An espresso and a joint please?

[PatchGirl]

Cocaine could be sold in pharmacies and cannabis in coffee shops under suggestions for decriminalising drugs set out by think tank Transform.

The body, which campaigns for the legalisation of drugs, says its ideas would reduce crime and improve health.

Its "blueprint" for how to regulate currently prohibited drugs is set out in a new book.

But the Home Office said it had "no intention of either decriminalising or legalising currently controlled drugs".

there is a train of thought that says these drugs are popular simply because they're illegal. Would legalising drugs remove the mystique thus leading to fewer users?

[FoxTopper]

I don't think it would lead to fewer users.

Being illegal, drugs do exude a certain magnetic mystique...but, that's not the main reason why people do them.

I'm not a user, but I do know people who used to take drugs.

Drugs are bought because they give users a certain addictive high they can't get elsewhere...plus, if their life situations are not exactly what would be called 'ideal,' drugs pull them out of their own selves, at least temporarily - they are given a moment's peace.

[MorrisLove]

Drugs are illegal for a reason -- they kill. And they should remain illegal