Should drugs be illegal?

[Kowalski]

I'm not talking about hard drugs, which are a problem, well excess Alcohol is as well. Anti-Drug laws have proved pretty useless in curbing the drugs trade, as long as large amounts of money are invloved, and they are, it won't cease.

My point is that the State is at liberty to warn me of the dangers of smoking and drinking, but not to tell me not to do it. How far do you go, Caffeine is addictive, I know, couldn't live without coffee, and I like to smoke whilst I drink my coffee, Ryan seems to be suggesting he would even ban that.

Cheers

K

 

[michel]

I'm not talking about hard drugs, which are a problem, well excess Alcohol is as well. Anti-Drug laws have proved pretty useless in curbing the drugs trade, as long as large amounts of money are invloved, and they are, it won't cease.

My point is that the State is at liberty to warn me of the dangers of smoking and drinling, but not to tell me not to do it. How far do you go, Caffeine is addictive, I know, couldn't live without coffee, and I like to smoke whilst I drink my coffee, Ryan seems to be suggesting he would even ban that.

Cheers

K

I understand your need of 'civil rights' Kowalski. But how do you feel about the fact that if everyone thought the way youn do, the National health Service would be totally defuct through lack of funds; the costs of liver transplants and the cost of smoking related hospital treatment is exhorbitant ?

 

[Ryan2065]

I'm not talking about hard drugs, which are a problem, well excess Alcohol is as well. Anti-Drug laws have proved pretty useless in curbing the drugs trade, as long as large amounts of money are invloved, and they are, it won't cease.

My point is that the State is at liberty to warn me of the dangers of smoking and drinling, but not to tell me not to do it. How far do you go, Caffeine is addictive, I know, couldn't live without coffee, and I like to smoke whilst I drink my coffee, Ryan seems to be suggesting he would even ban that.

What about the thousands of people who die in alchol related deaths? My thought has always been if no one drank, EVER, that there would be many less deaths due to alchol (in fact, none) so alot more people would be alive today than there were yesterday. So I myself do not drink. If this was my perfect world, no one would drink, because the masses in general have proven time and time again that they cannot drink responsibily...

 

[michel]

The majority of domestic violence is drink related; the same applies to driving accidents. thank goodness I am now 'dry'.

 

[Kowalski]

I understand your need of 'civil rights' Kowalski. But how do you feel about the fact that if everyone thought the way youn do, the National health Service would be totally defuct through lack of funds; the costs of liver transplants and the cost of smoking related hospital treatment is exhorbitant ?

Ahh, but did you know tobacco tax puts far more money into the system that what the Gov actually says smokers cost the NHS ?

Cheers

K

 

[Kowalski]

What about the thousands of people who die in alchol related deaths? My thought has always been if no one drank, EVER, that there would be many less deaths due to alchol (in fact, none) so alot more people would be alive today than there were yesterday. So I myself do not drink. If this was my perfect world, no one would drink, because the masses in general have proven time and time again that they cannot drink responsibily...

Mostly I would agree, but I cannot forsee a situation where alcohol would be prohibited, it's been tried before. The UK ,it has to be said, is in the grip of an alcoholic epidemic, what the answer is, I don't know. Personally, I don't drink now, but I do recall that going out and chasing girls and going to night clubs just wouldn't of worked very well without a few drinks.

Cheers

K

 

[jonny]

Dang it - I voted the wrong way! Subtract one of the no votes and move it to yes.

 

[Ryan2065]

Mostly I would agree, but I cannot forsee a situation where alcohol would be prohibited, it's been tried before. The UK ,it has to be said, is in the grip of an alcoholic epidemic, what the answer is, I don't know. Personally, I don't drink now, but I do recall that going out and chasing girls and going to night clubs just wouldn't of worked very well without a few drinks.

Its really quite easy =P I recently turned 21... For my birthday I went out to a ribs place with my girlfriend and ordered a root beer... I told my "drinking" friends this and they thought that was quite awesome. I also went to the liquor store and bought non-alcholic wine and made sure to show my id... =) Fun can be had without drinking, and it really is quite easy... Hell if you need something to make you loosen up I'll fill a pill full of sugar and tell you its a wonder drug that makes it so you can talk to girls =) Placebo effect works wonders!

 

[Kowalski]

Its really quite easy =P I recently turned 21... For my birthday I went out to a ribs place with my girlfriend and ordered a root beer... I told my "drinking" friends this and they thought that was quite awesome. I also went to the liquor store and bought non-alcholic wine and made sure to show my id... =) Fun can be had without drinking, and it really is quite easy... Hell if you need something to make you loosen up I'll fill a pill full of sugar and tell you its a wonder drug that makes it so you can talk to girls =) Placebo effect works wonders!

Well, that would be good, but to be honest, drink really breaks down inhibitions, it's this question of drinking to excess that's the real problem. Friday and Saturday nights in town have become a little dangerous with so many drunks wandering around, and not just the men here, if anything, the girls are worse.

Cheers

K

 

[Radar]

Educate everyone on th horrors of drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Then leave up to them to decide. Those that do would do those that don't might try but would not use on a regular basis. Who is anyone to make my decisions for me. Next soemone will try and tell me what religion to be.

 

[Darkdale]

Educate everyone on th horrors of drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Then leave up to them to decide. Those that do would do those that don't might try but would not use on a regular basis. Who is anyone to make my decisions for me. Next soemone will try and tell me what religion to be.

Drugs make people harder to control. I think that is the argument. People want order. Anything that reduces order is bad. Anything that creates order is good.

