Legalisation of Drugs

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by nicnacuk, Jan 1, 2008.

  1. nicnacuk Registered Member

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    Would the legalisation of drugs reduce drug-related crime?

    Best Wishes,

    Nicola
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    No. That's because the hard drugs will not be legalized for they are addictive and kill people who misuse them plus other factors I'm sure your aware of.
     
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  5. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    Legalization could not produce worse results than the so called war on drugs.

    I would like to see the legitimate pharmaceutical industry replace the criminal culture as suppliers of heroin & cocaine. At least they would obey regulatory laws relating to advertising (make this illegal) and pricing.

    There are various problems most people do not consider in the war on drugs. One example is the supplying of free fixes to addicts who recruit new customers for the pusher. An addict in need of a fix makes a very motivated sales person. I would not expect any of the major pharmaceutical companies to engage in such tactics.
     
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  7. Klippymitch Thinker Registered Senior Member

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    Legalize Marijuana and leave everything else alone and people will be fine and dandy and live on with their lifes in a joyful motion for they now have the ability to live like they have always wanted without the stress of getting in trouble for living the way they have always wanted.

    Marijuana is a plant that is man's best friend. It induces creativity and releases stress of the mind and builds a stronger brain to the one who uses it. It rips away the false reality set fourth by the mind created by social environment and reinserts a reality on a level that is that of a truth.
     
  8. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    KlippyMitch: I have a lot of friends who share your opinion. I have yet to see any of them display creativity or other beneficial results from the use of Mary Jane.

    While stoned they seem to think that they are clever & witty, but seem silly to me. Some of them remind me of other firends of mine who claim to be able to drive better drunk than sober and want to prove it.

    I have nothing against casual use of booze or marijuana. I tried marijuana many years ago, but did not get much of a buzz from it. When eating out, I have wine with dinner and Irish cream liqueur in my coffee afterwards.
     
  9. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    12,671
    read post #1 again, and imagine WHAT IF.....

    Otherwise I agree with Klippy...
     
  10. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    24,690
    Like "aspirin," "heroin" was once a trademark of the Bayer Corp.: "Heroin, it makes you feel like a hero!" Cocaine was the active ingredient in the original formula for COCA-cola.

    These two drugs, generally regarded as the "hardest" of the popular "hard drugs," were legal before drug hysteria became a rallying cause of the American Right. People bought them in *gasp* DRUG stores, with sterile needles, accurate dosages, and an expert's instructions; the absence of these common-sense services in the black market created by prohibition are responsible for many "drug-related" deaths. Many more are caused by the criminal lifestyle generated by the economic impact of the astronomical prices also characteristic of a black market. (A days' supply of heroin for the most addicted user could be sold profitably for about five bucks in a free market.) Many more are simply the stock-in-trade of any black market, e.g. business disputes being resolved by gunfire because they can't be taken to court.

    The most addictive drug on earth is tobacco, and it's also one of the most deadly. Alcohol is right up there. Caffeine may not be quite in the same league, but it's bad enough, and we proudly pander it to our CHILDREN.
     
  11. Looney Whaaaaat? Registered Senior Member

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    What's wrong with caffeine?
     
  12. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    Fraggle Rocker: We seem to be on the same wave length relating to this issue

    I forget about how your opinions on other subjects match mine.

    Legalization could not result in a worse situation and is very likely to solve a lot of the problems related to drug usage.
     
  13. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    24,690
    You're talking to a never-quite-recovered caffeine addict here! My parents started shoving it down my throat when I was about twelve. Of course back then nobody called it a "drug" so it was never suspected of having ill effects. I'm at the end of the Bell curve on tolerance, it turns me into a crazy man. I've destroyed a marriage, a couple of jobs, and many other things in my life on an endless caffeine binge. It's incredibly addictive, it takes me two or three days to stop having muscle spasms and cravings. And it's incredibly psychoactive, it changes my whole personality and makes it almost impossible to sleep--deprivation of which reinforces the nasty personality. Of course it clarifies my thinking and gives me physical stamina, which is how I always get back into it. I've got a work assignment due in 72 hours and it's obviously going to require about 64 hours of work, only one way to get this sucker done on time! Ohmigod my band has a gig tonight and I feel like crap, can hardly stand up much less hold an instrument, I can't let the guys down!

