Why Are Illegal Drugs Dangerous?

Isn't it just wonderful that alcohol was legalized so that now we have more alcoholics, more illnesses that are caused by alcohol like cirrhosis of the liver, more traffic accidents and the leading cause of those accidents that cause death. Then you have families that are torn apart, abusive wives or husbands, sick time from work and on and on. So now we should legalize another drug which can cause anyone to become incoherent and disoriented which would cause more automobile accidents yearly.

 

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I don't know that we have more alcoholics now and certainly in many ways pot is less damaging than alcohol. Many people who chose pot drink less (or no) alcohol.

I don't think the "War on Drugs" has worked very well. Education rather than "Just say NO" seems a better approach to me.

Our body can't distinguish illegal drugs from legal drugs. The only difference is that we are filling up our prisons with non-violent drug offenders.

I don't personally use illegal drugs and it's rare that I drink but I think re-thinking our drug polices makes sense.

 

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So why don't we legalize all illegal drugs? That way there wouldn't be anyone in prison and the government can go after people who need to buy those drugs that steal, rob and do other crimes in able to afford them. Yes, that would be a very good way to resolve the drug problem.

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I agree it would be a good idea. If those drugs were legal the price would come down and no one would be committing crimes just to be able to afford them.

The government could education people about the actual characteristics of the drugs so that those with heart conditions wouldn't use stimulants. There wouldn't be so much misinformation. People would understand that Oxycodone and heroin are similar so the effects of heroin wouldn't be exaggerated and the effects of Oxycodone wouldn't be minimized.

 

There are thousands of drugs that need a prescription in order to get them. Using them can and does cause many medical problems if used incorrectly. Do you want the children to know about all of the drugs that are illegal to buy or just a few of them? It would seem to me an education could be better spent learning about things that will get you a better job rather than learning how to take different drugs.

 

I'm not suggestion that drug education be taught instead of math and science. I'm suggesting that in health class when the subject of drugs is addressed that something more substantive than "just say no" be taught.

Heroin isn't a great thing to be taking but those who would most abuse it are probably already using it. The negative health effect for them come from impurities, unknown dosage and the crime and violence associated with the distribution.

Making it legal with more regulation would better deal with those aspects. Keeping more non-violent people out of prison saves us about $80k per person per year. Keeping people out of prison also makes those people less dangerous to us when they are not in prison.

It's better for them to be able to get a job and not be radicalized and it's better for us.

 

The problem there is that when you are dealing with teaching kids, the criteria is "generalised" since they aren't necessarily on their path to become doctors, nurses or pharmacologists so to know the ins and outs of drug chemistry isn't a necessity. As they gain age and direction then it makes more sense to have more specialised explanations.

As for Drugs and Crimes, some addicts are career criminals due to the necessity of their addictions. They steal, threaten, rob and rape while under a perpetual haze of their substance abuse. they aren't innocent when they state "It's the drugs that made me do it". It is in fact the exact reason why all drugs are deemed illegal with the exception of those that are licensed/prescribed.

What isn't taken into consideration by those that support their own drug usage or that of a friends is the very history of drugs itself. If you were to look at society 100-150 years ago all these drugs were being sold in chemists without the need of prescription or following any particular law. The problem was that this became rampant and out of control, it caused workers to no longer be able to do their jobs, it caused families to become impoverish due to people selling off their belongings or getting into debt. (In fact the Pawn industry and illegal loan sharks boom due to drug usage since they victimise the drug users) It even led people to become completely homeless, which led to them lining the streets huddled in doorways.

That social impact is what caused people to create laws and why those laws still persist to some extent to this day. Just because you don't see people laying in the gutter puking from a heroine binge doesn't meant that it wouldn't become a sight to be seen again if the laws were made more lapse. (The concerns aren't just about the crimes that are commit but overall health and safety since heavy drug users aren't known for their personal hygiene).

There is a problem with that, what jobs can someone who is either physically addicted or impaired by drug usage actually do? Would you feel safe with an addict of one of the heavier drugs as an airline pilot or a crane operator? What if they just drove for a living and had an accident, even if it wasn't their fault their drug of choice would suggest impairment and would cause issues with insurance payouts.

