is there a reason why drugs are illegal?

[mammadon]

Is it only due to outmoded conservative morality?

[VincenzoG91]

Hard drug use has a ripple effect, causing problems for a lot more people than just the addict. Why should one a-hole have so much fun while everybody else is cleaning up his messes?

[mammadon]

Such is life. Freedom is man's nature.

I think drug use wouldn't be an issue, since it's its illegality that causes the problems.

[Lipp]

Such is life. Freedom is man's nature.

I think drug use wouldn't be an issue, since it's its illegality that causes the problems.

And here I thought we'd get at least a few more posts in before resorting to nonsensical one-liners to answer a complex issue.

Guess not. Oh well.

[asdfg789]

eureka !

[misombra]

Hard drug use has a ripple effect, causing problems for a lot more people than just the addict. Why should one a-hole have so much fun while everybody else is cleaning up his messes?

hard alcohol drinking causes a lot of problems too. lots of people die because drunk people hit them with their cars for example. but it's still legal.

also hard drugs are not the only drugs that are illegal. nobody in their right minds would consider marijuana a hard drug and yet it is illegal.

it being illegal is causing outright war on the u.s./mexico border right now.

[VincenzoG91]

The Mexican drug cartels aren't just killing people over the right to sell pot. They are also moving large quantities of heroin, meth and coke.

[Lipp]

it being illegal is causing outright war on the u.s./mexico border right now.

Felbab-Brown: In one outcome, cartels' market [for marijuana] would be threatened and so they would try to move into other illegal markets as they are doing already. The fight over the heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine markets would intensify and lead to even greater escalations of violence.

No need to assume that it's the only drug in the region.

[edit]Vince beat me to it :p

[misombra]

The Mexican drug cartels aren't just killing people over the right to sell pot. They are also moving large quantities of heroin, meth and coke.

if i were president i would make all those drugs legal too. also prostitution.

their being illegal has caused society far more problems than the people who are addicted to them.

[Charlie Boy II]

Alcohol and tobacco cause more damage than any other drug. I would suggest that is because they're legal and freely available.

[mammadon]

Shouldn't people be allowed to ingest what they like?

Fatty foods cause illness also. Should KFC be outlawed?

[misombra]

Alcohol and tobacco cause more damage than any other drug. I would suggest that is because they're legal and freely available.

actually there are drugs that cause more damage and/or right on par with alcohol and tobacco. some of them are the hard illegal drugs and some of them are legal prescription drugs.

alcohol is not causing a war on the u.s./ mexico border. i would suggest that it's because it's legal and easy to trade.

[VincenzoG91]

Many years ago, I was in an on-again/off-again relationship with a drug addict for years. Coke before I met her. Meth during our first year together. Later, it was heroin. Regardless of legality, drugs impaired her ability to hold a steady job, and from time to time, she stole from me, and other people. Legalizing those drugs wouldn't have helped anybody... her, me, her kids, the other people she stole from.

[mammadon]

And here I thought we'd get at least a few more posts in before resorting to nonsensical one-liners to answer a complex issue.

Guess not. Oh well.

The issue is that people should be allowed to take drugs, not simply because moralising denies people that right.

[qwertz]

hard alcohol drinking causes a lot of problems too. lots of people die because drunk people hit them with their cars for example. but it's still legal.

.

But it is illegal to drink and drive, same as it is illegal to drive under the influence of certain drugs (at least it is in this country).