Some people have difficulty accepting the concept behind LEAP. My interpretation is that the people on the front line of the "War on Drugs" have seen the failure to achieve anything productive. They have seen the complete failure of the alcohol prohibition in the 1930's and the fact that drugs are driven underground by their legal status means they cannot be regulated.
So by making them legal, the competition, (illegal drug dealers) cant compete. When you have drugs being dealt in a controlled environment and you have people using them in a controlled environment. When there's no-one pushing them, that eliminates the people who succumb to the pushers. The attraction of doing something edgey is eliminated so someone who wants kick out at the world wont tend to. So youre left with the people who tend to be addictive getting attracted to them and using them.
The other major attractants for people who tend to succumb to addictions are alcohol, cigarettes, gambling (are all I can think of right now), all have legal pushers either advertising them or presenting them in a way that makes them look attractive
- alcohol has advertising, a cool image and a strong mainstream culture that perpetuates its use and competition amoungst its vendors
- cigarettes have major advertising, an image that is constantly being pushed by cool scenes of cool people smoking that perpetuates its use and competition amoungst its vendors. It does have smoking lepers lurking around outsde buildings, who dont look cool - except in winter.
- gambling has advertising, a cool image and competition amoungst its vendors
Drugs in a controlled environment where, I'd imagine, there would be no advertising (because the regulators would want to reduce its use) wouldn't have to compete or battle anyone (like cigarette companies and brewers). The drug counter culture would be totally different. No Gangsta's strutting around flashing gold and diamonds.
All you have to do is study the ultimate illustration of this phenomenon - the Prohibition of the 30's to see the all these dynamics come into play. There'll be some articles and parallels drawn between Prohibition and the present day on this site in the future.
