• Should drugs be legalized ?
    655 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Wolfz;36946785]yes, people will be easy to control by those who don't do drugs[/QUOTE] I think its actually the opposite
Yeah I agree, people who do use drugs (well, the smart ones anyway) and challenge what they are told at a young age tend to be far more open minded and willing to challenge authority than those who don't just because they were told not to.
think of all the apologising they'd have to do to the people locked up under the greatest injustice of the 21st century. not going to happen. for a good while at least.
They will never apologise because they were fighting "immorality" and "evil" and will never back down from that stance even if they gradually wind down the war. Yep, they were doing "god's work"
[QUOTE=TamTamJam;36933062]Drugs aren't the same as poisons, not all drugs are toxic. Drawing arbitrary lines between 'what's toxic' and 'what's not toxic' isn't right because that line is different for everybody.[/QUOTE] Nope, toxic substances are poisonous to everybody. You can't just say "I like this toxic substance, it's good for me but maybe not good for you." [editline]28th July 2012[/editline] As for weed and some trippy acids and shit, they are not that poisonous. I don't bother to say more about them. Same with Alcohol, while it is poisonous, and while you definitely feel the poisonous effects from alcohol, you can still like alcohol but that doesn't mean it's good for you.
[QUOTE=JustExtreme;36967029]They will never apologise because they were fighting "immorality" and "evil" and will never back down from that stance even if they gradually wind down the war. Yep, they were doing "god's work"[/QUOTE] I don't think the bible says anything against drugs that aren't alcohol.
While all hard drugs like Heroin, Crack, Meth, etc. are incredibly harmful and [I]should[/I] be illegal, there is one thing most people don't really see. When a substance is made illegal, think about who's peddling it- outlaws. People like the mafia make a killing because they're the ones who can safely sell it, so making something illegal is giving organized crime a whole new market. You can talk about how making all drugs legal will increase usage rates, but it also takes away profit from Mafiosi.
[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;36977728]I don't think the bible says anything against drugs that aren't alcohol.[/QUOTE] Yeah I know but it all comes together with the moralising, many people are just aching to justify their need to pick others apart and label their choices as "wrong" and "evil" Plus, ever noticed how many of the rehab centres are run by religious organisations? Their "solution" tends to be replacing addiction to <insert substance here> with a new addiction to "god" and irrationality.
short answer: no long answer: yes
I don't see why it's such a big problem for people to ingest what they want.
Exactly, this is all about people putting their nose in the business of others being busybodies and wanting to control them through authoritarian means because what they're doing is "wrong". People ingesting and consuming what they want should be considered a basic right. Sadly because of all the discrimination and prejudice surrounding the subject of drugs anyone who chooses to try them risks exposing themselves to an often brutal unregulated black market where contamination and not knowing what you're getting add even more fuel to the fire that need not even have even been lit in the fucking first place. Things like this really kill my hope for humanity as a whole.
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;36913062]Decriminalise possessing it, but keep the sale of it illegal, I don't like the idea of companies being able to exploit highly addictive substances.[/QUOTE] This, but absolutely they should be legal, noone's forcing anyone to take the drugs, so let them make their own, informed decisions, and leave the rest up to the people, no one should go to jail for using something that may only cause harm to themselves
As for the health care side; if there is state healthcare and it helps people who eat unhealthily even against recommendations then drug users should also receive help for their drug use related problems if there is no state healthcare or it is only provided to a degree, people should take responsibility for their own health and have to pay more if they make poor choices that result in poor health - take note that not all drugs, especially when legalised, actually cause as much less health problems on their own (without contaminants, uncertainty of substance, etc.) than is often claimed. What do others think on this?
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;36913062]Decriminalise possessing it, but keep the sale of it illegal, I don't like the idea of companies being able to exploit highly addictive substances.[/QUOTE] Like opiates? Heroin was developed by Bayer.
I would only allow the legalization of soft drugs as they have been proven to be less addictive. But rather when you go towards the more addictive and damaging substances of drugs I believe that they should be restricted as people who will use them will most likely end up being addicted which will suffer a noticeable strain on their life such as monetary funds, social relationships and crime. The drugs themselves are intolerable, not the people who are using it as they should be helped in a rehabiliation clinic as it has been shown that the more addictive and provocative drugs have been known to be overall detrimental. It is not rather what they do to themselves, I could care less, but when you choose a substance that has the ability to take over your life and make you into an addict who will resort to crime to get their fix then you become a detriment to society and need to be helped, by prohibiting the sale of hard drugs but opening the soft drug market we will hopefully veer them into substances that will do less harm to them and the society they live in.
