"I have the solution to the drug problem in this country, nobody wants to hear it but I have it. Not less drugs, more drugs...." - Dennis Leary

Not exactly what I'm going to say but close enough. The real problem with drugs isn't the drugs themselves, it's with what they finance. Legalize every single one, allow them to be sold like cigarettes, and tax the sh*t out of them. Doing this will not only get rid of a huge portion of OCs income, but also give the government an income they didn't have before. Also with drugs being controlled by the government, they will be more controlled, in both the making of and selling of. Research them, do studies, run ads, raise public awareness of what drugs do to people long term and short.

If the government does all that then after the initial drug craze, drug use should settle down. Also in theory with less money and with drugs no longer being illegal, crime should also drop.

Now before you think I'm a druggie or a hippie who wants drugs legal so I can do it legally, I'm not, I don't do drugs, at least not anymore and I have no future plans to do so, legal or not.

Please bear in mind this is only a theory as I have no example that is known to me, however I beleieve it has to be better then present strategy which obviously doesn't work. Short of military police and dictatorship, invasion of privacy and destruction of every human rights known to man (almost) this is the only way I see of solving the drug problem.

Not my food. Drugs are self-harm. Just commit suicide though, than to consume drugs.

Illicit drugs are a $400,000,000,000.00 annual industry in the USA.

The 'War on Drugs' is also a multi-billion dollar boondoggle.

As long as there's this much profit in prohibition, recreational drugs will never be legalized.

Then, there's the legal drug trade, which services junkies who wish to remain within the law and provides enormous benefit to immoral doctors and the pharmaceutical industry.

"Whole country is doin' The Fix." - SUICIDE

http://tinyurl.com/69mm47

Drugs are an issue for it can lead to dope sickness, crime, and death, but America still does have bigger issues

god damn yankees are so good at instigating wars and bloodshed... Had you not taught Osama's henchmen how to blow up Russia he wouldn't know how to make bombs

This is a huge issue, since it drives so many other issues. (privacy, crime, immigration, terrorism) Drugs are like guns- if used responsibly by people who have learned how they are safe and beneficial. If they're forced into an underground black market, they're dangerous.

The government as we inacted it has absolutely no right to dictate what american citizens can and cannot put into their own bodies. Although they are completely within their rights to restrict the flow of drugs from foriegn countries, however they have no authority to restrict the trade of goods from state to state.(constitution people!) A mushroom on a cow pie is perfectly legal until you pick it up, then you are guilty of a crime that's sentence may be as much as life without paroll. Ok run that by me again? Freedom over safety!!!

The issue of recreational drug use and legality of same incorporate the social and legal concepts of control and responsibility. The libertarian position (as I understand it) is to legalize recreational drug use but only if the costs of use is imposed on the users. Among other things, what this means is that users must insure themselves against the health and other costs associated with recreational drug use (ie no insurance and one dies in the streets with no public assistance). Without paying for the risks, then the public is incurring the costs of private behavior, as that behavior is no longer private, and the prior crime is no longer victimless. As long as those concerns are addressed, punishments are increased for crimes committed under the influence, and public use is prohibited except in regulated establishments, I have no real objections to legalized recreational drug use. In addition, however, recreational drugs should be taxed and regulated. As others have noted, this will go a long way towards reducing organized crime as well as reducing the risks associated with tainted substances that are often found on the black market.

I think we should legalize the whole lot. Life's too short, have some fun! The biggest problem in contemporary society is that survival of the fittest has become nearly extinct, with advances in medicine keeping even the weakest, dimmest people alive long enough to reproduce. Legalize drugs, and weed out all the idiots that use them irresponsibly.

Drugs are a blight on our great nation and need to be collected and allowed to die. This should be one of the top priorities of our government and the solution is simple. Specially-trained government agents should be sent out to arrest all of the nation's drug dealers. Then, the illegal drugs should be collected and destroyed in various, non-harmful methods. Meanwhile, the second prong of the action would proceed. State officials would round up all of the drug dealers not in jail and throw them in prison, with the help of local police. Meanwhile, the government would give informative commercials that tell how bad drugs are outright (not those stupid, offensive, unbalanced 'Tobacco is Whacco'-type commercials) and how people that obey the law succeed happily in life.

Yes. More mandatory sentencing for the morons in this country who use illegal drugs.

Instead of a war on poverty, they have a war on drugs so the police can bother me. Tupac

Firstly, we have to separate recreational drugs from addictive and dangerous drugs. Legalize and tax marijuana...make sure it's cheaper to buy it from a licensed dealer than on the streets so that the street dealer can't try to push heroin or crack on a teenager who just wants to try a joint. Then use the tax from marijuana and alcohol to fund rehab clinics for the hard drug users.

