Well if drink was illegal, less people would be inclined to drink it, so there wouldn't be as much death. The law would be the first deterrent, as it is with most people.
They tried alcohol prohibition in America. People didn't stop drinking. In fact, it facilitated the Mafia which generated so much money, they endure to this day.
That didn't altogether hold true for prohibition, but that was largely due to altering the denaturing substances...I think.
Of course it would increase. A lot of drug users or would be drug users may be priced out of the market or unsure on where to buy at present. If it was over the counter I'm sure usage would increase. Like FMCG products - the greater the visibility and distribution the more you sell.
They're not though. It's people from all walks of life. It's that small percentage of people with addictions that create problems for themselves, legal or illegal. Most folk who take recreational drugs should be taxed, instead of that money being used for more nefarious purposes. It's a lot of money, don't make me go all Farage and say it could get you £350 million a week and save the NHS, but it's a lot of money that goes to 'criminals' when we could be reaping the benefit.
In most cases, drug dealers are not actually dealing with the dregs of society. Like Sterling, you've got a very Daily Mail view of the matter.
Never heard of moonshine? There would be plenty of deaths from unregulated alcohol, much like the illegal drug trade...
If we're talking specifically about Coke, quite the opposite is true. It's more true of Heroin. Mugs game.
I've just stumbled upon this thread and the irony overload is exceptional. People arguing that booze is fine and all 'drugs' are bad is just too much to take when it is universally agreed that if alcohol was suddenly discovered today it would immediately be classed as the most dangerous drug on the planet. But I'll go along with it anyway.... Any thoughts on Sir Winston Churchill taking cocaine during WWII to keep awake during emergency cabinet meetings, or indeed enjoying MDMA of a weekend? Or if we look closer to home perhaps William Wilberforce and his opium habit? Really pisses me off the differing attitudes towards who is taking a drug. For example, Lennon is widely loved and revered as one of the greatest Englishmen of all time yet Pete Doherty is a "smackhead waster". Work that one out.
