Anyone else absolutely shocked of three innocent people in Liverpool all drug related!!

[Toosadtocomprehend]

If anyone reading this that takes recreational drugs should be absolutely ashamed of the carnage that their habit is causing…an innocent 9 year old ,20 year old and 22 year old have lost their lives because of other people shitty pastimes …think think think before you snort or smoke that poison!!

Everything is a choice though you don't have to take drugs or turn to sex working.

No one's "simply" blaming the consumer

Some posters in this thread have attempted to blame all drug users for the recent deaths in Liverpool. This is a simplistic, reductionist attitude that unfortunately will not solve the problem. Attitudes like this hinder further discussions and progress surrounding the issue, and shifts the focus away from the government and other organisations and onto the consumer.

I think it is fair to say all drug users contributed to deaths caused by the trade they support.

It's not the only factor but it is a factor.

It's part of the puzzle though, it's ignorant to say otherwise.

Honestly, all these "recreational drug users" ad their apologists disgust me.

What does that have to do with anything? No one is going on a killing spree right after surgery or childbirth. 🙄

think think think before you snort or smoke that poison!!

Unfortunatelly, lots of people are selfish a-holes, and don't care about any one else.

Do your research. Big food companies use very similar techniques, and actually target vulnerable communities, push out healthy food suppliers and then shove their food that is chemically engineered to be as addictive as crack, so that they can monopolise the market.

@Cheeriyo
Sure, but it's the most pointless part to focus on if your goal is to reduce the harm caused by crime.

We have a police force that doesn't actively investigate any crime that doesn't involve harm to the person. They're not going to investigate suspected drug users.

You could legalise a relatively innocuous drug like cannabis and drive a huge chunk of the black market economy above ground.

That would make a much bigger dent in harm than trying to shame or imprison individual users.

The current structure literally incetivises buying from a dealer rather than growing it like any other plant.

If your route is going to be to encourage people to never have a desire to chemically alter their perceptions, you're going to need a society that's much closer to a utopia than we currently have.

Did you used to enjoy recreational drugs prior to finding out about the harm the drug trade causes?

Yeah, and also kids growing up thinking using drugs in normal. It's legal after all!
No, thanks.

Drugs should be illegal, including cannabis.

That's why many countries such as Portugal etc have legalised them. It makes sense and removes the criminal element while ensuring they are safer to use. Makes so much sense.

Write to your MP

That's weird question. I never used drugs in my life.
Not everyone is a junkie 😂

It's really easy to spit vitoria about people doing something you don't want to do.

What things have you given up due to the circumstances of their distribution?

Why would I want them to be safer to use? Let the selfish a-holes suffer 😂

In fairness its abundantly clear that the people posting don't actually give a fuck about solving anything. They are just enjoying feeling like the are better than others for not doing something they conveniently don't want to do anyway. It gives them an opportunity to spit venom from what they think is a morally secure position.

They get rabid if you suggest they apply the same logic to anything they do want to buy.

Have you corrected this yet?

To me one thing is certain, the war on drugs has got us to this status quo. Something needs to change to take power away from the criminal gangs, and I think some kind of legalisation for drugs such as cannabis and mdma would be a step. Both of these can be easily and safely produced and taxed, and would shrink the dealers market by a significant amount. Use the revenue as a pp has suggested to go after the rest, especially cocaine and heroin which I see as the most damaging to society in terms of crime and violence. I also believe that the big money for the dealers is selling these two hard drugs, and not 10 bags of weed.

Lots of posters pointing the finger at the MC dinner party set, and while that group obviously exists, cocaine (the largest problem imo) and other drug use is rife across all sections of society, from your scaffolding company, primary school teacher, chef at your local pub, insurance salesman, football fans, sixth formers out celebrating A level results and of course, our politicians. So singling out one “type” of user isn’t very accurate or useful. It’s everywhere.

There just isn’t the police power to deal with the problem as it stands, so by reducing the size of market a dealer has, by removing a large section of their customers, there will be more chances of doing something that actually changes the situation. Fully expect to be flamed for some of that but frankly there are quite a lot of not very intelligent solutions being offered: People shouldn’t do drugs. Great, that’s an amazing insight.

The situation has to change, and removing criminally/legalisation of some drugs will allow the resources to be used to tackle the rest more effectively.

And we need more police in this country, unfortunately people keep voting for the party that is responsible for slashing police numbers, but that’s another story.

Here we go again. It's always it's because (List a million and one bullshit excuses) never ever a rational choice, no accountability allowed. Years ago we were told community policing, give them a holiday, lack of facilities, clubs, etc.
Well surprise, surprise, it's now coming home to roost. Children murdering children, youths swarming MacDonalds, etc, etc.

Listen if you an anti-social skank, then the only way is to be removed from society. The government needs to introduce Martial law, police shoot to kill, clear them out, kids, families, relatives, the whole rotten bunch.
3 strikes gone, permanently, prison, work camps.
Obviously, this won't happen, the public doesn't have the stomach for the tough decisions.

Listen if you an anti-social skank, then the only way is to be removed from society. The government needs to introduce Martial law, police shoot to kill, clear them out, kids, families, relatives, the whole rotten bunch.
3 strikes gone, permanently, prison, work camps.

Do you have any examples of these sorts of policies creating a society that people with choices actually want to live in?

Depends what you view as working. It works a treat if you are happy with the cost. Most of us would find the cost unacceptable I would imagine.

Do your research. Big food companies use very similar techniques, and actually target vulnerable communities, push out healthy food suppliers and then shove their food that is chemically engineered to be as addictive as crack, so that they can monopolise the market.

Without a doubt.

The local row of shops close to me had a butchers, green grocery store, tailor, hairdressers when I was growing up now most retail outlets are either betting shops or greasy fast food takeaways.

The main shopping centres food halls are constantly packed.

We are being constantly surveyed in order to maximise profits.

Hence why county lines was mind-blowing for dealers.

Obviously food isn't funding drugs and weapons but it is an addiction through marketing nonetheless.

If there were no demand, there would be no drugs trade.

Is it realistic to expect demand to disappear? No - many people take drugs because they have shit lives. Unless that changes, they will continue to self-medicate with both legal and illegal drugs.

But that doesn't mean we can't influence demand. Drug use patterns aren't actually that global - they vary hugely by country and even town. Crack and fentanyl cause a fraction of the problem in the UK that they do in the US. Heroin use in the UK has declined massively over the last 15 years.

We might not be able to end cocaine use in the UK, but we can certainly reduce it, and therefore reduce the associated harms.