Drugs are great!

Right up there with terrorism. Drugs kill much more people than terrorism does in America. As a long term risk, however, terrorism is more important. We need to destroy as many drugs as possible- even if it mean going to countries and arresting drug lords.

Personally I do not believe that any piece of legislation is going to keep drugs out of the hands of the people who desire it. However, making drugs more difficult to get will also make people more desperate to get it, which in most cases leads to a crime, sometimes murder. I also believe rather than locking NON VIOLENT drug offenders in jail as the frontline of defense for keeping drugs out of the hands of children is wrong- get these people in rehab and don't let them out of sight until they've proven themselves to be clean. Basically, the only policy which may effective is to somehow stop the drug traffickers in Latin America, which will allow us to focus on the drugs here already rather than the drugs coming into the country.

I've already stated my opinion about the DEA and their pathetic commercials that offer a solution to the drug problem in 30 seconds. My main beef with the war on drugs is the zero tolerance and blanket policies which do not take into account the complex issue of drugs in this country. The DARE program is a laughable waste of time and for many of us in school, we joked that it helped us know what to look for. A stupid "The Choice for Me, Drug Free" ribbon is not going to sway kids who do not have proper parental guidance and love at home from staying off drugs. Yes, it's a good idea, but statistics show that it doesn't work. I can't remember the issue, but Playboy (yes, straight women read the articles in Playboy) had a fascinating article about the Dare program and how it's flopped.

definitely more important than gay rights, for example......

Another divisive politicization of a social, not a political issue. Drugs=symptom. Treat the real problem, and widespread drug abuse go bye-bye.

The drug rate is still high.

I think that the US needs to really reconsider its approach to its "War On Drugs". The answer is total legalizaton, and this is not coming from some sixties relic, but a drug free college student. I'm not sure how much credence I put into the view that kids will stay away from drugs because they are illegal. I also don't necessarily agree with the idea that kids will do drugs to be rebellious. I think people are either going to or not going to do drugs regardless of their legality; if a kid wants to do heroin or cocaine they can easily obtain it no matter what their age. Most kids choose not to do drugs and that would not change if they were made legal. After all how many of you would go shoot heroin tomorrow if it was legal? Nobody would. By legalizing all drugs and restricting distribution to state-run stores, much like many states have for alcohol, we could reap many positive benefits. Sure some kids would still be able to get drugs, but a lot less then now; drug deales don't ask for ID. The government could get rid of the cartels and gangs not by jails or guns, but by merely monopolizing the buisness. With heavy taxes drugs sold in these stores would still be cheaper than on the street thereby removing the motive for drug trade: money. This would have an incredible impact both here and around the world. Many of the countries that supply the US with drugs are dealing with cartel controled rebel factions and mass murder because of the US drug appetite. By removing the money behind drugs we could remove the cartels and restore peace to many south american countries. Here at home we would see some of the nations worst areas be turned around from ghettos to neighborhoods. Violent crime would decrease as the gangs disappated; providing a base for gentrification of these neighborhoods. Additionally we would save money spent jailing non-violent drug related inmates that comprise a majority of inmates. The US currently has over a million of its citizens in jail. This effort overall would require the creation of thousands of jobs to work the stores, grow or manufacture the drugs, and other work related to research on the drugs. Especially marijuna: the hemp has many uses both industrially and commercially. After all this was done the government would not only have the billions used to fight the war on drugs, but also money generated by the sale and manufacture of the drugs. This money could be used to fund much needed drug awareness programs as well as needle exchange and detox programs. I ask anyone who can think of any flaw in this plan to click on my screen name and send me a personal message.

To be blunt, I think the outright prohibition of any chemical is one of the stupidest government policies ever. The ban on cannabis particularily was caused basically by racism. I rank this as important because I feel that society will not progress as well until the government stops telling citizens what to do. This is an extremely important issue, and I refuse to vote for any prohibitionist for government office.

As Tupac said, instead of fighting a war on drugs, we should fight a war on poverty to reduce crime. Reagan is just as bad a criminal by supporting the free flow of narcotics from Colombia during his term in office to gain monetary power.

my father has an interesting position. he thinks that the government should legalize all drugs and tax the s**t outta them. that way, #1 it would vastly reduce organized crime, #2, the government could then better control the flow of drugs and #3, it would lose a lot of its initial attractiveness to rebellious kids. now i'm not too sure about ALL drugs, but i certainly think MJ should be legalized. of all the illegal substances it is the most ridiculously harmless and keeping it illegal has got to be the number one biggest waste of tax money ever.

