular drugs?

Considering the fact that most druggies fund their habbits by commiting burglaries or theft; should we legal buglary and theft too? Or perhaps drug addicts should get extra state benefits to pay for their drugs. :-|

Graham - they do!

(I take it we mean controlled substances.)

seriously, no, and definitely not cannabis - having worked in psychiatry for thirty years I have seen the results of cannabis taking - not nice - people seem to think it's harmless - it ain't

I don't know why people call these drugs "controlled substances". :-S Drug addicts are not exactly in control, are they? :-S

All that the term "controlled substance" means is it is regulated by the government.

six people round here where seriously ill
after taking ecstasy this week end
if it was controlled the drugs would be tested and safer
and it would put low life drug dealers out of business
small crimes would reduce
if it was controlled and sold in chemists


but the other half of me says no way

Why would crime reduce? Abusers would still need to pay for it.

SOME OF THESE CAN HELP
SOME PEOPLE WITH CERTAIN CONDITIONS
LIKE,
PD
MS
MOTOR N
AND MANY MORE

Because illegal drugs and crime rates run hand in hand
or so ive been told on the ASBO committee I am on :-( :-(

If you legalise the drugs, you won't reduce drug taking; so you won't reduce the crime rate.

But how would legalising, say, heroin reduce crime rates?

If an abuser needs money to obtain their fix, whether it is legal or not, they will obtain that money in any possible way that they can.

the police adviser recons
the dealers are taking goods in payments
where as a shop wouldn't :-(

I will be printing out your reply's as feed back for out committee

And where do these goods come from? :-S

No. and I don't believe it would put drug dealers out of business, they would just diversify into other drugs, when you are talking money there is always going to be a 'different, better, high' to offer.

Long term, Cannabis is brain rot, it destroys memory, it destroys brain function, it destroys motivation, and anyone who tells you 'well I took it and look at me I'm fine " ...well they aren't really the best people to judge are they!

There are reasons people take drugs, ( just as there are reasons people get into a cycle of drinking too much), instead of legalising the drugs you need to look at why people take them imo.

edit to add after Joy posted,

If the police adviser believes goods are being stolen because the dealers will take goods in exchange for drugs, where does he think the buyers will get the money to pay for them over the counter at the chemist? They will still be stealing, it will just change the links in the chain, ie user steals, sells to a fence, buys drugs.

The only way you will take the need to rob ( or other means of getting money for drugs, like prostitution) out of that equation is to provide the drugs for no charge....and who then pays?

If it were legaiised then the Government could charge VAT. A portion of that could be earmarked for mental health care.

In all honestly, decriminalising so called recreational drugs sold from licenced outlets might cut down on some crime, but I get the impression that drug related crime is committed by 'hard' drug users.

There's no easy answer.

maybe they are itching for supply by prescription Rose

to be honest when I have collected the butlers prescription
I have noticed some people getting drugs over the counter

administered by the chemist :-( :-(

Rambling Rose - I totally agree.

The "legalise drugs" argument crops up regularly and it always seems to use the misguided and/or ill informed argument that it would reduce crime. I would like to see some facts and figures to corroborate that hackneyed hypothesis.

"the police adviser recons" (sic) - surely they have some sort of evidence rather than just something they reckon?

(I would prefer my comments on this thread not to be printed out and used as material for an ASBO committee, if you don't mind.)

EDIT that will often be things such as methadone that is given out by a chemist.