drugs are bad mkay.

[Ionami]

The problem with drugs is the addiction part.

Addiction is defined by: "The inability to stop the use of a substance or action, in spite of increasingly negative consequences."

If you smoke weed, and you're happy, and you're family and friends are happy, and things are going well for you, then by all means, enjoy. If it's causing you to miss work, miss family gatherings, sleep too much, spend too much time indoors, etc. then you should cut down/try to stop.

The thing about weed is this: it IS addictive for some people. There is no "It's not physically addictive, it's just mentally addictive." This doesn't exist. There is only one form of addiction. It's both physical AND mental. Some people can start and stop smoking weed whenever they choose. Some can't.

As for the inventor of LSD living to 102. Well, that's just a roll of the dice isn't it? There are people who smoke 2 packs a day and drink a fifth of vodka and live to 98, and yet there's triathletes that die from an aneurysm at the age of 23.

Besides, I guarantee you that although he lived to 102, he would have been a mess. There's no way you can ingest LSD on a regular basis, no matter the dosage and still be of sound, stable mind. It's a psychotropic drug, and we know that there are serious psychological ramifications of taking these types of drugs on a regular basis. They kill brain cells. There's no denying that.

Again, do all the drugs you want, just be honest with yourself about whether it's truly a problem or not for you. If your habits are causing negative consequences, and you don't want to stop, then you should consider talking to someone about it.

As for weed being a gateway drug... it has less to do with the pot, and more to do with the fact that an addict will always move onto harder drugs once they have built up a tolerance to the effects of the pot.

Besides, alcohol is much worse than pot, really. Alcohol is one of the only substances that actually has a FATAL withdrawal. Pot addicts usually just get panic attacks and angina. (Heart pain.)

 

[edinflames]

I postulate that drugs are bad (m'kay) because they breed apathy among young adults and they are the cause of most crime in our country etc. something like that.

Do you think that might be because the drugs are illegal? If you do your history then you will come to realise that the Heroin (a truly evil drug) only came into existence because Opium was made illegal and Heroin the is super condensed (thus being easier to smuggle, more profitable and more addictive) version. This is mirrored by the popularity explosion of whiskey in the USA after prohibition, because whiskey is a stronger product thus can be sold for more money and is easier to transport for bootleggers. Prohibition was responsible for the rise of the Italian Mafia in America.

The only drug that should be legalized is cannabis in my opinion. it could also provide a healthy tax income for countries since pot smokers are everywere.

Cannabis is a unique plant precisely because it has so many uses. It can make be used to make paper, clothing and rope in a more ecologically sustainable way than its legal equivalents (in fact, the primary funding for the anti-cannabis campaign in the USA during the 40's was the cotton industry, because marijuana/hemp fibres are superior in every way).

Cannabis is also the only effective medication for reducing the suffering of people undergoing chemotherapy, it is literally the only drug that eliminates their persistent nausea and stimulates the appetites of the patients.

Cannabis is also beneficial for people suffering from the HIV/AIDs virus. It helps to fight glaucoma which would otherwise leave people incurably blind. It significantly reduces the pain and suffering of people with MS. It helps with arthritis and rheumatism. It has been suggested in some studies that one of the active chemicals in cannabis slows the growth of cancers.

Medicinal Marijuana is a multi-billion dollar industry in California alone, imagine the kind of tax dollars that could be raised for economic stimulus with full legalisation. Legalise for medical and recreational purposes and the global economy will boom, while the users will be able to obtain a safe product from a trustworthy source and at the same time taking money out of the pockets of organised crime.

Based on the above, keeping weed illegal is totally immoral.

 

[Doitpow]

I postulate that drugs are bad (m'kay) because they breed apathy among young adults and they are the cause of most crime in our country etc. something like that.

Do you think that might be because the drugs are illegal? If you do your history then you will come to realise that the Heroin (a truly evil drug) only came into existence because Opium was made illegal and Heroin the is super condensed (thus being easier to smuggle, more profitable and more addictive) version. This is mirrored by the popularity explosion of whiskey in the USA after prohibition, because whiskey is a stronger product thus can be sold for more money and is easier to transport for bootleggers. Prohibition was responsible for the rise of the Italian Mafia in America.

The only drug that should be legalized is cannabis in my opinion. it could also provide a healthy tax income for countries since pot smokers are everywere.

Cannabis is a unique plant precisely because it has so many uses. It can make be used to make paper, clothing and rope in a more ecologically sustainable way than its legal equivalents (in fact, the primary funding for the anti-cannabis campaign in the USA during the 40's was the cotton industry, because marijuana/hemp fibres are superior in every way).

