War on Drugs

[bigdoglj52]

What is your opinion on The War on Drugs? Do you think that America sould legalize some of the drugs that are illegal now? Do you think that more drugs should become illegal? I personally think they should legalize some drugs. Some of the illegal drugs are not as bad as Tobacco is and that is legal. The government could heavily tax them and make a ton of money. That is just my opinion though :D

[Cattraknoff]

They should certainly remove criminal penalties from Marijuana, and legalize it as a replacement for medicinal (painkiller) purposes, in the place of opiates and other highly physically addictive drugs. As to legalizing it completely, I wouldn't go that far. The rest of them I would keep illegal, and perhaps even see increased penalties on.

[hideip]

I have to agree with Cattra here. I think Marijuana should be removed from being illegal because of a number of reasons. First of all many people use it. More bad is done with alchohol than Marijuana. In addition the governement can tax it and make money of it. Our prison systems are also too overcrowded so I think it would get some people out from jail.

[brookes]

I don't subscribe to the view of allowing less serious drugs. drugs of any level should be banned. Drugs are addictive and will cripple the society itself. Drugs will breed criminals as well. so i think war on drugs should continue

[Coll]

Marijuana isn't physically addictive.

It can cause problems if used by irresponsible people out of context of the law. Right now in California you can pay about $60 to get a doctor to give you a card for a year allowing you to carry a few ounces of marijuana, and they've got pot shops set up over there now. If these medical cards were regulated more effectively I could agree with allowing medicinal use of marijuana.

[Cattraknoff]

I don't subscribe to the view of allowing less serious drugs. drugs of any level should be banned. Drugs are addictive and will cripple the society itself. Drugs will breed criminals as well. so i think war on drugs should continue

As was stated earlier, Marijuana and a few other drugs aren't physically addictive. Note that alcohol is a drug which is. Nicotine and caffeine are drugs which are as well. Will you ban these while you're at it? Certainly they're a greater threat, are they not?

Most prescription drugs are physically and mentally addictive, yet we hand these out freely, often for quite ridiculous reasons, and always make the problem worse, although they do indeed cover it up for a time... until dosages need to be increased, creating yet greater physical and psychological dependency.

I for one favor drugs which aren't addictive to be used. Most painkillers (ones of any real strength) are highly addictive, with the vast majority being opiates (the same family as heroin) in fact, many synthetic forms of heroin are given out as painkillers, by the hundreds of doses, often to be sold. I think drugs which are not addictive should be substituted for these. Marijuana is a viable choice here. Indeed, the cancer risk commonly associated with it could be reduced or even eliminated if it were eaten rather than smoked.

[Mitch]

brookes, I'm having a hard time believing you are a Liberal.

The decriminalization of Marijuana will actually solve quite a few problems. The main problem is the trafficking and gangs involved with the trade of Marijuana and that will be almost eliminated.
The decriminalization of Marijuana will also make Marijuana a natural alternative to some prescription drugs, for illnesses such as MS, more accessible.
Like Catt said, if Marijuana were eaten not smoked, that would eliminate the threat of cancer. Smoking anything can be linked to cancer, your shampoo is linked to cancer, so this is a poor argument for a reason not to decriminalize Marijuana.

[online.education]

The government is increasing the budget for this so called 'war on Drugs'. The problem is getting worse and worse. So, intuitively speaking, the government should stop intervening. It's pretty clear that they're only making this problem worse; they're not solving the problem.

[Ed Jones]

brookes, I'm having a hard time believing you are a Liberal.

The decriminalization of Marijuana will actually solve quite a few problems. The main problem is the trafficking and gangs involved with the trade of Marijuana and that will be almost eliminated.
The decriminalization of Marijuana will also make Marijuana a natural alternative to some prescription drugs, for illnesses such as MS, more accessible.
Like Catt said, if Marijuana were eaten not smoked, that would eliminate the threat of cancer. Smoking anything can be linked to cancer, your shampoo is linked to cancer, so this is a poor argument for a reason not to decriminalize Marijuana.

Liberalism and Conservatism are not black and white concepts. I personally am extremely Conservative on many(most) issues. Alcohol and marijuana use are one of them, largely due to the fact that i'm a student.

Moving the medicinal use aside for the moment to address to more popular use for the drug - to get high. There are two possibilities for a user of the drug here. 1. They use the drug to get high and continue to use to drug after legalisation, or 2. They use the drug to rebel against the state, and so after legalisation, move onto to harder substances.

