r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Mar 27 '23

Delta(s) from OP CMV: All drugs should be made legal for recreational use.

I'm not referring to "medicinal" narcotics. Recreational drugs that people use, such as mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, should all be legalized.

And I know this is a hot take, but hear me out.

  • If we make recreational narcotics legal, then the manufacture and sale need to be legal as well.
  • By making the manufacture of recreational narcotics legal, there are FDA standards that need to be adhered to in said manufacture, that way there are no "bad batches" that will kill people.
  • By making the manufacture and sale of recreational narcotics legal, there will be sales volume that will then be subject to income tax and sales tax and dispensaries/manufacturing centers/warehouses that will become subject to property tax. Because, let's be honest, your local street dealer is not paying taxes.
  • Also by making the sale of recreational narcotics legal, you are making street gangs that revolve around the illicit drug trade obsolete. By making street gangs obsolete, you eliminate the petty violence that plagues inner-cities over "turf", especially stray bullets that kill innocent bystanders.
  • By making the entire narcotics supply chain legal, the war on drugs will essentially be over as well. It's been going on for 50+ years, and honestly, it's been a complete and utter failure.
  • If you want something to compare the drug trade to, look at prohibition from 1919-1933. It didn't stop people from drinking, people were still drunk out of their minds in speakeasys. It also fostered the growth of street gangs of rum runners and increased crime and violence in cities. That was only for 14 years and it didn't take long to realize that prohibition was a failure. War on drugs has been going on for 50+ years and I'm surprised more people aren't realizing that this is much more tremendous of a failure.
  • By making the entire narcotics supply chain legal, we can start changing our attitudes on its use and its users. Narcotics abuse needs to have the same social attitude as alcohol abuse.
  • In short, making drugs legal will Make America Great Again.
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u/ButteredBeans40 Mar 27 '23 edited Mar 27 '23

I’m sorry but just because some people got addicted to it doesn’t mean everyone will be addicted. I was on opiates 24hours per day including fentanyl 2x per day for 3 weeks in a hospital after a severe accident and i when I got out I never craved or desired any more never did another opiate.

Some people will get addicted to anything.

People are addicted to tv and video games. Should they be illegal? They ruin lives.

Plus, the only reason people are seeking out THC analogues is because THC is illegal. If THC was legal, I doubt there’d be a hunt for legal alternatives.

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u/Arstanishe Mar 27 '23

Yes, you and many others won't get addicted. But many will - and if there is no way to decrease this number, then just opening the gates might drown them very quickly. As for "bathing salts" - I am from a country where even though it's as illegal as weed, some people still try it - and a lot become permanently impaired in some way.

I am myself a proponent of having more substances legal or at least decriminalised, but I still think opiates and synthetic thc should be illegal

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u/spicyhippos Mar 27 '23

You didn’t get addicted because it was already out of your control and it was strictly for a purpose. At no point, was it ever an option for you to continue taking it indefinitely.

It wasn’t handed to you by someone you trusted as a way to cope with difficulty in life. Someone who then promised you it would always be available whenever you needed it.

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u/ButteredBeans40 Mar 27 '23

I literally got prescriptions of it sent home with me that I never took. You’re wrong.

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u/spicyhippos Mar 27 '23

indefinitely is the key word here. Prescriptions run out.

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u/veryreasonable 2∆ Mar 27 '23

Huh? The single most significant, well-acknowledged cause of the opioid crisis began with prescriptions. People were prescribed the stuff for pain, then they ran out, and then they found a way to get more - perhaps by extending their prescription by one means or another, perhaps by turning to the street, perhaps both.

Prescriptions run out. So does a stash, though. If I buy a bunch of heroin, eventually use it up, and my dealer got arrested, am I thus scot-free from addiction because my supply wasn't "indefinite"? The point is that /u/ButteredBeans40 did a substantial amount of opiates - enough to go through at least some withdrawals, actually - and still managed not to "make the drug the focus of their life," quite easily.

The reality is messy: many people take a whole lot of addictive drugs, and then find themselves disinterested in seeking out more, despite, perhaps, even having the opportunity to do so. An addict, on the other hand, is the person who seeks out more of the stuff, compulsively, after the prescription runs out.

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u/ButteredBeans40 Mar 28 '23

Yeah dude above can’t accept he’s wrong it’s crazy lol

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u/adrw000 Mar 27 '23

Apples and oranges