Cannabis is also the only effective medication for reducing the suffering of people undergoing chemotherapy, it is literally the only drug that eliminates their persistent nausea and stimulates the appetites of the patients.

Cannabis is also beneficial for people suffering from the HIV/AIDs virus. It helps to fight glaucoma which would otherwise leave people incurably blind. It significantly reduces the pain and suffering of people with MS. It helps with arthritis and rheumatism. It has been suggested in some studies that one of the active chemicals in cannabis slows the growth of cancers.

Medicinal Marijuana is a multi-billion dollar industry in California alone, imagine the kind of tax dollars that could be raised for economic stimulus with full legalisation. Legalise for medical and recreational purposes and the global economy will boom, while the users will be able to obtain a safe product from a trustworthy source and at the same time taking money out of the pockets of organised crime.

Based on the above, keeping weed illegal is totally immoral.

I was actually being a devils advocate on this one. I am for the legalizaton of all drugs (yes you heard me, all drugs). Their illegal status is unnecassarily intrusive, it restrains addicts from getting help, proliferates crime and is all round a huge contradiction with laws about alcohol, tobacco and medication.

 

[edinflames]

As for weed being a gateway drug... it has less to do with the pot, and more to do with the fact that an addict will always move onto harder drugs once they have built up a tolerance to the effects of the pot.

I would say that it is a gateway drug because the weed is being sold by the same guy that sells pills, speed, ketamine, etc. An impressionable youngster might get the wrong idea around these individuals.

I've smoked weed for years and I'm not interested in other drugs, because other drugs don't do what weed does. Your theory is flawed.

Make it legal and I don't have to mix with proper criminals in order to enjoy my intoxicant of choice.

 

[Ionami]

As for weed being a gateway drug... it has less to do with the pot, and more to do with the fact that an addict will always move onto harder drugs once they have built up a tolerance to the effects of the pot.

I would say that it is a gateway drug because the weed is being sold by the same guy that sells pills, speed, ketamine, etc. An impressionable youngster might get the wrong idea around these individuals.

I've smoked weed for years and I'm not interested in other drugs, because other drugs don't do what weed does. Your theory is flawed.

Make it legal and I don't have to mix with proper criminals in order to enjoy my intoxicant of choice.

First of all... it's not a theory.

Second, guys who deal pot do not necessarily deal everything else. There are plenty of dealers who exclusively sell pot and nothing else.

If an impressionable youngster is around these individuals, then that youngster's parents need to be more active in their child's life.

You're not interested in other drugs, because you're addicted to weed, and it works for you. Great. Enjoy. Eventually, you will build up a tolerance, and you will start to get anxiety, and panic attacks, followed by angina. You may not necessarily start using other drugs, but a lot of pot addicts do.

 

[megapenguinx]

Smoking causes psychosis and schizophrenia.....
Thing is, it doesn't show up at all. Smoking acts as a super catalyst to it and instead of developing it when you're like 40, you begin to see effects in a matter of months, even weeks.
I do agree it would bring in lots of revenue, but there would be tons of people affected mentally. Also, it kills short term memory.

 

[Inverse Skies]

Most studies are changed or let go of for better ones so unless its been backed by the medical/health industry for a few years its just another study.

Depends on the drug, if we as a society legalized all the lite and medium class ones and focused more on health care/perscripion/taxes/addiction clinics(were harder drugs are used in conjunction with treatment and other drugs to ween people off addiction) than the lulzy war on drugs we'd gut the black market and crime in a couple years but no the moral high horse of ignorance seems to be the only reasonable ground we take.


You can not fight a war on vice by banning it all that dose is create far more problems.

Prohibition in America showed us the futility of banning alcohol true - but why legalise the lighter to medium class ones? I presume by that you mean marijuana (obviously) but then what after that? Ecstasy? Mushrooms? What do you actually gain as a society by legalising those substances? That's the question you have to ask yourself.

How exactly would society be 'better off' with those substances legal? Reduced crime? Sure you could argue that but drug bosses aren't stupid - they'd simply move their operations into some sort of other criminal activity. What that might be I cannot say but you could almost guarantee it happening.

Why place another burden on the health care system? The whole idea of health promotion is preventative action, it's why we have campaigns for people to try and exercise and eat well, to keep them out of hospital. Legalising drug use is just more likely to put people into hospital as the insidious side effects of drug use become more prevalent with increased distribution and use.

Also... have you ever seen someone in withdrawl from heroin? I have.... and you would never, ever want to see it again or wish it upon anyone else.

It's the ideal of stigma - make something completely unattractive through campaigning or government lobbying and people become less likely to do it. Of course there is always going to be some members of society who ignore the consensus view as a whole, that's the way it goes. But the more you educate people on the hazards of drug use the less likely they are to use them - really that's what the money in the war on drugs should be directed towards.

