• Should drugs be legalized ?
    655 replies, posted
Legalizing all drugs worked for Portugal in every way. Besides, if you live in a country like the United States that suppose to protect your personal choices, it's not in that spirit to control what an adult puts in their body. I don't do drugs anymore myself (despite the avatar), but I do believe that it's a personal health choice. Sorry if the Portugal point has already been made; I don't feel like going through 11 pages.
Drugs aren't legal in portugal get your facts straight. They are decriminalized.
Yeah and that means theres still a black market and many of the negative effects assosiated with that
I'm pretty sure if we regulated drugs like we regulate alcohol, and had severe punishment for doing drugs in public/driving under influence, it would be OK. The feds would make money, new businesses would pop up, we'd stop spending money on drug crackdowns, everything would probably work out alright. I see no problem in doing any drug as long as it's in your own house and you're not hurting anyone else.
the only problem with drugs, like alchohol, is moderation, unfortunatly social stigmas are still attatched to many forms of drugs, (IE you smoke pot, you are a pothead, to someone looking to hire you), but thats another conversation being in college i can tell you people are here just to get completely fucked the shit up all weekend, starting at 4pm friday and lasting till sunday night. legalised drugs would be thrown into that mix, its not the fact that they [B]cant[/B] get them now, its that if legalised, they would be in a much greater supply, even regulated, booze is in plenty here and im in the freshmen dorms, nobody on my floor is over 21, yet my neighbors have a bar in their room,. i just think people arent ready quite yet for legalised drugs everywhere. i just think society as a whole works better when people are not walking around fucked out of their minds, being drunk is one thing, but being on some of the other drugs out there is a completely different game. certainly old scare tactics are just completely bogus, and studies are actually turning to limited clinical trials with all sorts of prevouslly illegal substances, maybe with new nano-particle medicines, and a better understanding of how these drugs preform, we could develope an anti-high pill, we could legalise drugs without so many of the side effects from them, idk, im tired, been up for 20some hours, going to sleep now
[QUOTE=Sableye;38027671]the only problem with drugs, like alchohol, is moderation, unfortunatly social stigmas are still attatched to many forms of drugs, (IE you smoke pot, you are a pothead, to someone looking to hire you), but thats another conversation being in college i can tell you people are here just to get completely fucked the shit up all weekend, starting at 4pm friday and lasting till sunday night. legalised drugs would be thrown into that mix, its not the fact that they [B]cant[/B] get them now, its that if legalised, they would be in a much greater supply, even regulated, booze is in plenty here and im in the freshmen dorms, nobody on my floor is over 21, yet my neighbors have a bar in their room,. i just think people arent ready quite yet for legalised drugs everywhere. i just think society as a whole works better when people are not walking around fucked out of their minds, being drunk is one thing, but being on some of the other drugs out there is a completely different game. certainly old scare tactics are just completely bogus, and studies are actually turning to limited clinical trials with all sorts of prevouslly illegal substances, maybe with new nano-particle medicines, and a better understanding of how these drugs preform, we could develope an anti-high pill, we could legalise drugs without so many of the side effects from them, idk, im tired, been up for 20some hours, going to sleep now[/QUOTE] "Old scare tactics" Drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines etc. are extremely dangerous, there's no doubt about it. However, it is unlawful for a government to control what goes into someone's body, as long as they are responsible in doing so. I think if we spent more money raising awareness on how dangerous these drugs are, and made the punishment extremely severe for illegal dealing, underage using, and driving under influence, it would turn out ok.
Exactly. If they were available from a regulated supplier along with advice on usage I think those who decide to try or use it would be more likely to do so in a sensible fashion. Why overdose if you're able to calculate the exact dosage you need? Alcohol is a bad example because it is pretty poorly regulated in most places.
drugs are good stuff unless you get addicted and commit crimes to finance your addiction.
exactly and them being illegal inflates the price and decreases the quality and often makes it so you don't know the strength or dosage
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;38031742]"Old scare tactics" Drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines etc. are extremely dangerous, there's no doubt about it. However, it is unlawful for a government to control what goes into someone's body, as long as they are responsible in doing so. I think if we spent more money raising awareness on how dangerous these drugs are, and made the punishment extremely severe for illegal dealing, underage using, and driving under influence, it would turn out ok.[/QUOTE] Except that those drugs are NOT extremely dangerous. They are only harmful if abused by taking too high of a dose, with other drugs or pre-existing medical conditions. If people were more educated about drugs and their effects then there would be less fear and misuse of drugs.
