@@jdlc903 it is true. The upper middle class take drugs for recreational use which seems to be more openly accepted! But many poorer people, especially homeless, take drugs to drown out their misery! Both alcohol and illegal drugs are heavily associated with mental illness! The biggest problem is that it tends to be paid for through crime! I don't agree with decriminalisation, but both sides of the argument have valid points!
Absolutely. I'm pro-legalisation and regulation, but at the end of the day it's up to the individual to weigh up the risks and deal with the consequences, but this the problem with a society that mandates 'caution: contents hot' labels on cups of coffee.
not every case, but not every addict is as you think. many are addicted to just 1 drug. and would engage if it meant getting there drugs on precription under the terms of any outside use terminates your script
You think the gangs wont just turn to robbery, prostitution, pimping, home invasions, ect. There have been idiots screeching about decriminalization since drug laws were put in place. Prohibition never works huh? Try going to an asian country that has severe penalties, they don't have anywhere near the addiction levels we're seeing in the west. You are a liar.
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Mild recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
This actually isn't true, if every drug was 100% pure overdoses would be WAY more higher, most coke people take is like 20/30%, same with heroin, imagine if you could buy 100% drugs from legal places? What a crazy idea that would lead to misery addiction and suffering.
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Mild recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
Yes, because the people who use crystal meth will all have won Darwin awards. But seriously, if previously criminalised drugs can be regulated and taxed like alcohol and tobacco, the harmful side effects can be mitigated in a more controllable manner. It is uncontrolled drug use that creates the criminality.
I think you missed the point. In your example Holland and Barrett would be in prison for drug dealing although their customers would not face any charges. In the current situation the customers would be in prison and the police find it too difficult to prosecute Holland and Barrett.
One was already in proliferation enough that it would be much harder to enforce legislation Molly isint there yet it might not be if criminalized properly
Alcohol has never been made illegal, Molly is still, currently, illegal. From a purely practical point of view, it would be impossible to ban alcohol due to its historical and cultural pervasiveness. Molly, being still illegal, simply only requires the enforcement of laws currently on the books. Wouldn't it be better to stop Molly becoming as widespread as alcohol, if you could?
"People who come into contact with drugs " he makes it sound like its forced on unfortunate people. They CHOOSE to take drugs ffs! I grew up hanging around with people who all dabbled but I never once took so much as a spliffs. You have a choice to take or not!
Oh yes, they always talk as if the drug abusers themselves are some kind of pets or children, as if they are just witless victims and that these are a kind of human or 'subhuman' that has no sentience and ought to be run by him and other elite controller humans. They can make or change all these subhumans have no choice but to do. I'm with you, the actual issue is the drug users, they choose it, they are CHOOSING this or they are putting it away. They are not, contrary to these progressives smarties, they are not some foolish 'human pets' who simply blather into whatever direction they go. "We can make them do this" and 'We can do this to control their behavior" is just arrogant and so very dehumanizing. They think of themselves as Gods over the 'Pleb things' they want to toy with.
@@jonathandewberry289 Drug 'abusers', lol. Always loved that phrase, makes it sound like the drugs haven't consented. Drug 'users' is far more accurate, regardless of what you're using them for.
@Flaubert's Parrot Surely that's because the career people, consultants and lawmakers (they aren't called public servants anymore) but surely its because they mishandled your behavioral controls? After all, you're not really a 'real evolved person' and so there is no way you could be fully responsible for that?
I don't know why they let perter Hitchins speak on these matters. Surely somebody who has always strongly fought against something without having any direct experience with drug users or using drugs himself has nothing to add on this conversation.
@@DavidA-ps1qr It's what they always say whenever they taste defeat and it reveals their lack of honour. Had the same guy beat Peter they wouldn't be saying he wasn't the best person then.
@@HoratioKJV Again you're spot on. I remember when he regularly appeared on Question Time and the audience used to boo and jeer at him. Then, once they started to applaud him, the BBC took him off. Typical of how scared the left wing are of him. I shall never forget how he completely destroyed Russell Brand. :-) :-)
I've always thought Peter Hitchens was a hypocrite, he also loves to play the victim. Strange how alcohol is never mentioned which kills more people than any other drug.
Peter Hitchens almost always mentions alcohol you just haven't listened to him speak on the topic enough. He has pointed out that when something is legalised it is extremely difficult to ban it again. He also said that if alcohol was only created recently, we likely wouldn't allow it.
@@sw1000xg What? You don't think alcohol is dangerous? It's an extremely harmful drug. Levels beyond cannabis but alcohol is already legal and would be impossible to even try and ban.
As opposed to Mr Hitchens' 'They're all legal in effect already! Reeee!'? Lot of respect for Mr Hitchens, even when I disagree with him, but he's so far off on this issue he's not even on the same planet. 'Stealth legalisation' indeed, what a load of utter horse crap.
@Matt Washer mate you don't know what you are on about, the latest yearly figures show 102000 people were sentenced for drug offences, 10000 of which went to prison. You say you are worried about the harm they cause, well how is it helping sending a drug addict to the one place that is awash with drugs?
@Matt Washer "Who actually goes to jail for possession?" About 16% of the prison population? ~13,000 people p/month? Is everyone who uses 'illegal' drugs caught and imprisoned? No, of course not, but then neither are 100% of murderers, and you'd hardly say there was a 'stealth legalisation' of murder, would you? As for 'young people', why is that anybody else's problem? Surely the parents should be able to instruct and inform their children, or at the very least keep control of them, and I tell you now, keeping Pandora's box closed, and pretending that the box doesn't exist is futile and stupid, humans have sought out ways to alter their consciousness before we'd even come down out of the trees, and youngsters who feel the need to rebel against authority will be even more attracted to 'illicit' substances. Considering three times as many people die from alcohol than die from ALL other drugs combined, will you now be calling for for alcohol prohibition too? *Statistics from ONS and Gov.uk. Just type 'UK prison population' in your preferred search engine and plug the numbers into a calculator at your own leisure, and yes, I rounded up to the nearest thousand, please don't bother if you come up with a discrepancy of a couple of hundred or less, hence the tilde.
If you don't think doctors should give out drugs legally (which are less harmful id argue but let's say there not) because you think that's wrong why would you let anyone give them out legally?
@@lukecockburn1140 Prescription drugs kill more people than anything else on the planet. Do some research. All have side effects too. Its no longer medicine it is drug dealing disguised.
@@lynncuthbert2307 that's not a argument for decriminalization & I've not looked at the data but if imagine they help more than harm which is why impoverished countries want & or get given them by charities but I belief we have major health issues in our country caused by food among other things & over & inadequately prescribed drugs is a problem the solution isint legalizing all or not prescribing any & there is a difference between drugs not all prescribed drugs are the same & not all are very different from illegal ones & not all illegal are the same I don't know pharmacology but there's huge variation between drugs legal or illegal & id assume most legal medicinal drugs are not psychoactive & if so are for Anastasia
@Leona Bastet Agreed. You cannot compare alcohol to heroin, even the law separates drugs into different categories based on their effect. It could be argued that western civilisation has evolved to cope with consumption of alcohol over thousands of years, smoking crack is somewhat newer.
@Leona Bastet People aren't generally alcoholics, but they still exist. Why make the comparison between crack/heroin and not cannabis? How many people have died of cannabis compared to alcohol?
Dont you think the health sevice has enough problems with the effects of alchohol abuse without adding cannabis abuse to that..? Do 2 wrongs make a right..?
@Leona Bastet do you have a peer-reviewed paper as evidence for your claims? Alcohol is known to cause memory loss, liver damage etc. yet it's still legal. Tobacco causes cancer, cannabis doesn't need to be consumed with tobacco. Cannabis doesn't cause violence or aggression, unlike alcohol, it does the opposite. Clearly you haven't had any "first hand" experience. Your anecdotes aren't evidence.
People HAVE gone to prison for drugs in the UK. To say it hasnt worked because its not been legal enough, is the same foolish argument socialists make about socialism, libertarians make about capitalism, COVID scientists make about lockdowns. If it worked, then youd see positive effects from it, no matter the severity of the implmentation or effects.
I suggest you read a book called "Reefer Madness: and other tales from the American Underground" by Eric Schlosser, and also look up the work of L.E.A.P (Law enforcement against prohibition) to see what utter nonsense that is.
