Who Care About Illegal Drugs?

[ColoringNick]

Why do you care?

 

It seems like an issue to me that police use to just invade your privacy.

[Aksel]

haha - I might have bias, bc I work for a police department..........but uh, if its illegal its against the law and if you're gonna do it, don't get caught.

[Mutant]

Because drugs, cigarettes, not buckling your seat belt and terrorists are fabricated "dangers" that the government is protecting you from. Not to mention they make a pretty penny doing it.

[Alex]

Because drugs, cigarettes, not buckling your seat belt and terrorists are fabricated "dangers" that the government is protecting you from. Not to mention they make a pretty penny doing it.

 

Drugs can cause violent crime. I'm not thinking marijuana here, I'm talking about hard drugs like meth; meth causes people to go crazy and fight and kill. Cigarettes are known causes of cancer; even secondhand smoke can damage your lungs. That's why in most states smoking indoors is now illegal, and why minors aren't allowed to buy cigarettes. Not fastening your seatbelt can cause you to be ejected from your vehicle during a wreck, which can kill someone else. Flying out of your windshield through someone else's and killing them is not okay, and I think it justification enough to have a law telling you to wear your seatbelt. Not that there's police that check your vehicle before you start driving to make sure you have your seatbelt on or anything anyway, and in the state that I live in they can't pull you over just for not having your seatbelt on. There has to be another reason and only then can you get a fine for not wearing your seatbelt.

 

As for terrorists, I certainly don't think that they're fabricated, but I'd agree that the chances of being killed in some sort of terrorist attack are incredibly small.

[Jroc]

Drugs can cause violent crime. I'm not thinking marijuana here, I'm talking about hard drugs like meth; meth causes people to go crazy and fight and kill. Cigarettes are known causes of cancer; even secondhand smoke can damage your lungs. That's why in most states smoking indoors is now illegal, and why minors aren't allowed to buy cigarettes. Not fastening your seatbelt can cause you to be ejected from your vehicle during a wreck, which can kill someone else. Flying out of your windshield through someone else's and killing them is not okay, and I think it justification enough to have a law telling you to wear your seatbelt. Not that there's police that check your vehicle before you start driving to make sure you have your seatbelt on or anything anyway, and in the state that I live in they can't pull you over just for not having your seatbelt on. There has to be another reason and only then can you get a fine for not wearing your seatbelt.

 

As for terrorists, I certainly don't think that they're fabricated, but I'd agree that the chances of being killed in some sort of terrorist attack are incredibly small.

 

I agree with you Sheep. Hard drugs unlike Marijuana do cause violent outbreaks and heroin can wreck your body. Why prescription opiates are legal, I have no idea. It would be far more efficient to prescribe cannabis since it handles pain like a champ. Nor does it have the side-effects or physical addiction potential that opiates have.

 

But, in the end, illegal drugs create dangerous black markets. It would be better to legalize it all or you would have to keep some criminal markets in place. For instance, when you look at Silk Road going down, two of the most dangerous black markets spawned, Agora and Evolution. At, least in SR, you could only buy certain things, but in these markets, you can buy a whole lot more! 

 

So, its either legalize it or keep taking down more darknet sites. Because, when 1 goes down a 100 takes its place. Eventually, its a race against the clock and a money drain. When do you kill the hog that you have been feeding for years?

Edited December 5, 2014 by Jroc

[SoS]

They legislate behavior that only harms oneself because we all (in one way or another) insure others. Whether it's premiums or taxes, we all pay for reckless actions of others. Lobbyists and the state want to make you clean and safe so they can save money.

[Morgan]

Drugs can cause violent crime. I'm not thinking marijuana here, I'm talking about hard drugs like meth; meth causes people to go crazy and fight and kill. Cigarettes are known causes of cancer; even secondhand smoke can damage your lungs. That's why in most states smoking indoors is now illegal, and why minors aren't allowed to buy cigarettes. Not fastening your seatbelt can cause you to be ejected from your vehicle during a wreck, which can kill someone else. Flying out of your windshield through someone else's and killing them is not okay, and I think it justification enough to have a law telling you to wear your seatbelt. Not that there's police that check your vehicle before you start driving to make sure you have your seatbelt on or anything anyway, and in the state that I live in they can't pull you over just for not having your seatbelt on. There has to be another reason and only then can you get a fine for not wearing your seatbelt.

 

As for terrorists, I certainly don't think that they're fabricated, but I'd agree that the chances of being killed in some sort of terrorist attack are incredibly small.

Sheepy is right. 