Quite simply drug usage and work could be a problem. That's why drug tests are applied to some jobs to make sure people aren't impaired, it's not to segregate but to make sure the firm that employs them is trying to cover their bases.


Please do understand, I'm trying to reflect how the world/governments see it, it's nothing to do with my own perspectives or beliefs.

 

I'd want the children to know about all the drugs that could harm them, and how to make sure they do not harm them.

Knowing how your body works is a pretty important thing to learn.

 

My post is my personal belief but has nothing to do with me or my friends using drugs (which we don't).

Most (my opinion only) of those who would use drugs already do use drugs so the issue isn't who is lining the streets or impaired at work. It's about having current drug users know the dosage they are taking, not having impurities in the drugs and not having the price of the drug lead to crime.

I don't think anyone on heroin is doing a lot of raping.

Most of the deaths from heroin come from the impurities and inconsistent dosage.

 

In 1983 I was in college. The drinking age was 20, recently raised from 18, which meant that over half the undergrad students could legally drink. Alcohol was served at almost all campus parties; indeed, freshmen could buy beer with their meal plan card at some of the cafeterias. We didn't have too many problems from alcohol - an occasional trip to the campus infirmary from someone who drank too much.

While I was there the age was raised to 21 and the cops started making a stink about it, since now only about a quarter of the undergrads could legally drink. Alcohol was effectively banned on campus. And the drinking problems got much worse, since there was really not much of an issue getting it (everyone knew a senior) but everyone had to hide their drinking. So drinking happened behind closed doors and we didn't see the problems until the police or the ambulance was there. Fights went up. Parties had back rooms where bad stuff happened. People had to drink off-campus then drive back. Overall banning alcohol greatly increased the problems with alcohol on campus. This should come as no surprise - same thing happened during Prohibition.

 

ok, but now prohibition is NOT in effect, how do you explain those exact problems that cosmic traveler and you mentioned, that are still occurring now and have increased ?

 

He just said that the problem was the raising of the drinking age and the effect that it had on campus life. Prohibition effectively did exist for those students that were under age.

I went to undergrad in the bible belt. The drinking age for beer was 18 but there were "wet" and "dry" counties. The university I went to was in the mountains and it was in a dry county. The whole student body had to (and did) drive 13 miles along a winding mountain road to get to a small town in the next county which was dry (and that town was nothing but bars).

In addition, although the beer drinking age was 18, for hard liquor you had to be 21 to buy it in a state "ABC" store and it couldn't be served anywhere at any age.

This just goes to show how ridiculous the laws related to alcohol consumption are. They don't stop drinking and just make the situation worse.

 

" This should come as no surprise - same thing happened during Prohibition. "
agian,
" but now prohibition is NOT in effect, how do you explain those exact problems that cosmic traveler and you mentioned, that are still occurring now and have increased ? "

 

This situation is still the same. Most college students can't legally drink on campus.

 

There was effectively prohibition on campus, and those problems were similar to the problems caused by prohibition in the US - the proliferation of secret binge drinking by people who could not drink openly or socially due to edict.

 

Having a campus regulation that drinking alcohol under the age of 21 is a private rule that each college would put into action and isn't the rule in all campuses. A rule that is made by a private college is up to those in charge to make. If the students don't like the rules then they should try to change the minds of those in charge to allow drinking. That would be the way to get things done the way the students want. These rules are not prohibiting drinking for those over 21 still can drink.

Alcohol wasn't banned because those over 21 could drink if they so desired. I'm certain there were many frat houses that still bought alcohol for the younger members and partied in their frat houses anytime they chose to do so. I'm also very certain that when drinking was allowed to those 18 there were many times problems that arose and police were called for fights and other problems that drunk people cause. To say that there were no problems when those 18 and older were drinking would be very hard to believe.

 

Correct - that was just the rule within one college, and we saw the effects.

Incorrect. It banned drinking by everyone who lived there.

Absolutely! And there are a lot of people importing illegal drugs for other people. It is the hiding, the subterfuge and the illegality that causes most of the problem, both in our case and in society at large.

Oh, there were still problems. They were just less severe and less frequent.

 

It's also not just a college problem. No one under 21 can legally drink whether on a college campus or not.