To believe that all drugs should be legalised?

[TheWaryOchreRobin]

If alcohol and cigarettes are legal, why not regulate and tax everything else instead of letting criminal gangs profit?

NO. Definitely not. Have you any close family OR been an addict yourself?
I was deeply deeply addicted to an assortment of drugs inc crack in the end, it doesn't matter if they are legal - they still ruin lives they almost ruined MY life and MY families life.

YES I have ALL my teeth and NO I don't look like a drug user
It was the most single hardest thing coming off drugs legalising them will do nothing, people can still OD, there will still be dealers etc.

Why would decriminalised heroin for example, available on prescription only turn normal people into addicts?

I’ve just added a look on YouTube at what has happened in Portland, Oregon 🤔🙁

I don't work in MH but I know quite a lot of people who drink alcohol and have managed their whole lives without needing to detox or do any lasting damage to themselves.
I don't think I know any meth users, but I don't believe that there is the same percentage of casual meth (or crack) users who are generally ok, living long and happy lives.
Do you think that pure crystal meth would enough safer than impure to encourage its use?

Legalise them you can then tax them, control the quality where they’re sold, you’ll free up police resources as they’re no longer illegal. The nhs could then tackle the problem addiction. Far better to control them.

Very much against it. Can't understand why anyone would be, unless they've never actually had proper front line engagement with someone off their face on meth/crack/heroin.
Who do you think should be responsible for managing and monitoring the paranoia, tweaking, aggression? The NHS?

Fortunately, Oregon, where I live, has now reversed the decriminalization of drug possession. It was a crazy, dangerous experiment that failed spectacularly, as most of us knew it would be.

Drug possession is now a crime again. As it should be.

Hundreds of thousands of people are addicted to prescription drugs, especially in the US.

The question I suppose is why do we want to decriminalise 'Drugs'

There are a lot of issues around tobacco and alcohol but we dont have people being poisoned by home made spirits and turf wars between alcohol and tobacco suppliers.

I understand that there are some reasonable concerns in the medical profession about decriminalisation.

So, and I would include tobacco, alcohol and vapes in this what I suggest we need to look at is harm reduction. What can we do that we think might reduce harm?

One slightly tounge in cheek comment was that legal drugs should be distributed from premises with the ambience and customer service of a 1980's DHSS office in a less than desirable part of town. It might certainly put off the 'weekend recreational' users!

Discuss...........

Where on earth did I say that?
I'm saying it will make the problem worse and WHY would "normal" people be prescribed fucking heroin if they weren't addicts?
Oh by the way I was still a normal person because I was an addict not a piece of shit

Dont know - would have to look at the research. But I think it is very likely it would be safer than what you can buy now and I dont think legalizing it would make more people take it up. As for the no lasting damage with alcohol argument - I know a lot of people who deny their alcohol use is dangerous or damaging but who are fooling themselves. I am not going to get sidetracked into talking only about crystal meth - just in general think the argument for legalizing drugs is a good one, and has the support of a lot of senior doctors and health professionals internationally.

"I guess they would be produced, tested, regulated and taxed like all the other mood altering substances which are currently legal"

Which means that the price isn't going be that low. So dealers will produce cheaper and more stronger drugs and we'll still have the issue of street drugs.
How does the legalisation fit in with current SS polices? We do parenting assessments on all addicted pregnant women and their partners, I forsee a lot of dead babies.

I think because right now there is so much money spent on the criminal path of drug use (policing supply, policing users, policing/compensating victims of crime committed by addicts, courts, prisons, enforced rehab). That money could be better spent on housing, social programs, clean drug use facilities, education. The things that benefit (non-violent) drug users but also benefit the broader community.

but we dont have people being poisoned by home made spirits and turf wars between alcohol and tobacco suppliers.

But they did while it was prohibited in the states.

"and I dont think legalizing it would make more people take it up. "
It would in very deprived areas. The only thing keeping a lot of youngsters off some drugs is having to pass a DBS.

Making drugs legal does not magically make them safe. Safer? Yes, but safe, definitely not.

Why if it's decriminalised would anyone be getting prescribed it, or methadone?
If it's getting seen as the same as alcohol and tobacco, why would any of the drugs be given on prescription?

Maybe watch Sky's excellent report on San Francisco to see what happens when a once-thriving city gets liberalism like a disease, and then decide if this is what we want to live with:
https://news.sky.com/story/the-million-dollar-streets-strewn-with-bodies-contorted-by-the-effects-of-fentanyl-12871961

I WAS REPLYING TO A PP WHO SAID TO ME THAT SOMEONE WOULD BE PRESCRIBED HEORIN WOULD BECCOME AN ADDICT.

Why would anyone look to the US for anything involving the care of human beings? That country is a joke.

Portugal is a much better example.

Well it's likely they would isn't it? Given it's highly addictive?

How would heroin be safe if it were legalised?

No but it encourages it

Uh no. I’m an epidemiologist and there is no evidence that any red wine is good for you (I very much wish there was! 😂) The silly stories that you sometimes see in newspapers about benefits of red wine are purely because middle and upper class people drink more red wine on average than working class people, and are otherwise healthier on average than working class people.

I am conflicted. My brother is a heroin addict. Most crimes are committed by drug addicts. If your house is broken into that will be an addict. Would it make kids less likely to end up on drugs if so then agree. It would surely stop county lines and kids being used to peddle drugs. I want more help for addicts, I know it's hard to have sympathy for them but by ignoring the problem the crime rate is never going to get better. There needs to be more rehab centres and not just chuck people out of prison back to their drug dealers. I hate my brother in many ways and I see the heartbreak of my mum everytime he ends up back on this crap. It's a horrid life being an addict.