Government could save £14 billion

[Mr Jason B]

A report published yesterday suggests that legalisation of drugs in the UK could save our government £14 billion. In adition to that, the government could also earn over £1 billion a year from tax on the newly legalised drugs
Legalisation of drugs could save UK £14bn, says study | Society | The Guardian

Ah well, it is not like the government is in dire need of money or anything, and after all, the current system is working brilliantly so I doubt things will change anytime soon

[GATESHEAD MOB]

Originally Posted by Mr Jason B

A report published yesterday suggests that legalisation of drugs in the UK could save our government £14 billion. In adition to that, the government could also earn over £1 billion a year from tax on the newly legalised drugs
Legalisation of drugs could save UK £14bn, says study | Society | The Guardian

Ah well, it is not like the government is in dire need of money or anything, and after all, the current system is working brilliantly so I doubt things will change anytime soon

If drugs were legalised then the country would come to a standstill, quite literally people would stand in the street's licking lamposts and what not

Plus the government would lose out more in tax as certain people would prefer to stay at home and not work just to get high everyday

[Mr Jason B]

Originally Posted by H3AD_SH0TZ

Plus the government would lose out more in tax as certain people would prefer to stay at home and not work just to get high everyday

lol,absolute rubbish - the people that want to do that are already doing it! Do you think the fact that drugs are ilegal make any difference?

[Noggin1980]

I'd like to see both drugs and prostituation leagalised, regulated and taxed, there are downsides to legalisation but imo (and now backed up by this study) the upsides far far outweigh them.

[NewMan]

Originally Posted by Mr Jason B

Ah well, it is not like the government is in dire need of money or anything, and after all, the current system is working brilliantly so I doubt things will change anytime soon

Naaah, they've got cash flow sorted when they announce some new "green" taxes in the budget this month (I swear, people are going to be fitted with CO2 monitors over their mouths, and taxed on volume if this lot have their way - of course, MPs will be able to claim it as an expense!).

Besides, there's a definite "drugs are bad, mkay" attitude that will never be overcome.

[GATESHEAD MOB]

Originally Posted by Mr Jason B

lol,absolute rubbish - the people that want to do that are already doing it! Do you think the fact that drugs are ilegal make any difference?

Yes

[Noggin1980]

That report shows that even if twice as many people start taking drugs after legalisation the country would still be nearly £5 billion a year better off and thats before any taxes are taken into account. Thats likely to be a few billion a year even with light taxation.

The benefits are many most obviously in the crime area, it would free up masses of police and court time allowing them to focus on more important things as well as freeing up the prisons too allow us to keep the more serious offenders in for longer. Gang violence and crime would drop dramatically.

There is no perfect solution when people want to take things that are bad for them and occasionally fatal but legalisation is the best option availible. Do people honestly think that canabis causes more problems than alcohol?

[Mr Jason B]

Originally Posted by H3AD_SH0TZ

Yes

Drugs are illegal , not unavailable. The sort of person you are referring to can get drugs whenever they want, and are already staying at home all day to get high, and they will not change. What will change, are those people will no longer have to commit crime to fund their habit.

Also the people that currently choose to do drugs, whilst holding down a steady job and living a normal life(trust me, theres lots out there) will no longer be classed as criminals, will not have to assosciate themselves with criminals when purchasing the drugs and will actually be contributing to society through the tax the pay on each purchase.

What a crazy idea eh?

[Sonic67]

Why not legalise the occassional bit of speeding, copyright theft and everything else? We all do that don't we? This would free up the courts etc etc.

Seriously. If legalising drugs is such a good idea why hasn't it caught on worldwide?

[gtcarling]

Sort out MP`s expenses that would save a few quid.

[Sonic67]

Originally Posted by Mr Jason B

Drugs are illegal , not unavailable. The sort of person you are referring to can get drugs whenever they want, and are already staying at home all day to get high, and they will not change. What will change, are those people will no longer have to commit crime to fund their habit.

Yes they will. Plenty of people commit crime to fund drinking and gambling habits. They are legal. Anyone who wants something badly enough will get it. If they lose their job because of their habit, whether it's gambling, drinking, drugs or anything else they will turn to crime to fund it.

[Mr Jason B]

Originally Posted by Sonic67

Yes they will. Plenty of people commit crime to fund drinking and gambling habits. They are legal. Anyone who wants something badly enough will get it. If they lose their job because of their habit, whether it's gambling, drinking, drugs or anything else they will turn to crime to fund it.

The point it is it was legailsed, it would be quality controlled and not overpriced as it currently is on the black market, so smackheads would not have to go out thieving and commiting burglaries to fund their 500 quid a week habit. This is just not my opinion but the views of experts in the field.

[Squiffy]

Originally Posted by Sonic67

Seriously. If legalising drugs is such a good idea why hasn't it caught on worldwide?

The victorians seemed to do OK despite widespread availability of opium, laudanum, etc.

I think I'd have to turn your argument on its head. Despite drugs being illegal pretty much worldwide, it is still a huge trade. If making drugs illegal was such a good idea, why has the policy failed?

[loz]

I understood that statistics showed that drug usage increases with prohibition.

Mainly because prohibition creates a financial incentive for criminals to create demand, and create dependency through pushers.

Remove that financial incentive, you remove the criminals and pushers, and demand falls.

[LFC_SL]

Originally Posted by Sonic67

Why not legalise the occassional bit of... copyright theft

Copyright infringement is not theft, and I would also suggest you are missing the point of intellectual property law to be casually ignoring the past 300 years