Drugs are bad, mkay?

Drug use misguides people to a life focused away from what is truly beneficial to them. Drugs make someone feel good. Most relevant to this political discussion, drug use doesn't make citizens better citizens. Drug use focuses one on the self and on pleasure. From a political perspective, people can't be focused on themselves or pleasure; we must be focused on others for government to be properly ordered.

Being an active addict for 8 years, and having been sober for nearly a year, this is my perspective on things.

If someone is going to do drugs, the legality of it makes zero difference. People put a direct relationship with use and legality, when it hardly makes any difference in the amount of people who use them. People who don't do drugs don't avoid them because it's illegal, they avoid it because it's bad for them. The people who do use don't care / ignore the consequences of doing so.

Making drugs legal not only reduces the amount of non-violent offenders we have to spend tax dollars on arresting and jailing, but it takes away the "edginess" of using drugs to kids who have a natural tendency to rebel. Separating drugs themselves, and the people who are willing to do horrible things to get the drugs, would be time and money better spent.

I don't know where all this "there's no way to tax it" nonsense is coming from. It's already being done successfully in the US... Not only that, due to the recent spike in Marijuana growing facilities in recreational use states, the price of weed from a shop is actually cheaper in them than it is to buy it off the street (which hurts the cartels moving it). If we provide these kind of things cheap enough, there's no profit in it for the cartels.

It's nice to see users like alexanyways who have actually done some research on the subject before crying out "Drugs are evil! Outlaw them all!!"

I really hope you did not include me in the "done no research" group...

For the record, my objection has nothing to do with the consequences of the law. I believe the law should be made on principle. In principle, there is nothing drugs do to make citizens better. That's how laws should be constructed. Making them legal has many benefits, but it doesn't reinforce the principle of the thing. Drugs do not help people.

I think it defiantly should be legal to have marijuana. My grandmother had aggravated cancer the doctors said she wouldn't make it 6 months even with chemotherapy. When my mum and I went to visit mum bought a bunch of it because she knows it helps with pain. Using the marijuana my grandmother lasted 2 years before our car broke down and we couldn't get it to her because of that she ended up dieing.

"Should drugs be utilised and/or widely distributed? Why or why not?"
Let me just answer this straight away, I'll go into it after: Yes and No. 

Reasons for yes - all of these only account for CERTAIN drugs, not all, because there are some that are literally dangerous to human health:
1 - Marijuana should be legalised, it is a "background substance." You can smoke weed, and function normally. Obviously, it has side effects, it increases the symptoms of schizophrenia and depression - if those two mental illnesses are developing anyway. It also reduces your focusing abilities for a short period of time. Otherwise, it's fine, and it would also decrease prison incarceration statistics along with illegal substance use statistics.
2 - Some drugs have useful properties. Going back to marijuana, it slows the production of cancer cells. It doesn't cure cancer, that's a misconception widely perpetuated. Weed DOES NOT cure cancer, that's a myth. It slows down the cellular production rate, and can assist in the cure of cancer. That is a useful property, which is why the legalisation of marijuana can help cancer patients, and, potentially, give longer time for HIV/AIDS patients to live. Fun fact, if I might digress, during my cancer treatment back in 2014, I used marijuana. It numbed the pain I was in and stopped me throwing up. Marijuana helped me sleep on nights I wasn't in hospital, but it's illegal where I am, so I could be jailed for using something that helped me. 
3 - Some drugs increase your movement speed - I remember researching a drug that makes you energetic, and thus increase productivity. This of course is a useful property and could link into point number two.
4- if drugs became legal, you could make a/many legal business(es) out of it, which would put a stimulus in the economy and raise economic growth and power of the currency. 

Reasons for no - all of these only account for CERTAIN drugs, not all. 
1 - Most drugs can kill you or assist in your death. Heroin, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, many more, can and will lead to your death. Overdosing is possible on EVERY drug legal and illegal, but there are illegal drugs that can kill you just for using it once and in moderation. In focus of your own health, no, some drugs should NOT be legalised, whereas I have no problem with others.
2 - As with all drugs, they have side effects. Some good, some bad, some that haven't been discovered. If, for obvious reasons, these drugs were experimented on and proves to be better than worse, then we could think about legalising them.
3 - If drugs became legal, children and those who aren't aware of right and wrong/good and bad .eg. those with mental impairments, may acquire them accidentally and endanger themselves. Risk of death in infants is a reason alone to say no. 

But, overall, I say... Depending on the drug, legalise it. Marijuana - yes, definitely, legalise it. 
The more dangerous ones or unknown effect ones - no, research it a bit more/just flat out no.

I would say no. The ONLY reason it is even up for debate is mainly for taxes,jobs,and how we are softening as a society. Now,I understand that certain extracts from the plant can be useful in treating seizures and for pain relief. That I have no issue with. I am just saying that if we do this,what is next,huh? Legalize heroin? Legalize crack?

Reasons for a YES vote:
1. It creates jobs and generates revenue.
2. It would force a debate on how to classify marijuana and its "accepted" uses. (Right now,it is a Schedule I drug.)
3. Some extracts of the plant can be beneficial if administered correctly and not misused.

Reason for a NO vote:
1. It is basically telling kids that marijuana is okay,it is not as bad as we thought it was.
2. More studies are required to attest to the safety and effectiveness of marijuana over other drugs for certain conditions.
3. It opens the door for more people to become stereotypical slackers and use of marijuana would lower their worth to the workforce and society.

Now,ANYTHING can be misused and be harmful. But you would have to ingest an ungodly amount of mouthwash to get drunk,drink way too many energy drinks to get your heart racing,or eat a staggering amount of deep fried Twinkies to do damage to your body. Marijuana would require far less exposure.

But I would call for more studies on marijuana and people. I am sure there will be a lot of volunteers for those studies.

I think Marijuana should be legal as it has many benefits to us all on matters even outside of the medical field. It could be controlled and taxed. Other drugs should not be because the actual effects of using them are visible and real. 

I don't think of Marijuana as a gateway drug - in that case weapons would be a gateway murderer- you control your decisions and decide what drugs you choose to do- it's your body, face the consequences, seek help if you so desire and you will find such help.

Another argument is that marijuana would be more accessible to kids- if you believe that then, you don't really know how accessible it is now labeled as a taboo. I've seeing kids as early as 11 years old smoking and kids 7 years old making out on the street- marijuana did not influence any of those. Lack of education, discipline, role model did. 

I think we need to take the good of any situation specially medicinal and economy wise and give it a go. Anything done outside of the law should continue to be punishable but, to ban a natural medicine that could very well replace Hydrocodone and many many chemically made "regulated" medications that have long term effect on the body much which are more harmful long term. I'd love for it to be legal; my mother would finally be able to kick her medicines to the curb and not be a zombie for once.

Marijuana should be made legal.

My main rationale for this is thus:

1) It's going to be around, whether it is legal or not.
2) It kills less people than alcohol, a legal substance.
3) It is a billion dollar industry.

Mainly, the same reasons for why I believe prostitution should be legal.

There will always be bad sides to everything. There are people who go out an overdose on painkillers (something inherently useful) and die. Marijuana should not be villainized because some people are too stupid to know how it works and what it actually changes in someone's head.