I don't want to hog this thread but I will just add one more post.

Vanilla when you say "It's an excellent point about alcohol and tobacco, but do remember that legalising heroin doesn't mean making it available for sale. It generally means giving it to addicts in controlled programs."

That is my point which I made in my first post on this topic. If it is given to addicts in controlled programs (which has merit but is not legalising it) how will this halt the criminal aspects of the drug trade or deter new users (potential addicts) in a continuous spiral of addiction. Methadone is already provided to those who are in programs at present as part of the rehabilitation process along with other supports and counselling (I agree that this could be extended and improved upon).

I know full well that no-one aspires to be a drug addict and it is amazing when you think how many people still turn to drugs despite all the education and information available. This just proves there is more to it than just being informed. This is what I meant by the WHY.

As I said earlier, I know this issue is complex and I have often oscillated and waivered on some of what I have stated above but I keep coming back to the the view that the arguments against legalising are stronger than those which support it - and I am aware that some of the arguments for decriminalisation (not legalising) have some merit.

Thank you to all the posters: vanilla, pelican, individual, celivia, yvonne, Col Rouge (for multiple postings) and Mr.Right, BOAZ_David, Wobbles, Sylvian Else, ThurnRightThenLEft, CJ Morgan...

I have appreciated reading all the postings, and it has certainly provided me with more research threads.

What to do?

Nothing will change as far as I can see: no political will, no socitey will, too much pressure from big time criminals/business, and the current legal system is not changing the situation.

How do those who beleive in a new approach get the ground swell needed? Hmmm, any suggestions?

Pelican,

Sorry, I probably shot my mouth off without reading all the posts properly. It is a very complex issue and I oscillate and waver also — but generally come down just over the fence from you. As may be obvious, I have had my own joys and my own addiction problems with drugs, and I guess I look at my life and my friends' lives and judge things that way. I certainly believe that one major failing in all those full-on ice ads and scare-mongering school programs is that they fail to admit that, while addiction can be horrible, taking drugs is usually heaps of fun. It is a rite of passage in adolescence that many people experience and then remember with affection. Kids aren't stupid — people aren't stupid — and they know when governments are scraping all the gild OFF the lily in order to make drugs seem particularly unpalatable. I think honesty, as always, is a better choice.

On the other hand, there are those people who really do turn to drugs to soothe an otherwise horrible existence. Drugs, particularly heroin, are very soothing. What proportion of victims of childhood sexual abuse, I wonder, end up addicts? I think we could cure a lot of addiction simply by forgetting about drug addictions — which are often an effect rather than a cause — and trying to make people's lives less sh!t in general. More family support services in local councils, for example.

I agree that there's little difference between a heroin program and a methodone program.

Very tricky.

Vanilla,
I read a study (in Dutch) where they did controlled trials on heroin addicts in the Netherlands to find out which of the 2 programs gave better results- heroin or methadone. They found that a combination of methadone and heroin was more effective and safer than treatment with methadone alone.
If these studies are valid, then I think that heroin should be part of any rehab program.
Some addicts don’t respond well to the methadone program and for those people heroin should be available as an alternative.
It’s harder for most to undergo the methadone program than the heroin program because methadone has a different effect and relapse after treatment is more common in people who were treated with methadone alone than in people who were treated with heroin or a combination of heroin and methadone.

I agree with what you said about honesty.
I was lucky to have had quite an open-minded drug Ed teacher at High School. Not only did he let us experience with some different types of soft drugs (Marijuana, Lebanon, space cakes etc) and talk and write about the effects (mostly pleasant but not always) but also took us on excursions to the rehab center where we talked with addicts.
It was all very down-to-earth and believe me, that teacher had the best attendance, even parents begged him if for a parent-teacher night on drugs : )

That's what we need- educating the kids as well as their parents!

The police forces are making a lot of money off scaring the public about drugs. Rather than running in circles and getting paid nice salaries, the money could be transferred out of the hands of the police and the drug traffickers and back into the hands of the public. There are people who are not adversely affected by certain drugs because their systems can handle it (it's always a minority of fools or susceptible people who ruin it for other law-abiding citizens).. However there are issues to resolve before this could be acted upon, such as quick and reliable testing for drugs in a person's system and multipliers for criminal offences that involve violence while under such influences (although these are most likely already in place..).

And this isn't even mentioning the health, scientific and industrial developments that may arise or already exist from studying or farming the natural plants of these drugs.