Drug addiction and legalization

[Riders]

One of problems with not legalizing pot and soft drugs is this. I never see it being talked about so I will bring it up. It's making things worse for drug for drug addicts. In prison they not only get drugs and stay addicted, but they sometimes learn to sell drugs.
There is a lot of rape and violence, and the prison teaches them to become comfortable with being prison and our state spends tons of money we don't have paying for their expenses and prison.
We have no business locking up drug addicts for possesion.

It also saves a lot of money for the state and courts not to have to house them in prison.

 

[Valjean]

Government spends a lot of time, money and effort on symbolic issues, maybe to garner support from conservative patrons, maybe to suppress problematic demographics, as when Nixon enacted extreme drug laws specifically to suppress the uppity blacks and anti-war hippies.
Drug laws reflect conservative social values, not sociological reality.

The US should pull its head out of the sand and look around. We're an insular and parochial country.
Other countries are dealing with these problems too. What approaches have worked, and which haven't? Hint: "tough on" and "war on" policies have never worked.

 

[Riders]

You'd think if nothing else they could legalize pot, Acid and mushrooms.

 

[Eddi]

Imagine all the revenue a tax on weed would generate for the government

And it being illegal clearly doesn't stop people from smoking it

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

You'd think if nothing else they could legalize pot, Acid and mushrooms.

Yeah, at least all psychedelics should be legalized/decriminalized as they're relatively low risk even compared to many pharmacuticals.

 

[Kathryn]

One time, I was working as an art therapist in a maximum security prison for the criminally insane. Good times! Anyway, one of the patients or inmates there went to college WITH MY DAD of all people. He was not insane at all, but he was determined to grow marijuana, not to sell but for his own personal use. So the powers that be eventually sent him to a maximum security prison for the criminally insane. They warned him that it was his next stop and I don't guess he believed them. Oh well. He was still there when I left.

 

[Twilight Hue]

You'd think if nothing else they could legalize pot, Acid and mushrooms.

Do you really want people to be high out in public?

I'm not saying it couldn't be illegal necessarily as long as a person's on their private time and in their own private place but a lot of times there's conflicts between using substances that can alter your mind because that person decides to go out in public in that condition.

It's why alcohol is so contentious, it's fine when it's just you and maybe some friends but not so fine when it compromises public safety and security.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Do you really want people to be high out in public?

I'm not saying it couldn't be illegal necessarily as long as a person's on their private time and in their own private place but a lot of times there's conflicts between using substances that can alter your mind because that person decides to go out in public in that condition.

It's why alcohol is so contentious, it's fine when it's just you and maybe some friends but not so fine when it compromises public safety and security.

They're already high out in public. People are smoking weed everywhere. Drugs from the doctor can make you feel high, too, like benzos.

 

[Twilight Hue]

They're already high out in public. People are smoking weed everywhere. Drugs from the doctor can make you feel high, too, like benzos.

That's what makes it the whole point where this kind of activity is in constant conflict with the public.

We know what alcohol has done and it's been demonized so much that even though people still drive drunk and killing people, it's not as much as it used to be.

The same thing needs to be done with any mind altering substance that aside from pure medical reasons , it's just not that cool to go out and put people at risk because you choose to be high.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

That's what makes it the whole point where this kind of activity is in constant conflict with the public.

We know what alcohol has done and it's been demonized so much that even though people still drive drunk and killing people, it's not as much as it used to be.

The same thing needs to be done with any mind altering substance that aside from pure medical reasons , it's just not that cool to go out and put people at risk because you choose to be high.

I don't know the answer to this, honestly. There's no practical way to stop it. Also, people can still function generally when they're stoned on cannabis, especially if they're used to it, so it's not quite the same as being drunk. Many people at my old job were stoners and would use it to get through the day at work and there weren't any problems there. Should people be driving while stoned? No, but there's not even a realistic way to test for THC if you're pulled over by the cops as it stays in the system for so long. You could have ingested it the day before and it would be still show a positive. Drunk driving is still very common, too. Most of these college students seem to have done it at least once. They're always driving drunk on the weekends and swerving around. It's a reason why I don't leave the apartment much.

