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<blockquote data-quote="LarryBird" data-source="post: 4078903" data-attributes="member: 76548">We&#039;ve had worse ideas......like waging a WAR on substances which can never be won, because at no point in time has prohibition of something people wanted worked in the history of civilization, nor will it ever.We can begin by using the model that&#039;s worked so well in Portugal, and decriminalize small amounts of all drugs for personal use. Part of the drug problem stems from the fact that once you&#039;ve been convicted of a drug felony, your chance for a successful life is essentially over, and that helps to perpetuate the cycle of addiction and arrest. If you treat the problem instead of punishing the user, over time the problem will shrink.I don&#039;t think the legalization of heroin and crack should necessarily happen, BUT if you take out the criminal element, and treat it/regulate it as a medical issue, the crime disappears - junkies will not commit crime if they&#039;re getting regular access to safe drugs from a medical/gov&#039;t program, and will actually become productive members of society who hold down jobs - just like the functional alcoholics and prescription opiate/amphetamine users we ALL already work with at UPS. If you think you don&#039;t work with some of these people already, you are nuts or fooling yourself. By the way, the UK has been giving prescription heroin to addicts for years and it worked just fine. Society didn&#039;t fall apart, kids were not getting hooked at any greater rates, and the sky didn&#039;t fall.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="LarryBird, post: 4078903, member: 76548"] We've had worse ideas... ...like waging a WAR on substances which can never be won, because at no point in time has prohibition of something people wanted worked in the history of civilization, nor will it ever. We can begin by using the model that's worked so well in Portugal, and decriminalize small amounts of all drugs for personal use. Part of the drug problem stems from the fact that once you've been convicted of a drug felony, your chance for a successful life is essentially over, and that helps to perpetuate the cycle of addiction and arrest. If you treat the problem instead of punishing the user, over time the problem will shrink. I don't think the legalization of heroin and crack should necessarily happen, BUT if you take out the criminal element, and treat it/regulate it as a medical issue, the crime disappears - junkies will not commit crime if they're getting regular access to safe drugs from a medical/gov't program, and will actually become productive members of society who hold down jobs - just like the functional alcoholics and prescription opiate/amphetamine users we ALL already work with at UPS. If you think you don't work with some of these people already, you are nuts or fooling yourself. By the way, the UK has been giving prescription heroin to addicts for years and it worked just fine. Society didn't fall apart, kids were not getting hooked at any greater rates, and the sky didn't fall. [/QUOTE]

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