PsychedSubstance is fantastic. He always offers insanely useful advice when experimenting with various compounds. I wish governments had this sort of focus on drugs instead of trying to criminalize. In this case, if governments were instead focusing their resources on just accepting people take drugs and getting them to do it in a safe manner we wouldn't have so much of these deaths occurring, my two cents anyway.
[QUOTE=OmTheory;52909268]In this case, if governments were instead focusing their resources on just accepting people take drugs and getting them to do it in a safe manner we wouldn't have so much of these deaths occurring, my two cents anyway.[/QUOTE]
Driving cars is legal, and safe ways to do so are provided (seatbelts, etc.). Yet, people still die of car accidents every day.
A reasonable person could say the risk outweighs the reward when driving a car. I don't think the same could be said about drugs when self-medicating.
[QUOTE=Smoot;52909299]Driving cars is legal, and safe ways to do so are provided (seatbelts, etc.). Yet, people still die of car accidents every day.
A reasonable person could say the risk outweighs the reward when driving a car. I don't think the same could be said about drugs when self-medicating.[/QUOTE]
Don't use cars as a metaphor. It's stupid for the gun-nuts and it's dumb here. There's too many other factors for it to be a good metaphor.
[QUOTE=Smoot;52909299]Driving cars is legal, and safe ways to do so are provided (seatbelts, etc.). Yet, people still die of car accidents every day.
A reasonable person could say the risk outweighs the reward when driving a car. I don't think the same could be said about drugs when self-medicating.[/QUOTE]
There's a much more significant issue than whether the risks outweigh the reward: People are going to use drugs regardless of whether or not it is legal or safe, and strangely enough, the less legal and safe it is, the more (some) people are encouraged to do it. The reward doesn't matter, or if you want to look at it this way, the reward of legalization is reduced risk, in a sense.
When something is illegal, it's automatically less safe for various reasons, but if it's legal and regulated, then it's at least as safe as we can reasonably make it given the circumstances, although it will still be risky and there will still be lives lost. In situations where people are going to do it regardless because you can't control it, you'd have to do the second option.
Legalization offers the opportunity to direct resources and efforts towards harm reduction through education, and educating people is far more effective at curbing usage than imprisoning people.
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