Psychoactive Drugs - Legal and why?

[Mundane]

PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
Legal and Why?

Not many people have thought just why some drugs like marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and LSD are illegal. These drugs that alter the users consciousness in amazing ways have been looked down upon for years. The drugs, excluding LSD, have been used for religious purposes for thousands of years.

I'll get on an organized system here. Here is my disclaimer: I am not a drug addict. I do smoke marijuana, which is not a physically addictive drug. Don't come in here, insult my intelligence, call me an idiot, or an addict. I use this substance for religious and spirtual use, as well as way to escape from the hardships of everyday life. I AM an advocate for marijuana legality, and have some good reasons why it, and other drugs should be.

Reason 1: The Body
The only open reason that the government has outlawed the use of psychoactive drugs (not including narcotics like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetemines) is because they supposedly harm the body in many ways. Consider the following, and take it with more than a grain of salt - I have experience:
• Marijuana is smoke until the user is satisfied with his high, sure it contains 4X the tar consumption that legal tobacco products, but is smoked in entirely smaller doses. The effect of pot on the lounges is no where near the damage caused by LEGAL tobacco products.
• They say pot can make people stupid. They say it kills brain cells. Where is there proof? I have had my fair share and maintain a 3.5 GPA, and a higher vocabulary than ever. My intellectual sense has increased since my first use or pot. With good "stoner  edicate" anybody can be a responsible user.
• They say, and this is coming from the years of health class, and DARE assemblies, that pot and other psychoactive drugs can KILL you. Someone give me a story where someone has died by just taking some 'shrooms or bonging it up? The actions entailed by bad trips caused people to KILL THEMSELVES or be hit by cars and so on. This can be viewed as it killing people, but it was in the use or irresponsible people.

Reason 2: The Consciousness
As people of America, we are entitled to freedom of religion and consciousness. Our government has no right to take away any of our yearn to alter our OWN consciousness. What right to they have to illegalize something that has been used for thousands of years. We make the choice as humans to alter or consciousness for our own reasons.

I can go on...and simply put. I don't want to. Not because I'm a lazy pothead, but because I want to see what you think. You know what I think, regardless of what I have said.

Have fun.

 

[___]

I think drug policy has been debated to death already.  You end up with certain caricatures arguing extreme points on either side (you as the "drugs as a spiritual and enlightening experience" guy vs. some asshole as the "I've never done drugs, never bothered with facts about them, but I do know they're immoral, illegal, and you should be in jail!" guy).  In my opinion both sides are a minority and they're both fighting for control of the opinion of a majority of apathetic people.

The problem with your side of the argument is that they're not good enough at disinformation  to convince a majority of voters that there is any special benefit to drugs, and the other side has been much better at convincing the majority that drugs are dangerous precisely because they're good with propaganda and disinformation (authoritarian assholes usually are).

Personally I have tried quite a lot of substances and found them all wanting.  I'm not convinced many of them contain a large enough potential for harm that there should be public outcry over it - in general if you can't convince me doing something is riskier than driving on the freeway or engaging in "extreme sports" you can't convince me it's a substantial risk. 

I also am not convinced that they're "enlightening" and though I've had some fun and interesting experiences I don't think any of them improved me as a person, gave me new insight, or made me more open-minded and I've pretty much put the whole thing behind me.  I have very little time on this earth and I'd rather spend it doing things that exercise my mind rather than sedate it. 

Your life is your own though, and you should be allowed to do what you want with it though as a basic, fundamental part of freedom and justice.  I don't necessarily think it's the best way to spend your time but I'd sooner see television banned than pot, and I think I'd rather jump off a cliff than live in a country that thinks it can dictate to people how they waste their free time in a private setting (oh shit, I already do...)

 

[kaidus]

Not to mention that the laws surrounding cannabis are so leanient that people will smoke the stuff whether it's legal or not. All it means it that the money the users spend goes back into the hands of criminals, often those that use it for more serious crime, instead of the government who could make pretty good use of it.

 

[___]

Yeah but then the government would be profiting off something "immoral", like gambling, lotteries, prostitution, or, for that matter, killing.  And we can't have something like that, now can we.

 

[sixtyandaquarter]

Not to mention that the laws surrounding cannabis are so leanient that people will smoke the stuff whether it's legal or not.

Except in areas that have the 3 strikes law, and count marijuana as a felony.  In which case being caught 3 times can be a very real and not so lenient life sentence.

 

[Astromech]

I have never tried any "drugs" but I am reasonably open minded about others using them. I have known several people who smoked pot but they were still nice guys. It did get in the way of their school, but eh I guess that's just lack of self control, since they also drank and skipped class.

