Mar 27 2009
legal issue?
After reading Ashleys post on Barack Obama’s statement about the legalisation of marijuana, I got to thinking about the drug problem at large. It seems the idea of legalising prohibited substances is tossed around every now and then with everyone seeming too hesitant to implement any sort of trial legal supply. It is so obvious that the existing laws are not attacking the drug problem with any real results. The cost to humanity, the drug related crime rate, loss of life and mental illness all caused by drug addiction is just so devastating that society screams for another tactic to be investigated. Marijuana is definitely the least harmful, non aggressive of substances with many users not having enough motivation to ever get clean, as while they are using they are able to maintain such normal lives. Long-term use can however drastically hamper some people’s ability to ever reach their full potential. Marijuanas effects are so de motivating that is keeps some users in a behavioural rut forever. Others who smoke recreationally, attributing a quiet joint to great creativity and relaxation could benefit from its legalisation, as these people are not dangerous criminals.
Other drugs should be legalised before marijuana as the majority of hard drug addicts do hope for a better life one day, but are so emotionally messed up that they are caught in a never ending downward spiral. Some are more addicted to the deluded excitement of such a lifestyle than the drugs. The replacement of heroin with substances such as Buprenorphine and Methadone offer relief to some from the horror of hustling for money every day. These chemicals still damage the body and take months to detoxify from. Some addicts have to endure months of aching limbs, cold sweats and sickness to rid their body of these replacements drug. Naltrexone an opiate inhibitor that can be inserted under the skin to prevent users getting high should also be subsidised by the government.
The legalisation of all drugs worldwide would call for a grand scale operation. All users should be made to have compulsory counselling before the drug is legally supplied to them. This cost would be great, but minimal compared to the cost of keeping drug related offenders in prison each year. 80% of the Australian prison population are incarcerated for drug related crimes. Users could still fit the bill for the legal drugs at a low rate, however the drug production should not be put in the hands of private companies creating another competitive market. A highly regulated government body should control the product distribution, lessening the danger of overdose, and damage caused by laced gear.
Drug addiction is an emotional and spiritual problem and it needs to be addressed as one. Young people still do drugs to escape reality, and because they think its cool. This habit then deteriorates into dependence as coping mechanisms don’t develop and important self-discipline and other life skills never form. Many drug users need to hit rock bottom before they decide to change their life. The financial pressure and the ugly face of drug culture is a necessary factor that propels people to change their ways. This is one of the main conflicting factors in the legalisation debate. I don’t think drugs should be legalised to all just to those who struggle with long-term addiction. It just doesn’t make sense that a drug like alcohol that causes car accidents and violence is seen as the lesser evil.
