To pick up on the points made by No3L and Enzyme
We legalised alcohol. Once you're over the age of 18, you can buy drinks which range from anywhere between 2 and 100% ABV, and all commercial breweries and distilleries are subject to rigorous quality control standards. And, of course, the alcohol industry has long been a substantial pillar of this country's economy.

One of the reasons it's illegal to distil your own booze because of the risks posed to yourself and anyone else who drinks it.

Basically, we've tried to create a safe environment for people to legally enjoy alcohol if they choose to do so.

Now, if No3L's point is true about the stuff you get these days being mind-blowingly strong and being connected with mental illness: why not do the same with Cannabis? For those people who really want to smoke it, why not legalise packets of the stuff which have been subjected to the same screening as our booze? People are going to go for the stuff anyway, so we could at least let them enjoy it safely and all the other institutions (as listed by Enzyme) benefit accordingly.

(As long as they can go and do it without boring the bollocks off the rest of us about it. But then I suppose the local drunkard becomes very dull company after a while.)
(LongJohnBaldry, Mon 26 Jan 2009, 11:10, Reply)