[QUOTE=deaded38;36956773]There wouldn't be [I]general[/I]izations if they weren't [I]generally[/I] true. No, I wouldn't want alcohol banned. It's not as adictive as almost every drug. It can be; I'm not denying that. And how is alcohol even near as harmful as those? In major usage maybe, but generally I wouldn't think so.[/QUOTE] Ok. you go get yourself a bottle of vodka and i'll get an oz of dank nugs. you drink and i smoke, lets see who ends up in the ER first :)) Alcohol kills braincells, how is that not harmful?? As for it's addiction, way more addictive than the general know drugs such as cannabis, tobacco or caffeine. Yet I say it stays legal because nobody wants another period of mafia gangs and all that.
Drugs that are only harmful to the person taking them should be. E.g PCP wouldn't be legal.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36956816]If you don't know what you're talking about then don't post, there's plenty of rehab places that you can go to in the States. [editline]27th July 2012[/editline] You mean aside from the actions you take while intoxicated, addiction, or lung cancer that is.[/QUOTE] Can you choose to go to rehab instead of prison? Most of the time no. And those people put in prison have their lives irreparably damaged over something that should be a civil liberty. If you think Cannabis causes lung cancer or is physically addictive you are horribly mistaken. How many times has someone murdered, beaten, or raped someone while under influence of Cannabis? How about alcohol? [editline]29th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=deaded38;36956773]There wouldn't be [I]general[/I]izations if they weren't [I]generally[/I] true. No, I wouldn't want alcohol banned. It's not as adictive as almost every drug. It can be; I'm not denying that. And how is alcohol even near as harmful as those? In major usage maybe, but generally I wouldn't think so. [editline]27th July 2012[/editline] Typical pothead response. Yes, there are concequences to smoking pot. Some people are actually affected by it, believe it or not. The majority? Nah. But I'd wager there's a pretty decent minority that is mentally affected by pot.[/QUOTE] Alcohol is usually less dangerous because it is regulated by the FDA. Street drugs are not, but alcohol is nearly as addictive as cocaine and heroin. You can't just "wager" that people are affected by Cannabis. There are plenty of alcoholics, that's a fact, it is physically addictive. There is no way in which Cannabis is more harmful or less useful medically than alcohol (except as a disinfectant). [editline]29th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Zeemlapje;36983771]Ok. you go get yourself a bottle of vodka and i'll get an oz of dank nugs. you drink and i smoke, lets see who ends up in the ER first :)) Alcohol kills braincells, how is that not harmful?? As for it's addiction, way more addictive than the general know drugs such as cannabis, tobacco or caffeine. Yet I say it stays legal because nobody wants another period of mafia gangs and all that.[/QUOTE] I agree except that nicotine is more addictive than alcohol.
[QUOTE=l l;36984513]Drugs that are only harmful to the person taking them should be. E.g PCP wouldn't be legal.[/QUOTE] Alcohol does nasty things to your body. What's your logic?
No, not all drugs should be legalized. Sure, some drugs have medicinal properties, but there's really not much a harmful drug could do for you that hasn't already been improved and made into a more practical medicine. And I also don't believe in the whole "It's your body, do what you want." way of thinking, because most people have families who care about them, and it would be devastating to lose a loved member of the family because they decided to take drugs.
although it's very debatable if a lot of recreational drugs should be legalized, I think you are a dummkopf if you think cannabis should remain illegal
The thing is, referring back to my original post, if we only legalized the drugs that aren't addictive, and have medicinal purposes too, we really aren't do anything to damage the drug market. Making weed/cannabis legal would only put the tiniest dent in the drug market as a whole. Weed itself isn't that expensive when compared to other drugs, especially gram-by-gram. If we really wanted to end the war on drugs, and cause a whole bunch of problems for criminal organizations, you would have to legalize and tax -ALL- drugs. Not just the ones that have proven to be safe even with extended use, all of them.
They should be legalized.
[QUOTE=BadderSanta;36993783]The thing is, referring back to my original post, if we only legalized the drugs that aren't addictive, and have medicinal purposes too, we really aren't do anything to damage the drug market. Making weed/cannabis legal would only put the tiniest dent in the drug market as a whole. Weed itself isn't that expensive when compared to other drugs, especially gram-by-gram. If we really wanted to end the war on drugs, and cause a whole bunch of problems for criminal organizations, you would have to legalize and tax -ALL- drugs. Not just the ones that have proven to be safe even with extended use, all of them.[/QUOTE] Agreed, them being available legally and in regulated form would likely make even the more stigmatised drugs a whole lot safer to try without getting hurt. [editline]29th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Black Milano;36992485]Alcohol does nasty things to your body. What's your logic?[/QUOTE] PCP has been subject of several moral panics and alcohol has just become accepted as "it's ok because it's tradition. That is likely his "logic". For every "superhuman" conveniently black dude on PCP there are a thousand conveniently non-minority moronic cunts on alcohol behaving in far more depraved ways. Stigmatisation and stereotyping plague this topic unfortunately and people allow themselves to be manipulated by the fear-mongering media far too much when it comes to what I call these "protect our children" topics (taboos that tend to solicit "moral" judgement and logical fallacies rather than objective investigation).
