We don't wake up one morning saying hey I want to be a drug addict. Negative things happen in people's lives and when you experience drugs the negative feels and for that matter any other feelings negative or possitive don't matter any more. Plus Mental Health and Addiction go hand in hand. If haveing a Mental Health issue and say experience cocaine or pot or any other illegal drugs you feel better. Being hard on people that suffer with Addiction is not the answer. If someone in your life became an addict would you still think the same of them by having them punished.

We don't wake up one morning saying hey I want to be a drug addict. Negative things happen in people's lives and when you experience drugs the negative feels and for that matter any other thing negative or possitive don't matter any more. Plus mental health and addiction go hand in hand. If have amentzl health issue and you say experience cocaine or pot or any other illegal drugs you feel better. Being hard on people that suffer with addiction is not the answer. If someone in your life becsme an addict would still think the same of them by having them punished.

Deterrence doesn't work well. The punishment you propose doesn't fit the crime. If anything, the war on drugs needs to end by making them legal so they start being regulated and taxed like at a liquor store or a pharmacy. Most drugs aren't as bad as the legal ones. Marijuana is particularly safe.

Studies show that about 3% of people are drug addicts. In societies that do not criminalize drug use, about 3% of people are addicts. In societies that strictly punish drug use, about 3% of people are addicts. That is to say, laws and penalties do not prevent drug abuse.
Meanwhile, we have major problems with our criminal justice system. People with life or death sentences are routinely exonerated by DNA evidence. It is clear that minorities are disproportionately targeted by drug enforcement, are convicted of drug crimes at higher rates (once accused, than whites) and are routinely sentenced more harshly when convicted.
All of this is to say that harsher drug laws and enforcement of drug laws tends to have very little impact on the problem of drug abuse, but exacerbates other problems we have in our society.
Another issue - one of the most common traits among serious drug addicts is having experienced significant childhood trauma/abuse. Rather than spend our dollars going after the consequence, I propose we spend our dollars addressing the root cause.

The "REAL" reason drugs are outlawed in most countries is because the drug/euphoria experience rivals the "high" created by people who tickle their pleasure center buy buying "things.) If a pill can make me feel just as happy (or, god forbid, happier) than I would from buying a new big screen TV, then the big TV manufacturers are going to have a vested interest in seeing to it that drugs which replicate euphoria induced by retail consumption are illegal.

I find it hard to point the finger of blame at ANYONE who provides and/or uses drugs to those who feel they need/desire them. It is certainly asinine to place someone behind bars (often for many years." ) simply because they ingested certain psychoactive chemicals

As someone who is fascinated by psychopharm (and who researches it heavily) this whole thread is like...wat. We need a greater level of education pretaining the mind-altering substances...pretty much everywhere, and drug policies that reflect scientific information instead of "morals", "feelings", corporate interest, and fear of cultural change.

I despise your stance . if you legalise everything then deal with addiction as a mental health issue. you take away the huge profit levels. grass coke and opium cost the same as coffee to produce. it is the PROFIT that causes the crime . to alter one's state of consciousness is your own wish PERIOD

Something that I haven't see in this very interesting post is our country's long history of using military presence and covert intelligence operations being funded by the most lucrative cash business ever created; drugs. Iran-Contra Affair, smuggling in military coffins, Noriega in Panama.

Afghanistan is administered something like as a tribal federation. Local tribal leaders, war loads and poppy farmers are all on our payroll. We have paid billions of dollars in cash to the very people who are growing, protecting and profiting from heroin. Soldiers had videos of pallets of cash wrapped in plastic. Truckloads of cash

Even after we invaded Afghanistan poppy production increased and 90% of the world's opium processed into heroin is grown in Afghanistan. We have occupied Afghanistan for over 16 years and during that time heroin addiction is rising here and poppy production and processing and money laundering thrive.

Any conversations about drugs that begin with the premise that all drugs are the same and that all drugs are bad cannot be a fruitful exchange of ideas. Alcohol, nicotine and legally prescribed opiates are the deadliest drug problems, right NOW, if we are being honest.

Illegal guns are not the problem, either. That we are unable, as a people, to have rational, reasoned discussions or debates about how best to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our property is a national failing.

Human trafficking is the accepted term for what is largely the sexual slavery of girls and women. There are many people living as "indentured servants" laboring in businesses and homes but the most biggest, most appalling and despicable part of this international industry is selling women and girls as sex slaves. Millions of women. It is so vast and entrenched as to draw comparisons to American importation of slaves from West Africa and the Caribbean and aspects of the Holocaust.

The flood of women reporting sexual abuse is becoming a tsunami and it must be used to raise awareness and change hearts and minds because this is a male problem. Women do not create the demand that drives the market creating sex slaves; men do. Many men are predators, some are sex addicts but most men have very strong sex drive and some can't handle regardless of maturity and restraint.

So, my feelings on this final issue places the burden on men and all non-religious types to drive sex, prostitution, human trafficking into daylight in discussions, debates and posts. Morality, law and certainly religion don't provide effective influence to control or effect sexual violence or sexual behavior so lets have a go at sexuality and gender enlightenment. Maybe separate posts?

If I start killing people for their crimes I will deserve the fate I am issuing. There are drug dealers that deserve death. There are also drug dealers that deserve love. For decades my dealer was my best friend.

To be honest, this isn't my real opinion. I believe that all drugs should be legalized in "special administration zones" in every country. It'll give people a place where they can waste their money and become worse off financially but I don't judge. Allowing people to slowly kill themselves is a magnificent freedom for all of mankind and I can accept that we are all different.
In the special administration zone where drugs are legal to buy and use it will allow people to overdose on one area. Removing the threat they pose to the rest of society.

If anyone outside the zone is caught doing drugs then charge them, give them a fair trial and if found guilty 3 times then execute them. That's fair. In AFL (Australian Football League) you have to be caught 3 times before they kick you out. We even had an entire team encouraged to do drugs. Now these league players are role models but I don't really care what they do. If you're a role model to kids that doesn't mean you have to be a good one.

Now if we did have a special administration zone then it would be easier for paramedics to be on standby (why save law abiding tax payers?) so they can ship the over dosed users straight to a hospital to recieve treatment (for self inflicted illness, basically suicide). I mean why would we want to reduce the strain on the medical system? No reason right. forget the law abiding citizens, who really cares about the decent people of the world.

I agree politicians, bankers, etc. are scum but they will always have a roughly 50/50 ratio. We need politicians to run our countries because we can't self govern ourselves, we are too stupid for that.

I just wanted to hear other peoples opinions is all.

Your idea of dealing with drug dealers is way more suitable for the government officials and political leaders of the United States who are dealers in weapons/finance/pharmaceutical/propaganda products, because they are damaging the world way more than any drugs and their dealers.

Sounds like Duterte of the Philippine's war on drugs… A tuff call.. I see you’re in the UK, is it that bad?! I’m new to Appalachia here in the US, drug use appears more of an escape from endemic poverty and social boredom than a serious money maker; it seems more user driven. And for the most part, I believe our law enforcement actually does attempt to extinguish it…

I disagree and would oppose any such draconian measures. Once you accept such punishment for drug dealers, many of whom are coerced or outright forced by others, it's easy to accept that other criminals can be executed, abused, etc., and the bar for evidence becomes lower and lower.

I disagree. We should be trying to reform people and give them an opportunity to do better at life when they get out, not just doing away with "scum". And aside from some seriously troubled people who are statistical outliers, a don't think there exist truly evil people in the world. That's just a way we rationalize our own mistreatment of other human beings that we just don't understand and won't attempt to understand. If we did, they'd be too much like us and we'd all feel bad.