Should crack cocaine be legalized for recreational use?

[Bugfatty300]

This 100 year-long failed experiment in drug control in the US has consistently proven several things about illegal drugs. And those things are that as a society we CANNOT stop or even hinder:

-It's usage
-It's sale
-It's manufacture
-It's distribution
-The violence associated around it's prohibition

The fact that it hasn't gone the way of the Volstead act is a testament to the massive hard boiled bureaucracy that has formed around combating illegal drugs.

The question isn't whether or not we should outlaw crack cocaine. The question is whether we can realistically outlaw it at all. We can't. It's on the streets, it's everywhere.

And I know what you guys are going to say.

"Bugfatty300, we can't stop murders from happening does that mean we should allow people to murder each other!"

So just a heads up, drug laws are by nature very different. Murder laws are in place to punish and incarcerate those who commit it but not necessarily prevent it. Drug laws are in place to keep people from using, accessing, or possessing illegal drugs. Outlawing murder also doesn't have extremely nasty side effects that comes with outlawing drugs.

 

[mrt144]

But if you can do powder legally, why would you risk going to jail for a long time by putting it into crack form?

It seems that the street level distributor would exit the crack game and the end user would just do it at home.

 

[Elta]

So just a heads up, drug laws are by nature very different. Murder laws are in place to punish and incarcerate those who commit it but not necessarily prevent it.

Quality post