Should illegal drugs be legalized?

Study: Alcohol More Lethal Than Heroin, Cocaine Maria Cheng

AP LONDON (Oct. 31) -- Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison.

Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, or crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals. When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the deadliest. But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.

The study was paid for by Britain's Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and was published online Monday in the medical journal, Lancet.

Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but for those around them.

"Just think about what happens (with alcohol) at every football game," said Wim van den Brink, a professor of psychiatry and addiction at the University of Amsterdam. He was not linked to the study and co-authored a commentary in the Lancet.

When drunk in excess, alcohol damages nearly all organ systems. It is also connected to higher death rates and is involved in a greater percentage of crime than most other drugs, including heroin.

But experts said it would be impractical and incorrect to outlaw alcohol.

"We cannot return to the days of prohibition," said Leslie King, an adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and one of the study's authors. "Alcohol is too embedded in our culture and it won't go away."

King said countries should target problem drinkers, not the vast majority of people who indulge in a drink or two. He said governments should consider more education programs and raising the price of alcohol so it isn't as widely available.

Experts said the study should prompt countries to reconsider how they classify drugs. For example, last year in Britain, the government increased its penalties for the possession of marijuana. One of its senior advisers, David Nutt - the lead author on the Lancet study - was fired after he criticized the British decision.

"What governments decide is illegal is not always based on science," said van den Brink. He said considerations about revenue and taxation, like those garnered from the alcohol and tobacco industries, may influence decisions about which substances to regulate or outlaw.

"Drugs that are legal cause at least as much damage, if not more, than drugs that are illicit," he said.

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Study: Alcohol More Lethal Than Heroin, Cocaine Maria Cheng

AP LONDON (Oct. 31) -- Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

I heard all this back in college almost 30 years ago in my Drug Abuse class (as a transfer student, I registered late, had to take all kinds of crap classes that first semester).

Marijuana is practially harmless. In the US over a million people each year die from illness related to tobacco or firearms. Our own gov't agency, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), own name shows how dangerous that stuff is.

Legalize most drugs, regulate and then tax them. This will shut down many criminal organizations and raise some cash. Start with pot, and work up to the harder stuff. USE of just about anything is OK in moderation. It's when it is ABUSED that it becomes a problem.

Study: Alcohol More Lethal Than Heroin, Cocaine Maria Cheng

AP LONDON (Oct. 31) -- Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

I heard all this back in college almost 30 years ago in my Drug Abuse class (as a transfer student, I registered late, had to take all kinds of crap classes that first semester).

Marijuana is practially harmless. In the US over a million people each year die from illness related to tobacco or firearms. Our own gov't agency, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), own name shows how dangerous that stuff is.

Legalize most drugs, regulate and then tax them. This will shut down many criminal organizations and raise some cash. Start with pot, and work up to the harder stuff. USE of just about anything is OK in moderation. It's when it is ABUSED that it becomes a problem.

I agree with you almost entirely.....I disagree about working up to the "harder stuff" because some of that harder stuff is physically addictive, highly addictive. Heroin and meth, for example take a hold on the user almost immediately, and so because of that, moderation would be unrealistic for most people.

Study: Alcohol More Lethal Than Heroin, Cocaine Maria Cheng

AP LONDON (Oct. 31) -- Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

I heard all this back in college almost 30 years ago in my Drug Abuse class (as a transfer student, I registered late, had to take all kinds of crap classes that first semester).

Marijuana is practially harmless. In the US over a million people each year die from illness related to tobacco or firearms. Our own gov't agency, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), own name shows how dangerous that stuff is.

Legalize most drugs, regulate and then tax them. This will shut down many criminal organizations and raise some cash. Start with pot, and work up to the harder stuff. USE of just about anything is OK in moderation. It's when it is ABUSED that it becomes a problem.

I agree with you almost entirely.....I disagree about working up to the "harder stuff" because some of that harder stuff is physically addictive, highly addictive. Heroin and meth, for example take a hold on the user almost immediately, and so because of that, moderation would be unrealistic for most people.

I agree that some things are too addictive, but by making it legally attainable it would cut off funds for criminal organizations. There would be a lot more details to be worked out for the hardest stuff than for pot but I think it could be done. I wonder if less people would mess with the harder illegal stuff if other drugs were legal? I drink instead of doing drugs mainly because of the legal hassle (especially in Thailand or here in Dubai). All things being equal, I'd much rather do some drugs than get drunk. So maybe others would stick to pot or ectasy instead of heroin for similar reasons.Sure, not everyone will, but I think with more options than just booze, people can be lured away from the harder, more deadly and addictive drugs (maybe more expensive as well).

Time for a re-post:

Here's a little story I tell every so often:

Prior to the 1970s if you were a heroin addict in the UK you could register with a GP and get your heroin on prescription. It's possible to be a heroin addict and live a normal productive life as long as the heroin is of a known strength, unadulterated and you have a regular known supply. There were 5,000 registered heroin addicts in the UK and drug related crime was effectively zero. The UK was considered slightly oddball in that it was willing to do this. It was 'encouraged' by other countries to stop this and join the 'War on Drugs'. It reduced the availability of legal heroin drastically at first and eventually made it completely illegal. Now there are believed to be approximately 250,000 heroin users in the UK. No-one is quite sure how many because there's no longer a register. Drug related crime, both pushing and crimes such as burglary to get the money for dope account for the majority of crime in the UK. Some wars can't be won and should never be started in the first place.

A previous link by Quicksilva

There is a good previous thread on the drama's of Drug use and abuse, but you have to edit your reading as myself and sirburr threw the toys out of the pram, but I think overall a half decent thread.

Study: Alcohol More Lethal Than Heroin, Cocaine Maria Cheng

AP LONDON (Oct. 31) -- Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

I heard all this back in college almost 30 years ago in my Drug Abuse class (as a transfer student, I registered late, had to take all kinds of crap classes that first semester).

Marijuana is practially harmless. In the US over a million people each year die from illness related to tobacco or firearms. Our own gov't agency, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), own name shows how dangerous that stuff is.

Legalize most drugs, regulate and then tax them. This will shut down many criminal organizations and raise some cash. Start with pot, and work up to the harder stuff. USE of just about anything is OK in moderation. It's when it is ABUSED that it becomes a problem.

I agree with you almost entirely.....I disagree about working up to the "harder stuff" because some of that harder stuff is physically addictive, highly addictive. Heroin and meth, for example take a hold on the user almost immediately, and so because of that, moderation would be unrealistic for most people.

I agree that some things are too addictive, but by making it legally attainable it would cut off funds for criminal organizations. There would be a lot more details to be worked out for the hardest stuff than for pot but I think it could be done. I wonder if less people would mess with the harder illegal stuff if other drugs were legal? I drink instead of doing drugs mainly because of the legal hassle (especially in Thailand or here in Dubai). All things being equal, I'd much rather do some drugs than get drunk. So maybe others would stick to pot or ectasy instead of heroin for similar reasons.Sure, not everyone will, but I think with more options than just booze, people can be lured away from the harder, more deadly and addictive drugs (maybe more expensive as well).

Ok....food for thought. You may be on to something.