What is the drug legalization debate?
Advocates of legalization argue that the Nation’s war on drugs has failed and that making drugs legal would erase the enormous profit motive for trafficking and thus diminish crime and violence. The Nation’s resources would then be free for drug education, treatment, and rehabilitation.
What does legalizing a drug mean?
The term legalization refers to the removal of all drug-related offences from criminal law: use, possession, cultivation, production, trading, etc.
How does legalization of drugs affect the use of drugs?
In fact, by reducing the legal and other pressures that reject illegal drug use, these “reforms” all will increase the use of illegal drugs and with this increase will come the harms caused by it. Moreover, legal drugs, i.e., alcohol and nicotine, provide poor models for legalization.
Is it time for a debate on drug legalization?
But each time the issue of legalization arises, the same arguments for and against are dusted off and trotted out, leaving us with no clearer understanding of what it might entail and what the effect might be. As will become clear, drug legalization is not a public policy option that lends itself to simplistic or superficial debate.
Are there any arguments for legalising drugs in the UK?
Here are some more arguments for legalising drugs in the UK and beyond: In 2014 a number of high-profile people, including Sir Richard Branson, Sting and Michael Mansfield QC, signed a letter asking the Government to consider decriminalising cannabis. Decriminalisation is not the same as legalisation but is a major step in that direction.
Why was marijuana legalized in the United States?
Marijuana Legalization. Legalizing marijuana ensures that the percent of Americans using this drug will rise to the levels seen by these two legal drugs. Worse yet, it is important to note that over 54% of Americans who suffer from a substance use disorder for drugs other than alcohol have a marijuana use disorder.