Would it really make sense to legalize drugs to collect taxes and stop illegal use?
It depends on which drug(s) you want to legalize. Cocaine and heroin should never be legalized. Heroin has a strong physical addiction and very painful withdrawal that compels its users to go to whatever extreme is necessary to get their fix. It doesn’t take very long for the users to go from getting high to calling heroin their medicine because that is what it becomes to them. Cocaine has a very strong psychological addiction that compels them to keep coming back for more even when they keep getting poor quality cocaine through a bait and switch scam. Marijuana on the other hand should be legalized, regulated and tax. Even the strongest grades of marijuana is weaker than alcohol. For those claiming that legalizing marijuana is a bad idea because there would still be a black market for it, there is still a black market for cigarettes and alcohol even though they are legal and regulated.
I originally asked this question in “politics” a while back. We have been waging a “war” on drugs for 40 years and yet, cocaine and heroin are more plentiful, cheaper, and purer today than they were when we started in the 60’s. The “war” on drugs has been a massive waste of manpower and money. It has become a self perpetuating industry that is a bigger failure than GM, AIG and Merrill Lynch combined. Most drugs should be legalized for adults, taxed excessively (with those taxes earmarked for prevention & education), and distributed only through pharmacies and hospitals. as to committing crime or driving under the influence Penalties for crimes committed under influence would be in additional to the original crime. If robbery gets you 5 years you get an additional 5 for robbery under the influence.) Selling ANY controlled drug to a minor is 10 years in jail, second offense 20. Third is death.
Illegal drugs will never be made legal. These drugs can not be controlled like alcohol and cigarettes. Purity would have to be controlled, and it is not. Even IF they were made legal and heavily taxed, there would still be black market for these drugs due to the heavy tax – people can get them cheaper on the black market. This happens with cigarettes now…So it will not solve the drug problem either. There is no one right answer to this debate, lots of factor lead to drug use – jobless, addiction, peers, crimes, etc.
