"But you don't get it! If drugs were legalized that would mean that the goverment thinks it's OK to take drugs!!!"
No, actually it would be government not getting involved in individuals' decisions. Not the same as condonement, not even in the same ballpark. That which governs best, governs least. Let PEOPLE be responsible for themselves for once....
"The goverment would say that it's ok for people to become addicts and maybe die."
I suspect government would work closely with rehab programs upon any legalization of addictive substances--not force people into them, but make their services available to more people. There are many good programs in the private sector too.
"THE GOVERMENT SHOULDN'T SAY: IT'S OK TO BUY DRUGS, SO THAT YOU BECOME AN ADDICT AND SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY TO BUY DRUGS UNTILL YOU DIE OF AN OVERDOSE!"
No, the government would not be saying ANYTHING pro or con about drug use if they legalized them. The government would say that that is now up to the individual, and whatever natural consequences arise from use will be up to the user to deal with--let the user be warned.
"MOST DEATHS FROM HEROIN DO NOT OCCUR BECAUSE IT IS MIXED WITH SOMETHING.
"MOST DEATHS OCCUR because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug they are at risk of overdose or death."
Not knowing statistics on this (they are in no way relevant to my argument), I would say that legalized substances would have the same truth-in-labelling requirement as anything else (whether they be sold in the private sector or by the government), and the user would know the contents of the dosage to the milligram, with percentage breakdowns.... STANDARDISATION, you know? Wouldn't stop SOME people from overdosing (some people just forget their own limitations, or are suicidal in an indifferent sort of way...), but those who did because of an unexpectedly purer cut, or from other stuff mixed in, wouldn't under standardization.
"One of the most detrimental long-term effects of heroin is addiction itself. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use,"
And as it's illegal, that "drug seeking" becomes a lot more expensive and risky. Does THAT deter the addict? No! So since he's probably paying ten times more for his fix, he holds up people like me (when I was a cab driver this happened) or peaceful store employees or whomever. THAT is where a person's right to a habit interferes with my right to safety--and legalization would actually reduce these incidents greatly if not eliminate them.
Of course, our CIA for years took cuts from the cocaine trade in Latin America (hell they probably still do)--I guess illegal drug trade was GOOD business for them too, huh? Don't tell me ANYTHING about how the government feels about drug use....
"and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. Heroin also produces profound degrees of tolerance and physical dependence, which are also powerful motivating factors for compulsive use and abuse. As with abusers of any addictive drug, heroin abusers gradually spend more and more time and energy obtaining and using the drug. Once they are addicted, the heroin abusers' primary purpose in life becomes seeking and using drugs. The drugs literally change their brains."
Heroin is a horrible drug. So is cocaine. I've made a decision not to use either one of them, because "I know people" too.... But that decision had NOTHING to do with what the law happened to be (I DID do coke occasionally before I got tired of the scene, never got addicted but I probably could have had I kept with it). In the end, people who want to use DO, illegally or not. The law is not a deterrent.
I DO smoke pot, and frankly I prefer it over alcohol because alcohol makes me silly and stupid. Alcohol can be addictive, pot is not. I can go without it if it ain't available for awhile.
By the way, the story behind illegal cannabis had to do with one newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst creating a scare to save his pulp-paper mills from a new method that would make hemp paper cheaper.
You know, Hakan, what you went through watching your friend slowly kill himself was horrible. I know, I had an uncle who drank himself to death. Same type of slow destruction....
But assuming that heroin is illegal in Sweden, you have to know that laws against drug use IN NO WAY helped your best friend. So that is not the issue then, is it? The issue is one that every individual alone, or with the support of family or friends, must come to grips with for himself. Just like alcohol use. Your friend failed in that, and there was nothing you could have done. If a person is self-destructive and determined, they WILL destroy themselves unless something BIG changes their mind. The law is not that "big" in this case....
But ultimately, the individual has a right to destroy himself if that is what he wants.