[Locke]

Liberalism and Conservatism are not black and white concepts. I personally am extremely Conservative on many(most) issues. Alcohol and marijuana use are one of them, largely due to the fact that i'm a student.

Moving the medicinal use aside for the moment to address to more popular use for the drug - to get high. There are two possibilities for a user of the drug here. 1. They use the drug to get high and continue to use to drug after legalisation, or 2. They use the drug to rebel against the state, and so after legalisation, move onto to harder substances.

Then why not decriminalize everything? Then those disaffected suburbians will have to take out their sullenness on what actually influences their lives.
I reccomend you research Gabor Mate.

[Ed Jones]

Then why not decriminalize everything? Then those disaffected suburbians will have to take out their sullenness on what actually influences their lives.
I reccomend you research Gabor Mate.
If that's the case, then why don't we just pump liquid coolent into the water supply and save everyone the bother.

There must be some level of government intervention or else our democracies turn into an anarchist state. The harm when marijuana does to an individual's body is completely overblown. That isn't to say that it is the case for harder drugs, which are harmful.

[Locke]

If that's the case, then why don't we just pump liquid coolent into the water supply and save everyone the bother.

There must be some level of government intervention or else our democracies turn into an anarchist state. The harm when marijuana does to an individual's body is completely overblown. That isn't to say that it is the case for harder drugs, which are harmful.

I was sorta joking, in response to the preposterousness of "they will move on to harder drugs". This has been proven false by countless studies, and if one wishes to actually aid the real addicts then more liberal measures must be taken.

[Ed Jones]

I was sorta joking, in response to the preposterousness of "they will move on to harder drugs". This has been proven false by countless studies, and if one wishes to actually aid the real addicts then more liberal measures must be taken.
Oh really? Could you post some of these imaginery studies which prove absolutely nothing.

The more an individual uses drugs, the higher tolerance they will have to that certain narcotic. Therefore, many may move onto a harder drug. You can't argue with facts.

[Cattraknoff]

Oh really? Could you post some of these imaginery studies which prove absolutely nothing.

The more an individual uses drugs, the higher tolerance they will have to that certain narcotic. Therefore, many may move onto a harder drug. You can't argue with facts.

There are countless strains of marijuana, switching between them alleviates this problem. I take it you don't have much real experience with the drug world? I've witnessed quite a lot of it, and I can say that marijuana is quite harmless when compared to almost anything else, alcohol included. I would be more worried about the increasing abuse of prescription painkillers and the like.

[Ed Jones]

There are countless strains of marijuana, switching between them alleviates this problem. I take it you don't have much real experience with the drug world? I've witnessed quite a lot of it, and I can say that marijuana is quite harmless when compared to almost anything else, alcohol included. I would be more worried about the increasing abuse of prescription painkillers and the like.

Hehe, I'm a student Cattraknoff, let's just say that i've had more than my fair share of experiences with drugs. :p

Let's not completely bypass the topic at hand, cannabis is a Class C drug in the UK and the US and it will remain so. Regardless of how dangerous you chart various other drugs, its still a danger to public health.

Not to say that i'm against alleviating governmental pressure on the drug. There's a lot of money to be made from the drug, so i'm all for legalising and taxing it. I still view it as a gateway drug that can lead onto experimentation with harder, extremely dangerous drugs.

[Cattraknoff]

Hehe, I'm a student Cattraknoff, let's just say that i've had more than my fair share of experiences with drugs. :p

Let's not completely bypass the topic at hand, cannabis is a Class C drug in the UK and the US and it will remain so. Regardless of how dangerous you chart various other drugs, its still a danger to public health.

Not to say that i'm against alleviating governmental pressure on the drug. There's a lot of money to be made from the drug, so i'm all for legalising and taxing it. I still view it as a gateway drug that can lead onto experimentation with harder, extremely dangerous drugs.

People will experiment with other drugs regardless of it. Most people however will not. The key is in educating people about the consequences and dangers of them. However that doesn't mean we should simply state all drugs are terrible as we seem to. Honestly tell them the negatives of each, and the simple fact is that marijuana has very few.

However I do not agree with doing drugs except perhaps as an occasional activity (barring the harsher drugs of course). It is a symptom of larger problems in our society though; specifically the seeming desire of the populace at large to escape from reality. They do this through drugs, TVs, and even many religions. This problem needs to be addressed. Then and only then will the drug "crisis" disappear, and of its own accord.