@@JwayT make them all legal in a mix between recreational and prescribed like we have with alcohol and ritalin. If you agree our current approach doesnt work, then you shouldnt argue for the same but stronger. A completely new aproach is required
Exactly without regulation or taxation, decriminalisation achieves nothing long term, and if you regulate and tax it as is badcocks approach, the black market would be booming, get rid of the incentive to buy online by not taxing it or restricting it in any way
I agree I support badcocks viewpoint but he wasn’t great for our side in getting the argument out their, someone more knowledgeable should have spoken and debated Hitchens
Regardless of which side of the fence you sit I do not see the argument for decriminalisation.Legalise or vs prohibit.I can’t see how enabling the criminal element or not having law around the what,when,where helps.Of defined safe quality in an approved location away from vulnerable might be one example of legalisation.Decriminalisation is well ok we give up,just get on with it.
I do drugs sometimes. Then again, so do all of you. Alcohol would NEVER be legal if it was created today. So how can we be so hypocritical and keep things like weed illegal?
I've never seen anyone being money on the street so that they can buy 'tobacco or alcohol'. If they do beg money to buy those item and other non drug items, it will usually be that it is because they had spent the money that they did have on drugs. Do you doubt this?
@@paulmuaddib3470 Do you doubt that the people on the streets who beg for money to buy tobacco have already spent their own money on drugs? You are tried to compare alcohol and "smoke" with class A drugs.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6791067/PETER-HITCHENS-real-cause-knife-crime-hidden-fog-cannabis-smoke.html Article on knife crime and cannabis use, think London... Cannabis induces psychotic tendencies as well as just generally scrambling people's brains...
People who "come into contact with drugs". What in earth does this foolish man mean by that? Thank heavens for ex-Red Pete and haveMercy with her sharply pointed questions which the wokeist suddenly couldn't hear. Well done #GBNews!
I don't think giving somone a drugs charge for using some cannabis is a smart idea, and drug addiction is a medical problem and not a criminal one Same as alcoholism
Very simple way to fix the problems of drugs, which have pretty much replaced alcohol and mean most of the population looks unhealthy, and are mentally ill only feeling happy or or confident when they take drugs/ alcohol. Target the middle class teenage kids who use drugs and think cool. It's really that simple.
Should one use drugs? No probably not, especially hard drugs (herion, crack, meth etc), but still, one has the right to consume what they wish, who is the government to force some path upon them. This is also not a major issue in regards to individual freedom, especially as compared the socialised medice (NHS) and other abridgments of individual rights that currently exist in the UK.
Sorry Ross,I think you are wrong,drugs use and abuse,dealers,and everything related to them,we need to come down harder on the lot,no way should we decriminalise drugs
So why don’t they look across the pond to the US, where not only has marijuana been decriminalized but is now openly being SOLD IN STORES!!! I know that the sky hasn’t fallen yet, cuz I LIVE HERE!!! The best choice they ever made. We are still here guys!!
@Shera There wasn't an ounce of reasoning in his entire appearance. Just lost of posh noise about how ridiculous it is from his subjective view, some deeply misleading context removed stats which become useless when given context, the citing of a single portugese politician who isn't happy with their model, and some thoroughly ridiculous claim that dictators like the populus on drugs (hence why not a single dictator worldwide has legalized or decriminalised great point m8). That in your view is well reasoned? I tell you what well reasoned is. The war on drugs was invented in the late 1800s in america when a racist paper merchanct who had an alcoholic father and hated substance abuse felt threatened by the cheaper and more efficient hemp production which was taking off. He used his power and influnece to associate hemp and cannabis and went on a PR campaign to associate cannabis with crime, mental illness and lazy mexicans, hence the prevalence of the word 'marijuana". He was incredibly successful and continued to push for the criminalisation of all substances, eventually succeeding in getting alcohol added to the list. Prohibition America is the perfect example of why criminalising drugs is capital R Retarded. In the space of less than a year, a huge organised crime industry erupts. Murder is on the rised. Addiction is on the rise. Crime generally. Legalize alcohol and it all goes away. Not smoothly of course, but the organised crime didnt have a market anymore end of story. As America hadn't had a cultural obsession with any other drug besides alcohol prior to criminalisation, there weren't major problems being caused by illicit trades of other drugs. However humans like drugs. People will make them. Suddenly society has crack and heroin to deal with. And what do they do? Try to scare people from taking it. Try to punish people for taking it. Anyone who understands basic human (or mammal for that matter) psychology understands that isn't going to work. The amount of money that has been spent world wide on the war on drugs is tragic. Its literally pissing money down the drain. No one in their right minds claims that the war on drugs can be won, i'm sure the retarded Hitchens brother wouldn't even be dumb enough to claim that. Its pissing money down the drain because one racist arse 150 years ago had an alcoholic father and was a zealot. Go watch a little dark age edit or something diddums
Peter, there's still a black market because of the federal government. Until you can purchase drugs at the farmers market, Walmart, etc, there will always be underground dealers.
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
@@mariogmajner6549 But he wasn't the PM at the time. My point is that if Parliament wanted to decriminalise drugs, then this would have been done a long time ago. They really have no idea about drugs and spout the same nonsense when asked why they aren't decriminalised.
Hitchens: “possession has been practically decriminalised anyway and so doesn’t deter usage” Also Hitchens: “decriminalisation will encourage drug use because at the moment possession is criminalised”
@@Le_Trouvere I understood just fine. You can’t simultaneously hold the position that possession has no criminal consequences, but legalisation will increase consumption because it removes the legal consequences that he just claimed aren’t enforced
How many individuals exist who are addicted to murdering others? Is murder supplied via criminal gangs? Do school children have easier access to murder than tobacco?
Is that your biggest issue with how the government spends there money? & is that worse than however many tax payers money going into drugs & the effects of that?
There's high value in them because there's such high demand from the youth who have been taught to like them through music and media where drugs are promoted.
Decriminalisation is absolute nonsense and should be opposed. The idea that making legal will end all the problems drugs have with crime and gangs (in particular) is based on absolutely no evidence.
@@WalterKhayyam The vast amount of money saved on police and lawyers is reason enough to treat damaging drug users medically, Portugal is a success story with less hard drug users now. Supplying drugs is cheap, less drug user crime shoplifting, burglary etc with tough conditions put in place. Strong border controls to stop trafficking, no excuses, this must be taken out of the drug lords hands. Cannabis should be legal for the millions of responsible adults that want to utilize it. Drugs are kept illegal as an excuse for a massive militarized police force - there to drop everything to protect corrupt politicians, elite fascists and those that pay no tax - neo feudalism.
I like Peter Hitchens, but he's a pearl clenching old biddy over this. One minute he's pro individual choice the next he wants to criminalise anything he's not personally interested in.
It does mean deaths and blindness are less likely to occur through illegal distilleries though. The control of the supply is also out of the hands of criminal gangs.
@@apebass2215 well that’s not true either criminal gangs supply knock off booze all the time to avoid tax. And I bet fewer people would die than die currently if it were illegal. I’m not saying that I want it made illegal, I’m just saying there are fewer people willing to break the law than there are people who currently drink.
Decriminalise burglary and that will end burglary. Pushing the idea that there will be an end to the war on drugs is misleading - its a war we must keep fighting. Drug pushing will always go on and we must always fight it.
not what he was saying. stop people who take drugs for medication becoming criminals, and instead of rogue batches you'll get safe regulated stuff. he wasnt saying it stop all drug use. and not selling drugs in shops, take methadone thats just as addictive as herion but given to addicts. and wasnt saying it should be sold in shops
We have enough societal problems with alcohol abuse. And there are more than enough junkies on the street as it is. These people never take an ounce of responsibility when it goes pear shape, their response is the NHS can pick up the pieces.
@@Whatever-ow4bg Well both. The licensing for production would obviously need stringent oversight with quality assurance built into the requirements for attaining and maintaining a license. The same would need to apply for licencing to distribute in the same way as is done for pubs currently , try to find a pub which sells to underage people and you will find they are few and far between because it is a sure fire way to lose your license.
It's not the substances, it's the criminality that is the problem. It's the finding £400 - £500 per week to feed a habit, an illegal black market habit, that could be medicated on a licence for about 5% of that cost. And yes, for about a year the house next door to me was occupied by a bunch of heroin addicts until the landlord got his act together and got them evicted. And it was a problem, comings and goings all hours day and night, dealing, stolen cars parked up, police raids etc.
