Yes

Not all drugs should be legalised. Drugs such as cannabis that are not dangerous and can have medical benefits should be legalised.

By nationalising or decriminalising drugs, people have safer access to drugs and alternatives while police can have more time to educate communities about drug use and help people rather than focus on arrests.

See the amount of tax revenue that has been raised in states like Colorado from cannabis and the way that it has been spent on community programmes. Visit Canada and see for yourself how much more pleasant and civilised it is to have cannabis dispenseracies, rather than cannabis being distributed by hooded teenagers on street corners.

Those who believe they can avoid the law will not be affected by the harsher punishments, so legal methods of help would be more enticing.

Drugs are an addictive illness and should be treated as such, so now help should be given to those wishing to stop using. However I am against decriminalising drugs, as many have recognised side affects, including the risks of criminality and mental health issues.

Look into the data sets in nations where drug policy has been considered medical rather than criminal.

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/research-and-analysis/2023/09/repeat-violence-scotland-qualitative-approach/documents/research-briefing-poverty-violence-drug-economy/research-briefing-poverty-violence-drug-economy/govscot%3Adocument/research-briefing-poverty-violence-drug-economy.pdf

This research done in Scotland found that deprived areas retain and feature more drug offences with dealing AND usage.

Police prioritisation can be moved to other areas like knife crime and domestic violence and continued sensitivity training

Experts project that the UK government could generate up to £1.5 billion in annual net revenue and savings by legalising and taxing cannabis. Reports from organisations like the Transform Drug Policy Foundation and studies dating back several years estimate a net benefit to the Treasury ranging from approximately £1 billion to £1.5 billion ANNUALLY.

People don’t have to take drugs if they don’t want to, but people who do want to will have the freedom to

In portugal, a country that has decriminalised drugs, the proportion of prisoners sentenced for drugs has fallen from 40% to 15%
Rates of drug use have remained consistently below the EU average
Source: https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-portugal-setting-the-record-straight

“By 2018, Portugal’s number of heroin addicts had dropped from 100,000 to 25,000. Portugal had the lowest drug-related death rate in Western Europe, one-tenth of Britain and one-fiftieth of the U.S. HIV infections from drug use injection had declined 90%.”
Source: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/is-portugals-drug-decriminalization-a-failure-or-success-the-answer-isnt-so-simple/

Norway and Portugal have had massive success with their slogan of "From punishment to help", both of those countries have amazing statistics on their death rates and consumption rates

https://revolving-doors.org.uk/rethinking-drugs-criminalisation-is-causing-harm/#:~:text=The%20Misuse%20of%20Drugs%20Act,and%2C%20in%20fact%2C%20harmful.

having the highest drug death rate in Europe (scotland) consistently is unacceptable when the opportunity to reduce political, social, and medical stigma has always been there. people with addictions often understand they're in a bad situation but aren't able to or are unaware of what exactly they can do to properly get the help they need. the opportunity to follow other countries with the legalisation of weed can also create productive employment and large taxes on the products like there is with tobacco which can then be used to aid fund the crippling nhs and thr slipping school system

Most people who take drugs are not addicted, and similarly, the use of police funds to tackle drug gangs can be greater focused if the majority of buyers are satiated by access to legally available drugs.

In life when we resist things, we make it worse. When we make space for things and accomodate them, then we can make them work for us.

This is a universal law that is self evident everywhere you go.

Try arguing with someone with a different view point. See how far you get by berating them, bashing your opinion over theirs heads and forcing your opinion down their throat and not acknowledging theirs.

Then try treating them with respect, listening with intent, acknowledging and understanding and then thoughtfully explaining your point of view.

When people dont thinj drugs are taboo, drugs use is normalised and there are safe, legal avenues for peoppe to know what they’re buying and to get help without shame then antisocial drug use will fall.

Drug distribution and production is a multi billion pound global industry that is exclusively run by criminals. Take ownership of that industry, tax it, get income and remove the danger of the drugs. allow help for recovering adults and allow users to safely take safe and moderated drugs recreationally. there is no downside.