 

[Lord George]

My best poetry was written with the help of a bit of weed and its never done me any harm. Holier then thou people against drugs can't really rage against it unless they've tried it.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Although scumofsociety seems to have proven me wrong somewhat, in that not all pot-heads are morons.

I don't actually smoke weed, it clouds my brain too much and tends to put me on edge, it's heroin or nothing for me (note that I am not advocating this).

To answer the original post, using scare tactics is a bad idea. People will start to wonder why their friend who smokes a bit of weed isn't homeless on the street selling their ass for their next fix and realise your scare tactics are not entirely representative of the truth, you become an 'untrustworthy source', even the good info you give out will be treated as suspect.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

well if u take drugs your a loser according to my definition. I don't want to label you publically, i don't want to array people behind me against you - It's not because i think you're a young whippersnapper or a rebel - though u might think it is - it's because i'm laughing inside that you need substances to feel positive.

quote]

Taking drugs does not mean that you need them to feel positive. I like marijuana, because it makes me feel good. However, you're saying that I have no other means of feeling positive. I have as much reason as you do to feel positive, I am no more a loser than you (as far as I can see), I just like marijuana occasionally. It feels good. Is that so bad?

 

[DannyDamage]

Drugs aren't 'bad' per se.

they're just stupid.

Only losers take drugs - i'm high on life, myself, and my beatiful girlfriend as it is.

Everyone of these pro drugs vs. anti drugs threads has a number 1 fool, and here's the one that lives here.

Congratulations!

 

[sabotstarr]

sigh... well alcohol has probably done worse stuff to me than pot any day. when drunk your liver gets messes up, when smoking pot your lungs get screwed up, but also inhaling in air around us is filled with some of the same stuff as weed and cigarettes. So if you have a problem with weed (the topic of the thread, not any other drug) then ask a government to do a Total NON_BIASED study that is truly true, and then, if it is as horrible to your brain as every anti-drug poster around is, then people, including me, will stop the use of pot. (On the plus side it is very fun at parties

 

[SmartIdiot]

I have taken ritalin myself for a while and I felt at the top of the world at first and relaxed but it got me so bland that it eventually tore me apart in terrible moodswings.

I think I know where you're coming from here. People are free to make their own choices about what drugs they do and do not take (notice I saud they are free, fuck laws) as long as you know how far to take it. The disturbing thing is (coming back to the quote) the way doctors prescribe drugs for you, which they say will help and for the most part you're not completely certain how it's going to affect you. For example, yourself and ritalin. This struck a chord with me as I have been placed on anti-depressants twice and the result was very similar to your experience with ritalin. The first time was awful, just took the edge right off of my mind. When the doctors found I wasn't responding they increased the dosage, which was worse. It's like your brain is in a bubble just out of arms reach yet if you make an effort to try and grab it you'll find it takes all of your strength to make you and it work in harmony together. I'll leave it there cause what happened after isn't really something I'm fond of discussing.

It's up to the individual to decide what's best for them, as cliched as it is. It is also up to them to be aware when doctors are not, of medicines being thrown at people rather than responsibly prescribed. Sounds like hard work, but it could save your mind, or your friends minds one day.

 

[ace_of_something]

Drugs are bad (meaning substances created by man), Herbs on the other hand is nothing but good (meaning things that grow naturally and isnt created by man).

So speaking in a purely medical term: Weed is better for you than any medication is that combats the same things.

But, if weed was legal then it wouldnt be as simple for the government to rake in billions each year selling medication over the counter...

Umm.. when you roll it or burn it your altering it beyond it's natural state and it's no longer 'natural' fire is a chemical reaction after all.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Legalize that shit already.

 

[Yokomitsu]

Drugs in no way are actually going to improve your quality of life they are only there for an escape from reality just like video games are.

Are you saying that video games do not improve your quality of life?

Well they do not improve life they only make certain aspects seem more fun then usual.

 

[Fronken]

Drugs are bad (meaning substances created by man), Herbs on the other hand is nothing but good (meaning things that grow naturally and isnt created by man).

So speaking in a purely medical term: Weed is better for you than any medication is that combats the same things.

But, if weed was legal then it wouldnt be as simple for the government to rake in billions each year selling medication over the counter...

Umm.. when you roll it or burn it your altering it beyond it's natural state and it's no longer 'natural' fire is a chemical reaction after all.

Yes, fire is a chemical reaction, but that doesnt change the fact that the herb itself is natural.

 

[jockslap]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10w3FuCwfQ

Mr. Hicks says it best.

What about the people who take drugs that aren't musical geniuses?

theyre prolly like me and figure that life is boring and long anyways, when theres nothing else doing, why not smoke a bowl?