# Should we end the drug war? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 3, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013 "2016-07-03T18:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/41 "2016-07-05T18:02:03Z")
Legalize them all. But don’t leave them in the government’s hands. Let the free market compete to bring the safest, best priced, most amusingly marketed drugs to our groceries and quicky-marts. Our booze supply is safe, cheap, and successful. No reason heroin and meth can’t be handled the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/42 "2016-07-05T18:13:07Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > [Portugal has been showing the way for over ten years.](http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/drug-decriminalization-portugal-lessons-creating-fair-successful-drug-policies) They decriminalized all drugs: marijuana, cocaine, morphine, you name it. Addicts that are brought to the authorities’ attention go to treatment programs, not to prison. The country has saved large amounts of money, hard drug usage is down, and there’s been no increase in crime or “drug tourism”. This thread/poll makes it sound like the only alternative to the drug was is legalization. It bears repeating that decriminalization is not the same thing as legalization. From **ITR** ’s link: > [@](#): > > Under the new legal framework, all drugs were “decriminalized,” not “legalized.” Thus, drug possession for personal use and drug usage itself are still legally prohibited, but violations of those prohibitions are deemed to be exclusively administrative violations and are removed completely from the criminal realm. Drug trafficking continues to be prosecuted as a criminal offense. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/43 "2016-07-05T21:17:04Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > The problem is that the human brain is not fully developed until around age 25. Specifically they lack the ability to make long term consequences. So although they might see a generation die from drugs it wouldn’t necessarily stop the next group. After all most teens already know druggies, alcoholics, and smokers in high school. You wouldn’t leave a table full of loaded guns near a group of 7 year olds would you and we wouldn’t blame the 7 year olds either even if you explained the danger to them. They haven’t buried enough of their friends yet. We are keeping alive too many of the ones who don’t learn. That teaches the wrong lesson to the ones who do pay attention. The school of hard knocks is an excellent teacher. One object lesson is worth a thousand parental lectures. We hand people the right to vote at age 18. That carries the implicit assumption that one is capable of evaluating consequences, and making rational choices. That may be an invalid assumption, but it is one that our culture has embraced. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/44 "2016-07-05T21:26:53Z")
I went with ‘only some drugs’ because I don’t think removing all regulation is a good idea. Decriminalize personal use and possession of all drugs, no outright prohibitions, but stop the stupid useless drug war. We already lost, drugs won, and we’re paying a steep price for it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/45 "2016-07-05T21:49:10Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > As a theft victim by a scuzball that was looking for money for his next fix, I say no. Property crimes are on the rise in my state, most of the blame is based on the legalization of marijuana. Roving bands of pot-crazed marauders desperately chasing the green dragon, terrorizing the locals in their Cheech & Chong van tricked out with tire spikes and flamethrowers? ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/46 "2016-07-05T23:34:56Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Right, and gay people are just choosing a sinful lifestyle, and transgender people are just wearing Halloween costumes. This comparison is so fucked up I don’t even know where to start. No one in the history of mankind has ever been born a drug addict. Using drugs requires a conscious and deliberate choice on their part. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/47 "2016-07-06T00:14:14Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > No one in the history of mankind has ever been born a drug addict. Using drugs requires a conscious and deliberate choice on their part. That is simply not true. Babies are born as drug or alcohol addicts every single day because of choices their mothers made while they were in utero. It is not good to be born and immediately have to be detoxed but that is exactly what happens to many newborns with drug or alcohol dependent mothers. Some of those effects are severe and irreversible in cases like fetal alcohol syndrome and induce permanent brain changes that predispose the child to later become dependent as well. Have you really never heard of such things or are you just blinded by an ignorant ideology? > **[Prenatal exposure to drugs: effects on brain development and implications for...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2777887/)** > > The effects of prenatal exposure to drugs on brain development are complex and are modulated by the timing, dose, and route of drug exposure. It is difficult to assess these effects in clinical cohorts, which are beset with multiple exposures and... ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/48 "2016-07-06T00:20:48Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That is simply not true. Babies are born as drug or alcohol addicts every single day because of choices their mothers made while they were in utero. It is not good to be born and immediately have to be detoxed but that is exactly what happens to many newborns with drug or alcohol dependent mothers. Some of those effects are severe and irreversible in cases like fetal alcohol syndrome and induce permanent brain changes that predispose the child to later become dependent as well. > > Have you really never heard of such things or are you just blinded by an ignorant ideology? > > [Prenatal exposure to drugs: effects on brain development and implications for policy and education - PMC](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2777887/) But that does not change the fact that the person was _made_ a drug addict _as a result of human agency_. It did not happen in a vacuum and it is in no way comparable to being born gay. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/49 "2016-07-06T00:36:27Z")
For the war to be over someone has to win … Who’s winning the war on drugs? I’m straight now, but back in the 80’s I had to have my pills and my razor blade and my straw and my joint for a movie. I think the bad guys are winning, but the law is on the good guys side so a few get caught, the greedy, the careless, the dumb, the dealers that use, the users that steal. It’s a no win situation … we need to change society not the laws. Perfecting our society … that would be a good platform to run for office on. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/50 "2016-07-06T00:49:57Z")
> [@](#): > > No one in the history of mankind has ever been born a drug addict. Using drugs requires a conscious and deliberate choice on their part. actually, there’s a lot of evidence that at least some forms of addiction are genetic, so yes, people are born drug addicts. The very definition of “addict” means it’s out of the person’s control, so saying they are making deliberate decisions is incorrect. If they could make decisions about it, they wouldn’t be addicts. Until people discard the “oh they are just immoral/weak/shitheads” attitude, we won’t make any progress on figuring out how best to help these people. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/51 "2016-07-06T04:41:31Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Roving bands of pot-crazed marauders desperately chasing the green dragon, terrorizing the locals in their Cheech & Chong van tricked out with tire spikes and flamethrowers? Orange hands and faces smeared with Cheetos dust. Soulless eyes staring out through the bottom of their Mountain Dew bottle. I have seen these people. Throw a few Twinkies at them and that will buy you just enough time to get away. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/52 "2016-07-06T05:51:59Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > actually, there’s a lot of evidence that at least some forms of addiction are genetic, so yes, people are born drug addicts. And how valid is that evidence? There are [no real control studies](http://www.brucekalexander.com/articles-speeches/rat-park/148-addiction-the-view-from-rat-park) to establish that addiction is genuinely inherent in individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013/53 "2016-07-06T09:31:19Z")
Two things would make sense to me: Either 1) you legalize all drugs. Or 2) you legalize only those drugs that have been found to have both a low risk of addiction, and a low risk of serious harm (to the user and the user’s surroundings alike), and criminalize the rest. Of course, the second option would lead to [the criminalization of alcohol](http://i.imgur.com/F4kCrEq.png), which would… Well… Feel _odd_. Plus our American friends already tried that and the results were, shall we say, rather so-and-so. So I don’t know. But of course in both cases - case 1 or case 2 - you would at least legalize the least dangerous stuff, such as khat, psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-end-the-drug-war/759013.md?page=2)