Anthonyve,
The percentage of useage will increase by legalizing it as has the use of alcohol.
Please answer my questions.
Do you supply illegal drugs?
Do you use illegal drugs?
What is your answer to free users off mind altering drugs?
Do you work in areas of deliverance?

Josephus/OUG sorry but in my honest view you both kill threads such as this.
I can play devils advocate but you two are way out there.
Except please, your personal biases are blinding you both.
RIP yet another thread of great interest and much more worth while than the feeble attempts to protect drug use.

Josephus,
No
No
I have absolutely no problem with people using mind altering drugs if they so choose. (I note in this question you use the phrase 'mind altering' and not 'illegal'.
No.
However, please note the following:
I have a brain and I use it;
I have access to reliable data.
I try to formulate positions based on examination of available data.
And finally, what I personally do and don't do has no bearing on the debate.
You can wriggle all you like, but until you back up your assertions with either:
a. A well thought out and argued POV; or
b. Data to support your argument,
then - to repeat my earlier point - you're just blowing hot air.
Why not try putting your emotional position to one side, look at available factual information and see where it leads you.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

Josephus, I will add a little more in reply to your last post as an example of what we discover when we look at the data.
In countries where the use of drugs has been decriminalised, the useage does NOT increase. nN fact we find it stays about the same.
What does happen is that many associated ills, e.g.
>Incidence of crime to get money for drugs falls;
> Aids infections, HepC infections, etc, reduce;
> Prostitution to support drug habits falls dramatically.
Moreover,if we look at data from the US Justice Department we find that The US has:
> More of its citizens in jail than any other country on earth;
> Varying from state to state we find that between two thirds and three quarters of inmates are in for drug related crime;
> Of those who are not users when they go to jail a high proportion are users when they leave, prison creates drug dependency.
Reputable authorities, (see recent speeches by the now retired police chief of Seattle WA), point out that if the money spent on incarceration of drug users was spent on preventing drug abuse, then drug usage would fall dramatically.
Once again, see where facts lead us.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

Anthonyve,
I'm not sure where you live but in NSW the Government is considering jailing parents who allow service of legal drugs to persons under 18. Why? Because the problem of youth drunkedness is out of controll and is costing the State revenue in police, medical and social services.

I suggest you tell the Government just to let it happen and we all put up with the cost.

Belly, "Josephus/OUG sorry but in my honest view you both kill threads such as this".
We can deal with sociall issues merely by talking about, or by facing real issues in society. I was for 9 years involved in developing a rehabilitation farm for addicts. The programme was sucessful in over 80% of addicted users including all substances.

Josephus,
I - and many other thinking people - are telling all levels of government pretty much that.
The message we are sending to governments is that we MUST decriminalise drug USE, because these people are not criminals they have an illness.
And after forty years of experience we now know conclusively that criminalising them makes the problem worse not better, and vastly exacerbates associated problems.
See data cited in my earlier posts.
I know that for many people it feels good to go ahead and punish these poor people, but as a civilised society we make progress by thinking not by just feeling.
And when you look at the date - and think about it - the conclusion is inescapable.
We have to do something different.
I think I've said all I have to say on this topic.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au