Whats your stance on drug use?

[ReservoirAngel]

Marijuana I have absolutely no problem with, since I'm pretty sure nobody in the history of human civilisation has ever savagely assaulted someone because they smoked too much weed. It's impossible to do so because you just can't be bothered.

Alcohol I don't categorise as a drug, even though technically it is, so again I have no problem with it.

The only other drug I know enough about to care about is GHB and I can't say I have much of a problem with that either, as long as you're not using it to date-rape people. That's when I develop an issue with it, though that's more because of the raping than the drug itself.

Beyond that it mostly gets more and more 'iffy' in terms of my approval but that's balanced out by the overwhelming wave of "I don't give a shit" when it comes to harder drugs. I've never done them and don't intend to but if you want to do them on your own time then have it, just deal with the fucking consequences if some shit goes wrong.

Also, do poppers count as 'drugs', per se?

 

[revjor]

I eat carrots to get vitamin a so I can see in the dark.

That's a myth.

OT: People seem to be forgetting that if I overdose on say, Heroin, and get rushed to a hospital, I am taking resources away from people who need help for more legitimate reasons, such as stabbings.

P.S. I hate smoking more than anything else in the world.

Fair enough on vitamin a. I was just making a point on the many nutrients people take to try and enhance/bolster themselves without any judgement or derision.

Also if taking up hospital resources is a reason to shun a user then I think there are plenty of activities that could put you in the hospital by accident. You don't have to take a drive in your car, go on a hike on your nearest mountain, go skiing or even walk through a shady neighborhood when you could have taken a cab. But none of those activities will get a stigma of being a burden on society like drugs will even though they are clogging up the same, if not far more of precious hospital beds for stabbed people and ebola victims.

I've been hospitalized once since taking drugs regularly and it was not drug related. Damn near everyone I know sober or not does somethig to burden society needlessly. The vast majority are not drug users.

Personally I'm a bit blinded to the evils of using. My great grandmother lived happy and healthy until 98 smoking cigarettes and drinking copious amounts of wine everyday. I see my grandmother smoke plenty, drink plenty and walk multiple miles a day into her mid 80's... granted they're French and that's how Frenchies do things

 

[zumbledum]

well we obviously think medical drugs are all fine. but we should also get off the biased pov that there's really any difference, there just as dangerous and a lot are used recreationally.

Next we need to discern between use and abuse. drug abuse is always a symptom of some deeper pain. sure we can blame the drug and villanise it but it doesn't help anyone.

We also have to accept that by and large are drug laws (Europe and america especially) are based in making people money alcohol and tobacco are not legal because they do no damage they are about the worst drugs you can take in fact. there legal because of the power of the tobacco growers and alcohol distillers. see the ATF

now thats covered of the drugs i have taken this is how i feel about them.

Tobacco - should be illegal, it has no good points people only smoke to alleviate the withdrawal. there's no high or bonus what so ever.

Alcohol- Does immense physical damage and social damage, a culture of abusing this drug is in most western countries and its silly and bad. a depressant that makes you loose physical control and social conscience there really isnt a lot to recommend it. when it isnt abused its ok. but still on a cost benifit analysis i suspect only crack and crystal meth would equal it for damage.

Weed- OK as an occasional drug, doesn't come with any real withdrawal or hangover. quite pleasant effect in the right situation. i think for me at least over use makes doing anything out of the routine a lot harder to get your head around. definitely wont use this drug for long periods of time any more it can be quite debilitating.


Acid/LSD- done occasionally in the right environment with friends and they can be enormous fun. but set aside a few days and do it properly. bad trips are not fun. did it about half a dozen times in my late teens and early twenties and had an awesome time every go.

E / MDMA 0 oh boy! now were dealing with the good shit! this stuff should be legal and what we take on the Friday Saturday nights out instead of alcohol. Best high of any drug (imo) no real hangover or withdrawl not to say 12+ hours of the talking dancing and making sweet love wont leave you a bit tired and sore. and it is tricky to get to sleep after but hey just roll the party over into a duvet and milkshakes party. i fucking love this drug. every time we go out and have to drink that vile toxic poison that's alcohol i lament the stupidity of our drug laws.

