If Drugs Were Legal
Evidence from Switzerland suggests that prescribing heroin can reduce crime and increase levels of employment among addicts. While still illegal in the UK, cannabis was downgraded to a category C drug in January 2004. Would drug legalisation really reduce crime overall, and would it make drug use any safer?
Based on rigorous research and interviews with experts, the programme hears the arguments for leaving the most dangerous drug of all - crack cocaine - illegal, and examines how a legal and regulated system of drugs would work.
It is 2015. In the film, an ex-drugs policeman investigates two girls' deaths. The government, persuaded by the vast economic cost of prohibition, has decided to legalise drugs. The UK, along with a coalition of progressive countries from Europe, Canada and Australia, has opted out of the UN treaties which control drugs. Much of the trade from possession to use, and production to supply, has been legalised.
The drama opens with the collapse and subsequent deaths of two girls in a club which is licensed to sell drugs. In the scenario, most drugs are readily available, with government health warnings and lists of ingredients, from various outlets. Drugs of addiction, like heroin, are free but only available on prescription from Swiss-styled heroin clinics.
Cocaine is still illegal. The whole trade is regulated by a new agency, called Ofdrug. The film follows the investigation into the two girls' deaths by an Ofdrug agent who works closely with an ex-drugs policeman. Experts such as former chief constable Francis Wilkinson argued the case for pro-legalisation, while David Raynes of the National Drug Prevention Alliance was one of the voices arguing against.
i am looking at them unedunamacated comens and knoe ther are sum dum cuns who dont unerstan drug/ if goverment say good to me tak drug maybe them wont take me baby agen
I find it amusing that the last name of the director of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation is "Kushlick."
at the head of every major organization whether it's the DEA, or pharmaceutical companies or coca cola, you have people only concerned about profit. the FTA allows genetically modified food, some of which has been proven to damage us while shutting down organic growers markets with swat teams. your more valuable to them sick than you are well. do you really think doctors or the medical industry want to see everybody suddenly get well ? they want us all on drugs, just not somebody else's.
Lol. "Would drug legalisation really reduce crime overall..." Well derrr.
Make something legal, of course you will reduce crime... it's not illegal anymore, so it's not a crime.
The question should be, 'would drug legalisation really reduce the amount of addicts that F*k up their lives because of it." Personally, I've been faced with the choice of 'heavy' drugs multiple times in my life, (legal and illegal) I always had the common sense to say no, BECAUSE of the possibility/probability of it f*king my life up. Jail won't stop the problem IMO, only educate the convicted on how to do it 'better' next time. You have to treat the cause, not the symptoms, otherwise you get nowhere.
how could u say tht murder or crimes would decrease? do u not knw tht a lot of ppl only commit crimes while on drugs? im always around drug users and when they are fukkd up they dont giv a fuk wut happens or sometimes dont even remember wut they do. so of course they go off n steal or pick fights cuz their thoughts are impaired. so im sure the crime wouldnt go down. somethin to think about.
Let´s end up with laws... if it´s not forbidden, there will be no longer criminals. Robbery, murder will decrease by sympathy... don´t you think?!
If people self medicate, Billion dollar companies would fall. Those companies have alot more say than any of us ever will. That is the state of politics, Who can contribute more to my campaign. It is no longer about what is just and right. And it looks like there is no end in sight
Legalization will allow ANYONE to grow their own, which means there will be NO criminals selling it. Anyone with a brain can figure this out on their own. When it is illegal or "decriminalized", criminals will still be involved because it has massive value. Once everything is legal, the value drops dramatically, which means everyone can grow it in their backyards if they so choose. Wakeup people, these things will be used whether they are illegal or not. So why waste money putting people in jail over things they will use anyways. So dumb.
itz fun 2 wtch! lol.......
How about legalizing just weed and shrooms? In my opinion it will act as a catalyst for revolution and break down the profit based capitalist system.
I swear his is one of the more stupider "documentaries" i watched.
First of all it is biased. The majority of the film consists of "experts" that agree drugs should be legalized, and point out "benefits", while the minority is against it. Even the pathetic attempt of a portrait of this "new world" is biased. The woman in the end is deliberately portrayed as a heartless manipulator stopping nothing short of a murder to accomplish her goals.
Let's start with the concept: What if drugs were legal? Pharmaceutical companies would make a bundle, crime rates wouldn't go down, they would in fact go up, number of drug related diseases and disorders would skyrocket, and the dominant argument pro-legislation is economic benefit? I mean WTF? As this garbage points out the government can't regulate drug use or consumption, but what makes them so sure they can regulate drug production, sales and consumption? This is impossible because it would require massive resources, and the drug use itself would render users incapable of nothing more than basic activities. On a global scale the damage would be far greater from an economic point of view (notice that I'm pointing out to the economy, which is the main argument in the pro-legislation) rendering worker efficiency down by at least 10%. From a health point of view the average life span would be reduced by at least 10 years, resources used to treat drug related conditions greatly outweigh the resources gained by drug trade taxation. I admit this is a great problem in today's world, but the causes run to the system itself. The fast-paced capitalist lifestyle took it's tole on our mental health and we seek relaxation in drugs. THIS IS WRONG AND ST*PID!! Drugs will just create more problems we can't control, and we will end up in deep s***. And don't trust "Steve", what he says is total bull****. You can't have a normal life if you take drugs, sooner or later everything is going to fall apart.
arguments pro legalisation are so much more intelligent than those against
The greatest threat from drugs is the fact that they are illegal. Let doctors handle this. Keep your indoctrinated political opinions and your entrenched judgmentalism to yourself.