I really don't care if anyone uses these types drugs as long as they respect my space, I.E. not smoke in public places. Tobacco is bad enough and I really don't want to have to breathe the stuff myself.

I also think it is very hypocritical to have tobacco and alcohol legal when they are arguably more dangerous to users and everyone else. I guess that isn't a reason to make pot legal, but it always strikes me as strange.

 

[Venetia]

I just don't see why pot is illegal when cigarettes and alcohol are. Alcohol especially ... No one becomes belligerent and kills their wife on a pot binge, they just sit around and wonder if they have anything to eat.

What I say is, legalize the lot of it, and tax the shit out of it. We shouldn't be taxing people, we should be taxing luxury commodities, of which pot could be considered. We tax the shit out of tobacco, so I don't see the harm. Germany seems to be doing pretty well with their "don't ask, don't tell" kinda thing they have going on. And best of all, money isn't wasted on all these retarded drug busts.

Anyone can grow pot and the beauty of it is, people could make a living off it, and the govm't could be profiting instead of sorely losing.

Fucking retarded people.

I don't do pot or any drugs, but I like money and I completely support any initiative to make me money. Shit, I'll grow the damn pot and sell it. Lord knows my parents did all my damn life (also meth, which is less cool with me D. >:'o

While we're at it, legalize prostitution and tax the shit out of that!!

$%@%#$%$!!!!

When will people see the light, which is money T_T

 

[sixtyandaquarter]

The reason it isn't legal is because of traditions.
Alcohol and cigarettes are a great American tradition, they're too far legal to illegalize.  That and we all know how illegalizing alcohol turns out.

 

[Venetia]

The baby boomer generation needs to hurry up and die so the stoners and gamers of America can overthrow everything and go legalization-crazy.

 

[___]

Yeah I'm really waiting for the big die off of that generation and the rise to power of our generation, and I'm even more eager to hear the criticisms of our faults and mistakes by the next one.  I can only hope to live long enough to see them getting nailed to the wall by their kids, even :D
I just read an article in yesterday's Newsweek about how Obama was the first presidential candidate of the "millennial" generation (e.g. us).  I'm not entirely sold on that, I think he's just playing at it better than Hilary, and the conservatives of course are terrified of us and well-prepared with extra large coffins already bought so they'll have more space to roll in their graves when we're running things.

 

[$t3v0]

I just don't see why pot is illegal when cigarettes and alcohol are. Alcohol especially ... No one becomes belligerent and kills their wife on a pot binge

Because Alcohol is socially accepted whereas cannabis is not. Also marijuana can have volatile affects on the human brain (causing such things you described regarding alcohol) causing just as many problems as beer. The only difference is 99% of people drink whereas 12% of people smoke pot (These are just example stats), causing alcohol to look the obvious demon.

they just sit around and wonder if they have anything to eat.

Again, this depends entirely on the person. But you are right, it does often cause relaxation and "the munchies".

In my opinion, Both should be sold legally.

 

[___]

I don't know, I have spent a lot of time with potheads and spent a lot of time reading real scientific studies about the affect of cannabis on personality and behavior and I haven't seen any evidence (not just any credible evidence, I mean any evidence) that it will ever induce abnormal violence or aggressiveness in a healthy brain.  It does have plenty of negative effects; it has a definite suppressive effect on ambition and motivation, it damages reception of "happy chemicals" in the brain which result in increased levels of aggression and crankiness while sober in long-term users, and so on.  But the act of smoking pot does not as far as anyone has ever been able to show or in my experience personally ever make someone more violent, and often makes aggressive people much less aggressive.

 

[$t3v0]

I agree with a lot of what you just said, and it's clearly come from an educated individual. But I smoked pot for 3 years day in, day out and the effects on me were great! I was always happy, I had some of the best nights (and days) of my life, and it was just a casual thing to do whilst making music in my garage. But in the long run I did awful in my high school GCSE's (I'm usually an A-B average student) and that's when I knew it was time to stop.

On the other hand:

Two of the people that I did do pot with all those years ago are now in really bad ways whereas one is succeeding in life more than ever! He's a head chef (ironic? :p) at a restaurant in Liverpool city centre. Not only that, he's well on his way to London working alongside some of the best chefs in the UK. The contrast becomes questionable when he was (and still is) the biggest pot smoker of us all.

Anyway, In more detail:

The other two lads are always together. One (who was usually a quiet, nice person) causes all kinds of mayhem around town and domestic violence has become something of the norm within his household.

