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[NightmarePatrol]

Here's an interesting article that will spawn some even more interesting debates in the future I'm sure.  Of course if Alcohol the mos dangerous will it be recategorized as a scheduled one? Nah, way too much money in it.

[Amidala]

Yes, I saw that research. The effects of alcoholism on the family are endless and are really traumatizing to kids. I know, I was one of them. I have maybe 2-3 alcoholic drinks a year.  For all of my faults, foibles and weaknesses, that is one trap I will not let myself fall into.

[lifefeedsonlife]

What it SHOULD mean is that 'they' ought to de-criminalize everything else.

[Puffin]

What it SHOULD mean is that 'they' ought to de-criminalize everything else.

thats a point that can be argued.
We are losing the "War on Drugs" or maybe realistically we have lost it.
$40B a year spent, and the illegal drugs are more readily available then ever.
The illegal industry is worth $400B a year , and look who's benefiting.
MAybe a way to attack it is to go after the $400B. Put the drugs in state stores, and price it at breakeven cost. If the bad guys can't make money on it maybe they'll go away, or a lot of them anyway.

[lifefeedsonlife]

Big time. Most controlled substances didn't become so controlled until government decided to control 'em. Again - I think most elitists of either stripe consider that majority of people either stupid or immoral. Fact is - we can be neither or both . . .

Who benefits from these things being illegal?

[beanie]

Most drugs SHOULD be regulated. Some drugs likewise should probably stay illegal. Some of the "legal" pharms should be more closely controlled (I'm looking at *you*, "pain clinics", with your oxy handouts and forged prescriptions). But the majority of "vice" substances could easily be legalized and just controlled in similar fashion to the currently totally legal "drugs".

[Zipper]

Educating kids (and most adults) about the addictive factor is probably the way to go. Instead of telling them "don't do it" show them how hard it is to quit if they start. Maybe they do teach that in schools now.. it's been a long time since I've been in a schoolroom.

Like smoking... nicotine is nothing more than a legalized drug. Most people I know who still smoke want to quit, but are so addicted they don't have the strength to give it up on their own. The patch is very expensive to purchase in the multi-unit box, so people look at it and then pass it up. I've seen them do it in the stores, and you know they are wondering if it will even work for them. (It did not for me... I ended up smoking while on the patch, a very bad thing to do.) I think the patch should be sold as a single unit, so instead of buying a box of them, a person could choose one patch in place of one pack of cigarettes at the convenience store. If they could do it one day at a time, it may be more accessible to them.

I did quit later, but it was because I had a three day hospital stay after a big surgery... and quite frankly I was on such good pain medication that I slept most of the time, and the urge to smoke wasn't an issue. After three days, the nicotine is out of you system so the physical addiction is not there, you just then have to conquer the mental addiction. I wanted to quit for a long time so that part wasn't so hard. I just made my mind up to take advantage of the opportunity, and not "start" again.

Breaking the addiction is key. The same with heroin or so many of the other drugs. Years ago when I was just a kid, Geraldo went into Harlem and shot footage of the junkies shooting up. My mom had the good sense to let us watch that on TV. Seeing the degration of a junkie's life made a big impression on me. Watching a heroin addict withdrawl made a person think about why... if they could live through that... would they ever want to become addicted again. Sadly many do because it's the addictive personality that causes the desire to use any mind-altering substance.

Alcohol... perfect example. Alcohol can alter the mind, and while some people become addicted, many do not and can drink in moderation or only socially, leaving it alone for months at a time, while others can't get through a day without an available keg or two around the house.

Many times when they quit drugs or alcohol they merely substitute one addiction for another. People become addicted to "God" as a replacement, or they overeat, or become addicted to exercise (dopamine in the brain) ...they become addicted to pornography, or some other vice.

I know a guy who was a crack head and a pill popper. He's been through treatment after treatment, but they are essentially switching him from one drug to another... it's rare to ever see him when he's not on "something" to help him break his addiction to whatever he was on last. One almost never sees him completely sober, which is sad because when he is sober he's super intelligent, funny... overall a decent guy without malice to hurt anyone except himself.

People committ crimes and offenses while drunk, as they would on other drugs. Drunk driving arrests are probably down as more people get arrested and go through the system of monetary punishments and consequences, as they would for driving under the influence of other drugs. Funny one doesn't hear more stories of arrests for driving under the influence of heroin.

Legalizing the drugs out there would eliminate so much of the organized crime, the same way alcohol did during prohibition. I don't think we would have more users of the hard core drugs. I think back in the old days, before the addiction was known, they put heroin in medicines which was given to children as well, in small doses, and cocaine was also in many medicines which was administered to unsuspecting patients. Once the addictive factor was recognized it became controlled.

People who want the drugs can get them now. It's just a matter of making the connections, and making the choice to use them. Like alcohol, public intoxication should not be tolerated, no driving under the influence, and protecting the children of addicts is foremost.

It could be your choice to attend a neighborhood poppy party or go to church for a weekend revival, or stay home and play Wii for three days.

[TiFeMb]

Zip: That was awesome. You should go on a speaking tour or run for public office. Simply brilliant.

[lifefeedsonlife]

I LIKE drugs. All kinds. Just don't do 'em anymore. I choose not to on a daily basis. Seems easier to break it down that way. Funny thing is - after a goodly number of non-using days, you start to change the context of your life and begin to see other possibilities - enabling more positive contextual change.

The older I get - the more I think context is everything.

Anyways - if drugs were legalized - user rates might bump slightly due to the couriousity factor - but I don't see 'em going up appreciably. It seems there's always going to be a certain segment of the population that develops addiciton issues.

It's a shame they often develop criminal issues as well - as a result of their use / addicition.

The only problem I see to legalization would be that the legal issues often serve as a catalyst for treatment. In the case of alcohol - it may be a DUI, Drunk and Disorderly - somethin' along those lines. For crack - well - it'd be possession of crack. Were it legal, there would need to be another gateway to treatment.

I was hoping Proposition 19 would have passed in California. (I bet Taco Bell is bummed.)

[Zipper]

Zip: That was awesome. You should go on a speaking tour or run for public office. Simply brilliant.

I was just having a "good" day.
 
 
 

 

[Puffin]

The war on drugs south of the border sure is different than up here.
 
The cartels money to fund that war comes from the purchase of drugs here in the U.S.. The weapons used by the cartels are bought with that money here in the U.S.
so the money going south comes back here, or least some of it.
Sheesh another balance of trade problem!

[lifefeedsonlife]

I almost put this under "What Made You Laugh Today."
 
My God - apparently I smoked the wrong weed as a kid.
 
I shoulda scored what caused THIS!
 
(It's a parody - but somewhere the ghost of Jack Webb is saying: "Parody? Yeah - like

Blue Boy

was a parody.")