[Aisha Greyjoy]

I don't care.  Not about drugs or drug users.  I do care about having to pay 50k a year in taxes to support each inmate, some of whom might be in jail solely for drugs.  Most states now spend more on prisons then education.  

 

Ok, I do care.  I guess I was wrong when I started typing.

[Ren]

Drugs can cause violent crime. I'm not thinking marijuana here, I'm talking about hard drugs like meth; meth causes people to go crazy and fight and kill. 

 

Lots of legal stuff can cause you to "go crazy" as well. Marijuana can bring schizophrenic symptoms to the surface in people who are prone to them. "Drug-a-likes," legal compounds that resemble illegal drugs and have similar effects, are sold at head shops around the country. Even common hardware store chemicals can get someone high enough to "go crazy."

 

Most of the violent crime associated with drugs is a direct result of their illegality. The importers and dealers are those who commit the violent crimes, not the end users. Eliminating the prohibition would allow supply to meet the demand and would nearly eradicate the violent groups that currently supply drugs. Take a look at the changes in Portugal since decriminalization of all drugs occurred in 2001. Incarceration rates dropped, drug-related death rates dropped, the number HIV diagnoses were reduced. "Normalizing" drug use and removing some of the stigma didn't lead to chaos and drug-addled youths rioting in the streets, it led to an increase in rehabilitation rates and drug education.

[Mikhail Gorbachev]

I live in Washington, so marijuana is not illegal here. I can't stand the stuff (it kinda wrecked my best friend's life), but it's good that it's not punishable here. We pay INSANE costs to keep all of those people in prison, and minorities are 3x more likely to be arrested for use, even though they use it at the same rate as whites. It's time the whole country legalized or at least decriminalized it, if you ask me.

 

Hard drugs are sketch and should probably be illegal though, even though Portugal has success with decriminalizing them.

[Hereno]

meth causes people to go crazy and fight and kill

no it doesn't

 

i'm not going to bother providing evidence because not only did you not provide evidence yourself but it is obvious to any person who has ever used psychoactive substances apart from alcohol/weed that you have never used methamphetamine by your adoption of the difference between "soft drugs" and "hard drugs"

[Solomon]

Hard drugs are sketch and should probably be illegal though, even though Portugal has success with decriminalizing them.

What matters is not so much that they've been decriminalized as that the emphasis is on getting people off them and helping them get better "conditions", i.e. somewhere to live away from other addicts, a job, the support of family or volunteers.

[ColoringNick]

Drugs can cause violent crime. I'm not thinking marijuana here, I'm talking about hard drugs like meth; meth causes people to go crazy and fight and kill. Cigarettes are known causes of cancer; even secondhand smoke can damage your lungs. That's why in most states smoking indoors is now illegal, and why minors aren't allowed to buy cigarettes. Not fastening your seatbelt can cause you to be ejected from your vehicle during a wreck, which can kill someone else. Flying out of your windshield through someone else's and killing them is not okay, and I think it justification enough to have a law telling you to wear your seatbelt. Not that there's police that check your vehicle before you start driving to make sure you have your seatbelt on or anything anyway, and in the state that I live in they can't pull you over just for not having your seatbelt on. There has to be another reason and only then can you get a fine for not wearing your seatbelt.

 

As for terrorists, I certainly don't think that they're fabricated, but I'd agree that the chances of being killed in some sort of terrorist attack are incredibly small.

Well even with the hard drugs.  Gangs have to form to commit criminal conspiracy, which is only being violated because the people are going to plan on breaking a drug law, and then they produce the drug which is illegal because of a drug law.  Hell they even traffic and sell the drugs, and that in violation of more drug laws.  So making the drugs legal, or more semi legal as the Netherland will give drug addicts a dose of heroin but not enough to cause them to OD, but enough so they don't commit other crimes such as grand theft auto.  The drug laws encourages more violence.

 

On the seat belt laws this is a situation where you would be best off enforcing the law by making laws that all cars produce must have a seat belt with the seat.  Also, it would also be smart if congress made regulations that said new cars in production must come with a system that will cause the car not to crank or drive if the driver seat belts are not in.  Then laws preventing people and pentalties for anyone that try to modify the system, or anything.

[Mikhail Gorbachev]

What matters is not so much that they've been decriminalized as that the emphasis is on getting people off them and helping them get better "conditions", i.e. somewhere to live away from other addicts, a job, the support of family or volunteers.