Guess what! Guess what! I finally figured out what "D.A.R.E" stood for! It stands for, "(melo)Dramatic, Annoying, Repetitive Eggheadedness". If I have to suffer through one more year of "Smoking and drinking are bad for you" I will not commit suicide, but I will come close! This is not exactly important. You think that a couple years of D.A.R.E are going to convince the people who already do drugs that they are wrong? I DON'T! I don't plan to do drugs. The first time I tasted an alcoholic drink, it tasted so awful that I had to cover my mouth to keep from spitting it across the room! I'm not worried, y'all shouldn't be worried! Take care, everyone.

People talk about how bad legalizing drugs would be assuming all our children would run out and start smoking crack, dropping acid, and shooting heroin. We as a society (through voting) have said we want to control the usage of drugs by making them illegal. This simply doesn't work. All you have to do is look at the current situation and compare it to prohibition of alcohol. When you drive an industry underground you increase the amount of money to be made and with money comes power. This power sustains the illegal enterprise and no amount of money or manpower can control it. The only rational choice is to legalize all drugs, regulate them like any other industry, and educate the consumer.

MANDATORY SENTENCING is destroying an entire generation of youth. YES, drugs are a problem, but let the judges do their job and JUDGE the cases individually like they were hired to do. also, kids should not be thrown in jail with killers and rapists for 15 years for getting busted at a concert with a 1/2 a sheet of acid. if you want to lock drug offenders up, fine, but not in prisons. ALSO, I hate it when people talk of legalizing drugs and lump them all together. dont be rediculous, no one wants herion and crack sold in stores. BUT, marijuana is no more dangerous than Alchohol or ciggarettes. in fact LESS so in my opinion. follow the money people, its those companies who are lobbying the hardest to keep it illegal and funnel the most money into demonization of marijauna. Tax it heavy & regulate it under the FDA. but dont listen to me, look into it. read up on it.

Legalize the simple stuff like marijuana simply to keep simple drug offenders out of our prisons. I am sickened by how many peoples lives are ruined by jail terms over simple drug charges. I don't and never have used or sold drugs myself, but I have inspected prisons and have seen how many are in there for stupid offenses on drugs. Wake up America!!!

As a college student, I estimate that about 80% of people on my campus do drugs. I don't do drugs because I do not want to deal with the consequences later on in my life. I thought maybe legalizing drugs might be the answer to the problem, but all what that would do is make drug use public. In Zurich, Switzerland, they tried legalization, and that was what happened. The problem lies within the criminal justice system. Instead of jailing people with drug problems, we need to start programs that will actually help people with their addiction problems, they need to be rehabilitated so they could become functioning members of society. I also think that the jails should release these people and put them into these programs; the jails are too full and these people have only done harm to themselves. We need to put in jail the murderers, sex offenders, etc. I think that drug rehabilitation it could even be done in coordiation with various churches; this is in the same vein as the faith based initiatives that President Bush wants to start.

Drugs are an important issue, but I don't know that legalizing them would be the answer. I do think that far too many people are locked up because of drug crimes though. These people need to be sent to rehab, not thrown behind bars and added to the already overcrowded prison population. It's one thing to get sent to prison for selling drugs, but it's a completely different thing if you get busted for possession because you are a drug abuser. But no government will ever be able to rid society of drugs. Desperate junkies will always find a way to score some. I think the government should focus less on eliminating the drug problem entirely and more on drug education. The "Just Say No" program when Reagan was in office was very influential to me when I was 6 years old. And parents should be encouraged to talk to their children about the dangers of drug abuse. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I favor drug legalization, and would call the escalation of the War on Drugs the one negative contribution of Ronald Reagan's tenure in office. However, I do not think that this should be a front-burner issue, nor one that the new administration should waste its political capital on. While I believe that it is inner-city minorities who suffer most from the drug war, there is little evidence that these communities favor drug legalization and I would certainly hesitate to advocate a major change in social policy that doesn't have the consent of those who will be most affected. I think the Libertarian Party is adrift in making drug legalization its signature issue, but hopefully some of the people from that movement will create an awareness of the benefits of drug legalization to these affected audiences... that would give us a stronger basis for change in the years down the road.

It's useless to try to eradicate drug use, but legalizing it could prove widely destructive. Just look at China. For the majority of human existence China was among the most progressive, clean, and pleasant societies. But opium introduced around the 16th century single handedly brought it to it's knees, and arguably has never recovered.

By itself, not a very important political issue. Drugs will be ingested / injected / snorted / and smoked no matter what legislation is in place. Where it gets interesting is if you start to consider the impact of drug legalization would have on crime.