[QUOTE=BadderSanta;36993783]The thing is, referring back to my original post, if we only legalized the drugs that aren't addictive, and have medicinal purposes too, we really aren't do anything to damage the drug market. Making weed/cannabis legal would only put the tiniest dent in the drug market as a whole. Weed itself isn't that expensive when compared to other drugs, especially gram-by-gram. If we really wanted to end the war on drugs, and cause a whole bunch of problems for criminal organizations, you would have to legalize and tax -ALL- drugs. Not just the ones that have proven to be safe even with extended use, all of them.[/QUOTE] The DEA expends a huge percentage of their funding fighting Cannabis distribution, so legalizing that would allow them to focus on the drugs that are actually harmful when not regulated.
If you're going to do drugs then you should know what they do exactly to you, what is to avoid and what is to prefer. There is an incredible lack of information on this matter, at any level of education, in pretty much any place in the world. When I was in high school I was lucky enough to have a teacher that cared, and who decided to take about two hours of our class to talk about drugs and explain how they work, what they do, how some can damage the brain to a certain extent, etc. Pretty much everyone else I know who was not here during this class, even the ones who do drugs, have no clue how it works in the slightest. The issue with current education concerning drugs is that it's making drugs more tempting than if you simply told someone what it does and what risks you take or don't take. Most people just go "drugs are bad don't do them m'kay" and the only thing this does is create myths about various drugs which eventually leads people to take them while knowing jack shit about it. So in my opinion before even starting to legalize drugs we should start giving full information to kids about this, in the same way we give sex ed and such. There has to be more information before we even legalize the most harmless drugs.
It doesn't matter what effect legalization of all recreational substances will have on society. What matters is that adults can take whatever the fuck they want, and the government has no place in regulating what they do to their bodies.
[QUOTE=cis.joshb;36998222]It doesn't matter what effect legalization of all recreational substances will have on society. What matters is that adults can take whatever the fuck they want, and the government has no place in regulating what they do to their bodies.[/QUOTE] Except that not everyone agrees with this. There need to be legitimate reasons presented to lawmakers and opponents of legalization in a non-hostile manner. I agree completely though.
[QUOTE=Crackers;36992825]And I also don't believe in the whole "It's your body, do what you want." way of thinking, because most people have families who care about them, and it would be devastating to lose a loved member of the family because they decided to take drugs.[/QUOTE] Yes most people do have families that care about them but that is not a justification for making laws against risky activities such as drugs. Making laws with a mind to "stop people getting hurt feelings" is on the road to thought crime. My brother might go skydiving and his parachute might fail and he might die but I don't lobby against him making the choice to do that. Equally my sister might decide to eat herself into obesity and the family may be upset by this but that doesn't mean unhealthy food/quantities of food should be banned. I would hope he and she considered the dangers and the potential affects on me and the rest of the family when choosing to do any risky activity but I don't think this needs to be mandated in law since it isn't something that can be forced. Skydiving, food, and other risky activities are regulated and the choice whether to partake is left up to the individual. Drugs should be too. Much of what would be upsetting to a family finding that their child or relative is using drugs is the misadventure and harm that often accompanies it due to the black market. People do not overdose on heroin deliberately, for example, it is because the product available to them is of an unregulated unknown strength so they have to guess. Also there is the issue of other shit being added to it to make it look like there is more. Both of these things make dosage and knowing what you're actually taking pretty difficult. That's before we even get near the dirty paraphernalia problem, prohibition-inflated pricing and the absence of widely available clear defined instructions on use. A heroin user who has a clean source, clean paraphenalia, and is able to calculate their safe dosage is not a problem to society and can easily hold down a job like any other person. Also, heroin does not make you ugly - that is a result of the lifestyle choices that often coincide with it's use. Heroin users don't get wasted and have punch ups with random people in the street, they tend to stay at home and ride out their nod. The sensible thing to do would be to regulate all drugs and make them, and access to them, as safe as they can be for people who want to try or use them and remove the all too avoidable risks that come from the black market and the "brushing it under the carpet" moralising approach.
Once again, they should stay illegal. People can use them as weapons against others. Stop the "their body lel drugs are cool" shit. [editline]30th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Protocol7;36932024]Alcoholic fatalities are more common than firearm fatalities. In 2009, 22,000 people were injured or killed relating to drunk driving accidents. 9000 people were injured or killed by firearms, both premeditated and accidental. That alone should raise some eyebrows.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Scar;36931963]And a drunk dude can't? I'm fairly certain more people died due to drunk driving than from getting killed by someone on drugs.[/QUOTE] Death due to alcohol makes it okay to add another reason for people to die, right?
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