Of course he seems nice, he smiles all the time and holds his head to one side like a girl! But he's not naive. David Badcock is the CEO of DrugScience and a professor in the Science faculty of Nottingham University. A dangerous wokeist with influence on government and access to the young.
Lol. Your complete lack of knowledge and experience of the issue is showing. Feel free to wander up to the filth carrying drugs. Enjoy your time at Her Majesty's pleasure and don't drop the soap.
@@hereticdude2788 i see people blatantly smoke crack in the street. young people openly do drugs at gigs and clubs. its so rampant and i think it needs stricter rules. the fact you call the police filth tells me everything about your ideoligical bias on the issue
@@MrNPC it is when our streets are riddled with low lifes smacked up to the eyeballs on spice. its ruining society as a whole and that is too obvious to not see
Tell you who would hate decriminalisation, drug dealers and drug suppliers. Trouble is we don't ban all drugs, we are selective in what we ban, alcohol is a drug and ruins and destroys lives. Its a matter of choice there is no drug that I would take if you decriminalise drugs, if someone chooses to take a drug then that's their choice how ever dumb that may be, tax payers money could and should be better spent, and the Police freed up to focus on more important criminal offences. And it goes without saying that causing death or injury under the influence of a drug, should continue to be punished as they are now.
@@thomasmain5986 Are you confident that allowing people to openly sell heroin on the street is a good idea that will end well? I'm no psychic but I can't see that reversing his point.
@@sgordon8123 Therein lies the reason why continuing the war on drugs is useless. People will not stop taking drugs simply because a government makes it illegal to do so.
@@dangermouse9348 not if they see it as harmless and don't agree with a ban. Education works better. The young in the UK are starting to drink a lot less. Middle aged drinkers who grew up in a different culture are a different story though. Personally I think we should legalise ecstasy because many young people believe it is safe and take dodgy illegal versions.
This is about letting PEOPLE choose what to put in their bodies and about government putting money into helping people medically, not punishing them criminally.
@@johnhalpin1 Being fat doesn’t lead to psychiatric breakdowns. My nephew ended up on a mental ward after smoking cannabis daily and my stepbrother is now depressed as a result of smoking cannabis.
@@goodyeoman4534 you clearly don't know of or understand the negative affects being obese has on their health, their families and wider society, including the taxpayer.
Why can't we just allow people to do what they want to do? People who want to take drugs will take them regardless of if it's illegal or not.. legalization will at least allow us to monitor it or more. If drugs are bad why not ban them all including alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and sugar which are all also bad for you
Sugar is not a drug. Absolutely anything, consumed to excess, is bad. You are seriously including caffeine in this argument? Why not just ban birth; then there will be no deaths? But, presumably, you inhabit the opposite polar extreme: "Let's allow anything!" Why don't you grow up?
@@DieFlabbergast firstly mate calm down lol. Secondly most of my post was meant in sarcasm to show how ridiculous the argument got at times which you also did so surely we're in agreement there. And thirdly, sugar might not be classified as a drug but it is highly addictive and consumption off it affects the brain in ways similar to certain drugs, same as caffeine.
@@cecila2450boz I get what you're saying, there will always be dangers to people consuming drugs of any type, but whether they are illegal or legal, people will always do it. Surely the answer is to try and moderate it and also take the income away from gangs who profit from it. There is the argument that there will always be a market for gangs to supply the stronger strength drugs but I don't believe that's a reason to not try and make the situation better
Do you really want someone like Peter telling you what you can and cannot put into your own body? Poor bloke is so wrong on this one. Stopping legal supply doesn't stop the supply, nor does the demand go away.
Alcohol is cemented into the very bedrock of society. You might as well suggest we get rid of eating tasty food. Humans are humans, not robots or angels. Focus your efforts on doing the possible.
All respect to Mr Hitchens, but he's spouting utter rubbish about 'stealth legalisation'. Either we categorise ALL drugs by harm, in which case say goodbye to the booze, or we allow consenting adults to make their own choices provided they don't harm anybody else. Anything else is hypocrisy of the highest order and massively damages the legitimacy of our legal system.
What war? The war on drugs was never fought. Did you even listen to the debate? The drugs are basically already legal because of how poorly enforced the laws are. Therefore, we're actively seeing legalisation would be a catastrophe.
@@HoratioKJV at the moment if someone wants drugs, they can buy them and not pay tax on them...then all of the costs related to that person's medical treatment are sucked up by the NHS. Taxing drugs and using the money to help fund the NHS makes perfect sense.
@@misterpebbles Decriminalisation will lead to more drug users therefore more people getting mentally ill all that tax will go back on treating them for cannabis-induced psychosis. The taxpayer should not be paying to indulge junkies. We need to be preventing use in the first place by enforcing the laws for once.
@@HoratioKJV we already currently pay for all that. I d prefer the user to pay. Like we already do with cigarettes and alcohol...and with the sugar tax.
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
@@Two_Tier_Britain you can drink two pints without getting drunk and little ill effect. Cannabis causes insobriety immediately. People don't seem to think losing full control of your faculties is bad, which is an insane conclusion.
They need to be decriminalized asap, waste of money worrying about what people put in their body, it failed because if they are illegal no one should be able to get them.
Hitchens is completely wrong in regard to Portugal. Ask any Portuguese person or an expat living there for 20 years and let them tell you if it has worked or not.
1. Drugs will be legalised. 2. The money saved will be pissed away on greeny weeny crap 3. Crime will spiral, including murder rape and violence 4. "Lessons will be learned".
Hitchens has been spouting off about drugs for decades without ever providing a compelling argument for why drugs should be illegal in the first place. He's irrelevant to the discussion.
@@DieFlabbergast You're wrong - it ruins SOME people's lives. The vast majority of people who take recreational drugs do NOT have their lives ruined as a result, and many have their lives enhanced. Are you in favour of banning everything which has the potential to ruin lives? That's a long list...
I'm a social conservative but Hitchin is hugely out of touch here. Only a fool could deny the success they've had in Portugal. Shame that Badcock is so poor at debating the point! P.s Cannabis is not a drug its a plant and should be excluded from this conversation entirely.
ONLY WEED FFS!!! As for the rest, LUDICROUS!!! Alex Belfield said it best. Decriminalising EXPENSIVE DRUGS will encourage an OUTRAGEOUS AMOUNT OF CRIME!!!
@Champagne SOYcialist NOT IF YOU GROW YOUR OWN WEED, which is VERY SIMPLE here in South Africa, given the incredible amount of sunlight that we're blessed with! 🌞🙏🥳 It grows here like weeds ... well, it is a weed!!! 😁🤣
Politicians know that Britain is getting poorer, nastier and more violent so rather than fix the problems thery caused, they suggest getting off your face is not as bad as you think it is.
Nothing is simple: human societies are very complex; individual human minds are even more complex. People who think the world is simple are the most dangerous beings in this world.
@@DieFlabbergast yes but one thing is clear legalized drugs might not stop people taking drugs but it will stop hundreds of billions of pounds ending up in criminals pockets.
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
Britain has made very little effort to prevent use of drugs. Check out other countries where the merest posession will land in jail for years. Nicer, safer countries.
@Prayuth Chan-ocha this whole thing is cherry picking. Fake reports "proving" how decriminalisation will Make us better and happier, meanwhile the same people have already started preparing their drug store and rehap clinics. Think beyond yourself and what gets you off and consider the future.
As a habituale drug user and as a avid intellectual I will tell you the truth. You decriminalise drugs you get more drug use. You want to ruin a society then decriminalise drugs. Super stupid idea. I accept my criminality through recreational drug use. If you want to decriminalise weed then go ahead as it already should be legal but you want to decriminalise hard drugs do some homework on that concept first.
@@trollop_7 but it takes effort to familiarise oneself with someone's arguments, and I'm more willing to make the effort if they don't come across as a pompous bigot.
@@vidyaruchi4810 All true. I've not heard him be so vitriolic in 'debate' before now, especially not straight out of the gate. The line about tripe marinated in bilge actually made me laugh - and that's a first.
Not all drugs are the same, and once something has been legalised for years it makes it very hard to undo. If we made the mistake of legalising cannabis, and then people become aware of the true extent of the damage it inflicts, it would be too late to get rid of it. It's better to be safe than sorry and keep it illegal, not repeat the same mistake of legalising alcohol. Mental health and crime prevention is more important than a silly little temporary high.
