Legalizing Soft Drugs: Why It’s a Bad Idea

Soft drugs should not be legal Drugs have been a problem for the society for a long time and it is still a going subject. Different kinds of organisations work hard to try keeping people from using drugs, however a new problem has occurred. During the last years there have been discussions in some European countries to legalise so called soft drugs. Soft drugs usually means cannabis, which is the name for drugs made from the plant called “Cannabis Sativa”. Several countries have a very liberal attitude to these light drugs and think that it would be better if they were legal.

I think it is wrong to legalise any kind of drug and that nothing good can come out of it. We all know that drugs are bad for us, so why would we want to expose ourselves to them? Why? There are already serious problems with legal drugs, like alcohol and tobacco. There is a reason why drugs are banned. It is because they are dangerous to our health. These laws are there to protect us and they are for our own good. It is known, and proved, that drugs can do damage to our physical and mental health. For example it can weaken the immune system, lung capacity and memory.

It can cause depression and changes of personality. And these are just a few examples. Drugs are also very addictive and to stop the abuse is very hard, because the withdrawal symptoms are very strong and painful. There is also the risk of taking an overdose which can lead to serious harm or even death. Another argument against legalising cannabis is that it will get more accepted if it is legal, which will lead to the fact that more people will use it. If more people use drugs it will increase the number of people who get addicted.

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It is also proved that people who abuse cannabis often try heavier drugs later, when the effect from cannabis gets weaker. Legalising soft drugs would be awfully expensive for society. If more people use drugs, then the need for medical care and detoxification clinics will increase. Both are very expensive, but they will be necessary because addicts need treatment. The costs related to crime will also increase, because many drug addicts start committing crimes to be able to afford the drugs they need. Those who abuse drugs tend to stop caring about anything else but the drugs.

That could result in that they neglect their jobs and other responsibilities. The number of accidents caused by being under the influence of drugs will very likely increase, because there will be more substances that affect a person’s concentration and abilities. Alcohol will no longer be the only dangerous substance which is associated to accidents in traffic or risky jobs. This will be one more cost related to drugs, and someone will have to pay for it. Some say that alcohol is just as dangerous as cannabis, but alcohol is legal.

So why not legalise cannabis? True, but why would we want to introduce another harmful substance, when we have enough troubles with the first one? There are other ways to have fun than smoking pot. Others claim that just because someone smokes a joint every now and then it does not mean that he or she will get addicted. That is right, but the higher the number of people that use drugs sometimes, the higher the number of people that get addicted. Drugs are not good for people or for society. As I have established, no good can come from legalising soft drugs.

It would be a great danger to our health, it would bring more and larger costs for society and it would increase the number of people who get addicted. Why would we want that? Soft drugs should be legal There are two ways to try and sort out the drugs problem. One is to legalise and regulate the supply, and the other is to leave it in the hands of criminals. For years we have tried the second option. Banning all forms of soft drugs or lightly regulating them, not allowing them as such but not banning to the extent where people know it is seriously wrong.

This is the situation we have found with drugs such as nicotine and tobacco and alcohol. Another major problem we face is the use of soft drugs especially by the younger generations. A survey revealed that 1 in 12 twelve year olds have tried drugs moving up to 1 in 3 fourteen year olds and 2 in 5 sixteen year olds. This means that about 40% and rising of our secondary school pupils have broken the law. In years to come at this rate the percentage will move up and then those 16 year olds will become adults and this problem will therefore become ever more significant as they become more influential.

We saw a very parallel instance of this dilemma during 1920s America. Drink related crimes had become so numerous that the only way out that the American government saw was to ban it outright. This is what wed have tried in Britain and it has almost exactly the same consequences. Gun crime has soared like it did in America in the 20s. We see far too many shootings related to 'turf wars' or punishment crimes such as when an employee of a drug dealer makes a mistake. At some point we have to look at the problem and realise that all crimes, in the major scheme of things are somewhat drugs related.

Whether it is a burglar stealing someone's possessions to fund their drug habit, or the death of a drug abuser, unable to keep up with the payments to his dealer. We have to realise that getting rid drug dealers is the only way to go. Often they are the centre of the crime in their area. They are loan sharks to the poorer people and the people who organise the protection rackets for the business owners. No matter where you go you will always find them to do with it. The fact is that people do like to take drugs.

The thing about alcohol is, your liver is designed to cope with it and so as long as you drink in moderation then your body is able to recover perfectly fine. With drugs, this is a lot less likely to happen. That being said, I'm all for legalising the softer drugs for several reasons - the main one being that it will remove a lot of the appeal of "rebelling" and so you're less likely to want to do it because it's "forbidden" (it's the same with drinking, as soon as you can legally drink you no longer have such a strong desire to do so)

Also, places like the netherlands have legalised the soft drugs because it just means that they can spend more time cracking down on the harder ones and from what I've heard from some people that live there, the majority of people that use it are actually tourists that go there especially for that (so it would also mean an increase in tourism and stimulate the economy) Legalising it would also make it a lot safer because you never know what's actually in the drug you are buying, I recently watched this very ducational program on the effects drugs have and out of a random sample of pills only half actually contained the drug they were meant to. Legalising means that it will be regulated and also means that it is likely to be a lot less expensive and so you also won't have the problem of people having to resort to illegal activities in order to get money for it. Quite a few drugs have also been shown to have medicinal benefits and so even partially legalising them for medicinal purposes only (for which you would need a prescription) would be beneficial.

The bottom line though is that people are going to do them whether they are legal or not so if you at least legalise the softer ones, it allows you to regulate and control them a lot more than before and also if you make drugs legal then it will also help reduce all the gangs revolving around supplying drugs because they will no longer be needed and will no longer make money and so that's also a positive benefit. I feel I should also point out here that I'm not a fan of drugs, not even the "legal-highs" as I don't like the idea of altering my mind and not being in full control of my body.

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