It really is time to legalize drugs, yes, all of them

[Union Scribe]

13. While I agree in theory, I disagree with some of your reasoning.

First, by legalizing drugs you will get rid of the secondary crime wave that is sweeping our country due to the black market drug trade. People wouldn't be murdered, robbed, shot, all by addicts looking to get money, protect their trade, etc.

Drugs will still cost money. People will still steal money, sometimes violently. Hell, people hurt each other to get legal products all the time. And who is to say that when corporations start controlling drugs, that there wouldn't still be a black market, with cartels and home-brewers of meth and similar drugs competing with corporate prices? You might be thinking, "well the corporate drugs will be controlled, they will be safer," but as you state, people will go to great lengths to do drugs and their safety may not always be a top priority.

I also don't know about your fifth point.

Fifth, you would actually lower the amount of drugs used. As it is now with drugs being illegal, there is an immense amount of glamor and appeal to do drugs, especially for young people who are all about the whole rebel image associated with drugs. Take away that rebel image, make them normalized like alcohol, and drug use goes down.

We've normalized alcohol, and kids still drink. I don't know if it's about a rebel factor or, again, that desire to alter consciousness you talked about. Drug use may go down, I'm not up to speed on studies in other countries, but I'm not sure it'll be for this reason.

Don't get me wrong, the drug war is a waste of money and time and locking people up for using drugs is insane, but legalizing them isn't going to make all the problems associated with them go away.