Id tend to agree with that but your never going to get rid of them theres too much money involved. Its a case of picking two evils and which one is the worse to live with
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
@@Two_Tier_Britain THAT'S TRUE! The weed that I smoked or ate in cookies in my youth DID 'IT' for me PERFECTLY, but when my son suggested that I try a puff of one of his joints a few years back, OMGAWD! I didn't only cough my lungs out, but felt so miserable and depressed. It wasn't anything like it used to be in the good old days, and was an AWFUL experience! 🤮😝😫
When someone is addicted to say, heroin for example, it being illegal is irrelevant. What a daft thing to suggest. Asking they guy if he takes drugs himself is also irrelevant of the argument!!
The reason we have such high levels of drug deaths and usage is that many people live lives of utter misery.
Not true , a lot of happy upper middle class people take drugs
High relative to what? And we know which drugs kill the most people (the legal ones, that are also the worst ones).
@@jdlc903 it is true. The upper middle class take drugs for recreational use which seems to be more openly accepted! But many poorer people, especially homeless, take drugs to drown out their misery! Both alcohol and illegal drugs are heavily associated with mental illness! The biggest problem is that it tends to be paid for through crime! I don't agree with decriminalisation, but both sides of the argument have valid points!
Some by their own choices
@Tw1st3dxTc wtf? Go to any council estate work on any construction site drugs are rife because no law enforcement
Suddenly David Braddock has lost his hearing when asked if he takes drugs
@Bhante lmao
By refusing to answer the question, he did precisely that.
whether he has used drugs is not important
i don't have to use drugs to understand this issue
@@robinsss It might be important if any shame or embarrassment about it impinges on his impartiality or there is a conflict of interests.
@@pizzaboy3946 he has no obligation to be impartial
the only important things are does he understand the issue and do his statements make sense
The “it’s not their fault” approach is the problem. People need to take responsibility for their own actions
spot on peter hitchens as always
Absolutely. I'm pro-legalisation and regulation, but at the end of the day it's up to the individual to weigh up the risks and deal with the consequences, but this the problem with a society that mandates 'caution: contents hot' labels on cups of coffee.
Would you ban alcohol (the worst drug)? Do you drink?
The fact is society could be helped if drugs were legalized.
@@DeviantDeveloper I do drink, I don’t think it should be banned. However if it was illegal to drink, I would not drink. See the difference?
GB News should give Peter Hitchens his own show. The ratings would be very high.
Hitchens the covid sellout look what he said rewarding the vaccines
@@jeffoleg4881 So what? Do you think there is even one figure who is right on every single issue?
Agreed
I agree 10000000%
You must enjoy listening to idiots bully people in an attempt to sell very boring books about things he clearly has no understanding of.
It would also remove the source of income from gangs and the Mafia..prohibition never works
not every case, but not every addict is as you think. many are addicted to just 1 drug. and would engage if it meant getting there drugs on precription under the terms of any outside use terminates your script
You think the gangs wont just turn to robbery, prostitution, pimping, home invasions, ect. There have been idiots screeching about decriminalization since drug laws were put in place. Prohibition never works huh? Try going to an asian country that has severe penalties, they don't have anywhere near the addiction levels we're seeing in the west. You are a liar.
Will it balls
you clearly didn't watch the video
@@VinnyCarwash-js8op Psychic are you? Well I wouldnt rely on your powers were I you
To be able to buy drugs that aren't diluted with poisonous chemicals would save lives, that cannot be disputed.
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Mild recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
@@Two_Tier_Britain but those who are already addicted will still look doe heroin
what do you do?
Why would you sell a 100% pure drug when you can sell it for 200 times the price but cutting it?
@@emiliawisniewski3947you'd sell a small amount. People would know what there getting.
This actually isn't true, if every drug was 100% pure overdoses would be WAY more higher, most coke people take is like 20/30%, same with heroin, imagine if you could buy 100% drugs from legal places? What a crazy idea that would lead to misery addiction and suffering.
Alcohol causes far more harm than most drugs.
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Mild recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
Because it's easily accessible and legal.
@@spectralon7677 Because it is socially acceptable xD
@Leona Bastet drunks are unpredictable. They will beat you black and blue for no apparent reason!
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
All of society’s problems will disappear once we can buy crystal meth from Holland and Barrette
ahahahhaha
Yes, because the people who use crystal meth will all have won Darwin awards. But seriously, if previously criminalised drugs can be regulated and taxed like alcohol and tobacco, the harmful side effects can be mitigated in a more controllable manner. It is uncontrolled drug use that creates the criminality.
I think you missed the point. In your example Holland and Barrett would be in prison for drug dealing although their customers would not face any charges. In the current situation the customers would be in prison and the police find it too difficult to prosecute Holland and Barrett.
There is no coherent argument where alcohol is legal and molly etc are illegal.
One was already in proliferation enough that it would be much harder to enforce legislation Molly isint there yet it might not be if criminalized properly
Alcohol has never been made illegal, Molly is still, currently, illegal. From a purely practical point of view, it would be impossible to ban alcohol due to its historical and cultural pervasiveness. Molly, being still illegal, simply only requires the enforcement of laws currently on the books. Wouldn't it be better to stop Molly becoming as widespread as alcohol, if you could?
You're making a great argument for alcohol prohibition
"People who come into contact with drugs " he makes it sound like its forced on unfortunate people. They CHOOSE to take drugs ffs! I grew up hanging around with people who all dabbled but I never once took so much as a spliffs. You have a choice to take or not!
Exactly
Oh yes, they always talk as if the drug abusers themselves are some kind of pets or children, as if they are just witless victims and that these are a kind of human or 'subhuman' that has no sentience and ought to be run by him and other elite controller humans. They can make or change all these subhumans have no choice but to do.
I'm with you, the actual issue is the drug users, they choose it, they are CHOOSING this or they are putting it away. They are not, contrary to these progressives smarties, they are not some foolish 'human pets' who simply blather into whatever direction they go. "We can make them do this" and 'We can do this to control their behavior" is just arrogant and so very dehumanizing. They think of themselves as Gods over the 'Pleb things' they want to toy with.
@@jonathandewberry289 Drug 'abusers', lol. Always loved that phrase, makes it sound like the drugs haven't consented. Drug 'users' is far more accurate, regardless of what you're using them for.
Spot on....
@Flaubert's Parrot Surely that's because the career people, consultants and lawmakers (they aren't called public servants anymore) but surely its because they mishandled your behavioral controls? After all, you're not really a 'real evolved person' and so there is no way you could be fully responsible for that?
The opposition to Peter wasn't the best person for the argument
I don't know why they let perter Hitchins speak on these matters.
Surely somebody who has always strongly fought against something without having any direct experience with drug users or using drugs himself has nothing to add on this conversation.
What!!!! "the opposition" was the CEO of Drug Science. An "expert" surely. Peter Hitchens is 100% correct.
@@DavidA-ps1qr It's what they always say whenever they taste defeat and it reveals their lack of honour. Had the same guy beat Peter they wouldn't be saying he wasn't the best person then.
@@HoratioKJV Absolutely right.
@@HoratioKJV Again you're spot on. I remember when he regularly appeared on Question Time and the audience used to boo and jeer at him. Then, once they started to applaud him, the BBC took him off. Typical of how scared the left wing are of him. I shall never forget how he completely destroyed Russell Brand. :-) :-)
I've always thought Peter Hitchens was a hypocrite, he also loves to play the victim. Strange how alcohol is never mentioned which kills more people than any other drug.
Peter Hitchens almost always mentions alcohol you just haven't listened to him speak on the topic enough.
He has pointed out that when something is legalised it is extremely difficult to ban it again. He also said that if alcohol was only created recently, we likely wouldn't allow it.
@@jplb96 Yeah that's pretty much what he usually says. Once the cat is out of the bag, it's never going back in.
He always mentions alcohol. Do better
Because this isn't about legalising alcohol. It's about legalising a drug that affects people badly
@@sw1000xg What? You don't think alcohol is dangerous? It's an extremely harmful drug. Levels beyond cannabis but alcohol is already legal and would be impossible to even try and ban.
Oh dear. David Badcock can’t even prepare a minute-long concise summary of his view.