[Coll]

I'm pretty sure the abuse of alcohol or prescription drugs can be infinitely worse than using stronger marijuana.

[bigdoglj52]

I don't subscribe to the view of allowing less serious drugs. drugs of any level should be banned. Drugs are addictive and will cripple the society itself. Drugs will breed criminals as well. so i think war on drugs should continue

This is very intersting! Do you realize that many things you use everyday are drugs that can be addictive? Caffeine is a drug and many people can be addicted to that and it is in practically everything!

[Locke]

This is very intersting! Do you realize that many things you use everyday are drugs that can be addictive? Caffeine is a drug and many people can be addicted to that and it is in practically everything!

Caffeine is relatively benign as a substance, and is far less mentally addictive than most outlawed drugs. This is because it produces minimal change on a person's mental state, even though it is extremely biochemically addictive.
(If there seems to be a discrepancy in my position throughout different posts, it is because each have taken place between long periods of time and thought.)

[Ed Jones]

They do this through drugs, TVs, and even many religions. This problem needs to be addressed. Then and only then will the drug "crisis" disappear, and of its own accord.

In that case, I'd love to hear your theories on how to make life 'not suck'.

[Cattraknoff]

In that case, I'd love to hear your theories on how to make life 'not suck'.

People might improve their lot if they were to actually get off their asses and do something to fix it, rather than blinding themselves to the problem.

I would compare it to anti-depressants, a type of drug used far more than it should be in today's society. The drugs are physically and mentally addictive, to the point where it can be fatal to stop taking them, or result in severe depression, far worse than the original onset. These drugs cover up the problem, rather than fix it. Depression can be fixed entirely if the source of it is discovered. The trouble is that people are too lazy to do any thinking, and so they take a quick fix. Just as they are too lazy to figure out how to make their life "not suck" and so they opt for the quick fix of drugs or what have you.

[Locke]

People might improve their lot if they were to actually get off their asses and do something to fix it, rather than blinding themselves to the problem.

I would compare it to anti-depressants, a type of drug used far more than it should be in today's society. The drugs are physically and mentally addictive, to the point where it can be fatal to stop taking them, or result in severe depression, far worse than the original onset. These drugs cover up the problem, rather than fix it. Depression can be fixed entirely if the source of it is discovered. The trouble is that people are too lazy to do any thinking, and so they take a quick fix. Just as they are too lazy to figure out how to make their life "not suck" and so they opt for the quick fix of drugs or what have you.

Not to mention some have been discovered to be no better than placebos in accomplishing what they are meant to do. It's simply human psychology, and as much as we would wish for it to change it most likely will not.

[Cattraknoff]

Not to mention some have been discovered to be no better than placebos in accomplishing what they are meant to do. It's simply human psychology, and as much as we would wish for it to change it most likely will not.

Then the only thing to do is wait for our eventual enslavement and subsequent extermination of the increasingly useless populace.

[Locke]

Then the only thing to do is wait for our eventual enslavement and subsequent extermination of the increasingly useless populace.

Oh, I'm not that cynical. The addiction probably won't lead to much worse than is currently befalling them.

[Cattraknoff]

Oh, I'm not that cynical. The addiction probably won't lead to much worse than is currently befalling them.

It will become worse because they allow themselves to be exploited and abused by those with power. This is the chief reason that the government doesn't truly give a shit. They want people to be idiots, it's far easier for them to be controlled.

As they continue to do nothing, and blind themselves further (along with everyone else, even if drugs aren't the method) the degree of said exploitation and abuse will increase. Eventually this useless portion of the population will probably be removed, which may have been the intention all along.

[Kuefler]

Why should the government ban something that they could be making money off. Theirs worse drugs that Pot, that are legal. Have you ever heard of anyone ever dosing on Marijuana?

[Cattraknoff]

Why should the government ban something that they could be making money off. Theirs worse drugs that Pot, that are legal. Have you ever heard of anyone ever dosing on Marijuana?

If you mean overdosing, then no. It's impossible to overdose on (it would take several pounds over a very, very short period of time). Allergic reactions have happened though, but that's extremely rare and happens more often with over-the-counter or prescription drugs.

[Mitch]

Why should the government ban something that they could be making money off.
That is if it were nationalized, which I doubt, most modern governments (US, Canada) will make it a private industry.

[Locke]

That is if it were nationalized, which I doubt, most modern governments (US, Canada) will make it a private industry.

Yeah, it's not the drugs they are combating but the profit distribution.