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Asia-Pacific meth drug trade worth up to $61 billion, U.N. says

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By Tom Allard and Panu Wongcha-um

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Toasted Heretic

Sorry, I can't agree with you about legalizing all drugs. I'm OK with marijuana but definitely not harder drugs. I just came back from Australia and the city I stayed is experiencing an ice epidemic in the 17-30 age group. These junkies are commiting murders, assaults, stealing cars, crashing them, breaking and entering, commiting vandalism. It's out of control. Most of the time, when they are caught, their brains are so addled, they don't even know if they are on earth. And I had a cousin, a 17-year-old girl who died from a heroin overdose. I saw her arm about three months before she died. It looked like a pin cushion. Her father wanted to go out and kill her ex-boyfriend who got her started.

Hard drugs are a scourge on society.

I'd be really interested to hear from any reader who is a recovering drug addict on this topic of whether they think it is a good idea to legalize all drugs.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

That's a lot of revenue. Not that I approve of the drug but I still believe that all drugs should be legalized. Cuts out the cartels, the violence and the crap product.

Let the people decide what escapism they wish to chose.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Evil drug produced entirely for mass profits.

Profits that result from the illegal, unregulated status of the drug.

Legalize it, regulate it, and provide it at a price that doesn't require junkies to turn to crime to support their addiction.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Legalize it, regulate it, and provide it at a price that doesn't require junkies to turn to crime to support their addiction.

Hasn't really done much for alcohol or opioids. Some people are still addicted to them and some people go to great lengths to suppor those addictions.

I trust they know the figures... 

No one knows the exact figures. You can only try and estimate the figures based on the amounts you seize before they enter the country and the amounts you seize are they enter your country. Then they use that information combined with surveys, that people actually willingly answer, arrests, hospital records, and then find the street price for the drug. From there, they get a rough estimate of how much drugs are moving in the country and how much money they are making.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Osaka Doug

If you make it into the Japanese market, it’s a cash launderer’s dream. Japan is a high cash society so it’s easier for people to clean their money.

Casinos are great because they deal in cash. But the society here as a whole deals in cash.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

320 tons of pure methamphetamine last year and a record 120 tons was seized by law enforcement.

Staggering.

Profits that result from the illegal, unregulated status of the drug.

Legalize it, regulate it, and provide it at a price that doesn't require junkies to turn to crime to support their addiction.

After, we can discuss treasuring the addicted that need it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Hasn't really done much for alcohol or opioids. Some people are still addicted to them and some people go to great lengths to suppor those addictions

You cannot seriously claim that the negative externalities of alcohol consumption during prohibition are equal to or less than now.

Opiods are a different issue.

Legalizing all drugs will decrease the violence, cost, and dangers of using. It will also remove the stigma, to a certain extent, of being an addict so we can treat them instead of punishing them.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I trust they know the figures... since they do it themselves https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-crime-idUSKCN0SO24J20151030

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

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