There was consensus among the participants at the Anti-Legalization Forum, too, on the need to ask a number of
questions of those proposing legalization. Too often, the specifics of how to implement a system for distribution
and sale of legalized drugs are never discussed. Instead, simplistic rhetoric is used to deflect serious consideration
of the many questions that must be thought through before one can evaluate the ramifications of their proposals.
This is the great weakness of the pro-legalization position. Participants in the Forum suggested that the following
questions be asked consistently in order to illustrate the shallowness of the legalization concept.
Should all drugs be legalized?
Who will determine which segments of the population will have access to legalized drugs?
Will they be limited only to people over eighteen?
Will cocaine, heroin, LSD and PCP be made available if people request them?
Who will sell drugs? The government? Private companies?
And who is liable for damages caused by drug use and the activities of those taking drugs?
Who will collect the revenues generated by the drug sales?
How will a black market for cheaper drugs be controlled?
Who will bear the costs to society of increased drug use?
How will absenteeism and loss of productivity be addressed by business?
Will the local drug situation in a community dictate which drugs are sold where?
How will society care for and pay for the attendant social costs of increased drug use, including family disintegration and child
neglect?
Will people still need prescriptions for currently controlled medications, such as antibiotics, if drugs are legalized?
Will legal drugs require prescriptions?
Can anyone, regardless of physical or medical conditions purchase drugs?
How will we deal with the influx of people to the United States who will seek legal drugs?
Can we begin a legalization pilot program in your neighborhood for one year?
Should the distribution outlets be located in the already overburdened inner city?