Would legalisation and regulation of drugs increase anti-social behaviour?
It is difficult to predict what would happen to drug fuelled anti-social behaviour when drugs are legalised. Drugs usage patterns would probably change and it is unclear what the net effect of this would be. People who offend under the influence of drugs would continue to be liable to criminal sanctions, regardless of legal status. It should be noted that the main source of drug related anti-social behaviour is alcohol. Drugs like cannabis and ecstasy do not normally cause aggression in the same way that alcohol can, and in any case, an increase in the use of these drugs might correspond with a decrease in alcohol consumption. Where illegal drugs do cause anti-social behaviour, it is usually prohibition fuelled criminality that is the main problem, not drug intoxication itself.
