Legalise all drugs

ALL drugs should be legal.
Just weeks after 100 million euro of cocaine was washed up on the shores of Ireland and, presumably, destroyed, that might seem like an odd thing to say.
And I know, it is a suggestion that outrages many people.
But think about this for a second.
It is only a tiny, tiny step.
Because, already, 99.9 per cent of drugs are legal.
And thank God for that.
Where would we be without painkillers? What would life be like without cancer drugs? How would diabetics, or asthma sufferers, or people with arthritis live, if it were not for drugs?
When people like me talk about legalising drugs, we are, of course, talking about legalising the likes of cannabis and hashish and cocaine and acid and heroin.
And while I know, that many people passionately and genuinely oppose such a move, I also believe there are very, very strong arguments for doing so.
One of those arguments is this: laws or law enforcement simply cannot eliminate “Recreational” drugs.
1. WE CAN’T BEAT THEM
The world’s governments have spent thousands of billions over the years in their efforts to wipe out the drug trade. Not only have they failed, but the drug trade is now worth more than ever. And growing.
Much, much more has been spent by the U.S. Government in the battle against drugs, than has been spent on the futile war in Iraq.
The result? Abject failure.
In Britain, Ireland and the rest of Europe, the story is much the same.
Oh, we got lucky in Ireland recently when 100 million euro worth of drugs washed up on our shores. Luckier still, that those believed to be involved in that smuggling were also caught.
But that, to the drug runners, is only a blip.
2. WE NEED PROTECTION
The second argument relates to the rights of those who do not use recreational drugs.
In Ireland, as elsewhere, those who are addicted to hard drugs, fuel their habits through crime. I am no different from so many, being, as I am, a victim of burglary on several occasions. On each occasion, the
perpetrator was an addict.
Around the world, addicts involve themselves in burglaries and muggings and violent crimes of all sorts.
If the drugs were legalised, they would not need to attack others to pay for their habits.
Simplistic? Not in the context of the other arguments.
3. IT WOULD HELP THE ADDICTS
Again, like other countries, many addicts die in Ireland every year, because the drugs they were sold by unscrupulous dealers (I know. There is no such thing as a ‘scrupulous’ drug dealer) were bad. Legal drugs would, like that most dangerous of all drugs, alcohol, be subject to standards and to periodic checks.
4. IT CANNOT BE DONE IN ISOLATION
The legalisation of ‘recreational’ drugs would have to be done by virtually all the countries of the world simultaneously, possibly under the auspices of the United Nations. If one country did it in isolation, it would be inundated with addicts. Holland suffered such a problem. Switzerland did to with its “Needle Park” experiment.
But if it was done on a worldwide basis, it could, genuinely work.
5. IT COULD NOT BE SEEN AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT
The millions and billions currently spent in the futile war against drugs could instead be spent helping those who wish to beat their habits
In Ireland, we have 200 beds for addicts who wish to try and recover. That’s 200 beds for 14,000 addicts in Dublin alone.
They have no chance. An addict to finally says: “I want to beat this,” is told, in Ireland, that there is no bed available for him, no place for him to go, no help in beating his addiction.
It is no different elsewhere.
Countries concentrate on the law and law enforcement to the detriment of efforts to provide help for addicts who wish to recover.
If all drugs are legalised, then there will be huge resources available to help those who wish to fight their addictions.
6. DRUG TAKING WOULD NO LONGER BE FASHIONABLE
It’s a small factor, but a factor nonetheless.
Now. Here’s a thing.
Heroin was legal Britain until 1956. Indeed, in 1955, the London Times ran an editorial headed: The Case for Heroin.
In 1955, there were 317 addicts to what were called ‘manufactured’ drugs. Of those, only 15 per cent were heroin addicted.
By contrast, in the United States where heroin was criminalised in 1925, it had already become a social problem.
In Britain now, the number of addicts is measured in the tens of thousands.
In Ireland the number is in the thousands too.
The cost of their addiction in both countries is measured in millions when you take in their crimes, the cost to victims, the cost of policing, the cost of courts, the cost of prisons and so on.
In the United States, you may measure that cost in billions.
Essentially, this is the nub of it:
Law enforcement simply, has not worked.
It is time to, at the very least, debate other options, however unpalatable.