Something needs to be done about drugs in UK

To add to this a lot of people don’t try drugs because they know they’re an unknown quantity cooked up in some meth head’s garage somewhere, and they don’t want to die. If they’re made ‘safe’, many many many more people will try them and become addicted.

Conversely my friend can't go 24 hours without. They are aware after about 4 hours if they miss their dose. Pushing it to 3-4 days risks a seizure and death.

If they had to pay for their prescriptions it would feel like paying to be addicted.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21815323/#:~:text=Withdrawal%20seizures%20have%20occurred%20with,time%20and%20at%20high%20doses.

My argument is that decriminalising something doesn't stop people doing it. It might make life safer for the drug users, but it makes life more dangerous for the rest of us.
And the simple fact is that for a lot of people, the reason they don't try drugs is because they're scared of the legal repercussions. Certainly when I was an immortal teenager I would have happily tried a load of drugs if I hadn't been scared of the police. Remove that fear and I could have tried everything, maybe even ended up addicted.
The fear of prosecution is a deterrent for most people. Take that away, and far more people would become drug addicts. And I fail to see how that benefits society.

I was responding to the OP.

I do not agree that arguing the case for decriminalisation is "equally as problematic" as suggesting anyone caught in possession with intent to supply be charged with murder and given life imprisonment, or even the death penalty as some have argued on this thread. As for considering the reality of decriminalisation, the reality is that it can be transformative for law and order and public health when done properly with a robust harm reduction strategy, not a half arsed one like Canada. This means proper investment from the Government in making medical and therapeutic treatments easily accessible. In Switzerland the controlled medical distribution of herion has been in place since the early 90's and and has led to a significant reduction in deaths by OD, blood borne infections, and criminality associated with drug use. But they did it properly and in a controlled way. No sensible person is going to advocate for legalising everything tomorrow with no careful planning and contingencies in place but those who throw up their hands and say it can't be done are wrong, other countries are doing it successfully, but it requires a level of investment many governments are not prepared to consider.

They change the structure of the brain.

https://desertcoverecovery.com/blog/study-cites-benzo-use-cause-brain-changes/

I can sit next to a crack head on a bus simply by getting on a bus. Doesn't require a change in legislation to enjoy that

Whilst I agree with the sentiment of your post, I think the leap to ‘legalize it’ without consideration of the reality of this is equally as problematic.

If you can get through the week without experiencing any withdrawal and the desire to take them to restore your equilibreum then no you're not physically addicted.

I agree.
People always trot out the argument for decriminalising drugs, as if this will somehow magically make the problem go away. Alcohol is legal, but still causes no end of problems, illness, antisocial behaviour, violence, crime etc. Imagine if all the people who currently get wasted on alcohol every night decided to start doing cocaine and heroin too! Just because something might be legal, and not mixed with talc or whatever, doesn't stop it affecting behaviour.
I hate the fact that weed has been decriminalised. I hate smelling it as I walk through town, and I hate even more the thought that the drivers next to me on the motorway might be stoned!

Legalised and tax .
Save a fortune on save a fortune on policing the gangs .
Make fortune on taxes.

Legislation on safe drugs .
Nhs knows what it is treating .

Ketamine is very helpful therapeutically. Often given to babies and trauma patients as it keeps them still and disassociated while also relieving pain.

It's a bloody awful drug to be on long term though. I know lots who take it recreationally and I hate it. Makes me really nervous as I know one young person it killed and know of others who it has disabled (permenant bladder problems). Long term users need serious support to get off it similar to opioid addicts and more people need to understand the dangers and side effects. I fear its mostly seen as harmless.

Again, the solution is better education in the first place and then mental health support and addiction services. Prohibition doesn't make it any less accessible but it does make it less safe as you have no idea what it's cut with.

No. As you'd expect the more frequent and longer you're taking them the harder it becomes. I've witnessed someone (try) to go through it. It's shocking, frightening and heartbraking.

What an excellent idea. Telling people their chosen vice looks stupid always makes them quit.

No one is saying just decriminalise all drugs then leave people to it. That is similar to what Canada have done and its a stupid policy, doomed to failure in the same way as prohibition. What is being advocated for is selected legalisation, control and medicalisation of addiction services with social programmes in support. That is pretty much the only thing with widespread evidence of decreasing drug deaths and social harms caused by addiction.

With prolonged use dosage has to be continually increased to have the desired effect and the withdrawal becomes unbearable.

Drug dealers are not intentionally trying to murder their customers & it is the users personal choice to take the drugs, nobody is forcing them to do it

I have a friend who is addicted to benzos. Has been for 30 years. Impossible to quit. No one tells you that when they dish them out.

(The Ashton method didn't work because their GP had no interest in helping them quit).

Correct and coke once it gets its claws into someone.

True. However it's an inevitable function of the fact that the two biggest harmful drugs in society - alcohol and tobacco - have to be ring fenced from the debate. Leads to some quite imaginative rhetorical contortions

Agreed, they should start with heroin and crack

You can't have a sensible discussion about this whilst lumping all illegal drugs in one category. The case for making say magic mushrooms or cannabis legal is entirely different to making the case for heroin or for cocaine.