Smoking

[Tiberius]

or do speed limits exist in your fairy tale utopia?

...yes. Why would a drug policy have any effect on speed limits? When do we ever make a new law and then say "ok, well now let's choose another random law and erase it"? Driving under the influence would still be illegal. We have legalized alcohol and people still drink and drive, but they get fined and sent to jail for doing so. This would be no different in a society that legalized drugs. I'm not arguing that legalization completely removes all drug-related crime, but the fact is that it would still be classified as crime, and the crimes involving drug smuggling / gangs would be reduced (for the simple reason that people would be able to buy drugs legally and not have to resort to black-market dealings.

they can smoke 4 cigarettes on the go (possibly with marijuana oil, amyl nitrate or whatever on one or more of them) whilst driving

They can, and when they are caught by the police they will spend a lengthy time in jail. I personally think there should be tougher sentences on criminals generally in Britain, but that is just my view. People have the right to take drugs in their own home, but they do not have a right to let that drug taking affect others.

or perhaps they should be allowed to take ecstasy, speed and PCP in any combination they wish and no matter what mood they are in.

If people wish to kill themselves then I have no problem with it. You speak as if educating campaigns would be eradicated, but this would not be how I would run such a legalization. I would keep the adverts condemning drinking and driving, but I would add to them to include messages about drugs. Likewise, I would run the "smoking is bad for you" adverts with warnings to include mentions of drugs.

And what about children? Should we be allowing children to take these drugs? If so at what age and why that age? How much can they take and are they responsible for their actions?

Protection of children is a high priority. Just as we protect children by enforcing a law for sexual intercourse, drinking, etc. I think we should enforce a minimum age of 18 for alcohol, cigarettes, sexual intercourse, drugs, etc. Scrap the laws that say children can drink in a beer garden if with their family, or that 15 year olds can buy cigarettes. Once you have reached the age when you can decide for yourself whether to go into higher education or into the world to get a job, I would say that you have matured enough to make such decisions.

I think I'd have the odd reservation about living on your cloud.

The only reason my "cloud" exists is because the current system has failed, and indeed has made everything much worse. Drugs are not going to disappear off the face of the Earth. They exist now, and nothing can stop that fact. There will always be a demand for drugs, and therein you have two options, either ban them completely and let the black-market take over (which isn't a solution), or legalize them with limiting measures to absolve the government of blame if people mis-use them. The government can charge a tax on them, but drug companies would be born to look into making them safer. People who don't want to ruin their lives will not buy drugs (much in the same way that people who don't want to trash their lungs don't smoke), and the people who will have bought them off the black-market before will buy them legally and get out of a possible life of crime.

I'm not saying it's not a radical position to take, and I also used to think the same way you thought. It was only when I considered all the options, researched into prohibition a bit, that I realized that this position is futile; it achieves nothing. We have legalized alcohol and cigarettes even though in some cases they may actually be worse than some currently banned substances, so why can't we legalize drugs in the same way?