"then you have the issue of regulating or even organizing the legal (private) distribution of drugs. I don't see that ending well at all."
We have been very successful at regulating tobacco and alcohol. Yes, you can find moonshine if you look really hard, but that's just the point -- almost nobody wants moonshine, people prefer regulated liquor. Sure there is black market, unregulated tobacco and teenagers manage to buy it, but the vast majority of people who smoke buy their tobacco legally.
For that matter we have also been overwhelmingly success at regulating pharmaceutical drugs, to the point where a black market exists for them as replacements for illegal drugs. There is a reason recreational opiate users want pills: the regulations on purity, dosage, etc. Even methamphetamine is available by prescription (for narcolepsy, obesity, and ADHD treatment), and the pharmaceutical stuff is a lot safer, because of regulations.
In reality we know how to regulate drugs, including extremely dangerous drugs like alcohol and tobacco, and even "hard" drugs like methamphetamine. Maintaining a regulatory system is not the problem here. The real problem is that the war on drugs is profitable. One of the most ironic facts of lobbying in today's world is that "The Partnership for a Drug-Free America" receives money from alcohol, tobacco companies, and pharmaceutical companies. There is also the matter of politicians having figured out that they can always portray themselves as "tough on crime" by pushing for drug arrests. Police officers unions are fighting for their members jobs by lobbying for maintaining or even expanding the effort. The executive branch has also figured out that the war on drugs is a great excuse for expanding executive power -- even to the point of the attorney general's office having gained the authority to declare drugs to be illegal (and then prosecute people for possessing those drugs).
Legalization and regulation are the answers our society really needs. We need to disband the DEA, repeal the controlled substances act, pass a constitutional amendment that forbids all such prohibitions, and set up a regulatory framework. It is not likely to happen, for the reasons outlined above and because we have had so many decades of propaganda that people have trouble with the idea of alcohol being drug or of methamphetamine having medicinal use.
Out of curiosity, what is it about crack cocaine that has you so terrified? There are far more dangerous drugs out there...
Out of curiosity, what is it about crack cocaine that has you so terrified? There are far more dangerous drugs out there...
Sorry for the late reply. I disagree with you, and I was a bit tired so I stopped discussing :P I'll answer your question:
The combination of accessibility, addictiveness and health effects. I live opposite to an addiction treatment center and see crack addicts every day. It's addictive like tobacco is, has stronger mental health effects than alcohol and because of its low cost is more accessible than any other hard drug.
I know alcohol is very dangerous too, but 99% of alcohol users manage their addiction in a way they can still manage their lives adequately. With crack and other hard drug addictions you will find the odds reversed.
We have been very successful at regulating tobacco and alcohol. Yes, you can find moonshine if you look really hard, but that's just the point -- almost nobody wants moonshine, people prefer regulated liquor. Sure there is black market, unregulated tobacco and teenagers manage to buy it, but the vast majority of people who smoke buy their tobacco legally.
For that matter we have also been overwhelmingly success at regulating pharmaceutical drugs, to the point where a black market exists for them as replacements for illegal drugs. There is a reason recreational opiate users want pills: the regulations on purity, dosage, etc. Even methamphetamine is available by prescription (for narcolepsy, obesity, and ADHD treatment), and the pharmaceutical stuff is a lot safer, because of regulations.
In reality we know how to regulate drugs, including extremely dangerous drugs like alcohol and tobacco, and even "hard" drugs like methamphetamine. Maintaining a regulatory system is not the problem here. The real problem is that the war on drugs is profitable. One of the most ironic facts of lobbying in today's world is that "The Partnership for a Drug-Free America" receives money from alcohol, tobacco companies, and pharmaceutical companies. There is also the matter of politicians having figured out that they can always portray themselves as "tough on crime" by pushing for drug arrests. Police officers unions are fighting for their members jobs by lobbying for maintaining or even expanding the effort. The executive branch has also figured out that the war on drugs is a great excuse for expanding executive power -- even to the point of the attorney general's office having gained the authority to declare drugs to be illegal (and then prosecute people for possessing those drugs).
Legalization and regulation are the answers our society really needs. We need to disband the DEA, repeal the controlled substances act, pass a constitutional amendment that forbids all such prohibitions, and set up a regulatory framework. It is not likely to happen, for the reasons outlined above and because we have had so many decades of propaganda that people have trouble with the idea of alcohol being drug or of methamphetamine having medicinal use.
Out of curiosity, what is it about crack cocaine that has you so terrified? There are far more dangerous drugs out there...