Ok, back in the seventies, we grew up in a small town, as punks, Goths, hippies teenagers. Drugs & drink were fun, then one day it happened, the dreaded Brown turned up. We all had a go, it was chic, sexy & sociable, slowly the situation changed as it does, the fun goes, and it starts to get serious. Instead of smoking it , people were injecting it. Crime rate was going through the roof, hell you all heard the story, the good children of that town started going bad.
Some had the sense to get out, many more didn’t. Over the years I lost a lot of friends, far too many it seems for so small a town. Parents lost children, & children lost parents. the cycle continues, they have been replaced by another generation, introduced to smack at far to young an age. Crack is there now as well. Gangs have taken control of the drugs, Girls working the roads. Old folks scared to go out.
This is not an exception, across the land it’s the same story. Heroin & Crack cocaine are easier to come by than marijuana. The culture of tobacco & drink is being replaced by something that is new to many. The response by parents & the authorities is for stiffer penalties, longer sentences for those involved, harsher punishments. It hasn’t made any difference.
I don’t know what the answer is, all I know is that there is a massive problem. I have a family now, I have been lucky & my life has changed, but what of the future for my children?
I look at the brave example set by the people of Holland, something had to be done, & in their case they are bold enough to try something radically different. One of the biggest problems of Heroin abuse is dirty needles & dirty gear. Why not give them the pure stuff, & clean needles.Whether it is illegal or not, the prohibition of drugs does not work, people are still going to get it & take it. Class A drugs are part of life & Class A drugs are here to stay.
Should we then make everything legal? Does this lead to an increase in addiction & crime? Does it expose children of a younger age to dangers that we hardly had.
I suppose I am writing this thread to increase my knowledge of how different approaches tackle these issues. I would be interested to hear from anyone in Holland who has views on the decriminalization of Class A drugs, whether they think it was right or wrong, good or bad.

What do I know? The problems associated with clean heroin are probably small, compared to the problems that will come if crack cocaine is easily available.
Let us hope that we take care to teach our children well, so they can make informed & educated decisions that will lay on the path before them.
Thanks in advance for any input.
Cheers.

Sometimes I think if it would be a good idea to legalize all drugs. I am not convinced that everyone will drag themselves to work or school every day all doped up. That hasn't happened with marijuana here.

People are afraid it will cause problems for learning ability if kids use weed. Perhaps that is true, howrver, at this moment I am more converned about the level of education of the education system itself that are dumbing down kids because the standard has dropped from being probably if not the best in Europe and therefore the world to a lower standard. Theys ay kids these days have trouble with grammar and spelling skills and that calculus and math standards have dropped as well.

I d o not believe working adults will shoot up on heroine en masse en lose their hands in machines on Monday morning.

So perhaps I am in favor of legalizing alld rugs. I think perhaps it is possible tha if a larger group of people regularly use mind altering substances it would do the world some good. Despite possible OD's, the general realzation may help prevent stress caused cancer. perhaps it willa waken people spiritually a little more so they won't be so eager to join the army and kill another person half a world away. Perhaps they will see how life is all connected.

Anyway, you know the deal if you have used shrooms .e.g.

It is probably healthy to step out of yourself now and then to relativate a little.

Any problems or increased problems need to be carried by society as a whole and that is simply a matter of choice and willingness to invest in information campaigns on risks, investing some in rehab centers etc. In short, social values and a choice for a spiritual society.

Thanks a lot for the reply Verger, didnt the NL relax the laws on class a's about the same time as Marijuana decriminlisation? You are right, we need a more caring society/community to deal with the problems that arise, but by the same token, if you cant get through the day without mugging, stabbing, stealing, then the same community should have more control of the justice system to show that this is not the way to behave. I believe the state has far too much control over the way we live, too many decisions are made for us, not by us. It is not up to them to tell us what our ideals should be. Maybe what we do as consenting adults has nothing to do with anyone, so long as it doesnt affect others. Its a huge subject, & needs to be discussed openly & honestly, it affects everyone. Education has a HUGE role to play in this too. When I discovered at the age of 13 that cannabis wasnt so terrible, I began to think that everything they told me was a lie. 35 years later I am still addicted to cigarettes, they told me they were legal & ok. I still think they lie every time they open their mouths. My thanks to Tony Bliar for proving my point!
Cheers Verger, heres hoping too for more tolerance, peace, love & understanding, (whats so funny?)

Actually I don't know what precisely happened. I know that marijuana was found to be less harmful than say heroine. And that therefore we have made a distinction between soft and hard drugs. A division now increasingly under threat by zealots who use it for misrepresentation.
A history of our drug policy...I should read that myself and see what lines of thinking they were following back then.

You are right. Governments decide for us what is best because we run an economy based world. It needs mindless worker drones otherwise civilization itself will collapse.

That is what they think. I think civilization is already collapsing due to climate change and peak oil.
I sure hope you know what that is.

Well, cigs. Let me tell you another snippet of info on life in the west.

Our government is working very hard to ban this new 'electronic cigartette'. I know why. It is a thread to the VAT they get on tobacco. On tobacco there is VAT plus another added tax here. This provides a revenue for the treasure chest.

I hope you lose them cigs. It is a way to diminish revenue for the government.