As opposed to Mr Hitchens' 'They're all legal in effect already! Reeee!'? Lot of respect for Mr Hitchens, even when I disagree with him, but he's so far off on this issue he's not even on the same planet. 'Stealth legalisation' indeed, what a load of utter horse crap.
hello hello..?? can you hear me..? crackle buzz
@Matt Washer mate you don't know what you are on about, the latest yearly figures show 102000 people were sentenced for drug offences, 10000 of which went to prison. You say you are worried about the harm they cause, well how is it helping sending a drug addict to the one place that is awash with drugs?
@Matt Washer "Who actually goes to jail for possession?" About 16% of the prison population? ~13,000 people p/month?
Is everyone who uses 'illegal' drugs caught and imprisoned? No, of course not, but then neither are 100% of murderers, and you'd hardly say there was a 'stealth legalisation' of murder, would you?
As for 'young people', why is that anybody else's problem? Surely the parents should be able to instruct and inform their children, or at the very least keep control of them, and I tell you now, keeping Pandora's box closed, and pretending that the box doesn't exist is futile and stupid, humans have sought out ways to alter their consciousness before we'd even come down out of the trees, and youngsters who feel the need to rebel against authority will be even more attracted to 'illicit' substances. Considering three times as many people die from alcohol than die from ALL other drugs combined, will you now be calling for for alcohol prohibition too?
*Statistics from ONS and Gov.uk. Just type 'UK prison population' in your preferred search engine and plug the numbers into a calculator at your own leisure, and yes, I rounded up to the nearest thousand, please don't bother if you come up with a discrepancy of a couple of hundred or less, hence the tilde.
@@testudohorsfieldii7052 We're discussing drug 'use, NOT drug 'offenses'!
Who do I go to for a lifetime supply of opiates and anti-depressants , criminals or doctors ?
Exactly equally addictive and dangerous.
why not both...!
If you don't think doctors should give out drugs legally (which are less harmful id argue but let's say there not) because you think that's wrong why would you let anyone give them out legally?
@@lukecockburn1140 Prescription drugs kill more people than anything else on the planet. Do some research. All have side effects too. Its no longer medicine it is drug dealing disguised.
@@lynncuthbert2307 that's not a argument for decriminalization & I've not looked at the data but if imagine they help more than harm which is why impoverished countries want & or get given them by charities but I belief we have major health issues in our country caused by food among other things & over & inadequately prescribed drugs is a problem the solution isint legalizing all or not prescribing any & there is a difference between drugs not all prescribed drugs are the same & not all are very different from illegal ones & not all illegal are the same I don't know pharmacology but there's huge variation between drugs legal or illegal & id assume most legal medicinal drugs are not psychoactive & if so are for Anastasia
“thank you for joining us on that big debate,” he says. It was ten minutes long.
What's the difference between drug prohibition and alcohol prohibition?
None
@Leona Bastet Agreed. You cannot compare alcohol to heroin, even the law separates drugs into different categories based on their effect. It could be argued that western civilisation has evolved to cope with consumption of alcohol over thousands of years, smoking crack is somewhat newer.
@Leona Bastet People aren't generally alcoholics, but they still exist. Why make the comparison between crack/heroin and not cannabis? How many people have died of cannabis compared to alcohol?
Dont you think the health sevice has enough problems with the effects of alchohol abuse without adding cannabis abuse to that..? Do 2 wrongs make a right..?
@Leona Bastet do you have a peer-reviewed paper as evidence for your claims? Alcohol is known to cause memory loss, liver damage etc. yet it's still legal.
Tobacco causes cancer, cannabis doesn't need to be consumed with tobacco. Cannabis doesn't cause violence or aggression, unlike alcohol, it does the opposite. Clearly you haven't had any "first hand" experience. Your anecdotes aren't evidence.
Peter Hitchens convinced me that there has been no war on drugs.
People HAVE gone to prison for drugs in the UK.
To say it hasnt worked because its not been legal enough, is the same foolish argument socialists make about socialism, libertarians make about capitalism, COVID scientists make about lockdowns.
If it worked, then youd see positive effects from it, no matter the severity of the implmentation or effects.
I suggest you read a book called "Reefer Madness: and other tales from the American Underground" by Eric Schlosser, and also look up the work of L.E.A.P (Law enforcement against prohibition) to see what utter nonsense that is.
@@WillandTony So what do you want to do?
@@JwayT make them all legal in a mix between recreational and prescribed like we have with alcohol and ritalin.
If you agree our current approach doesnt work, then you shouldnt argue for the same but stronger. A completely new aproach is required
@@UnsafeSpaceAmir are you replying to me?
They should be legalized instead. Both of them are wrong.
Exactly without regulation or taxation, decriminalisation achieves nothing long term, and if you regulate and tax it as is badcocks approach, the black market would be booming, get rid of the incentive to buy online by not taxing it or restricting it in any way
PH's smelled blood when David said "I don't know what to say to that"
Peter I love the sound of my voice Hitchens
HAHAHAHA coming from the guy with the most pretentious name on the internet. HAHAHA
Calm down bike boiiiii. HAHAHAHA
Hitchens made his case better than Badcock did, regardless of which side you're on.
I agree I support badcocks viewpoint but he wasn’t great for our side in getting the argument out their, someone more knowledgeable should have spoken and debated Hitchens
@@Secret19977 he shouldnt have made it a health issue. Obesity is a health issue far superior but we are yet to ban sausages. This is a liberty issue.
He manged to plug one of his books as well.
If all recreational drugs were legal, big pharma would start inventing and manufacturing recreational drugs that would make heroin look like sherbert.
@@headshot6959 they've already made fentanyl
I wouldn’t decriminalise I would legalise. Adults should be able to choose to take and use them.
Regardless of which side of the fence you sit I do not see the argument for decriminalisation.Legalise or vs prohibit.I can’t see how enabling the criminal element or not having law around the what,when,where helps.Of defined safe quality in an approved location away from vulnerable might be one example of legalisation.Decriminalisation is well ok we give up,just get on with it.
Exactly so called libertarians that don't what their lives controlled but want other peoples controlled.
@@22wabbit Can you explain why making drugs legal would make that worse than it already is
@@22wabbit could you cite some of the studies that I should research
I do drugs sometimes. Then again, so do all of you. Alcohol would NEVER be legal if it was created today. So how can we be so hypocritical and keep things like weed illegal?
You can drink alcohol without getting drunk. Cannabis makes you high immediately
If you drink or smoke your not in a position to disagree.
Well said!
I've never seen anyone being money on the street so that they can buy 'tobacco or alcohol'. If they do beg money to buy those item and other non drug items, it will usually be that it is because they had spent the money that they did have on drugs. Do you doubt this?
@@dtrez3866 can you clarify your question please
@@paulmuaddib3470 Do you doubt that the people on the streets who beg for money to buy tobacco have already spent their own money on drugs? You are tried to compare alcohol and "smoke" with class A drugs.
'violent crime due to marijuana use' what is that guy on he literally knows nothing about drugs
Exactly that is as logical as saying all dog owners bought a dog to use as a dangerous weapon.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6791067/PETER-HITCHENS-real-cause-knife-crime-hidden-fog-cannabis-smoke.html
Article on knife crime and cannabis use, think London... Cannabis induces psychotic tendencies as well as just generally scrambling people's brains...
Nobody should be criminalised for putting any substance in their own body.
Despite the economic crisis, this is Still a good time to invest in Gold and Crypto
You're right I think Gold and Crypto are the best to invest right now☺️
Gold's are good but crypto is better
I wanted to trade crypto but got confused by the fluctuation in price
@@loisrmcculley5520 That won't bother you if you trade with a professional like Mr Luis Edison
@@andrecarter3920 I heard his strategies are really good
This madness we all see and hear springs from a spiritual deficit, people are being led by the lost.
Yup. The world needs some Jesus. Or Buddha or Golden Rule adherence, something. Less self-centeredness, greed, and suspicion. 🌷
@@flowersinherhair indeed, present moment awareness with gratitude rather than the Twitter headspace me thinks 🙂🙏🏼
People who "come into contact with drugs". What in earth does this foolish man mean by that? Thank heavens for ex-Red Pete and haveMercy with her sharply pointed questions which the wokeist suddenly couldn't hear. Well done #GBNews!
I don't think giving somone a drugs charge for using some cannabis is a smart idea, and drug addiction is a medical problem and not a criminal one
Same as alcoholism
Thank God Lord Hague was never Prime Minister. Abolish the House of Lords and you abolish Lord Hague. Simple.