Cocaine/Heroin- theoretically these are fine trouble is we live in reality not theory. if you could get a stable supply (you cant) of pure (lol not a chance to get over 50%) and can afford it (best of luck with that!) they actually do nearly no damage. very good options for being legalised , controlled taxed and licensed. personally i wont touch either. EVER! i am a man of little willpower and they are drugs that are seriously good fun i simply cant be trusted around them.

 

[Da Orky Man]

I would say that the low-level drugs such as marijuana ought to be legal, though taxed to all hell. Harder stuff should stay illegal.
As for myself, never used any drug besides alcohol. Very little drug use in my area, so peer pressure is non-existent, and I've just never had the urge.

 

[DirtyJunkieScum]

Heroin- theoretically these are fine trouble is we live in reality not theory. if you could get a stable supply (you cant) of pure (lol not a chance to get over 50%) and can afford it (best of luck with that!) they actually do nearly no damage. very good options for being legalised , controlled taxed and licensed.

You can do all of that, although fulfilling the conditions to do so, especially now under a Conservative government in recession is hard. Every day (except Sat and Sunday) I go to my local Boots and get 180mg of 100% pure diamorphine and 6 pure water amps. I have a PPC that costs me just over £100 a year that covers the costs for me.

Unfortunately due to political bullshit ("quality assurance") diamorphine is very expensive for the NHS, around £40 a gram, not including the massive additional cost of drug treatment services that go around it. Mainland European governments get it at closer to £8 a gram because they don't have to use specially grown base ingredients and limit dose sizes to 30mg amps.

 

[Terratina.]

Alcohol? Perfectly acceptable.
Tobacco? Fine I guess, but it's awfully smelly to say the least.
Cannabis? Whatever, just don't try and force me to have some.
Any other drugs? Get away from me.

This. Heroine and Cocaine can get the hell out.

Never tried any though, was offered a cannabis joint once, it had tobacco in so I refused.

 

[Spygon]

I say if it isnt hurting anybody else do what you want but if you are addicted as in can not live without them i advise you seek help.But i still think it is up to them it is there life so they can do what they want with it.

 

[Jessta]

I see some of the lighter ones like Cannabis and Tobacco as acceptable but harder shit like Alchohol should be very very carefully monitored.

 

[Yopaz]

People should be able to do what they want. If they commit crimes then it's their fault, not the drugs. I think they should be regulated heavily though. Many drugs would be a shit-ton safer if people made sure they were pure and not cut with shit.

I don't use drugs. I'm 99% through a bottle of vodka and have had a few cans of cider and that is all I have drank.

This is something I agree completely on. I've got no desire to try anything but alcohol, but I don't see a problem with smoking a joint or doing cocaine. Some are bound to become addicts and suffer from drug use, but as it is people suffer from alcoholism too. Alcohol, nicotine and cocaine are all bad for us, but two of them are legal.

 

[Sexy Devil]

Ultimately I don't care what anybody does with their own body, provided it's in a controlled environment. The second your drug use starts affecting others (i.e. driving under the influence) that's taking it too far.

Though personally, the worst I do is a coke (the drink) every now and then, so however much caffeine is in that.

 

[anthony87]

Most of the stoner culture irritates the hell out of me. (Most meaning all). This is unfair, but I pretty quickly assume anyone who uses drugs is socially maladjusted and immature. Obviously alcohol is the exception because it is so ubiquitous in our culture. Tobacco may only be smoked from a pipe, or it inspires a completely different set of prejudices from me. Today my 17 year old sister told one of those stupid pot stories (you know, the kind that always start with "I got sooo high last night that...") and it was all I could do not to put my fucking face through a wall, but I'm getting off topic.

That is because those of us that are socially adjusted and mature tend to keep out illegal habits to ourselves, or at least to a close circle of fellow minded friends.
Don't want to get in trouble with the police or be stigmatized in our local community.

