"Drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs! Some are good and some are bad, ask your mom, ask your dad!" . Drugs are quite the debatable issue, being a topic that many have argued about for at least the 20 years. It goes without saying; while drugs can have beneficial purposes, they are more commonly associated with their harmful side-effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, gastrointestinal pain and constipation, along with a laundry list of other problems. While I'm naturally against the mass production and selling of drugs, I'd still support it being used for medical purposes. I ask what you may think.

Should drugs be utilized and/or widely distributed? Why or why not? Thanks for elaborating, people.

Sorry for bothering you. I've changed the post, as I've had second thoughts about this subject. May you edit your comment to reflect this change? Thank you. Be at ease.

Meh. I think drugs should be produced for medical purposes. But not too much or people will start smuggling them for money. 

Marijuana, while still a demerit good, is a lot healthier than most other drugs, and can even be beneficial to your mental health in some ways. It is extremely rare for someone to actually die from marijuana. Additionally, if legalized, marijuana can be controlled by the government. While some people do not like taxes, I think that taxes from marijuana could be used by the government for rehab centers and such for people that got a bit carried away with the drugs.

Another drug that I think should be legalized is LSD. LSD is a very psychotic drug that can change people, but it can't kill you unless you overdose or it's laced. LSD is definitely bad for you, but if controlled by the government, overdoses would decrease and they could control what goes into them. LSD is a drug that is commonly laced with more dangerous drugs, and occasionally dirty drugs/chemicals that can cause death. Government controlled = Not laced. However, I'm indifferent on this, as LSD doesn't seem like the type of thing that should be legalized.

Any other currently illegal drugs, in my opinion, should stay illegal.

Marijuana? Sure, why not. Regulate it, tax it, work it like you do alcohol or cigarettes. There's not a lot of violent crime associated with marijuana and it doesn't have the same impact on society as, say, meth or crack or heroin. There was a comedian who had a joke where marijuana leads people to less crime.

Two guys are smoking and high. One says, "Wanna rob a bank?" The other says, "Nah, let's watch cartoons." They rip into a bag of Doritos.

That's kinda what happens. I've never smoked but I've been around enough friends who have and they mellow out and relax. The plants used for hops for beer are similar to the ones grown to smoke marijuana and they both have the calming effect.

If we don't legalize it, at least decriminalize it. There are more important crimes to go after.

The other drugs? Keep them illegal. Be aggressive policing them and controlling the use of substances. Those drugs are the ones that alter reality enough to make people weird stuff. There was a case of a guy eating another guy in Florida, I think, when he took those bath salts. The drugs I named in the earlier paragraph are much more associated with crime and should be policed, controlled, and attacked.

I'm a fan of the guy running for President in the Philippines from Davos City. He promises the citizens a medal and rewards for bringing him dead drug dealers. That's the way to do business: Deputize the entire population.

Considering that tobacco and alcohol, neither of which have any medical use, are legal than there is no logical reason why ANYTHING ELSE could be illegal. Marijuana DOES have proved medical use - and if everything I hear on the Internet is true, we do not even know HALF of these uses - and some like ecstasy might help people with Parkinson Disease stop their tremors.

Of course, I am NOT advocating a free-for-all approach. Like alcohol and tobacco it should be limited to the adult population AND there should be education programs about their dangers. Also it should NOT be used as a cash cow; it will just encourage a black market to avoid the taxes as is seemingly happening in Colorado.

Well, I already posted in a thread that was very similar to this one, but I'm going to post here anyways. I'm going to try to express some different points of view so as not to repeat myself and have the potential for two conversations going on at once in two different threads that are the exact same conversation, in effect.

Now, marijuana, in my opinion, should be use for medical purposes only. Honestly, since cigarettes are a thing, I wouldn't object to a small, very trace amount of cannabis being in cigarettes. Not enough to get you high, but any exposure cane reduce your risk of cancer, apparently. Otherwise though, marijuana, while being a 'soft' drug, shouldn't be legal what so ever. It still has stronger effects than anything like tobacco or alcohol, and shouldn't be legal for open use in public places, because it's all to easy to simply get high and forget about the world. 

While an argument can be made that it's no worse than alcohol, it is. Its only true medical benefit is preventing cancer.

As for the other drugs, no way in hell. Some of the stuff on the market is absolutely abhorrent.