 

[michel]

Educate everyone on th horrors of drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Then leave up to them to decide. Those that do would do those that don't might try but would not use on a regular basis. Who is anyone to make my decisions for me. Next soemone will try and tell me what religion to be.

My son, aged eight, came home from school one day in tears.

We asked him what the trouble was, and he told us he had seen a film of what the insides of people's lungs look like, because of smoking. He didn't want that to happem to Daddy; I gave up.

He has been smoking ever since he was eighteen.

He is aware that in the past, I have been binge drinking alcohol - and has told me that I am wrong to do so. Now, he is binge drinking.

I am not sure that the average 'Joe' is able to be dispassionate enough to use pure logic to decide not to smoke and drink when tired out after a hard day, in the company of peers .

 

[gnomon]

Drug use should be decriminalized. This is not the same as stating that all drugs should be legal. As it is, the use of alcohol is not legal across the board. There are many laws which regulate the distribution, sale and use of alcohol. Applying the same standard to the use of marijuana could easily be applied. Especially since marijuana can be easily mass produced and distributed locally it would be more beneficial to our economy than the resources spent trying to eradicate crops and sentencing users to disproportianate terms of incarceration. The United States could just start with this without even changing the current laws regarding the use of hard drugs. It would be best to decriminalize the production, distribution, sale and use of marijuana first as an experiment. As it stands now, the fact that marijuana is a Schedule I drug whereas cocaine is a Schedule II and alcohol (far more damaging to society than both cocaine and weed) is considered as legal.

Even if we cannot accept the thought of people being able to buy and use any drug in a 'legal' manner it must be recognized that the Drug War as it is today is perhaps the most hypocritical legacy in the United States since slavery. Laws grounded on racist beliefs, bad science, public fear and general ignorance. Even the relatively small number of innocent people killed by the federal government is too much for us to maintain the image of a free society.

 

[turk179]

I don't think that drugs should be treated as a criminal issue, I think it should be treated as a healthcare issue. If we spent the money we spend on putting people in prison and on the DEA, we could establish a national program to decrease drug use through rehabilitation; or use that money to give aid to private rehabilitation programs.

I voted yes but I do agree with what Darkdale said. I do believe that marijuana should be legalized without a doubt.

 

[Zephyr]

I have tried all sorts of crazy crap in my life. Not all drugs are equal. Here's a quick breakdown of my opinion on the few I have done.

Marijuana - Should be legalized. Nonaddictive and not incredibly unhealthy.
Meth - Can be responsibly used, but still too risky for most people.
Cocaine - I've only done this once, and I say it should stay illegal. The addictive potential is WAY to high.
5-meo-amt - Currently legal (I think) and should stay that way.
DXM - Currently legal and should stay that way. It has great medical uses in low doses, and is fairly safe at recreational doses.
Psilocybin - Should be legalized. Same as Marijuana.
Amanita Muscaria - ' '
GHB - It was called a rape drug earlier in this thread, but it can be used for purely recreational purposes without to much trouble.
Opiates (Opium, Codeine, Morphine, Heroin) - Weaker ones are fairly safe, but morphine and herion have way too much potential for addiction.
Salvia Divinorum - Currently legal. I'm sure Druidus has a good opinion about this one .

This covers most of it.

Wow, I used to be a druggie.

 

[Malus 12:9]

Funny that a concoction of God's nature can cause such issues..

 

[Quoth The Raven]

MdmSzdWhtGuy;

You see, that is one of the problems with society; the government makes a good income out of tobacco and alcohol - at least it does here in England, as does the goverment enjoy the revenue from the sale of gas.

To be fair, when tobacco was introduced, no one knew of the potential hamful effects on users. Society is now supoorted, to some extent, by the fabric of an employment system developed around the Alcohol and tobacco industry - and the Gas industry, which Has to continue existing while there is the heavy infrastructure around the motoring industries.

Drugs, of course, are a different matter - the government don't see any revenue from that industry - why do you think alcohol and tobacco are still legal, while drugs are a "No - no"?

Because the governement gets a slice of the tobacco and alcohol action.

Legalise the drugs and the government will get a slice of that pie as well. I don't think anyone is suggesting that legalisation = open slather. The government will then regulate and tax the drug industry much the same way as it does the tobacco and alcohol industries. It should actually push the criminal element out of the game.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

I'm don't think I have ever heard of a person who is "socially reponsible" while being on meth.

~Victor

Which I could counter by saying I've never heard of a meth user throwing his drug of choice out of the car window when he was finished with it and starting a grass fire that ended up burning down acres of bush and causing the deaths of a couple of volunteer firefighters and several civilians, but oddly enough I have heard of a cigarette smoker doing just that.
At least one gets prosecuted every year here for starting fires through moronic actions.
Hardly socially responsible.:areyoucra

 

[WillieHutch]

I don't think that drugs should be treated as a criminal issue, I think it should be treated as a healthcare issue. If we spent the money we spend on putting people in prison and on the DEA, we could establish a national program to decrease drug use through rehabilitation; or use that money to give aid to private rehabilitation programs.

i agree with this statement. i dont think drugs should be completely "legal," rather, i think they should be regulated the same way cigarettes and alcohol are. there is too much violence, imprisonment, and time and money expended as a result of drugs being illegal.

 

[Yerda]

Drugs are a problem, but should not be a criminal one, but a medical and social one. Decriminalisation seems like a rational step in dealing with the issue. There should still be controls of the movement of dangerous substances but this should allow society to cut through the problem of the dealers, the violence and the related crimes.