How do we stop drugs corrupting society?

In the UK, from where I place this post, I ask how much are the current rules corrupting our society? Police take drugs from people by the book, also without filling in forms to give to their colleagues for non 'recreational' purposes. I've heard of a Judge who had a daughter on heroin who let off criminals for not giving his daughter a hot dose. We are losing the Afghans as we pay them to torch their fields of poppies but give them no alternative income. I've heard of troops in Afghanistan now on heroin, supplied by the dope barons.
Because this site is anti drugs legalisation, I will simply ask, when will we see that reality is breaking with ideal and what can we do, even debate about it? As I stated, due to the rules on freedom of speech on a US site, I will not call for a debate on legalisation.
My question is, within the current system, how do we reduce corruption as a result of human behaviour in relation to drugs? At all levels.....?

British Parliamentary Research Below (source: BBC)

news.bbc.co.uk...

Drugs don't corrupt people.

People corrupt people... through greed, false love, hate, materialism, religion, etc.


Drugs are "get away valves" from the madness our world has become.


Peace

Originally posted by Sator
Drugs don't corrupt people.

No, not if the system does not break ideals from reality overly.

People corrupt people... through greed, false love, hate, materialism, religion, etc.

Also addiction, and who can help that.

Drugs are "get away valves" from the madness our world has become.

But the price put on that buys people. Anyway, drugs were used by the ancients for insights. Try Delphi.

Peace

And you.

In my opinion there is no way to stop corruption in our society.

When alcohol was illegal we had moon shiners. If tobacco products were made illegal we would have the black market selling tobacco.

If there is a need for an illegal substance there will always be someone to feed that need. Supply and demand is the name of the game.

Even if we were to go to a total police state and make drug testing mandatory we would still have corruption. Unfortunately, that is a human flaw.

Originally posted by dizziedame

When alcohol was illegal we had moon shiners. If tobacco products were made illegal we would have the black market selling tobacco.

If there is a need for an illegal substance there will always be someone to feed that need. Supply and demand is the name of the game.

Even if we were to go to a total police state and make drug testing mandatory we would still have corruption. Unfortunately, that is a human flaw.

So instead of looking at us as corrupt, why not tackle what corrupts us, which always boils down to the relationships that we have with that that corrupt us. You seem to think that the 'black' market corrupts us?

I dont think drugs are the source of corruption, its the people.

Drugs have been used for thousands of years by all cultures, and its only been recently in the last century, that there has been a horrible stigma attached to them. A responsible user is not a problem at all, and the people who are not responsible are the ones who usually have underlying problems aside from the drugs - addictive personality, always have to go to the extreme, unable to do something in moderation, and so on.

I am prescribed opiate based medication and basically other then for maybe an extra molecule, I am taking heroin. Do I rob people for money to buy more if I run out early? no. Do I kill to support my habit? no. Its not the drugs that make someone a bad person, its a bad person who use the drugs as an excuse.

Also, the reason there is so much corruption is due to money and greed. If for example heroin, coc aine, and marijuana were all legal there would be very little money to be made, street gangs would no longer be able to finance their activities, they could be regulated, people would know what they are getting, and so on. But by keeping it illegal, the amount of money to be made by police arresting people, fines, jobs such as DEA or narcotic divisions, etc. is immense.

If there is a lot of money to be made, you're damn right there is going to be corruption extremely close to that area.

Originally posted by deadline527
If there is a lot of money to be made, you're damn right there is going to be corruption extremely close to that area.

So how, as rational beings, do we reduce that amount of money?

I dunno, but, I would love for my illegal recreational drug of choice to be cheaper. Lemme know when ya figure it out and I'll pass that on the "the boys".

It's all about "The Ladder". The top of the ladder is those making the most money. The bottom of the ladder is the users.

I, myself? I am the little rubber foot that keeps the ladder on the ground. Get rid of me and my ilk, you get rid of the money problem. HOWEVER!- I can grow myself a stepstool in the basement, eliminate the ladder for me and it no longer applies to me., If I chose to sell a bit of stepstool to others, I create a whole new ladder.

There is no eliminating it.

Cuhail

Considering that "legal" prescription drugs kill more people than illegal drugs... there is no way to get rid of the drugs because Big Pharma makes a HUGE profit from them. And illegal drugs... well there is the idea that the US gov't makes huge profits from them as well... so good luck in trying to get rid of the drugs.

reply to post by deadline527


Keep it in the basement. They've got infra red on the helicopters now......

Originally posted by annestacey
... so good luck in trying to get rid of the drugs.

Not trying to get rid of them, just junkie laws of power not responsibility. There's no way my current parliament could ban weed let alone heroin, by the Evening Standard in London, our normal local newspaper, they had every toilet scanned at a recent Labour (ie governing party) National Conference, and they all tested positive for drugs, in particular Cocaine. Our current party far from just being incapable of organising a drug fest beer in a brewery, would just have their lips attached to all hedonistic consequences. Labour leaders use drugs, we should say....... we can't.

Simple. Legalize them all. Let the addicts have a field day killing themselves.