All Drugs should absolutely be legalised because the government has no right to tell adult individuals what they can or cannot consume.
Very simple way to fix the problems of drugs, which have pretty much replaced alcohol and mean most of the population looks unhealthy, and are mentally ill only feeling happy or or confident when they take drugs/ alcohol. Target the middle class teenage kids who use drugs and think cool. It's really that simple.
No and worsen another poison in society? Life isn't about hedonism.
Should one use drugs? No probably not, especially hard drugs (herion, crack, meth etc), but still, one has the right to consume what they wish, who is the government to force some path upon them. This is also not a major issue in regards to individual freedom, especially as compared the socialised medice (NHS) and other abridgments of individual rights that currently exist in the UK.
@@idreeskhan8885 if that's the case why is it the most hard hit level of society by drugs the poorest?
Sorry Ross,I think you are wrong,drugs use and abuse,dealers,and everything related to them,we need to come down harder on the lot,no way should we decriminalise drugs
So why don’t they look across the pond to the US, where not only has marijuana been decriminalized but is now openly being SOLD IN STORES!!! I know that the sky hasn’t fallen yet, cuz I LIVE HERE!!! The best choice they ever made. We are still here guys!!
PH is wasting his time with these snowflakes.
He's wasting his time with his silly views.
@Shera There wasn't an ounce of reasoning in his entire appearance. Just lost of posh noise about how ridiculous it is from his subjective view, some deeply misleading context removed stats which become useless when given context, the citing of a single portugese politician who isn't happy with their model, and some thoroughly ridiculous claim that dictators like the populus on drugs (hence why not a single dictator worldwide has legalized or decriminalised great point m8).
That in your view is well reasoned?
I tell you what well reasoned is.
The war on drugs was invented in the late 1800s in america when a racist paper merchanct who had an alcoholic father and hated substance abuse felt threatened by the cheaper and more efficient hemp production which was taking off. He used his power and influnece to associate hemp and cannabis and went on a PR campaign to associate cannabis with crime, mental illness and lazy mexicans, hence the prevalence of the word 'marijuana". He was incredibly successful and continued to push for the criminalisation of all substances, eventually succeeding in getting alcohol added to the list. Prohibition America is the perfect example of why criminalising drugs is capital R Retarded. In the space of less than a year, a huge organised crime industry erupts. Murder is on the rised. Addiction is on the rise. Crime generally. Legalize alcohol and it all goes away. Not smoothly of course, but the organised crime didnt have a market anymore end of story. As America hadn't had a cultural obsession with any other drug besides alcohol prior to criminalisation, there weren't major problems being caused by illicit trades of other drugs. However humans like drugs. People will make them. Suddenly society has crack and heroin to deal with. And what do they do? Try to scare people from taking it. Try to punish people for taking it. Anyone who understands basic human (or mammal for that matter) psychology understands that isn't going to work. The amount of money that has been spent world wide on the war on drugs is tragic. Its literally pissing money down the drain. No one in their right minds claims that the war on drugs can be won, i'm sure the retarded Hitchens brother wouldn't even be dumb enough to claim that. Its pissing money down the drain because one racist arse 150 years ago had an alcoholic father and was a zealot.
Go watch a little dark age edit or something diddums
Peter, there's still a black market because of the federal government. Until you can purchase drugs at the farmers market, Walmart, etc, there will always be underground dealers.
I think full legalisation and regulation of drugs would be great .it would disempower criminals.
Cannabis and Mushrooms should be legalised.
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
The only reason for parliament to decriminalise drug use would be so they do not face sanctions when they are caught with them.
This is nonsense. The are actively trying to keep them illegal.
@@mariogmajner6549 But he wasn't the PM at the time. My point is that if Parliament wanted to decriminalise drugs, then this would have been done a long time ago. They really have no idea about drugs and spout the same nonsense when asked why they aren't decriminalised.
I get you don't want meth/heroin on the streets. But having alcohol legal and weed illegal baffles me
then you didn't really listen to what Hitchens was saying....
@@ascenssior They never do.
Peter doesn't want alcohol to be legal, per se. You seem unaware of just how dangerous cannabis is.
@@HoratioKJV and how dangerous can cannabis be?
@@adamwedgwood4814 Check the website AttackerSmokedCannabis for a list of violent crimes caused by cannabis-induced psychosis.
If there has been a war on drugs in the last 50 years, it needs a wholesale review because we are losing it. BADLY.
if you are ready to issue punishment as harsh as Japan it can work
otherwise it won't
Hitchens: “possession has been practically decriminalised anyway and so doesn’t deter usage”
Also Hitchens: “decriminalisation will encourage drug use because at the moment possession is criminalised”
Very good point 👍🏼
Selective enforcement
He's saying the law needs to be tougher, although it IS illegal, he's saying most don't actually get charged. You didn't understand him at all.
@@Le_Trouvere I understood just fine. You can’t simultaneously hold the position that possession has no criminal consequences, but legalisation will increase consumption because it removes the legal consequences that he just claimed aren’t enforced
There's a difference between "de facto decriminalised" and decriminalised.
Decriminalizing murder will not mitigate the effects of murder in lieu of combating the crime. Peter Hitchens is right.
How many individuals exist who are addicted to murdering others? Is murder supplied via criminal gangs? Do school children have easier access to murder than tobacco?
Taking drugs hurts the taker, how do you equate this to murder which does obvious harm
Decriminalise. Far too much tax payers cash goes into the pockets of lawyers, drugs being illegal gives them their high value.
Is that your biggest issue with how the government spends there money? & is that worse than however many tax payers money going into drugs & the effects of that?
There's high value in them because there's such high demand from the youth who have been taught to like them through music and media where drugs are promoted.
Decriminalisation is absolute nonsense and should be opposed. The idea that making legal will end all the problems drugs have with crime and gangs (in particular) is based on absolutely no evidence.
@@WalterKhayyam You voted for a druggie PM.
@@WalterKhayyam The vast amount of money saved on police and lawyers is reason enough to treat damaging drug users medically, Portugal is a success story with less hard drug users now. Supplying drugs is cheap, less drug user crime shoplifting, burglary etc with tough conditions put in place. Strong border controls to stop trafficking, no excuses, this must be taken out of the drug lords hands. Cannabis should be legal for the millions of responsible adults that want to utilize it. Drugs are kept illegal as an excuse for a massive militarized police force - there to drop everything to protect corrupt politicians, elite fascists and those that pay no tax - neo feudalism.
I like Peter Hitchens, but he's a pearl clenching old biddy over this. One minute he's pro individual choice the next he wants to criminalise anything he's not personally interested in.
He is something of a contrarian, but I do like his input though I might not agree on everything.
Peter Hitchens is right on this subject.
@@WalterKhayyam I can't decide whether he is or isn't.
@@fifthof1795 Then I'll help you: he is right on the subject of drug legalisation.
@@WalterKhayyam I thought he was aginst that?
People die from drinking everyday it being legal doesn’t change that.
It does mean deaths and blindness are less likely to occur through illegal distilleries though. The control of the supply is also out of the hands of criminal gangs.
@@apebass2215 well that’s not true either criminal gangs supply knock off booze all the time to avoid tax.
And I bet fewer people would die than die currently if it were illegal. I’m not saying that I want it made illegal, I’m just saying there are fewer people willing to break the law than there are people who currently drink.
@@JosephStealin What is your position? For or against drug decriminalization?
@@derp8575 against.
@@JosephStealin I'm against your right to eat fast food. Now be a good prohibitionist or stfu!
Decriminalise burglary and that will end burglary. Pushing the idea that there will be an end to the war on drugs is misleading - its a war we must keep fighting. Drug pushing will always go on and we must always fight it.
What a brainless comment
not what he was saying. stop people who take drugs for medication becoming criminals, and instead of rogue batches you'll get safe regulated stuff. he wasnt saying it stop all drug use. and not selling drugs in shops, take methadone thats just as addictive as herion but given to addicts. and wasnt saying it should be sold in shops
Good comment..Ignore Joe Dennehy, he's probably high.
We have enough societal problems with alcohol abuse. And there are more than enough junkies on the street as it is. These people never take an ounce of responsibility when it goes pear shape, their response is the NHS can pick up the pieces.
@@terencestrugnell4928 I hope the drugs squad is on this thread!