 

[Riders]

i smoked pot for 3 months with my guy friend Raymond who was a drug addict, it made me sick all the time. I coughed and had bronchitis every other week. SO, I quit.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

One of problems with not legalizing pot and soft drugs is this. I never see it being talked about so I will bring it up. It's making things worse for drug for drug addicts. In prison they not only get drugs and stay addicted, but they sometimes learn to sell drugs.
There is a lot of rape and violence, and the prison teaches them to become comfortable with being prison and our state spends tons of money we don't have paying for their expenses and prison.
We have no business locking up drug addicts for possesion.

It also saves a lot of money for the state and courts not to have to house them in prison.

The glaring problem in this post, is that pot (cannabis) isn't actually physically addictive.

Pot isn't more addictive then french fries.
In fact, soft drinks like coca cola are more addictive then pot.

The problem I see with keep cannabis illegal, is that it pushes users into underground networks where they will come into contact with things that are far worse.
Dealers who sell pot will generally be gangsters who also sell other stuff like cocaine, heroine, etc... And these gangsters will much more prefer you to buy those things then some pot.... as it makes them more money and since those things ARE addictive, it will have much higher chances of yielding recurrent revenue.

Weed is not a "gateway drug" for the reason american war-on-drugs propaganda claims it is.
In as far as it can be said to be a "gateway drug", it actually is because it moves you into circles where dealers will offer you other things also. And some will bite.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Do you really want people to be high out in public?

I'm not saying it couldn't be illegal necessarily as long as a person's on their private time and in their own private place but a lot of times there's conflicts between using substances that can alter your mind because that person decides to go out in public in that condition.

It's why alcohol is so contentious, it's fine when it's just you and maybe some friends but not so fine when it compromises public safety and security.

Marijuana has been legal in Canada for 6 years now.

I'll occasionally see people having a joint while they're out walking, but other than that, you don't see it in most public places. Smoking pot is prohibited anywhere that smoking tobacco is prohibited, so you don't really get people smoking pot in public buildings, restaurants, or even parks.

Meanwhile, the big marijuana greenhouses around here are helping to fill the void in employment and tax base since some other major employers closed.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Do you really want people to be high out in public?

I'm not saying it couldn't be illegal necessarily as long as a person's on their private time and in their own private place but a lot of times there's conflicts between using substances that can alter your mind because that person decides to go out in public in that condition.

It's why alcohol is so contentious, it's fine when it's just you and maybe some friends but not so fine when it compromises public safety and security.

I think there's a very huge difference between people being stoned in public vs people being high on hallucinogenic drugs like shrooms or LSD

 

[Riders]

Marijuana has been legal in Canada for 6 years now.

I'll occasionally see people having a joint while they're out walking, but other than that, you don't see it in most public places. Smoking pot is prohibited anywhere that smoking tobacco is prohibited, so you don't really get people smoking pot in public buildings, restaurants, or even parks.

Meanwhile, the big marijuana greenhouses around here are helping to fill the void in employment and tax base since some other major employers closed.

A bar I use to frequent with my boyfriend Robert had a place out back that had several tables and benches where folks smoked pot and cigarettes.

 

[David Young]

There is one barrier to the legalisation of narcotics, whether you call them 'hard' or 'soft'.

Drug addiction is currently regarded as a form of victimhood and drug users are not willing to lose this status. When drug use is not accepted as a defence in a court of law and is not something the medical profession is required to treat at other people's expense, you may find the staunchest supporters of the war on drugs are willing to switch sides.

 

[GoodAttention]

The glaring problem in this post, is that pot (cannabis) isn't actually physically addictive.

Pot isn't more addictive then french fries.
In fact, soft drinks like coca cola are more addictive then pot.

The problem I see with keep cannabis illegal, is that it pushes users into underground networks where they will come into contact with things that are far worse.
Dealers who sell pot will generally be gangsters who also sell other stuff like cocaine, heroine, etc... And these gangsters will much more prefer you to buy those things then some pot.... as it makes them more money and since those things ARE addictive, it will have much higher chances of yielding recurrent revenue.

Weed is not a "gateway drug" for the reason american war-on-drugs propaganda claims it is.
In as far as it can be said to be a "gateway drug", it actually is because it moves you into circles where dealers will offer you other things also. And some will bite.

Physical addiction and psychological dependence are different, although both can result in personal detriment.

I would consider cannabis to have the potential for abuse, dependency, tolerance, and withdrawal depending on usage and person.

