• Top US drug official, "The old war on drugs is all wrong."
    44 replies, posted
[QUOTE=FFStudios;49328536]this sounds like something a 14 year old taking their freshman year of high school's health class would say[/QUOTE] Tbh he's not really off his mark. With all of the education we have about illicit substances anymore it is pretty absurd that people will still willfully use them.
[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;49328966]Tbh he's not really off his mark. With all of the education we have about illicit substances anymore it is pretty absurd that people will still willfully use them.[/QUOTE] "Education about illicit substances" in most countries is non-scientifically based bullshit designed to scare people away from drugs rather than honestly inform people of the dangers associated with them. Drugs aren't big and scary, and they can be used as safely, or in many cases, safer than alcohol. Different people are comfortable with different levels of risk in their recreational activities. Just because using LSD or Speed recreationally is too big of a risk for you to take comfortably, doesn't mean it's absurd.
[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;49328966]Tbh he's not really off his mark. With all of the education we have about illicit substances anymore it is pretty absurd that people will still willfully use them.[/QUOTE] Tell me, without opening a new tab, and with all the education we have received; how does, say ingesting acid, specifically works, and how does it affect your system?
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;49329018]Tell me, without opening a new tab, and with all the education we have received; how does, say ingesting acid, specifically works, and how does it affect your system?[/QUOTE] According to Dare it'll create holes in your brian. We need PROPER drug education.
[QUOTE=Lium;49322504] I find the idea of knowingly engaging in an activity that will physically, mentally and financially affect you to be an absurd one.[/QUOTE] sometimes people knowingly engage in activity that does just that, either for temporary good feelings, or because they have to reading your posts, for example, is negatively affecting me in all three categories but i'm still doing it
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;49328964]Are poverty and crime a brain disease? Is drug use a brain disease? Is drug addiction a brain disease? I don't think so. It is a condition that one can develop by using drugs, associated with withdrawal effects and inner cravings, but I doubt it's an actual [I]brain disease[/I] is this Botticelli some medical expert? I don't think so either. Doesn't sound all that much more knowledgeable than most top US drug officials before him.[/QUOTE] If drug addiction is not a neruological illness is it a psychological disorder? If not what is it? Is there really a distinction between the two? Addiction is quite clearly an issue with the brain and the nervous system but also has varying effects on the mind which itself is a product of the brain so shouldn't it be classified as a brain disease?
[QUOTE=MrJazzy;49329258]If drug addiction is not a neruological illness is it a psychological disorder? If not what is it? Is there really a distinction between the two? Addiction is quite clearly an issue with the brain and the nervous system but also has varying effects on the mind which itself is a product of the brain so shouldn't it be classified as a brain disease?[/QUOTE] Beats the shit out of me. And I don't really expect this Botticelli to be qualified to say either. Neurological disorder? Mental disorder? Brain disease? [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder"]"There are many different categories of mental disorder, and many different facets of human behavior and personality that can become disordered."[/URL] [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_neurological_conditions_and_disorders"]"There is disagreement over the definitions and criteria used to delineate various disorders and whether some of these conditions should be classified as mental disorders or in other ways"[/URL] etc., so welp.
[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;49328966]Tbh he's not really off his mark. With all of the education we have about illicit substances anymore it is pretty absurd that people will still willfully use them.[/QUOTE] You vastly overestimate the impact of current drug education I tried cocaine for the first time last year and I can safely say, not a single piece of information I'd been given before that described it with any accuracy whatsoever. If anything, the method of education most schools here choose when it comes to drugs is akin to teaching abstinence in sex ed. Instead of being taught what these drugs would do if we used them, we were taught that we'd never be in a situation where we'd use them, if that makes any sense. Plus misinformation isn't the only issue when it comes to drug abuse. Depression or anxiety, peer pressure and just plain old naivete can all be factors
[QUOTE=MrJazzy;49329258]If drug addiction is not a neruological illness is it a psychological disorder? If not what is it? Is there really a distinction between the two? Addiction is quite clearly an issue with the brain and the nervous system but also has varying effects on the mind which itself is a product of the brain so shouldn't it be classified as a brain disease?[/QUOTE] Addiction can be both physical and psychological. I may not get withdrawals from not smoking weed, but I want to because I enjoy it. It doesn't mean that it's an illness or a disorder.
[QUOTE=Maximo13;49329720]Addiction can be both physical and psychological. I may not get withdrawals from not smoking weed, but I want to because I enjoy it. It doesn't mean that it's an illness or a disorder.[/QUOTE] Are you saying that wanting to smoke weed cause you enjoy it is an addiction? [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Bat-shit;49329426]Beats the shit out of me. And I don't really expect this Botticelli to be qualified to say either. Neurological disorder? Mental disorder? Brain disease? [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder"]"There are many different categories of mental disorder, and many different facets of human behavior and personality that can become disordered."[/URL] [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_neurological_conditions_and_disorders"]"There is disagreement over the definitions and criteria used to delineate various disorders and whether some of these conditions should be classified as mental disorders or in other ways"[/URL] etc., so welp.[/QUOTE] My point is that it's most definitely a "brain disease", the definitions are sort of arbitrary, it's a physical (neurological) condition.
[QUOTE=Lium;49322306]I disagree there. It certainly is a moral failing and a lack of willpower. Nobody forces anyone to use drugs, people chose to get into them of their own accord. Perhaps later on, when you become addicted then there may be a decrease in ability to resist, but you have to chose to start in the first place, despite knowing the effects.[/QUOTE] I went to rehab for 9 months at 18 years old. You have no idea what addiction is.
[QUOTE=MrJazzy;49330640]Are you saying that wanting to smoke weed cause you enjoy it is an addiction? [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] My point is that it's most definitely a "brain disease", the definitions are sort of arbitrary, it's a physical (neurological) condition.[/QUOTE] I smoke weed cause I like it. If I can't, the extent of my "addiction" is I'm slightly more bored while watching tv or playing games. I'm not like "omg I need weed", it's more like "it'd be a nice way to relax after work"
Good, now let's end this absurd prohibition on weed too and get actual education on the matter. As a cannabis consumer it pisses me of knowing there's people out there who would actually put me in the same class as a heroin junkie or a meth head.
Congratulations, it only took about a century for someone in your organization to realize that prohibition didn't work. History. Fucking learn from it already.
I'm kinda surprised no one posted the Kurzgesagt / In A Nutshell video on addiction, with the discussion of addiction and how it is viewed. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao8L-0nSYzg[/media]
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