Exactly and people are more likely to take the correct dose if they are regulated properly and they can tell what strength the shit is and that it isn't contaminated.
why shouldn't they? [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Extended, this isn't debating." - postal))[/highlight]
If it looks as thought the state can make a gain off of the legalization of soft drugs as long as they are well-monitored and are treated the same as alcohol, I see no issues. Smoking isn't legal in many places in public, which means that if individuals wished to partake in things such as marijuana, they would have to either do so in businesses designated as such, or in the privacy of their own homes.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38057188]If it looks as thought the state can make a gain off of the legalization of soft drugs as long as they are well-monitored and are treated the same as alcohol, I see no issues. Smoking isn't legal in many places in public, which means that if individuals wished to partake in things such as marijuana, they would have to either do so in businesses designated as such, or in the privacy of their own homes.[/QUOTE] Sounds good, but why limit it to "soft drugs"? How would you make that distinction anyway? We all know the government can't, considering all the safe drugs they have in schedule I.
Yeah and that's not to mention how the main dangers of "hard drugs" are caused by prohibition and deregulation - not the substances themselves.
What I think that marijuana should be legalized but not the hard drugs. For many reason such as medical, for adhd, etc. Hard drugs on the other hand should stay illegal because of the harmful effects.
A lot of the harmful effects of so-called "hard" drugs are caused by prohibition, lack of regulation, and the black market and not the substance itself. This has been mentioned many times if you'd read or skim the last few pages :P
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;38026756]I'm pretty sure if we regulated drugs like we regulate alcohol, and had severe punishment for doing drugs in public/driving under influence, it would be OK. The feds would make money, new businesses would pop up, we'd stop spending money on drug crackdowns, everything would probably work out alright. I see no problem in doing any drug as long as it's in your own house and you're not hurting anyone else.[/QUOTE] Exactly this, there is literally no reason to make drugs illegal, if someone wants to do drugs they will do it anyway, if not then the legalization wont effect them (as long as like you said they ain't aloud to drive high or take them in public). Hell they could even have "Drug Pub's" where you can go to take drugs like we have pubs for alcohol. [editline]17th October 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=mastfire;38078013]What I think that marijuana should be legalized but not the hard drugs. For many reason such as medical, for adhd, etc. Hard drugs on the other hand should stay illegal because of the harmful effects.[/QUOTE] You mean harmful effects like alcohol and smoking?
I remember when I was visiting Netherlands If you wanted to buy shrooms from store the merchant gave some tips about the dose and pretty much all the basic information about the shrooms and flyer with the information as well. And when I bought dream herb they told me the dose, when to take it etc. I don't see how you could fuck it up. I mean weed and shrooms are being sold in Netherlands all the time and I haven't heard about the country doing worse than any other European country. The people were nice normal human beings and during my visit there I didn't see anything weird compared to any other country I have been in. People smoking weed were in coffee shops and not causing problems on the street. I probably saw hundreds of people high from different drugs but didn't even realize it. Of course there have been problems with tourists that can't handle their shit. But yeah any country there are drunk tourists probably doing equal amount of damage.
I personally believe that marijuana is the most viable drug to be legalized, while I never support the use of any drug (Tobacco included) there should be a filter over drugs and some legalization.
They should at least make DMT legal. Why ? Everyone takes it when their sleep, it doesn't damage their body. The only negative effect you can get is that you can change if you come back from the trip.
[QUOTE=Crossu88;38093522]there should be a filter over drugs[/QUOTE] What does this mean? [QUOTE=Leystryku;38093641]Everyone takes it when their sleep, it doesn't damage their body.[/QUOTE] This is completely speculation. It's just one guy's hypothesis. Although DMT is found in trace amounts in the body, it's not enough to cause a "trip". I will agree though, that it is definitely safe.