As if making substances taboo didn't make the subject mysterious amd exploitable.
Lots of young or inexperienced folks can get mislead and end up taking stuff that'll ruin them, all because companies and  rich white guys didn't like that people were getting affordable and easy medication from marijuana, which was closely tied with black communities/culture.

So leaving the youth without a culture to learn from, we've had all this creepy undermarket sell laced trash or toxic addictive chemicals that'll shut organs down or worse.

Also, since marijuana was easy to grow, it was an actual affordable way for poor people to get non-harmful medication and pain relief. Even now, drug companies do not have anything as effective.

The sooner it's legalized the sooner a lot of people in pain or suffering can access non destructive medication.

I do not think it should be legalized,even though by legalizing it,you would save on policing and prison space. It is still a drug,it still harms you and even though studies have shown it may have medicinal effects,many would misuse it like anything else.

As Ghostbear pointed out,I think the reason the war on drugs is a failure is because partly the cartels are like roaches,stomp one,10 more take its place and partly because we have not figured out a viable way to tax it like cigarettes,alcohol,or prescription drugs.

I would be in favor of HEAVILY regulating it and that growers and dispensaries are held to very stringent standards and that no one can access it without prior authorization and at least 2 forms of ID. Now I come from the 'Just Say No' generation and I think we all know how that worked out. Many try drugs to escape from their problems or to be accepted. If people actually had a bit of pride and backbone we would not have these issues. The problem is we have a ton of people that want the easy way or the fast way or the cheap way and all of those do not work.

Education is the answer as well as pounding a little fight into kids,giving them a backbone,and courage. All it takes is one time to do something stupid that you cannot undo.

Oldschool777 : Your post is an great example of how uninformed people can be on the subject, even at your age.

No idea where you get the "marijuana is still a drug" thing when it's /the/ classic natural remedy, unlike the other goverment sanctioned stuff sold at hundreds of dollars.
Cartels/mafia would make money no matter what so long as there are poor communties that cannot defend themselves.

If it's legal, then control of chemicals and the subject wouldn't be in criminals hands or shrouded by misinformation like what you just posted, kids might stand a chance.

Go smoke your bong.

Why are you even here if you're not interested in having a debate?
I don't smoke or drink. There's people who needed this kind of pain-relief in their life but were denied because of misinformation on marijauna. The more people are better informed, the less will suffer.

Well for starters I don't consider marijuana a "drug" since drug's are manufactured, chemically altered and man made, where as marijuana is a plant that natural grows from the earth and produces natural neuro toxins upon smoking it that get you " high". With that said marijuana is harmless in my opinion as long as nobody put any unnatural chemicals in it or mixed(laced) it with other drugs(especially when it's being broken down and stored etc.)  as far as legality goes I feel as though it should be made legal but just like all other tobacco products have restrictions and regulations on it and 18+ for age restriction but honestly marijuana can't be regulated and its more counter productive to regulate since the government can't make money off of it (but that's another story) but first they should just legalize it and quit calling it a "drug" since by definition it isn't.

As far as other (real)drugs go, cocaine, meth, heroin, LSD, Acid etc. those DRUGS should stay illegal, those are real drugs, man made and manufactured and can seriously harm your brain and nervous system and continued use will lead to DEATH.(by the way LSD and Acid were made by the government)

I'd say yes.

It's one of the few drugs I think should be legalised, and in my country it actually is.

If alcohol is legal then why not marijuana? Alcohol destroys many more lives than marijuana. I wouldn't say its harmless to yourself but it won't make you hurt someone else most of the time so I say yes legalise it.

Drugs being illegal has only brought more danger to the drugs.

The war against drugs not only publicized drugs but brought more violence into the purchase of drugs.

If all drugs were legal, violent crime would go down and because of the loss of danger, the amount of overdoses would go down.

Alcohol has been noted to be as dangerous as heroin, yet its still legal, while drugs like MDMA. marijuana, and LSD have been noted to be the least harmful.

There's so many people that say "With drugs, you never know what you're going to get" because of the illegality. There's so much improper handling of these substances. Even with alcohol, when there was prohibition against alcohol, there was always the worry of the potential dangers of moonshine.

If drugs were legal, they'd be handled by actual professionals instead of gang members. They'd not only be safer, but they'd be a lot less interesting to the general public. The UN recently stated that countries should decriminalize all drugs in order to combat crime and drug abuse for these very reasons.