You are right. Articles: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/evaluating-drug-decriminalization-in-portugal-12-years-later-a-891060.html

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/17/lowering-the-deadly-cost-of-drug-abuse/decriminalizing-possession-of-all-illicit-drugs

[Georgi Stomana]

I think the separation between "legal" and "illegal" drugs is very constructed, human beings have been taking substances to try and get high since we started walking upright, probably even before that. I doubt humans would of had the courage expand far and wide if it wasn't for alcohol for example.

 

Alcohol btw being one of the most addictive and damaging drugs out there, which is still completely legal. The only reason you take it so lightly is because most Europeans have an in-built tolerance for it.

 

Amphetamines for example are classed as a "hard drug", but if used in moderation is actually beneficial. Adderall for example is great for producing a stable and peaceful behavior and for counter-acting aggressive mood swings, I'm sure it has saved the life of many ADHD sufferers.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Georgi Stomana

[WISD0MTREE]

On the seat belt laws this is a situation where you would be best off enforcing the law by making laws that all cars produce must have a seat belt with the seat.  Also, it would also be smart if congress made regulations that said new cars in production must come with a system that will cause the car not to crank or drive if the driver seat belts are not in.  Then laws preventing people and pentalties for anyone that try to modify the system, or anything.

Step one: Cut the seat belt strap thing 

Step two: Put the seat belt buckle in 

Step three: Drive off into the sunset without a seat belt 

[Dietrich]

Step one: Cut the seat belt strap thing 

Step two: Put the seat belt buckle in 

Step three: Drive off into the sunset without a seat belt 

 

That problem could be solved by running a wire through the seatbelt, so that if you cut the wire, your car will be completely prevented from starting, requiring an embarrassing and illegal trip to the repair shop. You would do better to just buckle the seat belt and sit down on top of it, although I imagine that might be vaguely uncomfortable, depending on the placement of the buckle.

[Morgan]

We shouldn't be locking up people for smoking marijuana. That's a waste of tax payer money. 

[Fox Fire]

Why do you care?

 

It seems like an issue to me that police use to just invade your privacy.

Prohibition doesnt do anything other than waste money.

If you decriminalize all drugs, guess what? Nothing changes. Everything continues as it always did before.

Proof, you ask? Portugal. Nuff said.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Fox Fire

[Fox Fire]

I agree with you Sheep. Hard drugs unlike Marijuana do cause violent outbreaks and heroin can wreck your body. Why prescription opiates are legal, I have no idea. It would be far more efficient to prescribe cannabis since it handles pain like a champ. Nor does it have the side-effects or physical addiction potential that opiates have.

 

But, in the end, illegal drugs create dangerous black markets. It would be better to legalize it all or you would have to keep some criminal markets in place. For instance, when you look at Silk Road going down, two of the most dangerous black markets spawned, Agora and Evolution. At, least in SR, you could only buy certain things, but in these markets, you can buy a whole lot more! 

 

So, its either legalize it or keep taking down more darknet sites. Because, when 1 goes down a 100 takes its place. Eventually, its a race against the clock and a money drain. When do you kill the hog that you have been feeding for years?

Marijuana cannot treat pain nearly as effective as opiates.

 

 

Drugs can cause violent crime. I'm not thinking marijuana here, I'm talking about hard drugs like meth; meth causes people to go crazy and fight and kill. Cigarettes are known causes of cancer; even secondhand smoke can damage your lungs. That's why in most states smoking indoors is now illegal, and why minors aren't allowed to buy cigarettes. Not fastening your seatbelt can cause you to be ejected from your vehicle during a wreck, which can kill someone else. Flying out of your windshield through someone else's and killing them is not okay, and I think it justification enough to have a law telling you to wear your seatbelt. Not that there's police that check your vehicle before you start driving to make sure you have your seatbelt on or anything anyway, and in the state that I live in they can't pull you over just for not having your seatbelt on. There has to be another reason and only then can you get a fine for not wearing your seatbelt.

 

As for terrorists, I certainly don't think that they're fabricated, but I'd agree that the chances of being killed in some sort of terrorist attack are incredibly small.

