Should Indian Pirates advocate for the decriminalisation of possession of controlled narcotics?

@arjun Anything that comes under.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcotic_Drugs_and_Psychotropic_Substances_Act_%28India%29

@vik thanks.. looks like i've got a lot of reading up to do..
anyway , my view would be to legalize recreational drugs which aren't addictive while being properly regulated.. for instance , I know it for a fact that marijuana isn't .. but heroin is absolutely addictive..

@vik check your conversations app ..

@vik are you inspired by Portugals move to decriminalize all drug use?

@arjun Portugal is a very good example - they had very serious problems with heroin addiction - this reduced after decriminalization - so yeah, am inspired by that.

This is one of the major points for me - that people should be cared for if they have a dependency problem and how we treat people should be related to the reduction of harm - criminalising people doesn't help.

@vik i agree.. you wouldnt send your own kid to jail if he/she used drugs right? You would send them to a rehab. You'd treat them. Putting them in jail with a bunch of hardcore criminals is not going to do any good.
In fact alcohol is a much bigger problem today in India.

But tell me something.. Shouldn't people who SELL drugs be jailed? Of course , if you legalize it then the question doesnt arise so..

@vik Im going to try and find some figures for India. Pass me the links if you have any..

Someone once told me this and I stand by it.. The moment you make something illegal there is always an underground network which provides you the same for a much higher price .. and we all know what the drug money is used for..

@arjun Selling - now that's more tricky. Decriminalisation for the user does not tackle the problem of the sellers / black market.

I would favour an approach that allowed commercial regulation and sale of products deemed less harmful and prescription by a doctor for medicinal use of more harmful substances.

There are a number of economic wins here - increased income via taxation, less money in the black market, less spending on law enforcement and prisons.

@vik im along the same lines as you and am sure about a few things..
Legalization and regulation of the less harmful ones and jail time to the sellers.
I'd like some more insight on this topic though. Lets wait till we hear from others. What if we are missing something.

@vik I have never consumed any of these controlled narcotics, but a lot of my friends do and even though these are banned by law the background network is so strong that you can get these drugs in most cities pretty easily. Not to mention that the most of the police infrastructure is well aware of there distribution.
According to me decriminalisation of possession of these drugs would be helpful if there distribution is done by a proper channel wherein it is controlled by who is ditributing them and to whom it is being distributed. Just as Liquour is distributed by government authorised shops all over India, a similar infrastructure can be created.
It should be made sure that these drugs do not get in the hands of minors.
Also as @arjun pointed out that marijuana is not that addictive but Heroine is, it should be debated whether which drug should be distributed and which should not be. Make the people extremely addicted to a particular drug is not good as well.

Just recalled a quote I read once somewhere.