Portugal decriminalised all drugs under certain quantities because 44% of their population was addicted to heroin 15 years ago.
Nowadays that figure is under 1% it's almost as if putting addicts in a cage for a few years doesn't make them feel any better about themselves! There's more drugs in prison than outside of it too.

One only needs to look at the success of drug policies in Portugal to see how our current approach is backward and causes needless suffering within our society. By principal governments should not be making lifestyle choices for their citizens, we can see that a psychoactive substance such as alcohol being legal does not hinder a society and other substances should be treated the same.

I work full time as a Clinical Coder and predominantly see alcohol related diseases as well as abuse / violence.
I have seen IVDU patients for things like crack and heroin - which is why I still support them being illegal.
Mushrooms, MDMA - I have yet to see come through as the main reason for someone being in ill health (not denying that it has happened) but I guarantee it wouldn’t be the drug itself, but the way it was used or taken.
The Substances themselves aren’t the problem but peoples ignorance to the understanding of substances they take and the quality of street drugs.

I’m a recovering addict though cannabis and alcohol are not good for me but they are plenty of people who they can help at the right time and places. The illness of addiction is not helped by criminalizing it just makes it harder for people to reach out.

A mature and further evolved than any current government would have the collective intelligence to sort the issue of drug users against suppliers by not politicising the argument with emotive exaggerations and untruths (currently held through ignorance)

Drugs can make people unpredictable no matter the circumstance which is why it is best to avoid the use of drugs

Illegal:
UK cannabis deaths 2022 = 26
UK magic mushroom deaths 1993 to 2020 = 2
UK LSD deaths 1993 to 2020 = 7
UK MDMA deaths 2022 = 51

Legal:
UK alcohol deaths 2022 = 10,048

What does convicting the user of a drug actually do? People still take drugs and risk it. Decriminalise usage

"We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

-John Daniel Ehrlichman, White house council and assistant to president Nixon

Drugs that aren’t regulated and are distributed through criminal channels have more of a threat than they would if they were properly regulated.

Portugal have a relaxed drug policy and don't treat it as a criminal issue, yet they don't have as big of a drug problem as the UK

Drugs should be decriminalised and a harm reduction policy implemented where if you are found to be using "problem drugs" (heroin or crack) you will be referred to a rehab facility.

A “No, punish harder” approach to drug policy simply doesn’t work. The UK already has some of the toughest drug laws in Europe, yet we suffer a third of all drug‑related deaths on the continent and spend £19 billion a year on drug harms while investing only £0.5 billion in treatment. The Home Office’s own research shows no link between harsher penalties and lower drug use, but strong evidence that enforcement increases violence by destabilising illegal markets. Most people prosecuted as dealers are vulnerable—young, exploited, or addicted—and…  Read more imprisoning them doesn’t disrupt supply. In contrast, countries like Portugal and Switzerland saw overdose deaths fall by over 80% and crime drop dramatically when they shifted to health‑led models. Treatment saves £4 for every £1 spent and cuts reoffending far more effectively than prison. The data is clear: punishment fails, while health‑based reform saves lives, reduces crime, and costs less.

The evidence from countries that have decriminalised or legalised drugs shows that crime is down, addiction is less or the same, public money is saved, and treatment for addiction is made easier.

There are examples of other countries in the world where drugs (or some specific kinds of drugs) are legalised. Portugal, Netherlands and some countries in the Americas (the latter only for weed) have either decriminalised or legalised drugs. This has prevented users from buying from the black market which fuels gang warfare. It has also shown to lower addiction and provide a safe environment for addicts to seek help.

Compare the US to countries like Portugal, Uruguay and the Netherlands and tell me the drug war works with a straight face.

Why are we criminalising people who are ill and using drugs to cope? What’s the goal here? Prisons are overcrowded already and even if they don’t get sentenced to time, they will still have a record that can prevent gainful employment. This makes the whole issue worse

Go look outside if that happens gonna be seeing a lot of people looking like the hunchback from that one movie.

if you take the money out of the illegal market and place it in the legal market youll be able to get money from people who use which wouldnt have sales tax on so you would be earing more tax revenue

Bans or "wars on drugs" are failures, and they typically lead to a host of other problems more significant than the counsequences of letting people smoke in their homes or in gov. sponsored safe havens.