Under no circumstances should society provide anything for them. No shelter, no food, no rehab, no healthcare. Just let the addicts use and drop dead in the streets. I think stepping over the corpses of crackheads will prove a staunch deterrent to others and if legal the black market would all but disappear.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Simple. Legalize them all. Let the addicts have a field day killing themselves.

Under no circumstances should society provide anything for them. No shelter, no food, no rehab, no healthcare. Just let the addicts use and drop dead in the streets. I think stepping over the corpses of crackheads will prove a staunch deterrent to others and if legal the black market would all but disappear.

Or make them pay taxes like healthcare for their rehabilitation, should they go that way. And spend the rest of the taxes on real crime.....

Why does the OP feel we have to interfere with the drug culture at all? There are already too many laws. We don't need more laws and more police and more people imprisoned. We need less of these things.

Isn't your yoke tight enough?

Obsrvr

Originally posted by Obsrvr
Why does the OP feel we have to interfere with the drug culture at all? There are already too many laws. We don't need more laws and more police and more people imprisoned. We need less of these things.

OK, so let's make less illegal rules.

Isn't your yoke tight enough?

About to spark up.

If drugs were legalised in the UK things would get better, I'm not saying it would be perfect but it would be a start. I believe that people have the right to chose to take drugs, if it only effects them then why bother wasting police time and money in arresting them? The goverment should not be nanny like in telling us what to do.

Much of the profits in drugs come from the fact that they are illegal, hence why there are so many drug dealers as its an easy way to make money. Legalisation would also remove much of the violence surrounding drugs.

Simple. Legalize them all. Let the addicts have a field day killing themselves.

Under no circumstances should society provide anything for them. No shelter, no food, no rehab, no healthcare. Just let the addicts use and drop dead in the streets. I think stepping over the corpses of crackheads will prove a staunch deterrent to others and if legal the black market would all but disappear.

Yeah, great idea there. That way, after all the junkies are dead and all their needles are laying on the ground, all the little children that don't know what they are with irresponsible parents (of which there are double the amount compared to druggies in this world unfortunately), can go outside and play and pick them up. What fun.

The only problem about the War on Drugs is just that. The war on drugs is the problem that's laughable at. As someone already pointed out, drugs have been around and used for a LONG period of time, and even in North America very powerful and now illicit drugs (like coc aine) were prescribed by medical doctors or considered "ok" or "normal" to use for recreational purposes. Opium bars anyone?

That's not to say there aren't any bad side effects from using these drugs, there is no question about that. But as far as outlawing them to make things safe, it's really done nothing but waste time, money and precious resources that could be utilized more efficiently elsewhere.

Until the people smarten up (which will be never) and realise that the governments of the world are just pumping propaganda down our throats, and have been for decades (specifically the US government, sorry americans, but you started the war on drugs and influence other countries based upon it).

It's funny too since people are going to get high on whatever they want to get high from whether it's legal or not.

As for the OT, drugs "corrupting" society... Society will be corrupt whether you take drugs away or not. Remove the drug problem, and it will be replaced by something else. Everybody has their own "vice" so to speak. Some people like to come home and have a cigarette, some like to have sex, some fight, others work out, some drink, and some smoke a bit of weed or some other drug. Take drugs away, and humanity will be sure to find a suitable replacement. Drugs are not the problem.

[edit on 12-9-2008 by Temperamental69]

[edit on 12-9-2008 by Temperamental69]

Originally posted by Temperamental69
As for the OT, drugs "corrupting" society... Society will be corrupt whether you take drugs away or not. Remove the drug problem, and it will be replaced by something else. Everybody has their own "vice" so to speak. Some people like to come home and have a cigarette, some like to have sex, some fight, others work out, some drink, and some smoke a bit of weed or some other drug. Take drugs away, and humanity will be sure to find a suitable replacement. Drugs are not the problem.

Will all the corruption be replaced? Consider the Prohibition, the end of that led to some reduction in mob power? Great post though.

I think drugs should be legalized.

like above poster said, America tried a ban on alcohol in the 30's, what did it gain them?

several things.. a flourishing underground scene for booze.

a flourishing mafia, who did not hold punches in their fight for dominating this illegal (thus profittable) market.

Gouverment Agencys which grew out of control.

Same as the banning of drugs has produced.. but the goverment says they fight drugs but then go and import the stuff on massive scales.

How do you think the CIA funds their Blackest Ops ?

Besides, every citizen they can throw in jail can work for a slave's wage working for a big company that has a contract with the privatized jails..

If all the drug 'offenders' where not in Jail, there would be no shortage of prisons. I don't include persons who committed crimes to support their habits, but there are more then a small amount of people whose only 'crime' it was to smoke a couple reefers

The thing about this is if you want to stop drugs from infecting society then you have to get rid of governments....because they are the biggest drug dealers in the world. Just here in the US alone the government(CIA) keeps drug trafficking alive and well.They ship in the majority of it to fund a portion their black projects.Its not just here; as it is many other governments that do these things for one reason or another.

[edit on 9/12/2008 by CaptGizmo]