Your 17 year old sister is not a stereotypical stoner, just a stereotypical 17year old

I'm still convinced the well-adjusted and mature ones don't exist.

It's true, they're really out there. There's this pub that my friends and I go to now and then and the only way you'd know that people there are smoking weed is because you can smell it, not because people are shoving the idea in your face. They're actually quite casual about it.

I got to chatting with a random dude one time and before he left he just said "You're alright man" and stuck a few joints in my hand, I don't smoke the stuff as much as I used to so I gave them to my friends. But yeah, you'll find that people generally over the age of 20 or so really treat it just the same as smoking a cigarette.

 

[Smeatza]

Most of the stoner culture irritates the hell out of me. (Most meaning all). This is unfair, but I pretty quickly assume anyone who uses drugs is socially maladjusted and immature. Obviously alcohol is the exception because it is so ubiquitous in our culture. Tobacco may only be smoked from a pipe, or it inspires a completely different set of prejudices from me. Today my 17 year old sister told one of those stupid pot stories (you know, the kind that always start with "I got sooo high last night that...") and it was all I could do not to put my fucking face through a wall, but I'm getting off topic.

That is because those of us that are socially adjusted and mature tend to keep out illegal habits to ourselves, or at least to a close circle of fellow minded friends.
Don't want to get in trouble with the police or be stigmatized in our local community.

Your 17 year old sister is not a stereotypical stoner, just a stereotypical 17year old

I'm still convinced the well-adjusted and mature ones don't exist.

It's true, they're really out there. There's this pub that my friends and I go to now and then and the only way you'd know that people there are smoking weed is because you can smell it, not because people are shoving the idea in your face. They're actually quite casual about it.

I got to chatting with a random dude one time and before he left he just said "You're alright man" and stuck a few joints in my hand, I don't smoke the stuff as much as I used to so I gave them to my friends. But yeah, you'll find that people generally over the age of 20 or so really treat it just the same as smoking a cigarette.

Seconded, the consuption of marijuana is incredibly mundane and most stoners realise that an act accordingly. It's only excited teenagers that think it's anything special.

 

[Vegan_Doodler]

I really don't see why this is an issue at all, as long as they aren't negatively effecting others let people do what they want, I can't fathom why alcohol is acceptable but cannabis isn't. As long as a person dosen't go over bored what's the problem?
And for those who say it's harmful all I have two things to say, you can die crossing the street, and natural selection.
On the day that humans have to fight off the covenant I'm sure we're not going to want the guy who thinks its a good idea to pump them selves full of their favourite poison.

 

[jklinders]

I only drink occasionally and have never smoked up or injected anything(or whatever). With that out of the way I feel that abusive substances of any kind are not being handled well by society in general. I work in the food industry and frankly, like it or not, weed and tobacco and alcohol are part of that culture. I work with people who regularly use pot and they are no worse to be around than anyone else. It's how you handle your habit that makes the difference. I have worked with the odd total reject on this stuff, but mostly users of mild drugs are like you and me.

When I say that society does not handle this well, I mean prohibition. The world's first black market started up about 5 minutes after someone said to someone else for the first time "you are not allowed to have that." Damn near all organized crime in North America can trace it's origins to drug and alcohol prohibition. You cannot stop people from using this shit. You cannot stop people from selling it. Best to make it legal for the stuff that is most heavily used at least (pot, maaaybe ecstasy as suggested by some doctors in British Colombia, Canada) so that is can be legally sold and created safely to minimize the risk as was done for alcohol after that waste of time prohibition experiment failed.

Jailing people for taking drugs is idiotic. What you do to yourself should not be illegal. Only what you do to others.

 

[Ledan]

I would like to drink marijauna as tea. Smoking anything screws with your lungs.

 

[Eamar]

In my opinion, weed should be on the same level as alcohol and tobacco: potentially dangerous in excess, potentially addictive, but not "unacceptably" so. I drink and have smoked weed on a couple of isolated occasions, for the record. I also drink a fuck ton of caffeine.