Heroin has no ill side effects only physical dependance. Doctors can give exact doses so you have no more overdose deaths thus, no probs in the world from heroin use/abuse.
As much as i hate to admit it...I foresee them legalizing drugs. So many walking around like controlled zombies anyway.
blah blah blah like it matters people who want it will get it either way
I have mixed feelings about legalizing drugs. I watched the documentary and both sides have their points. Alcohol is a sort of drug that causes a lot of pain but you can get it at the local store. Some of the drugs should be legalized, such as marijuana. But, drugs like cocaine should, if legalized should be watched very carefully. I am not sure that the federal government should watch it. I think that state government should.
it's drama and incomplete. rubbish I say. it's time for these people to speak to someone how actually has some experience with drug.
I wish they would at least legalize cannabis already. I could use a smoke right now. :P
@ hate machine:
Hemp has a multitude of uses beyond cotton. I'm not going to detail them here cause it's 2:30am and i'm going to bed, but for a short list, cloth/textiles, paper, protein source (seeds), anything you need high quality low viscosity oil for, health beneficial omega oils, etc . But hemp outstrips cotton on many, many levels. It doesn't require herbacides or pesticides or genetic modification like cotton does, it is drout tollerant and will grow in the poorest of soils (less need for chemical fertilizers). There's a reason that they call it "weed". It can grow much more densely than cotton, yealding greater produce. There must be a reason the there were never any "cotton for victory" films made.
If one were able to grow it without licensure there would be an enormous demand for it, alone for paper production. You will really appreciate this if you have ever worked in a law firm or hospital, who use absolutely repulsive amounts of paper. Imagine the reduction in logging and deforestation.
And @....whoever said that it was good to have all views and let people decide (sorry, don't want to scan back through the extreme amount of banter and pissing matches). I think that many, if not most, people (americans, anyways...) aren't smart enough to decide for themselves. Take our current geopolitical situation, start with G.W. Bush up to today. Do you really think that we would be in the same situation if there weren't FOX news spouting such extreme disinformation? We make our decisions based on our level of education (formal or from experience) so if people are getting their "education" from places like FOX, where does that leave us? Wasting an incredible amount of time and resources fighting ignorance.....while trillions of dollars are wasted, hundreds of thousands of lives are lost and millions of lives are severely traumatized. It's like saying, I can eat poisen with my vegetables because my body will know which one is good for me.
Oh ya, about the doc...... wasn't able to even watch it. It says, "temporarily unavailable". I think I tried to watch it a few months ago with the same result. Considering the responses from the viewers (except the real mccoy) I guess this'll be the last attempt.
One of the best Docs on drugs I've watched, I saw it a couple of years ago on youtube then downloaded the whole thing and burned it to disc... The only thing I don't agree with is why the Government should regulate it... They have proven to be incompetent with even pharmaceutical drugs, they are the ones who launder money for recreational drugs in the first place!
I do not have an issue with the decriminalization of any "drug" I do not want to see it in the hands/controlled of the government... I would like to see any product available to anyone who would like to try it and I do not care about the human cost. Fuck it, if you are so week of mind and have no self control then f--k you, kill your self. We have to stop trying to save everyone the human race would be better off without you.
I have seen three of my friends die dew to drug use and I tell you the rest of the world is better off that they didn't reproduce.
There was a time when the week and stupid did not survive. Why is all human life considered sacred? Don't get me wrong I an all for the protecting of anyone from tyranny and oppression. I just don't see the point of one person telling another person what they should do, act like or believe.
If you take away emotion and the act itself does not harm anyone but the user than ultimately it is a fundamental human right that we be allowed do what we want to are ourselves.
If human race can get to a point where everyone has the same opportunity's and that all have the option of participation within a society that is guided by the free assembly of people for the betterment of all and not dictated too by a governing body or religious dogma, Then we will all be FREE!
Why hasn't the most important argument for decriminalization and legalization been brought up? The unequivocal success in Portugal.
Complete legalization reduces usage. Reduces overdoses. Reduces transmitted diseases. Increases numbers of treatments. Most importantly of all, it removes control of drugs from criminals who do not care about the users. It removes the element that pushes harder drugs - the "gateway effect."
These are all Facts supported by not only the findings of the Cato report on Portugal's decriminalization but by the removal of prohibitions all over the world.
Legalization != Free Market Sales
While Cannabis is obviously safe enough to sell in coffee shops, harder drugs should be regulated through state run pharmacies. Proper drug education needs to be in place to teach not only children but adults about the effects of drugs. Most people believe anti-drug propaganda in all its shapes - swallowing it whole, never questioning. When people find out that what they've been told their whole lives are not only half-truths - but outright lies - they start questioning the other 'truths' about drugs.
So hard drugs should be sold only in proper pharmacy-like shops where actual drug education is in place. Drugs should come with a pamphlet describing all the effects (both the side effects and the effects people take the drug to experience) as well as having information regarding treatment etc.
Laws should be in place so that hard drugs generate revenue for the state in the form of taxes but other than that, drugs should not be able to be sold for profit. With profit you create an incentive to maximize. To cut corners.
Another benefit of complete legalization are of course the clinics - similar to those in Amsterdam - where people can take their drugs to check if they're alright to take.
The scare tactics used in this "documentary" are completely ridiculous and unfounded.
BTW there are more deaths due to legal prescription drugs, which are heavily controled, than by uncontroled illegal drugs. If that isn't a reason to look deeper into the whole system, then you've already lost the "war".
legalization is the only way to control drugs. This simple arithmetic. I contend that drugs are kept illegal because there is too much money to be made when drugs are illegal. In the end the monetary system is the problem... so fear not, drugs will remain illegal and crime and terrorism will continue unabated.