Poll: Should We Be Able To Use Any Substance (drug) We Want?

[chiggerwood]

Every since I was born I've been inundated with the idea drugs are bad, and should be illegal. Drugs are bad; THAT we can all agree on, but should they be illegal? Is it right for a government to tell individuals what they can or cannot put into their own body's?

My thinking is that we own our body's, and no one should be able control what we put into it. I know alcoholics, and drug addicts. My brother in an former alcoholic, and he was a drunken asshole 50% of the time when he was drinking. Then he got sober, and now he's a sober asshole 50% of the time (he still smokes pot every once in a while), BUT he always paid his bills. He always paid the rent, and his kid never went hungry. I have a friend Mike who is an alcoholic, and crack addict, but he still works hard everyday of his life. I've had friends who are/been drug addicts, and functioned perfectly in life, and I've had friends who were/are drug addicts who's life has been ruined and ended by drugs, so I know both sides of the story.

Back to the original topic. Should we be prohibited from putting what we want into our bodies? In my opinion. No, it's our body and we should have complete control over it. The only problem I have is when people commit crimes to get their drugs. That's when someone should be arrested, because if you REALLY want drugs that bad then you should be able to find work like my friend Mike, who works construction everyday (except Sunday) even with broken bones.

NOTE: I have never done any drugs including pot, and I have never touched alcohol. Except for cooking.

EDIT: I DO NOT APPROVE OF DRUG USE OF ANY KIND.
and I know all about ghettos and/or drug infested neighborhoods. I live in the ghetto of west Phoenix, AZ aka Valley of the spun

 

[Superior Mind]

Well if you're talking about marijuana and alcohol I'd say you have a point. However when a stupid bastard smokes some P and decides that hacking up a bunch of people with a samurai sword is a good idea then I'm more likely to believe that yeah, certain substances should be illegal.

Also have you ever had to hang out with someone on Ecstacy? Fucking Hell I wanted to shoot the bastard.

 

[CIA]

How our society thinks:

Scenerio#1
Govt: Don't Do Heroin!

Human: Fuck authority, I do my own thing! I will do as much heroin as I possibly can before passing out and dieing in a pool of my own urine! That is way hardcore! ROCK AND ROLL! WOOOOOO!

Scenerio #2
Govt: Do Any Drugs You Want.

Human: I may drink a little, or try some weed, but heroin sounds like bad shit. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to have any.



Personally, I think that kind of thing may happen.

 

[Dudeakoff]

I believe people should be able to do what they like with their body. Private property and all that.

 

[razer17]

Well personally i feel that almost all drugs should be legal and taxed. Except from stuff like meth and crack cocaine. Maybe heroine.
1) If it's legal it can be taxed, I.E more money for government
2) If it's legal it can be sold in shops, where it can be controlled for quality, so less cutting stuff with bleach or what have you. Meaning less drug related deaths
3) You remove money from the criminal gangs currently dealing the drugs, which is always a win
4) People who don't take drugs dont do it because they dont want the health disbenefits, as opposed to because it's illegal. Therefore legalising it wouldnt lead to a dramatic increase in drug use.

So yeah, i feel people should be allowed to take most drugs if that's what they want. I mean, most drugs are less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes anyway.

 

[benylor]

It's my body. It's my choice what I put into it. If I proceed to become violent, try to drive under the influence, or steal to feed my habit, then I've commited a crime in that regard anyway and should be treated accordingly. The act of taking the drug, however, should be SOLELY my prerogative.

 

[Avaholic03]

Aren't "no" and "it depends on the substance" kinda the same answer? Either you can do anything you want, or you can't. There's no middle ground.

But to answer the question, I'd say no. Once other people become endangered by the use of a substance, as is the case with anything from meth to crack to alcohol, then it needs to be regulated. I don't think anyone cares if you want to destroy your own body with drugs. But most drug abusers end up hurting other people when they're all messed up on the drugs. Hence, they are regulated to protect the general public.

EDIT: Also wanted to add that most people who take these drugs don't care about their own body, let alone others.

 

[wolfy098]

Human Nature:

Scenerio#1
Govt: Don't Do Heroin!

Human: Fuck authority, I do my own thing! I will do as much heroin as I possibly can before passing out and dieing in a pool of my own urine! That is way hardcore! ROCK AND ROLL! WOOOOOO!

Scenerio #2
Govt: Do Any Drugs You Want.

Human: I may drink a little, or try some weed, but heroin sounds like bad shit. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to have any.



Personally, I think that kind of thing may happen.

Scenerio #3
Govt:
Take any drugs you wan't but don't come crying to us!

Human: Errrr is it THAT bad...

 

[Crimsane]

Seen the ghetto lately? Now... imagine it where every drug is legal. Yeah, fuck that.

 

[CuddlyCombine]

Every since I was born I've been inundated with the idea drugs are bad, and should be illegal. Drugs are bad; THAT we can all agree on, but should they be illegal? Is it right for a government to tell individuals what they can or cannot put into their own body's?

My thinking is that we own our body's, and no one should be able control what we put into it. I know alcoholics, and drug addicts. My brother in an former alcoholic, and he was a drunken asshole 50% of the time when he was drinking. Then he got sober, and now he's a sober asshole 50% of the time (he still smokes pot every once in a while), BUT he always paid his bills. He always paid the rent, and his kid never went hungry. I have a friend Mike who is an alcoholic, and crack addict, but he still works hard everyday of his life. I've had friends who are/been drug addicts, and functioned perfectly in life, and I've had friends who were/are drug addicts who's life has been ruined and ended by drugs, so I know both sides of the story.

