Would the legalization of drugs bring an end to the drug violence?

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   spbarton21posted 12 years ago

   Do you believe if the government controls pot and other drugs that it will have a better effect than the current policy? Or do you believe that we should strike harder at the cartels?

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      Josakposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think it would help though I am not sure it would fix the problem entirely, if done properly it might. Going after the cartels is hopeless and fruitless, there are hundreds of thousands of members many of them ex military, special forces and police who are deeply entrenched in their community and who are incredibly well funded. Even if the Cartels were destroyed nothing would charge, someone else would appear to control the drug trade, the US demand is simply too large to be left alone. The US spent billions of dollars killing Pablo Escobar (who I might add was so deeply entrenched and liked in his community that they elected him) and destroying his organization and the Cocaine flow hardly dropped at all. The only way to stop the drug trade and the violence associated with it is to either stop the demand (thus far not possible) or cater to it legally.

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      rickyliceaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It worked with alcohol, so It's definitely worth a try.

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   Ralph Deedsposted 12 years ago

   Legalization of drugs or some drugs might be worth a try. The "war on drugs" certainly isn't working.

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   JSChamsposted 12 years ago

   I tell you what....legalize it in say......California.
   Then let's wait about 40 years and see what the state looks like. The shape they are in now it couldn't hurt them/

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      Josakposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Legalization has been tried in several areas with successful results.

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         JSChamsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Successful? What does that mean in the context?
         People got high all day and did art and ate brownies and drank wine?
         What?

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            Josakposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Drug mortality fell radically, diseases spread by reused needles fell and drug violence plummeted, that is successful.
            
            Not that I have any problem with brownies and wine.

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               JSChamsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               What about addiction rates?

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                  Josakposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  It's impossible to know since people don't just say they are addicted but hospitalizations decreased sharply so it seems reasonable to believe that addiction levels fell, at the shops where it's sold they have drug counselors etc. for people who are struggling with addiction.

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                     JSChamsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     So you believe that someone is more likely do get addicted if the drug in question is illegal?
                     Bela Lugosi got addicted to drugs his doctor prescribed him.

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                        Josakposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        There are a variety of reasons, many people get into drugs when pressured by friends, studies show legalization lessen that peer pressure, also many dealers spike their drugs with other drugs and hand out free samples in an attempt to get the user hooked on something expensive, governemnt run bossiness don't do that. Lastly as i mentioned there are counselors etc in the shop to mediate use and vendors only serve responsibly so if you come in obviously messed up they wont, thus the cycle of addiction is broken. One of the big problems is dealers try to get you hooked and keep you hooked.

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   twosheds1posted 12 years ago

   Here's an interesting graph of the relative dangers of drugs:
   http://thomaskleppesto.tumblr.com/post/ … ience-says
   
   Ken Burns' documentary "Prohibition" says that alcoholism was rampant before prohibition, and was drastically reduced by prohibition. That in itself isn't argument in favor of prohibition, but I think it does help make the case that legalization would lead to more addiction.

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