Legalisation of drugs – how?

As a liberatarian I’m all for the legalisation of drugs.

Its been shown time and time again that the war against drugs hasn’t worked. It costs a lot in police time in catching the drug addicts and dealer. It costs a lot to keep the drug addicts and dealers in prison. It costs a lot in insurance premiums to cover the burgalries and other crimes commited by the drug addicts desperate to feed their habit. It costs a lot for the families of the drugs addicts who have to cope with their family member’s habit.

The best thing would be to legalise recreational drugs. Recreational drugs could then be taxes like alcohol and tabacco. The quality of drugs could then be ensured just like alcohol has to have it’s strength displayed on the label. The age of the person buying it could also be checked. It could even be argued that users would have to register first and this would need a ID card type system. This would require an army of bureaucrats to manage which the state would love as they like to increase red tape. There would also be measures to ensure people didn’t go too far with their use of drugs. Just like there is with alcoholics. This is because drugs effect people in different ways. Some can take or leave it others go into a desperate cycle of despair. Just like alcohol makes some people talkative, others angry, others sleepy.

Now with all these benefits to having drugs legalised comes the question. How would it be legalised. The problem is the source of drugs. This is through criminals. I don’t mean criminals because they are drug dealers. I mean criminals who commit loads of other crimes and who use drugs as means to launder money, to make money to further their criminal careers, etc. Legalising it would effectively make these criminals legal and the public wouldn’t buy this one bit.

So then the legalisation of drugs would require a lead time to allow pharmaceutical companies to start making the drugs. And to stock pile them too. And there would have to be measures to ensure that no criminals got involved at this stage.

Then there is the issue of selling them. The public would not be keen on them being sold like cigarattes. Especially with cigarattes now being worse than crack cocaine in terms of the stigma associated with them. Look at all the people who are forced to stand outside to enjoy a legal drug. So no drugs sold through Tescos. Nor the corner shop. Because of the association with the criminal underworld places that sold drugs would need a lot of security. They would also not be in quiet residental streets. So it looks like such places will be in industrial areas or run down areas where the the local people aren’t so bothered about the clientel that visit the shops. Eventually they might be drugs shops in normal areas, but this is when the law is first changed and the public not so keen on the idea.

I realise that Portugal has legalised them. But it has only legalised the possesion of drugs. Rather than being sent to prison, drug users in possession of small amounts caught by the police (see they can still be arrested) go before a panel and encouraged to take therapy. It hasn’t solved the problem of drugs being sold by the criminal underworld. Nor have they fully legalised them and started to tax drugs. What they have done is ensure that needles aren’t shared and that drugs addicts don’t go underground. Basically instead of spending money on enforcement they are spending it on treatment instead.