Back to the original topic. Should we be prohibited from putting what we want into our bodies? In my opinion. No, it's our body and we should have complete control over it. The only problem I have is when people commit crimes to get their drugs. That's when someone should be arrested, because if you REALLY want drugs that bad then you should be able to find work like my friend Mike, who works construction everyday (except Sunday) even with broken bones.

NOTE: I have never done any drugs including pot, and I have never touched alcohol. Except for cooking.

You're forgetting the overwhelming idiocy of the world's populace these days. As someone once said, the way to solve the world's problems would be to take the safety labels off of everything. Letting people have free reign over drugs and chemicals would probably put millions of people in rehab and ruin the lives of countless more. The drug problem is bad enough already; can you imagine how bad it would be if the government allowed for free drug use?

 

[GHMonkey]

the lighter stuff should be ok, but if it will fuck someone up and make them a danger not only to themselves but also to the people around them i think yeah

 

[Nickolai77]

Well, i too believe that people should be able to put what junk they like into their own bodies, as long as they don't harm others. If they do harm others and under the influence of drugs then they should be dealt with accordingly.

 

[Superior Mind]

It's my body. It's my choice what I put into it. If I proceed to become violent, try to drive under the influence, or steal to feed my habit, then I've commited a crime in that regard anyway and should be treated accordingly. The act of taking the drug, however, should be SOLELY my prerogative.

So basically you're quite content for other people to have to deal with the effects of your drug taking because it's YOUR right to do what you want with YOUR body.

My point is that a person's drug taking doesn't just effect them. That samurai sword example I gave before actually happened, guy smoked some P and hacked up a few people with a samurai sword. I'm pretty sure much worse has happened regarding people who have taken certain drugs and spazzed out. Why should innocent parties have to pay for one person's right to put whatever chemicals they want into their own bodies?

And yeah I know there are some paralleles that can be drawn between this and say, second-hand smoke but passively exhaling smoke and butchering someone with a butter knife because you thought they were an evil pink ferrit hellbent on world domination are two completely different things.

 

[Mister Eff]

I don't do drugs, but several of my friends do. I've got no problem with them doing it. Having a joint or whatever around me is fine, but when they do the heavier drugs around me it annoys me. I voted for "depends on the substance" because I don't think it's a good idea for people to be wandering around on acid at 2pm in a crowded high street, it would make society a hellhole. I think weed shouldn't be allowed in public, but at home, I don't care.

Scrap that. I think that if drugs were to be legalised, not allowed to be used in public, or be out in public when under the influence (like drunk and disordly)

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Drugs are bad; THAT we can all agree on,

'fraid not. Some are, some aren't.
What we don't need is people with obvious biases detailing which we can/cannot use. Especially when they misinform others.

 

[Flying Dagger]

the "any" in the title means i vote no.
because some people just can't be educated. and they really need to be protected.
Heroin comepletely destroys a persons productivity, and unless they have an insanely easy job renders them useless, so even legal, it would result in more crime.

edit: for reasons i'm unsure of, this heavily puts me in mind of the film "a scanner darkly"

 

[Sonicron]

If drugs of all kinds were suddenly made legal, it would consequently become a lot easier to procure those drugs and ultimately a lot more people would become exposed to them. Aside from this being a bad thing for people's health, I believe that governments are also attempting to at least keep their social and economic status quo, and are right to do so. See, if relatively large percentages of the populace are all fucked up on dope the crime rates are likely to go up (simply because people are so far gone they literally don't know what they're doing) and the economic potential of the nation is drastically reduced because all the druggies are useless at work and therefore unemployed.
So yes, I think that governments are right to forbid the use of drugs and should continue to do so.

 

[Crimsane]

Well, i too believe that people should be able to put what junk they like into their own bodies, as long as they don't harm others. If they do harm others and under the influence of drugs then they should be dealt with accordingly.

I don't really understand this logic. Why allow people to get high, go crazy and hurt others and punish them afterward, when you can seek to prevent them from using a drug and keep anyone from being injured at all? Too many people are all, "it's my body, I do what I want", but once you're on certain drugs, what you want is less what you actually want and more "what this crazy shit I'm seeing and feeling makes me want to do even though it's fucking insane."

 

[Kiefer13]

Copying my reply from the earlier smoking thread since it basically sums up my opinion on this:

As far as I'm concerned, people should be allowed to do whatever they like to themselves (yes, this includes hard drug use, if the individual is so inclined) without it being against the law.

As long as it doesn't harm others, I don't see why people shouldn't be allowed to take drugs if that is what they want to do. Besides, I would imagine legalising drugs would mean they would become a lot more regulated, which would drastically cut down on the amount of people I imagine die of overdoses because they are too afraid to seek help because they'd be arrested.

There's also the point that it would probably make drug use decrease, at least in younger people, as taking drugs wouldn't have the same "rebel" appeal to it.

 

[Monshroud]

One of the things that should be brought up here is that Alcohol is not a Narcotic. Narcotic's are known for their addictive qualities, Alcohol isn't. Alcohol can be addictive to certain people, but most drugs have an addictive quality to a majority of people.

You have to look at the risk of the people who are on those substances causing harm to themselves or to someone else. Go ask the Police or an EMT about trying to stop someone who is high on PCP. My sister used to be an EMT and has this great story of a guy high on PCP walking on a broken leg after a fight and not feeling a thing.

I have never seen a positive side to drugs. I have never met anyone who has said "I am the success I am today because of Marajuana or Heroin!" Look at all the great people we have lost due to drugs, where's the benefit?