“If we sat down and talked to all the families who had lost someone to motor accidents we would ban cars yes? How about aeroplanes?, Oh and drownings? Are going to ban water?
Some of the arguments for continuing what to all intents and purposes has killed 'the ones they love' are infantile as these are occurring on the watch of prohibition.

Who would vote for such failure other than the sincerely stupid?

Big ups to those who are prepared to put their elected office at risk in support of that which they sincerely believe. Such courage is to be applauded and encouraged.”

“Some of the comments here are simply personal opinions with no evidence whatsoever. The facts are simple - The "War on Drugs" has not ever met one of it's goals. It has not just failed to reach say 10% or 20% of it's targets but actually gone backwards. Since the WOD first began in 1971, drugs are now stronger, cheaper and easier to get than ever before. In the process, over a million people have died, tens of millions incarcerated and an artificial black market has evolved worth $400 billion annually - an industry bigger than the world's oil and manufacturing markets and only 2nd to weapon sales.

The real question should be, what has prohibition achieved and why do we need it? Most drug users are able to get the drugs they want already so it hasn't slowed down supply. Drug use is saturated and continues to increase so demand hasn't been affected. Harsh penalties have been proven not to deter most users and dealers so punishment doesn't work. Even the toughest countries in the world have comparable drug problems. Like the US that has the harshest drug laws in the west but also the highest rate of illicit drug use in the world. Or the many countries that have the death penalty but higher than average rates of drug use e.g. Vietnam, Thailand etc.

The lies and exaggeration put out by the authorities have kept the public ignorant of the facts. For example, alcohol is much more dangerous than ecstasy, cannabis, LSD, Khat, GHB etc. if taken properly but we are told they are addictive, cause mental health disorders and massive societal problems. But this is simply not true. Even heroin is non toxic and can be safely taken everyday for decades causing no health problems apart from addiction. Alcohol kills and hospitalised more people than all illicit drugs combined. This doesn't mean illicit drugs are safe but like alcohol they can usually be taken in moderation without any major problem. There are exceptions of course.

One of the biggest arguments is "sending the wrong message" or giving easy access to teens. Many surveys show that kids can now get drugs easier than alcohol. Drug dealers don't require age ID but licensed liquor shops do. Making drugs legal would actually decrease use by minors as there would be no drug dealers in a regulated market. And what is the "wrong message"? Research now shows that most drug education only works on those kids who were in the lowest risk groups already. The DARE anti-drug program in the US has not worked and in some cases made it worse. Most kids laugh at today's exaggerated drug education because they see first hand how the warnings of doom and gloom rarely happen with non addictive, recreational drugs. They then become cynical and may ignore important drug warnings about hard drugs. A bit like The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

But the biggest myth by far is that those who are pro-legalisation are pro-drugs. These people are just realists who are sick of the lies from governments, moral crusaders and the media who all have an agenda. They are sick of people dying or overdosing on shoddy drugs made by criminals in backyard labs. They are sick of paying taxes to jail harmless, non violent drug users and the fact that drugs account for over 50% of all crime. They want drugs to be considered a medical/social issue and those suffering from addiction or a drug problem to be treated by a doctor. Legalisation doesn't mean a free for all but a system that tries to balance the science of addiction with drug use/social issues/recreational demands and the factors that drive 230 million people worldwide to use drugs. The message will always be that drugs can be dangerous and the aim will be to reduce drug use and harm as much as possible. The current strategies have failed miserably for the last 60-100 years.

Remember before drug prohibition, addicts were simply prescribed their drug of addiction until they finished their addiction cycle. They worked, had families and lived like any oth”

“All drugs are dangerous. Some drugs are more dangerous than others.
Try looking at one dangerous drug - Heroin.
In the 1960s, heroin was available to addicts on a doctor's prescription.
In the 1960s, Britain decided that the solution to the problem of heroin addiction was to proscribe the substance and make possession of heroin an offence which carried a hefty jail sentence.
Reasonable people expect a solution to a problem to have a positive effect and, in this case, there should have been a reduction in the number of heroin addicts.
However, far from reducing the problem, the problem has got worse.
There were 10,000 heroin addicts in the U.K. in the mid 1960s.
Today, there are approximately 250,000 heroin addicts ¿ An increase of 2500%.

If politicians introduced a law that they thought would reduce road injuries and deaths but, did the exact opposite the public would be furious. However, it seems that when it comes to drugs a sizeable section of the public, usually led by the mainstream media, want more of the failed solution.

The illegal drugs trade is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs millions of people on both sides of the law. Most of the time, the various drug enforcement groups catch drug users and suppliers at street level. Customs and police hardly ever catch the big dealers and that is partly due to the fact that the big guys are very rich and have friends in highly influential places throughout the world.

Let's have a proper, intelligent debate about a serious subject.”

“poll dancer(steve uplands)
the trouble with u is if people say something that you dont like,then its you against the world
you cant attack everybody that you dont agree with.you think your debating,no your arguing GROW UP!”

“@richard, here and there.
The point that I am making is that you have already decided what is unreasonable before a debate begins. How can a debate be reasonable if it does not deal with proposals that you don't want. You, richard, here and there, are unreasonable, fixed rigid in your attitude and unfit to to take part in the setting up of an agenda on the subject.”

“We have another person willing to talk about how to sort out the drugs problem in Wales. It's fine to say that we should increase the the fines and prison sentences, but these don't work as deterrents, especially given that heroin abuse has increased a thousand fold since its prohibition. Also research shows that both marijuana and ecstasy are both less socio-economically damaging then alcohol. The councillor is right to try and bring about some sort of discussion about it, given most the arguments follow the cycle of its illegal because its dangerous and its dangerous because its illegal. An dit is this thinking that puts heroin addicts onto methadone, a substance which has been proved to be far more dangerous and addictive then the original heroin.”

“Let The Debate Begin. I am a parent of a 15 year old drugs victim, I hope that the Time, Date and Venue of "The Debate" will be a Full Front Page Announcment on the Llanelli Star - SOON. I am sure that I am speaking for most parents and families of victims and those who worry about their children. I don't wish to discuss my views on here but just want people to know that the Front Page Article has really touched a nerve.”

“Poll dancer, Is your comment meant to infer that drugs should be made legal and any other opinion is unreasonable? not quite sure what your point is.
and if my presumation is correct then im proud to hold an unreasonable position. If you can give a sensible reason why drugs should be legalised I would be delighted to hear it”

“@richard, here and there.
I hope that you will never be asked to decide what is reasonable and what is not reasonable.”

“Every poster on this subject that has shown a pro legalisation leaning has put absolutly NO valid reasoning behind their argument. Legalising drugs just because the powers that be cant win the fight against them is total rubbish and has no place in any reasoned debate.
I would urge you all to listen carefully to Steve from teen challenge.
MAny people on here are quick to dissmiss us as rhetoric spouting effigy burners with no useful suggestions. I put it back to you that by allowing the legalisation of drugs in the UK would send a signal far and wide that the UK authorities are too weak to fight.
Give me some solid SENSIBLE reasons why drugs should be legalised in this country. No ive a better idea, go and preach them to Hannahs family.”