I don't know enough about the harder drugs to form a proper opinion. On the one hand, I can definitely get behind regulation so people actually know what they're taking and at what dose; on the other hand, shit like heroin majorly fucks people up. But then again so does alcohol in some cases.

I personally wouldn't take anything harder than weed (and I don't exactly "do" weed either) simply because I'm not prepared to take those risks. I have friends who've tried various other things and I don't think less of them for it, though it is disappointing if they've simply done it due to peer pressure. Generally speaking I don't think it's any of my business if adults do whatever they want in the comfort of their own homes, unless it harms someone else.

 

[Eamar]

Most of the stoner culture irritates the hell out of me. (Most meaning all). This is unfair, but I pretty quickly assume anyone who uses drugs is socially maladjusted and immature. Obviously alcohol is the exception because it is so ubiquitous in our culture. Tobacco may only be smoked from a pipe, or it inspires a completely different set of prejudices from me. Today my 17 year old sister told one of those stupid pot stories (you know, the kind that always start with "I got sooo high last night that...") and it was all I could do not to put my fucking face through a wall, but I'm getting off topic.

That is because those of us that are socially adjusted and mature tend to keep out illegal habits to ourselves, or at least to a close circle of fellow minded friends.
Don't want to get in trouble with the police or be stigmatized in our local community.

Your 17 year old sister is not a stereotypical stoner, just a stereotypical 17year old

I'm still convinced the well-adjusted and mature ones don't exist.

It's true, they're really out there. There's this pub that my friends and I go to now and then and the only way you'd know that people there are smoking weed is because you can smell it, not because people are shoving the idea in your face. They're actually quite casual about it.

I got to chatting with a random dude one time and before he left he just said "You're alright man" and stuck a few joints in my hand, I don't smoke the stuff as much as I used to so I gave them to my friends. But yeah, you'll find that people generally over the age of 20 or so really treat it just the same as smoking a cigarette.

Seconded, the consuption of marijuana is incredibly mundane and most stoners realise that an act accordingly. It's only excited teenagers that think it's anything special.

Agreed, though I'm not a stoner myself. The people I know who smoke it now are completely different to the ones I knew as a teenager. In my experience, weed is nice enough but nothing like as intoxicating as you're led to believe. Alcohol has a vastly stronger effect.

 

[ShakyFiend]

Just gonna stick this up top: A PERSON WHO SMOKES MARIJUANA IS NOT NECESSARILY A "STONER".

Spoiler: Spoilered rant about the misappropriation of labels.

Do you enjoy a pint/couple of glasses every other night, or maybe a booze up at the weekend? Then you are not an alcoholic. Enjoy video games occasionally? Then should I automatically label you "gamer"?

IF people are defined by smoking weed, then they are a "stoner", for the vast majority who just enjoy it occasionally/recreationally: we are just ordinary people who like to relax. We are not all sit-at-home-all-day-get-fat-and-listen-to-nothing-but-reggae-whine-about-legalization-to-all-our-friends "stoners".

On with the discussion:

Drug defined as chemical that psychologically and physically alters you?

What I dislike is that I imagine that most people would accept that definition...and then not see the contradiction in marijuana being illegal, while you can eat as many cheese burgers as you want.

The question is not: should it be illegal? The question is: to what extent should it be deterred, and what is the most effective way of doing that?

Making drugs illegal does not work as deterrence (the majority of people, including most in this thread I would imagine, tried smoking before they were 18). What works is awareness, don't tell kids that a couple of puffs on a joint is going to kill them, cos
A. They won't believe you and
B. When they find out you were lying they'll trust you even less.

Aim to inform people, don't bash they over the heads with "YOU MUST NOT"'s, as long as people aren't ignorant of the risks, then personal freedom dictates that it is none of your business what they do to their bodies.

 

[Patrick Buck]

As long as people know the risks, and it doesn't hurt someone else, go nuts you stupid idiot, do as much as you like. It's your life, and as long as you understand you're putting yourself in danger, it's your choice.

I would never touch "Hard drugs", but I have smoked a ciggerete or two, to try and work out why people do. I drink too, but I don't wanna go NEAR anyone using, or offering anything "hard".