First off, if drugs are legalized, there need to be two categories: marijuana and hard drugs. I say this because because marijuana isn't nearly as dangerous as hard drugs, and it's not physically addictive. It can be habit-forming, but everything can potentially be. Now, it's not so simple as setting a price of 25 cents per dose. You have to figure manufacturing costs, which include supplies, employee salaries, upkeep of any machinery, etc. There also has to be a way to either prevent people from getting addicted easily, or a way for them to dig themselves out if they do become addicted. It would be much like the stop-smoking support groups out there, or AA. You would also want to tax the drugs in order to pay for such programs. You can't increase the national defecit to help people who lost control of themselves. After all, it's just as much their fault as it is the drug's. There is also the issue of the impact on the society as a whole. You don't want somebody experimenting with heroin on the roads, patrolling the streets, pregnant at the time, etc. There has to be ways to keep people from doing that, or at least to cut down on it and deal with those who won't listen.

Now, there are also benefits to legalizing drugs. First off, organized crime will drop tremendously. After all, the main purpose of their existence would be gone. This is also related to another problem with drug prohibition. Most people who overdose do it accidently. They're used to a certain dosage, and as you know, most of it is cut with an alternate substance. What happens is that they accidently get a hold of some that's not cut, and boom. Overdose. They may also get some that's been cut with a highly toxic filler, and get poisoned by that, instead. If drugs are legalized, the resulting regulation would theoretically cut down on overdose cases. There will always be those who use it as a method of suicide, but they don't really count, because suicide is suicide. It doesn't matter how you do it.

As far as pot goes, it doesn't need much regulation except for purity, keeping people off the roads and such while high, and keeping pregnant people off of it. There would need to be warnings as to the side effects as well, but that's true with any drug. Pot has medical uses as well, that would be beneficial to those who suffer from illnesses such as cancer and glaucoma. I won't get into the details, about that, though. Most people know that already. It also has mental benefits. People who have mood problems can benefit from a buzz. For example, the school system is especially hard on me. They cram crap down my throat that I want nothing to do with, rape me out of every opportunity I have ever had to get away and learn some more beneficial things, and get all pissy when I get mad at them. My peers can be even worse. It's a living hell for me. Needless to say, that's very frustrating, and often I have wanted to kill myself or others because of it. On an average of every two or three weeks, I have a little. It really helps me cope a lot. People with anger problems would benefit from it, as it would help them control themselves while they get help. It certainly wouldn't be a solution, though.

There are also disadvantages to legalizing drugs. For example, most hard drugs are highly addictive. It's the whole cigarette debate all over again. Also, heroin addicts don't respond to most pain killers. That can be a great burden for medical professionals. There will also be some people at first who think of at as an excuse to go wild, and they'll end up killing themselves or others. That would go way down before too long, but it needs to be factored in.


Considering everything, I think that legalizing drugs (with some restrictions) would be a good move in the long run.