I am in full support of the legalization of marijuana as a personal user, and also the decriminalization of all drugs. More on marijuana though, I'd tout it as the safest alternative to alcohol, and it warms my heart to see that almost half of every major country's populations agree with that. No poisoning, no loss of control, and it's a lot safer in general.

Divine Aurora : LSD (which is the same thing as acid) was created by a scientist named Albert Hoffman in the 30s who was trying to create a pharmaceutical alternative. He had no use for it until one day he tried to ingest a tiny amount and decided to use his bicycle home. This is now a holiday called Bicycle Day. It wasn't used by government until the 70s as an exploration in mind control. It's fascinating and horrifying stuff. The drug has been credited with the creation of many post-1965 Beatles songs, the DNA strand pattern, and Steve Job's invention of the iPhone.

I live in a state where there is a pot shop every block and it has ruined the prices of rent which have skyrocketed because every pot head in america came here to buy their drugs. Plus, I don't like the smell of skunk arse. When you live in an area with potheads you will smell the skunk nearby. Despite that, it's better then drunks. I think it is liquor that should be outlawed.

Yeah, why not?

Those opposed will be affected and say "I told you so." Those for will be like "legalize drugs" when a grandparent runs over their grandson or granddaughter while trying to go to the grocery store.

I think you're using the wrong term as things like different forms of tobacco and alcohol are both legal drugs and technically anything with an addictive quality that you ingest can be considered a drug. So many drugs are already legal.

That said I think marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed by the government. Pretty much every scientific investigation has shown that it isn't really any more dangerous than regular smoking and in some cases can even be medicinal. It being the first gateway drug for most people is false as that title goes to alcohol which also ends up causing the deaths of way more people. The way I see things it should either be made legal or we should outlaw alcohol, tobacco and pretty much every other harmful drug, anything else would be a double standard. If it's being sold and regulated by the government it could also act as another source of income and actually be benefitial to society (they do that with alcohol here in Sweden).

However It should of course come with restrictions just like alcohol consumption meaning that you shouldn't be allowed to drive while under the influence. It should only be allowed for consumption in the privacy of your own home or in special designated areas. I don't see social concerns as a reason to not make it legal as in some parts of the world it already is, and it hasn't had any major consequences like a spike in the amount of traffic accidents or anything of the sort.

alexanyways : The overdose amount would probably go up or stay the same considering it being legal or not doesn't really have an effect of personal consumption and tolerance(some people need to take alot more of a particular drug in order to get high). But still LSD and Meth, and cocaine(crack), PCP, Acid are still way to extreme of a drug to legalize.

As far as drugs being handled by professionals  vs gang leaders, it really doesn't matter the end results are still the same given the side affects of the drugs, the only difference is you might not get a sample of weed laced with cocaine because they didn't break down the weed using the same slicer they used to break down cocaine or the coca leafs.   

Now you've brought up the creative bursts attributed to the use of LSD using examples of song writers and ideas(which really aren't provable unless they admitted to using the substance  which I don't think they have), but neglected to bring up the fact that people on LSD experience extreme and sometimes violent hallucinations and usually end up being schizophrenic very rarely do they invent something of use, but due to these hallucinations they do tend to either kill themselves while high in their hallucination (for example on 1000 ways to die a guy took LSD and jumped into a swimming pool (that wasn't filled with water and in the middle of winter)

But anyways I feel as though drugs are illegal for a reason, because for one, drugs affect different people differently which makes it very unpredictable to what they might do while on that said drug (ever had that one friend that's always "tripping" when they smoke weed? wounder what he'd be like on something much stronger) for two it would be pointless to put a tax on and regulate drugs when I could get it much cheaper and in a larger quality and quantity from the guy on the corner (there's no room for government to make money taxing it and its too far out of control to regulate especially since the drugs don't come from the united states)  and three legalizing drugs would only further damage society which I shouldn't have to go to far into detail on this point (but then again i don't know maybe the government will legalize all the hardcore drugs to kill off the "undesirables"  drug users) and four drugs are illegal because the government is looking after your general public safety and health ( But by all means get high on PCP since it's legal now and don't go and call the police when the guy on PCP is on a rampage shrugging off bullets like the hulk and tearing through the street like an ape off of  planet of the apes)