Should drugs be legal?

[Thorne]

for instance increased taxation of fuel has hardly stemmed the use of it (I appreciate the flaw in this argument ), or the increased taxation of alcohol?

The point is not so much to stem the use as to eliminate the criminal aspect of it. When was the last time you heard of any large-scale cartel smuggling gasoline or alcohol into the US? There just isn't enough profit in them to justify it. And when you eliminate the criminal charges for buying or selling LEGAL drugs, you tend to limit the possible clients for those selling illegal drugs. Just too much risk involved to justify the small profit.

Personally, I would cast a wary eye on the motives of those who would oppose the legalization of drugs. The possibility that it would cost them a lot of money can't be overlooked.

[TrIcK]

The point is not so much to stem the use as to eliminate the criminal aspect of it. When was the last time you heard of any large-scale cartel smuggling gasoline or alcohol into the US? There just isn't enough profit in them to justify it. And when you eliminate the criminal charges for buying or selling LEGAL drugs, you tend to limit the possible clients for those selling illegal drugs. Just too much risk involved to justify the small profit.

You are right about smuggling petrol or alcohol in the US however I have heard there is a rising problem with smuggling illicit tobacco in some countries (generally sold as fraudulent products). So would the current drug production move towards producing cheaper fraudulent drugs?

I actually like the idea of legalizing some drugs as it will bring control to drug production (preventing cutting drugs with other drugs or other dangerous chemicals). I would certainly prefer a incremental implementation, so start with the weaker drugs and move upwards.

[Thorne]

You are right about smuggling petrol or alcohol in the US however I have heard there is a rising problem with smuggling illicit tobacco in some countries (generally sold as fraudulent products). So would the current drug production move towards producing cheaper fraudulent drugs?

There would always be some small-scale bootlegging operations, the lack of government taxes providing a small profit for the smugglers. Larger scale operations have a larger overhead, though, and far more risk of detection. They wouldn't be able to compete. However, you would still have drug producers developing different drugs, designer type drugs. But with ready, and legal, access to drugs, I would think the demand would be relatively small.