    It doesn't take coffee, cola, or tea. Just some good chocolate does it for me.

    Obviously most people aren't like me, but a lot more people are sensitive to caffeine than realize it. Just as an alcoholic can spot a drunk more readily than we can, I can spot somebody who's having a caffeine fit. I guarantee that a lot of the "road rage" we read about is people who have "one for the road"--coffee.

    The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs is still the bible on the subject because unbiased (i.e. non-government) research has been progressively squelched since it was published 30 years ago. Their chapter on caffeine is startling.

    We should ABSOLUTELY not be giving it to children!!! Every time I see a poor little kid drinking a Coke I close my eyes and hope he doesn't grow up to be like me.
     
  14. francois Schwat? Registered Senior Member

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    Chocolate doesn't have caffeine.

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    It has theobromine, which, while very similar to caffeine, has a much different effect on people. Maybe it has a powerful effect on you, or maybe it's pyschosomatic? I'm pretty sure twitters isn't on the list of symptoms of a theobromine binge.

    I'm highly sensitive to caffeine as well. However, I like its effects. In moderate doses I believe it makes me think better and more effective. One time, I watched a movie with a friend and we together drank a pot of strong coffee. Naturally, I couldn't sleep that night, and then decided to go for a run. I ran six miles in about 45 minutes. I felt good and thought what the hell. I ran another six miles for a total of 12 miles in an hour and a half. Holy shit, caffeine affects not just the brain, but the body? Cool. For normal consumption though, I usually just drink tea first thing in the morning and it doesn't screw with my sleeping and helps lift me from morning grogginess.

    I read in a National Geographic a while ago about caffeine, and from what I read and know from other sources, there aren't that many health problems associated (in fact, none that I can think of) with it in the medical/scientific community. Obviously, its abuse can be bad. But it's pretty safe. I'm not quite convinced that it makes sense to talk about caffeine and heroin and cocaine, as if they belong in the same category.
     
  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    yeah Fraggle, why do you do that?

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  16. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    In my opinion, no drug should be illegal with a doctor's prescription. Marijuana should probably be flat out legalized. Other drugs should be available by prescription to addicts so they could get safe dosages from the pharmacy rather than the local drug dealer. This would help put the drug dealers out of business.

    We should also stop prosecuting people for simple possession. It's absurd, unless they are using drugs while driving or something. Who are they hurting but themselves? How does it benefit society for them to be in prison?
     
  17. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Who pays for all of these drugs that are being prescribed?
     
  18. Xelios We're setting you adrift idiot Registered Senior Member

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    Without a doubt it would.
    That hasn't been my experience with marijuana. Sounds much more like what happens with psilocin (mushrooms) or LSD. The best I've heard it described is waking up from a lifelong dream. One mushroom trip and you'll never look at the world the same again. If you ask me, everyone should do it at least once, otherwise you're missing out on a huge part of human existance. And that's not hippie talk, I really mean it.
     
  19. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    The addicts, or their insurance plan. Either way, it would probably be cheaper than paying a drug dealer.
     
  20. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Addicts have insurance plans??? Now that's a very good twist on this whole thing.
     
  21. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    Well, who's an addict? Anyone that feels the need to use drugs now classified as illegal. So, sure, a lot of those people have insurance.
     
  22. MetaKron Registered Senior Member

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    The prohibition of drugs also eliminated any sane way of treating drug addicts, or sane ways of defining who has a drug problem, or any way for a lot of people to get any help at all.
     
  23. desi Valued Senior Member

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    1,616
    Drugs make people more inclined to be irresponsible and do stupid things.
     

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