Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 - Impact Assesment. Petition (30,000 signatures already)

[AgnesIO]

There is a huge difference between a substance whose main purpose is for individual gratification on a temporary basis and an item whose only purpose is bringing death. Likewise there is a huge difference between drug users and drug abusers, which people somehow don't seem to realise

You missed my point. I was merely stating that just because something might make more in taxes, doesn't make it a wonderful idea.

[Stephen]

Petition won't do anything

doubt any of the big guys will want to risk a such a huge blow to their reputation

The government will continue to ban stuff and spout lies just to show the brainwashed public that they're attempting to do something. They don't even listen to their own advisory council and look at david nutt who got sacked for speaking his mind the truth

[Firehorse]

So the government should only care about profits and not the well being of people?

And it's not just the NHS cost that will go up. What about the drugged up people that vandalise buildings? Crash cars and damage roads? And if drugs do become regulated, who is going to do that for free? There's a lot more to think about than simply NHS costs.

And do you have any source for thinking that the amount of drug users will only go up by 5%?

I think if you look at numbers of how many people use drugs and compare it to how many people drink alcohol (and perhaps how many people have been a regular smoker), the numbers are vastly difference, more than 5%.

The whole point of legalisation is that it cares for the well being of people, it means that drugs would be regulated the same way other pharmaceuticals are, meaning people would know what they are consuming. Cannabis alone is not dangerous, over consumption/dosing and contaminants are what make it dangerous, exactly the same as legal pharmaceuticals.
Cocaine is very often mixed with washing powder in order to increase the dealer's profits, so people are currently consuming all kinds of poison without knowing.
The spraying of cannabis with micro-granules of glass to increase the weight of the product, and thus the profit to the dealer, has become more common; inhaling hot glass residue is certainly not healthy. If anything causes damage to someone, either physically or mentally, it's more likely to be the glass vapour than the cannabis.

The legalisation of cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine would reduce the number of people turning to "legal highs" which have inconsistent effects and can be exceedingly dangerous as they are majorly undocumented.

The drugged up people that vandalise buildings, crash cars and commit other such crimes already exist. Making a drug legal will not change the type of people we have in society. In the same way alcohol is regulated, restrictions are already in place on what a person can do when intoxicated.

If somebody wants to get high, they get their stuff from a dealer and get high; whether it's legal or not doesn't make a difference to who chooses to get high, it's just the difference between a drug dealer making the profit or law-abiding society making the profit.

Alcohol was never outlawed in the UK, and during the prohibition in the USA alcohol was still consumed at similar levels after the first couple of years which is reason to believe the impact for other drugs will be similar. Alcohol has always been more widely consumed, even when cannabis was legal it was not consumed as heavily as alcohol.
Just because it's legal doesn't mean it has to be advertised as healthy, same goes for cigarettes.

Also like I've said previously, the financial benefits to society would FAR outweigh the costs. A 2010 study from Cato estimated an annual boost of $8.7 billion USD to the American economy if cannabis was legalised, when scaling this to the size of the UK population in proportion to that of America it would mean a boost of 2.001 billion each year, then when you bring into consideration that America's equivalent of VAT is less than half our rate this would effectively double that estimate.

[Empired]

no, people are stupid and dont know their own limits

I actually totally agree with this. Plus by legalising drugs we are encouraging people who wouldn't otherwise have done drugs to try them.

[Mark]

The knock on effect wouldn't be a positive one so I won't be signing

[Stephen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkcO_wJ9yKo&t=12m25s

[Kardan]

The whole point of legalisation is that it cares for the well being of people, it means that drugs would be regulated the same way other pharmaceuticals are, meaning people would know what they are consuming. Cannabis alone is not dangerous, over consumption/dosing and contaminants are what make it dangerous, exactly the same as legal pharmaceuticals.
Cocaine is very often mixed with washing powder in order to increase the dealer's profits, so people are currently consuming all kinds of poison without knowing.
The spraying of cannabis with micro-granules of glass to increase the weight of the product, and thus the profit to the dealer, has become more common; inhaling hot glass residue is certainly not healthy. If anything causes damage to someone, either physically or mentally, it's more likely to be the glass vapour than the cannabis.

The legalisation of cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine would reduce the number of people turning to "legal highs" which have inconsistent effects and can be exceedingly dangerous as they are majorly undocumented.

The drugged up people that vandalise buildings, crash cars and commit other such crimes already exist. Making a drug legal will not change the type of people we have in society. In the same way alcohol is regulated, restrictions are already in place on what a person can do when intoxicated.

If somebody wants to get high, they get their stuff from a dealer and get high; whether it's legal or not doesn't make a difference to who chooses to get high, it's just the difference between a drug dealer making the profit or law-abiding society making the profit.

Alcohol was never outlawed in the UK, and during the prohibition in the USA alcohol was still consumed at similar levels after the first couple of years which is reason to believe the impact for other drugs will be similar. Alcohol has always been more widely consumed, even when cannabis was legal it was not consumed as heavily as alcohol.
Just because it's legal doesn't mean it has to be advertised as healthy, same goes for cigarettes.

Also like I've said previously, the financial benefits to society would FAR outweigh the costs. A 2010 study from Cato estimated an annual boost of $8.7 billion USD to the American economy if cannabis was legalised, when scaling this to the size of the UK population in proportion to that of America it would mean a boost of 2.001 billion each year, then when you bring into consideration that America's equivalent of VAT is less than half our rate this would effectively double that estimate.

You do raise some good points, so I'll be quick and just bring up a few things.

Making drugs legal won't entirely get rid of 'fake' products... People will still go and get cheaper cigarettes and not know what they're smoking... Likewise for drugs.

Technically if you legalised the drugs, more people would be using "legal highs" as cannabis etc would be classified as legal highs, would they not? Now, putting my pedantry aside, why would make drugs legal push people away from these current legal highs we have? Half say it will stop people from using other drugs, the other half say it's a gateway drug. Personally, I have no opinion on this since I'm pretty much clueless on the front.

Drugged up people do exist, but my point is that we are only allowing the numbers of these people to go up. Drink driving is more common than driving under the influence of illegal drugs. Why? Simply because more people drink.

I don't think comparing the US alcohol ban in the 1920's has much relevance in a drugs ban in the 21st century in the UK. Entirely difference scenarios.

Once again, the US and the UK are different. Whilst I agree it *could* make a profit, is it really worth it?

[CrazyColaist]

And how many would be worse off?

It's a bit like saying: "Make child sex legal, it will make thousands of lives better off..."

not really cause child sex isnt healthy & its immoral

whats so immoral about a plant?
what makes us so big to dictate what is nature and whats not.

[Kardan]

not really cause child sex isnt healthy & its immoral

whats so immoral about a plant?
what makes us so big to dictate what is nature and whats not.

Drugs aren't healthy either... And I consider drugs to be immoral, but surely morality is different for each person? I'm sure you'll say you don't find drugs immoral.

[CrazyColaist]

Drugs aren't healthy either... And I consider drugs to be immoral, but surely morality is different for each person? I'm sure you'll say you don't find drugs immoral.

You take drugs when you have hayfever and when you have a headache. why cant i take cannabis to help my depression? i think i woulda been dead by now cos i was so suicidal when i was a kid.