Meth doesn't make you violent. In fact, it's a mood enhancer. Can it !@#$ your brain up? Most definitely. Also, there is virtually nothing that doesn't cause cancer. Here's a small list of things that have been shown to cause cancer:

Acetaldehyde, acrylamide, acrylonitril, abortion, agent orange, alar, alcohol, air pollution, aldrin, alfatoxin, arsenic, arsine, asbestos, asphalt fumes, atrazine, AZT, baby food, barbequed meat, benzene, benzidine, benzopyrene, beryllium, beta-carotene, betel nuts, birth control pills, bottled water, bracken, bread, breasts, brooms, bus stations, calcium channel blockers, cadmium, candles, captan, carbon black, carbon tetrachloride, careers for women, casual sex, car fumes, celery, charred foods, cooked foods, chewing gum, Chinese food, Chinese herbal supplements, chips, chloramphenicol, chlordane, chlorinated camphene, chlorinated water, chlorodiphenyl, chloroform, cholesterol, low cholesterol, chromium, coal tar, coffee, coke ovens,  crackers, creosote, cyclamates, dairy products, deodorants, depleted uranium, depression, dichloryacetylene,  DDT, dieldrin, diesel exhaust, diet soda, dimethyl sulphate, dinitrotouluene, dioxin, dioxane, epichlorhydrin, ethyle acrilate, ethylene, ethilene dibromide, ethnic beliefs,ethylene dichloride, Ex-Lax, fat, fluoridation, flying, formaldehyde, free radicals, french fries, fruit, gasoline, genes, gingerbread, global warming, gluteraldehyde, granite, grilled meat, Gulf war, hair dyes, hamburgers, heliobacter pylori, hepatitis B virus,  hexachlorbutadiene, hexachlorethane, high bone mass, hot tea, HPMA, HRT, hydrazine, hydrogen peroxide, incense, infertility, jewellery, Kepone, kissing, lack of exercise, laxatives, lead, left handedness, Lindane, Listerine, low fibre diet, magnetic fields, malonaldehyde, mammograms, manganese, marijuana, methyl bromide, methylene chloride,  menopause, microwave ovens, milk hormones, mixed spices, mobile phones, MTBE, nickel, night lighting, night shifts, nitrates, not breast feeding, not having a twin, nuclear power plants, Nutrasweet, obesity, oestrogen, olestra, olive oil, orange juice, oxygenated gasoline, oyster sauce, ozone, ozone depletion, passive smoking, PCBs, peanuts, pesticides, pet birds, plastic IV bags, polio vaccine, potato crisps (chips), power lines, proteins, Prozac, PVC, radio masts, radon, railway sleepers, red meat, Roundup, saccharin, salt, sausage, selenium,  semiconductor plants, shellfish, sick buildings, soy sauce, stress, strontium, styrene, sulphuric acid, sun beds, sunlight, sunscreen, talc, tetrachloroethylene, testosterone, tight bras, toast, toasters, tobacco, tooth fillings, toothpaste (with fluoride or bleach), train stations, trichloroethylene, under-arm shaving, unvented stoves, uranium, UV radiation, Vatican radio masts, vegetables, vinyl bromide, vinyl chloride,  vinyl fluoride, vinyl toys, vitamins, vitreous fibres, wallpaper, weedkiller (2-4 D), welding fumes, well water, weight gain, winter, wood dust, work, x-rays.

 

 

no it doesn't

 

i'm not going to bother providing evidence because not only did you not provide evidence yourself but it is obvious to any person who has ever used psychoactive substances apart from alcohol/weed that you have never used methamphetamine by your adoption of the difference between "soft drugs" and "hard drugs"

I've taken adderall, which is basically pure meth without all the other junk mixed in commonly found in street meth. Can't say it makes you violent, but rather, quite the opposite.

 

 

I live in Washington, so marijuana is not illegal here. I can't stand the stuff (it kinda wrecked my best friend's life), but it's good that it's not punishable here. We pay INSANE costs to keep all of those people in prison, and minorities are 3x more likely to be arrested for use, even though they use it at the same rate as whites. It's time the whole country legalized or at least decriminalized it, if you ask me.

 

Hard drugs are sketch and should probably be illegal though, even though Portugal has success with decriminalizing them.

They have success with decriminalizing them because people are always going to do drugs regardless of their legal status. If this were done in America, you would see the exact same result. Same with any nation on earth.

 

 

I think the separation between "legal" and "illegal" drugs is very constructed, human beings have been taking substances to try and get high since we started walking upright, probably even before that. I doubt humans would of had the courage expand far and wide if it wasn't for alcohol for example.

 

Alcohol btw being one of the most addictive and damaging drugs out there, which is still completely legal. The only reason you take it so lightly is because most Europeans have an in-built tolerance for it.

 

Amphetamines for example are classed as a "hard drug", but if used in moderation is actually beneficial. Adderall for example is great for producing a stable and peaceful behavior and for counter-acting aggressive mood swings, I'm sure it has saved the life of many ADHD sufferers.