Just legalize Marijuana. It's a plant like Tobacco.
[QUOTE=Leystryku;38093641]They should at least make DMT legal. Why ? Everyone takes it when their sleep, it doesn't damage their body. The only negative effect you can get is that you can change if you come back from the trip.[/QUOTE] And you can have anxiety, ptsd, hppd, and a few other mental problems. You don't take it in your sleep. Im all for legalization of drugs but you can't go round spreading lies.
Welp, decided to get back to mass debating. I'm still not convinced. Assuming that drugs will be regulated enough to make them safe, there's still the problem of addiction. This isn't just your average dependence on your cup-o-joe a day, people will start building a serious addiction to some of these (I'm thinking crack, etc here) This could undoubtedly cause a lot of problems in people's everyday lives, and on top of that, do we really want to be dependent on drugs that are manufactured by corporations that would undoubtedly hop on this market if drugs are legalized? Fuck that, even a Mexican drug cartel is preferable to that
But it could be your average dependence if it was cheaply available and regulated correctly with known strength. A lot of the problem with addiction to crack, etc. as you mention, is that the user cannot afford to get hold of their next hit (due to inflated black market pricing) or do not know what dosage they need to maintain their addiction effectively and cannot measure it (due to deregulated black market). There's also the contamination aspect to consider. I think that a lot of people who would take these drugs if they were legal already take them and do not let the law have much bearing on their decision. Addiction is not always a problem. For those that form a problematic addiction it would be important that their medical services offered them assistance as they already do but without any of the stigma or the prejudice. Before prohibition of any drugs occurred, they were available without a prescription for anyone to buy in pharmacies and shops (heroin, cannabis, cocaine, opium, and many more) and there wasn't really a societal problem. There were some people who developed habits and overused but they were helped by their doctor and there were far less of them per capita despite the product being more readily available. The reason there are so many problem users now, I'd allege, is that the market has been pushed underground and as a result the products have become more sought after (a forbidden fruit) and, due to their unregulation and black market side effects, they have taken on harms that are nothing to do with the substance itself. Capitalism has raped them because all drug suppliers are generally interested in is the massive profit margins to be had in a prohibited market and they care not for their customers or accountability. Sure corporations can be bad in this world of exploitative mass consumer-capitalism but hey! At least their products could be regulated and they would have have some level of accountability compared with drug cartels. [QUOTE=GunShard;38119104]Just legalize Marijuana. It's a plant like Tobacco.[/QUOTE] Plenty of other drugs are plant based. Cocaine, Opium, Heroin, Mescaline, Psilocybin, LSD. Just an FYI. I'm for legalisation and regulation of everything but just because some drugs are "plants" is not a logical argument. [editline]21st October 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Stormcharger;38122134]And you can have anxiety, ptsd, hppd, and a few other mental problems. You don't take it in your sleep. Im all for legalization of drugs but you can't go round spreading lies.[/QUOTE] Exactly, with psychedelics like DMT, etc. it depends on the experience you have with them influenced primarily by your perception and personal reaction. You could have a terrifying trip and end up agoraphobic I imagine or you could have an amazing one and just want to love everyone.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;38122467]Welp, decided to get back to mass debating. I'm still not convinced. Assuming that drugs will be regulated enough to make them safe, there's still the problem of addiction. This isn't just your average dependence on your cup-o-joe a day, people will start building a serious addiction to some of these (I'm thinking crack, etc here) This could undoubtedly cause a lot of problems in people's everyday lives, and on top of that, do we really want to be dependent on drugs that are manufactured by corporations that would undoubtedly hop on this market if drugs are legalized? Fuck that, even a Mexican drug cartel is preferable to that[/QUOTE] Crack would never have gotten it's userbase without the illegal status of better alternatives.
Indeed and the concentrated powder cocaine wouldn't be as common a distribution method of coca if coca products were allowed like caffeine products are. Coca used to be consumed moderately in the form of teas and sweets like caffeine but when it was driven underground it became more profitable and easier to distribute the concentrated powder rather than the thousands of leaves used to produce it.
No. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("This isn't how you debate." - rilez))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=Dynamite;38132883]No.[/QUOTE] That isn't debating, give reasons please.
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