All drugs should be legalised , regulated and taxed.
Regulated. Do you mean the quality of the drugs or do you mean you limit who you can sell to
@@Whatever-ow4bg Well both.
The licensing for production would obviously need stringent oversight with quality assurance built into the requirements for attaining and maintaining a license.
The same would need to apply for licencing to distribute in the same way as is done for pubs currently , try to find a pub which sells to underage people and you will find they are few and far between because it is a sure fire way to lose your license.
I was thinking more about addicts and people that can't afford it. If that is regulated, they will turn to illegal supply
And alcohol isnt a fair comparison, its nowhere near as addictive as some of these drugs
Hague and the others should all be made to live with or next to drug users for a year. See if your so keen then on decriminalisation.
It's not the substances, it's the criminality that is the problem. It's the finding £400 - £500 per week to feed a habit, an illegal black market habit, that could be medicated on a licence for about 5% of that cost.
And yes, for about a year the house next door to me was occupied by a bunch of heroin addicts until the landlord got his act together and got them evicted. And it was a problem, comings and goings all hours day and night, dealing, stolen cars parked up, police raids etc.
You obviously don't realise how many politicians use drugs.
The sad thing is I think David is a nice guy I like him but he's totally naive
Of course he seems nice, he smiles all the time and holds his head to one side like a girl! But he's not naive. David Badcock is the CEO of DrugScience and a professor in the Science faculty of Nottingham University. A dangerous wokeist with influence on government and access to the young.
@@hannannah1uk ok seems I was fooled , thanks for the info :)
@@hannannah1uk that's great thing about the internet even self delusion is punctured pretty quick
Has Scotland decriminalised drugs as it has the highest death rate in Europe, or is it just easier to cope living under the SNP if you are on them?
Drugs are already legal in the form of alcohol and cigarettes which often cause more harm than drugs which are illegal so why pick and choose.
As Bill Hicks said, those are the good drugs, the taxable drugs.
Alcohol and tobacco aren't even in schedule 1-5. Insanity.
So the answer to legal drugs which harm is to make more drugs that harm available?
@@DIBBY40 Yes. Would you start using meth if Walmart starting selling it tomorrow? If no, why assume most of us would. Prohibitionists are scum.
I was on the fence. Peter made great points. We currently have defacto legalization
its true! people are smoking weed out in the street and police wont do anything
Lol. Your complete lack of knowledge and experience of the issue is showing.
Feel free to wander up to the filth carrying drugs. Enjoy your time at Her Majesty's pleasure and don't drop the soap.
@@hereticdude2788 i see people blatantly smoke crack in the street. young people openly do drugs at gigs and clubs. its so rampant and i think it needs stricter rules.
the fact you call the police filth tells me everything about your ideoligical bias on the issue
@@hariwilliams8208 oh so no one is in prison on drugs offences then?
@@MrNPC it is when our streets are riddled with low lifes smacked up to the eyeballs on spice. its ruining society as a whole and that is too obvious to not see
Tell you who would hate decriminalisation, drug dealers and drug suppliers. Trouble is we don't ban all drugs, we are selective in what we ban, alcohol is a drug and ruins and destroys lives. Its a matter of choice there is no drug that I would take if you decriminalise drugs, if someone chooses to take a drug then that's their choice how ever dumb that may be, tax payers money could and should be better spent, and the Police freed up to focus on more important criminal offences.
And it goes without saying that causing death or injury under the influence of a drug, should continue to be punished as they are now.
Hitchens did counter this early in, in Colorado the gang drug supply hasn’t dissipated
@@EF-ce5ih Are all drugs decriminalised in Colorado ?
@@thomasmain5986 Are you confident that allowing people to openly sell heroin on the street is a good idea that will end well? I'm no psychic but I can't see that reversing his point.
most criminal acts are done whilst under the influence of drugs or need money to buy them
@@EF-ce5ih If it's not criminal it would not be sold on the streets.
Alcohol, the worst drug, is already legal. The others are merely details.
Making it illegal did not work. USA tried.
@@sgordon8123 Therein lies the reason why continuing the war on drugs is useless. People will not stop taking drugs simply because a government makes it illegal to do so.
@@dangermouse9348 not if they see it as harmless and don't agree with a ban. Education works better. The young in the UK are starting to drink a lot less. Middle aged drinkers who grew up in a different culture are a different story though. Personally I think we should legalise ecstasy because many young people believe it is safe and take dodgy illegal versions.
@@dangermouse9348 However it does profit private prisons, rehab facilities and pharmaceutical companies.
Alcohol is a poison, not a drug. They're different things.
This is about letting PEOPLE choose what to put in their bodies and about government putting money into helping people medically, not punishing them criminally.
What if that choice has a negative effect on their health, their families and wider society, including the taxpayer?
@@goodyeoman4534 Like obese people?
@@johnhalpin1 No. Not like obese people.
@@johnhalpin1 Being fat doesn’t lead to psychiatric breakdowns. My nephew ended up on a mental ward after smoking cannabis daily and my stepbrother is now depressed as a result of smoking cannabis.
@@goodyeoman4534 you clearly don't know of or understand the negative affects being obese has on their health, their families and wider society, including the taxpayer.
If anyone ever needed a Zoot it's Hitchen
@Champagne SOYcialist His brother Christopher is the total opposite and a fantastic orator
Violent crime linked to weed. Peter just stopped himself being taken serious
Why can't we just allow people to do what they want to do? People who want to take drugs will take them regardless of if it's illegal or not.. legalization will at least allow us to monitor it or more. If drugs are bad why not ban them all including alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and sugar which are all also bad for you
Sugar is not a drug. Absolutely anything, consumed to excess, is bad. You are seriously including caffeine in this argument? Why not just ban birth; then there will be no deaths? But, presumably, you inhabit the opposite polar extreme: "Let's allow anything!" Why don't you grow up?
@@DieFlabbergast firstly mate calm down lol. Secondly most of my post was meant in sarcasm to show how ridiculous the argument got at times which you also did so surely we're in agreement there. And thirdly, sugar might not be classified as a drug but it is highly addictive and consumption off it affects the brain in ways similar to certain drugs, same as caffeine.
@@cecila2450boz I get what you're saying, there will always be dangers to people consuming drugs of any type, but whether they are illegal or legal, people will always do it. Surely the answer is to try and moderate it and also take the income away from gangs who profit from it. There is the argument that there will always be a market for gangs to supply the stronger strength drugs but I don't believe that's a reason to not try and make the situation better
Do you really want someone like Peter telling you what you can and cannot put into your own body?
Poor bloke is so wrong on this one. Stopping legal supply doesn't stop the supply, nor does the demand go away.
And what about the harm to life and health caused by Alcohol?
Alcohol is cemented into the very bedrock of society. You might as well suggest we get rid of eating tasty food. Humans are humans, not robots or angels. Focus your efforts on doing the possible.
David was the wrong guy to debate Hitchens. Dr Knut would’ve been better.
Nut was on Triggernometry not so long back. Well worth listening to the interview. He would have made a far better opponent for Hitchens.
All respect to Mr Hitchens, but he's spouting utter rubbish about 'stealth legalisation'.
Either we categorise ALL drugs by harm, in which case say goodbye to the booze, or we allow consenting adults to make their own choices provided they don't harm anybody else. Anything else is hypocrisy of the highest order and massively damages the legitimacy of our legal system.
Everyone is a hypocrite.
What is the point of legalising potent drugs when we are trying to deter people from smoking and excessive drinking?
That is the purpose of debate, well done.
Peter had the upper hand there and he’s right
The war on drugs is a waste of taxpayer money. It should end immediately. Legalise and tax.
What war? The war on drugs was never fought. Did you even listen to the debate? The drugs are basically already legal because of how poorly enforced the laws are. Therefore, we're actively seeing legalisation would be a catastrophe.
@@HoratioKJV at the moment if someone wants drugs, they can buy them and not pay tax on them...then all of the costs related to that person's medical treatment are sucked up by the NHS. Taxing drugs and using the money to help fund the NHS makes perfect sense.
@@misterpebbles Decriminalisation will lead to more drug users therefore more people getting mentally ill all that tax will go back on treating them for cannabis-induced psychosis. The taxpayer should not be paying to indulge junkies. We need to be preventing use in the first place by enforcing the laws for once.