This can be due to two reasons (one of which is more probable):

>> Pot brought him out of his shell. The real person he is has risen and it isn't the best one. That or this happened with age.

>> Pot has caused these affects over time.

I'm a strong believer of pot being legalised, for sure! But I'm also a fan of the drink. And I hate it when people abuse the stuff giving it a bad name. If you can't handle your drink, don't do it! I know my boundaries (after trial and error of course), It's just a case of respecting what your body can handle.

 

[___]

Yeah one of my stoner buddies is actually also going to culinary school, and pot certainly stirred and strengthened my own interest in and capability with cooking.  There's definitely something special about being able to taste every little tiny bit of everything in your food, even if the sensory overload somewhat distorts the flavor.  It's the only real reason I liked doing it most of the time.

I've always been the kind of person who can stop doing something when it's time to stop though, and I put it down without a thought when I was looking for a government job (miserable waste of 3 years of my life that I'll never have back, btw).  I did it again when the job following that one didn't pan out and it was time to look for something new.  Now I have a kid due literally any day now and it's looking like a good 18 years before it will be time to consider the ol' pipe, but I sure do miss the munchies. :D

 

[Dissonance]

as well as way to escape from the hardships of everyday life

You are a pussy.

Also, while weed isn't so bad, a lot of the harder drugs do cause a lot of physical problems.  Basically, coke and beyond completely fucks you up physically and mentally, and they're quite hard to stop taking if you ever decide you want to quit.

 

[___]

Well I don't think there's really a fine line you can draw, and say from here "up" is bad, the rest of it's relatively harmless.  Many hallucinogens, for instance, have no addictive properties and only cause long-term harm in massive and frequent doses beyond what would normally be consumed in a safe and healthy practice, however most people consider them "up there" with the "really bad stuff." 

There are some drugs, mainly extremely concentrated versions of mild natural stimulants, such as Cocaine, and potent synthetic stimulants like methamphetamine, which are very addictive.  This is the chemical nature of the body and the way it interacts with them, the same basic reason you get addicted to caffeine and nicotine.  Caffeine, as a side note, is much more potent and deadly than either of those chemicals, you just don't take very much.  If you used an amount of caffeine even close to the normal dose of crack cocaine you'd die in an instant.  Fortunately for coffee lovers caffeine has a really uncomfortable high that discourages overuse and severe addiction.  However it's clear that illegalizing them and persecuting the victims of these dangerous illegal substances is not working, so it's still questionable whether we aught continue down that path.

 

[kipani]

Pot does make you a bit retarded. It attacks and kills braincells. Thats WHERE the high comes from. It slows down reflexes and your highest chance of having a heart attack is within 10 minutes after smoking a joint. All in all if you're young and you smoke it your brain will never develop the way it was meant to. 22-23 is when your brain is fully developed =p

On the good side - It slows down glaucoma. It kills aging cells, including cancerous cells, which is why generally, potheads dont get cancer. potheads / cig smokers do tho..

Alcohol however, is mind altering and I've done FARRR worse things when I was drunk rather than high. They say pot is a gateway drug to other drugs, but that's kind of LOL-y for me because you'd have a much higher chance of getting me to do something I'd never do otherwise if I was drunk and not high on pot >.> Alcohol is waaay worse lmao..

Coke just turns you into a scummy person. Nobody wants a cokehead in their house and heroin is even worse.


Anyway only reason pots illegal is because the govt can't tax it.

 

[bedi nik bzez emak]

;D

 

[___]

@Kipani:  (see previous post)  Cannabis does not kill your brain cells, nor does any drug that does kill your brain cells get you high as a consequence of those brain cells dying.  You get high from drugs as a result of modifying your body chemistry and thus the way your mind and body function, the death of brain cells is incidental in those drugs where it is a result.  While drug abuse may cause developmental damage it is due to the retardation of stimuli to developing parts of the brain, not to the direct destruction of them in most cases.  You do as much harm to yourself every minute you watch tv instead of doing something challenging, creative, or educational as you do being stoned and staring off into space.

@Arbiter:  But legalization would make a difference.  Not so much in the number of users or their frequency of use, but in the fact that people would not have to participate in a black market in order to obtain drugs.  Not only does decriminalization eliminate the need for massive government spending and open up an entire new market for taxation, it obviates any need for criminal activity in order to satisfy demand.  You don't have to go back very far in history or very far around the world to observe the effects of prohibition and black market economies and realize how powerfully harmful they are.

 

[bedi nik bzez emak]

;D