I can agree that the separation between illegal and legal is ridiculous. Ibuprofen and aerosol cleaner is far more damaging and dangerous than marijuana, and you can buy that shit right off the shelf as a child. Alcohol is definitely not one of the worst drugs out there, and amphetamines have very little benefits (really only useful for ADD [not even so much ADHD]) and are extremely damaging to the brain. They also cause obsessive, repetitive behavior and kill pain which can easily lead to self mutilation purely out of a compelling need to be doing something with your hands at every given second.

[Kim Jong-Il]

That problem could be solved by running a wire through the seatbelt, so that if you cut the wire, your car will be completely prevented from starting, requiring an embarrassing and illegal trip to the repair shop. You would do better to just buckle the seat belt and sit down on top of it, although I imagine that might be vaguely uncomfortable, depending on the placement of the buckle.

 

Well instead you could just hack a small incision in the buckle itself so you can take it off/put it on as you please. I already do that myself because i can't stand seat belts, and i just put the buckle in to stop that annoying ring sound the car makes when the buckle isnt in.

[Hereno]

you can actually get prescribed meth under the trade name desoxyn

 

it makes you dangerous and crazy and want to rape all the white women unless some guy in a white coat says you should take it in which case it's perfectly fine and productive

 

only a !@#$ing idiot or a child could believe in such things

[elsuper]

What matters is not so much that they've been decriminalized as that the emphasis is on getting people off them and helping them get better "conditions", i.e. somewhere to live away from other addicts, a job, the support of family or volunteers.

 

Can't meet those conditions without decriminalizing, though.

 

We shouldn't be locking up people for smoking marijuana. That's a waste of tax payer money. 

 

It's also completely disproportionate to the offense.

[Georgi Stomana]

@Fox Fire

Adderall is sometimes prescribed for depression and it can work quite effectively especially on correcting mood swings (ups and downs). Also you should look into long-term alcohol addiction, it is just as damaging as the hardest of drugs.
 

[Fox Fire]

@Fox Fire

Adderall is sometimes prescribed for depression and it can work quite effectively especially on correcting mood swings (ups and downs). Also you should look into long-term alcohol addiction, it is just as damaging as the hardest of drugs.

First off, let me state that I am prescribed Adderall and almost never take it because it's terrible.

Although Adderall has been used in some cases to treat short term depression, it is not something that should be used alone to treat long term depression. Adderall is also not something that should ever be used to treat mood swings, because it causes mood swings. Giving an "up" effect, followed by a "down" effect. Very similar to cocaine. The tolerance to Adderall in humans also builds up very rapidly, causing a need for higher and higher doses. The mood elevation is essentially nothing more than a a feeling of euphoria from being high. It's not like an anti depressant. Adderall causes dopaminergic neurotoxicity, or damage to dopamine neurons, which is characterized as reduced transporter and receptor function. Adderall is also extremely addictive (I can say this from experience), and causes the person to crave more, and higher doses just to achieve the same effect. Withdrawl symptoms in frequent abusers can be pretty harsh, marked with a crash phase and can last for weeks. High enough doses of Adderall (or amphetamine in general) can cause psychosis, to which many people will never recover from, even with the aid of anti-psychotics. 

This doesn't even touch on the physical effect of Adderall, which include a range of cardiovascular problems, severe hornyness, loss of appetite (that one is severe), nausea, excessive grinding of teeth or clenching of jaw, dry mouth, sweating, blurred vision, and can cause respiratory issues, especially if you already have respiratory issues like asthma. Or at least these are side effects I will typically experience with merely one 20mg time-release capsule.

Overall, it's a pretty shitty drug. I usually only take it if I havent slept and have to stay awake the next day. Generally speaking, Adderall is identical same shit you find on the street.

The actual difference is that street meth is generally made up of ~50% levomethamphetamine and 50% dextromethamphetamine or ~100% dextromethamphetamine.

Adderall is made up of various salts of the two amphetamine stereoisomers, 75% dextroamphetamine salts, and 25% levoamphetamine salts.

 

As for alcohol, I know all about that. My ancestors have thrived on booze for generations. I myself am an alcoholic and drink almost daily in the evenings. Although I usually don't drink enough to actually get drunk. Just enough to get a small buzz. Am I worried about dying from alcoholism? Nope, because I just don't drink enough every day to see that ever happening. I do my research about any drug I take (or don't take) before ever considering trying it, be it alcohol, weed, or psychedelic chemicals. Though I'd prefer smoking pot in the evenings to beer or wine, it's a lot more expensive and hard to find. I don't think I would put alcohol on a danger scale quite as high as amphetamines or opiates like heroin and morphine.