@@HoratioKJV we already currently pay for all that. I d prefer the user to pay. Like we already do with cigarettes and alcohol...and with the sugar tax.
Hitchens plenty of people have went to jail for the freedom to use marijuana . You're a liar when it comes to drugs..
He never said they don't. What a stupid strawman. Get real
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
Believe me, it's barely enforced. I've know tens of people smoking it in public with police simply walking past!
@@Two_Tier_Britain you can drink two pints without getting drunk and little ill effect. Cannabis causes insobriety immediately. People don't seem to think losing full control of your faculties is bad, which is an insane conclusion.
@@jesusistheonlygodamen3406 no it doesn't!
The druggy did not know what hit him!
watch 'big tobacco' firms move into the marijuana game.
Is this a video mate
@@Jaaammmbbbooo no
They need to be decriminalized asap, waste of money worrying about what people put in their body, it failed because if they are illegal no one should be able to get them.
I like Peter Hitchens but he's howling at the moon on this issue! Bonkers.
If alcohol and tobacco are legal then I don't see why other safer drugs are not
peter hitchens is so blind and stubborn on this issue, stuck 50 years ago
Hitchens is completely wrong in regard to Portugal. Ask any Portuguese person or an expat living there for 20 years and let them tell you if it has worked or not.
Has it worked ?
@@bigtony4829 Yes, it has.
1. Drugs will be legalised. 2. The money saved will be pissed away on greeny weeny crap 3. Crime will spiral, including murder rape and violence 4. "Lessons will be learned".
Rubbish
VIOLENT CANNABIS USERS versus NON CANNABIS USING VIOLENT LAW ENFORCEMENT ,
I disagree with Peter but he won that debate by a country mile.
Hitchens has been spouting off about drugs for decades without ever providing a compelling argument for why drugs should be illegal in the first place. He's irrelevant to the discussion.
It ruins people's lives. Do you honestly not see that?
@@DieFlabbergast You're wrong - it ruins SOME people's lives. The vast majority of people who take recreational drugs do NOT have their lives ruined as a result, and many have their lives enhanced. Are you in favour of banning everything which has the potential to ruin lives? That's a long list...
More Peter Hitchens content. Thank you GB News! Please, keep it coming.
I'm a social conservative but Hitchin is hugely out of touch here. Only a fool could deny the success they've had in Portugal. Shame that Badcock is so poor at debating the point!
P.s Cannabis is not a drug its a plant and should be excluded from this conversation entirely.
old gammons like him have a blinkered view of reality. they have never lived in the real world.
ONLY WEED FFS!!! As for the rest, LUDICROUS!!! Alex Belfield said it best. Decriminalising EXPENSIVE DRUGS will encourage an OUTRAGEOUS AMOUNT OF CRIME!!!
No ,legalise them all.why should criminals make money out of cocaine or heroin .
@Champagne SOYcialist NOT IF YOU GROW YOUR OWN WEED, which is VERY SIMPLE here in South Africa, given the incredible amount of sunlight that we're blessed with! 🌞🙏🥳 It grows here like weeds ... well, it is a weed!!! 😁🤣
‘Do you do drugs?’ That came off rude
60 seconds???? WTF is GB news playing at. What is the point in such limited time to discuss complex issues. Is this really what people want?
I guess this is some sort of experiment to try a bring some civility back to modern polical conversation.Not that great tho.
Just the awful smell of someone puffing on a joint, ONE reason not to legalise drug use !
Mercy - one of the main reasons I watch GB News
Politicians know that Britain is getting poorer, nastier and more violent so rather than fix the problems thery caused, they suggest getting off your face is not as bad as you think it is.
If PH tried molly, he'd have a different view, he would wake up.
Drug use should be decriminalized and taxed
The money used to fund treatment.
Simple done
Nothing is simple: human societies are very complex; individual human minds are even more complex. People who think the world is simple are the most dangerous beings in this world.
@@DieFlabbergast yes but one thing is clear legalized drugs might not stop people taking drugs but it will stop hundreds of billions of pounds ending up in criminals pockets.
@@DieFlabbergast the fundamental economies of drugs enforcement make it a loosing game for the government.
Don’t often agree with Mr Hitchens but he has watertight case here. Legalise drugs? Behave.
People who buy a controlled drug from a dealer,on a street corner isn't a criminal?,get real.
It’s the LEGAL drugs that do the most damage. I suggest Hitchens reads Chasing the Scream 📚
Maybe they do more damage because they are legal and anyone can go to the shop and get them? If you make them all legal what do you think will happen?
Our NHS will have a crisis on their hands if they keep dishing out opiate based pain killers for minor elements. Just look at America. The medicinal use of Cannabis wouldn't be addictive or cause the major side effects associated with opiate medication. Cannibis is easy to harvest & have many pain relieving chemicals such as THC/CBD. Epilepsy, Parkinson's & depression has been & is been treated with Cannabis & is proofing successful. Recreational regulated cannabis would also be a great for tourism & trade.
Britain has made very little effort to prevent use of drugs.
Check out other countries where the merest posession will land in jail for years.
Nicer, safer countries.
@@MrNPC how's that liberty doing for us these days?
@Prayuth Chan-ocha Japan, South Korea, Singapore.
@Prayuth Chan-ocha this whole thing is cherry picking.
Fake reports "proving" how decriminalisation will Make us better and happier, meanwhile the same people have already started preparing their drug store and rehap clinics.
Think beyond yourself and what gets you off and consider the future.
As a habituale drug user and as a avid intellectual I will tell you the truth. You decriminalise drugs you get more drug use.
You want to ruin a society then decriminalise drugs. Super stupid idea. I accept my criminality through recreational drug use.
If you want to decriminalise weed then go ahead as it already should be legal but you want to decriminalise hard drugs do some homework on that concept first.
I would respect Hitchens' point of view more if he could debate without insulting and talking over everyone who disagrees with him.
Surely his point of view is entirely separate from his conduct?
@@trollop_7 ideally, yes.
@@trollop_7 but it takes effort to familiarise oneself with someone's arguments, and I'm more willing to make the effort if they don't come across as a pompous bigot.
@@vidyaruchi4810 All true. I've not heard him be so vitriolic in 'debate' before now, especially not straight out of the gate. The line about tripe marinated in bilge actually made me laugh - and that's a first.
Great show. Great presenters. Cracking debate.
And nowhere near long enough!! 🙄
We legalized marijuana in Canada four years ago. You know what happened? NOTHING.
When you can admit to cocaine use and serve in cabinet, I think this question answers itself
You either ban all drugs including coffee and alcohol or make it all legal and regulate it
Not all drugs are the same, and once something has been legalised for years it makes it very hard to undo. If we made the mistake of legalising cannabis, and then people become aware of the true extent of the damage it inflicts, it would be too late to get rid of it. It's better to be safe than sorry and keep it illegal, not repeat the same mistake of legalising alcohol. Mental health and crime prevention is more important than a silly little temporary high.
Id tend to agree with that but your never going to get rid of them theres too much money involved. Its a case of picking two evils and which one is the worse to live with
No debate here to hear, more like a grilling, one minute either side then lots of interrupting?
It's enough to drive one to booze, Is it legal?
"not their fault" Modern Britain in a nutshell, personal responsibility a mystery.
WEED DEFINITELY!!! 👌 As for comparing the UK to Korea or Japan etc. is ABSURD!!!Their Drug Laws are frigg'n OUTRAGEOUS FFS! 🤬🤮
😕☝I bet Peter loves a drink or two! Alcohol causes degradation & serious mental health issues. But he didn't mention that fact! But for example, Cannabis may cause mental health issues because it isn't regulated & controlled. The problem is the black market is producing stronger, genetically modified forms of cannabis such as Skunk & Spice. Ordinary regular cannabis is safe & has been used recreationally for thousands of years. Canada's approach to this issue seems to be the best.
Cocaine and heroin too.
@@Two_Tier_Britain THAT'S TRUE! The weed that I smoked or ate in cookies in my youth DID 'IT' for me PERFECTLY, but when my son suggested that I try a puff of one of his joints a few years back, OMGAWD! I didn't only cough my lungs out, but felt so miserable and depressed. It wasn't anything like it used to be in the good old days, and was an AWFUL experience! 🤮😝😫
When someone is addicted to say, heroin for example, it being illegal is irrelevant. What a daft thing to suggest. Asking they guy if he takes drugs himself is also irrelevant of the argument!!