Legalisation of cannabis is should be about harm minimisation, medicinal use, and social benefits, but I don’t think there is value in saying it isn’t addictive.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Physical addiction and psychological dependence are different, although both can result in personal detriment.

Sure, but certainly you recognize also that one is worse then the other..............

Also, pretty much anything can result in "psychological dependence".

I would consider cannabis to have the potential for abuse, dependency, tolerance, and withdrawal depending on usage and person.

Explain.

I used to be a real pothead. Stoned every day.
Many of my friends were the same.
Sure, the sample size isn't enough to count as statistically sound, but I haven't seen any studies that contradicted our experiences. I have seen many that confirmed it.

So I'm interested in hearing what you mean exactly by "abuse, dependency, tolerance, and withdrawal". It's a little vague.

Legalisation of cannabis is should be about harm minimisation, medicinal use, and social benefits, but I don’t think there is value in saying it isn’t addictive.

But it isn't addictive....................
When we say things are addictive, we talk about physical addiction. You know, like cigarettes, alcohol, heroine, etc....
The type of addiction where you have literal physical withdrawal symptoms of literally being ill and stuff.

Sure, weed is "addictive". In the same sense that gaming is addictive or jogging, or.... anything can be addictive on a psychological / habit level.


Believe you me, I have smoked mountains of weed during my college days. Not once did I experience any "withdrawal" symptoms.
Personally, I don't even feel like I ever had psychological addiction either.

 

[PureX]

Chemical and behavioral addiction is a symptom common within dysfunctional cultures ... at pretty much any scale, from a family unit to a huge nation. And as it nearly always the case, treating the symptoms will bring limited success if we ignore the cultural dysfunction that is driving the problem.

But fixing cultural dysfunction is very difficult to do as it's a kind of "patient heal thyself" scenario. Whole cultures become 'addicted' to their own dysfunctional behaviors, to the point where they cannot even see it, let alone become willing to try and correct it. Or see how.

The massive increase in catastrophic drug addiction in the U.S is really just a symptom of a serious cultural malaise that no one wants to even admit to, let alone try to correct.

 

[wellwisher]

One of problems with not legalizing pot and soft drugs is this. I never see it being talked about so I will bring it up. It's making things worse for drug for drug addicts. In prison they not only get drugs and stay addicted, but they sometimes learn to sell drugs.
There is a lot of rape and violence, and the prison teaches them to become comfortable with being prison and our state spends tons of money we don't have paying for their expenses and prison.
We have no business locking up drug addicts for possesion.

It also saves a lot of money for the state and courts not to have to house them in prison.

Drugs are a victimless crime. It not like assault, robbery, rape and murder, where someone else is directly impacted by your actions in an objective way; cause and effect based on tangible evidence . The person smoking a joint, over there, harming no-one is not creating any victims. However, there are people who will still hate them for their lawlessness and feel subjective victimhood; second hand smoke or its stinks. This may then justify that they call the police to victimize the smoker in a tangle way. It is bizarre dynamics. The void of the victimless crime needs a victim; smoker. It is trick math that is emotional satisfy to legal predators.

One for first lesson of civilization was Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge, taboo. Taboos and prohibitions; victimless crimes, will create temptation; no harm done curiosity, and that will help create a tax free black market monopoly; Satan became in charge of humans. Guns are taboo in most Democrat run cities, yet they have the worse gun problems. The prohibition, not only creates temptation, but it also wipes out the legitimate free market, making room for the black market, which is overprices and over selling. The adds pressure, via supply side economics, which then drives up demand, and mixed with the compulsion, creates addiction.

The alcohol prohibition led to the Mafia becoming very wealthy, and led to a compulsive need, by many, to sneak around and get drunk, since nobody saw a tangible victim, due to the law seeming so subjective and not objective, like a crime with a direct victim.

The problem is prohibition, creates psychology damage, that is not quickly reversed, when you reverse the law. It is not a on-off valve, since the impact of the black market adds a strong negative wild card that evolve through the fear. The Black market also does not wish to lose their business, so healing is not in their best interests; push a new drug like fentanyl, that remains illegal.

Like any habit it takes time to heal, which even includes the do-gooders having to give up that legal right to be a bully and snitch to the police so that can make the;smoker, the victim of the victimless crime. Those who victimize, those, who made no victims, have to get past denial to acceptance and regret to help the healing process; legal code allowed them to supersede their moral code and victimize.