I have always been a firm believer in the idea that people should always have the right to fuck themselves up whenever they chose and in any manner they chose. It is not up to the government to legislate what one does to their own bodies.
To the actual point, I was watching one of those dumbass "drug money supports terror" commercials, and I realized something. By funnelling piles of money into the black hole that is the drug war, and not allowing american companies to grow, cultivate, and distribute currently illegal drugs, the US government is essentially funnelling money right into the hands of the cartels. If I had the money I would run "Banning illegal drugs supports terror" commercials.

Homer

Homer,

100 years ago, narcotics were legal and taxed. They were made illegal because of the drug addiction problems our ancestors had. Only difference between then and now, drugs are now recreational whereas then they were for elimination of pain.

Nox

Nox, if you can explain to me why the government has a right to regulate what I consume in the privacy of my own home, I shall be truly amazed.

Responsible drug use is nobody's business but your own. Driving under the influence, or public intoxication, that's another story. But smoking a joint when you get home from work is your choice as an individual.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Armed&Angry:
I shall be truly amazed.

---

Not to worry, I will not amaze you. The trouble is, you identified the operative word in all the debate ... responsible. If indeed everyone were responsible, then we would need no laws at all ... anarchy would be the name of the game. However, as Totse posts continue to remind us ... MORONS LIVE.

Nox

If we are dependent upon responsible use as a criterion for legalization, then I must question why alcohol is legal, as it is one of the most abused drugs of them all.

forget it... In the usa, as much as it is te land of the free and the children who get guns for xmass drugs will never be legal. You know why??? Cuz drugs are bad.

You have to options.
Move to Canada, ( in less then a couple of months decriminalisation of weed )
or. become a presidnet who does not have strong anti drug values.

This is a really tough issue for me. I have never used drugs. I never plan on using drugs. I think drugs are stupid and anybody who does them has an IQ equal to that of George W. Bush. After pondering this issue for a good long while I have come to the conclusion that most drugs should be legalized. Looking back upon the 1920's it is an axiom that crime soared as a direct result of the Federal government's attempt at prohibition. When prohibition was repealed, crime dropped back to normal levels.
I believe that the same thing is happening with most other drugs. Most crime is related to drug use in some way; look at the prison system. If drugs were legalized, I believe there would be 4 major consequences. First of all, almost nobody would be arrested for drug use. This would really clean up the prison system. Secondly, crimes related to drug use would drop. Drug dealers and loan sharks would pretty much disappear, along with the crime they are responsible for. Assuming the U.S. would grow their own drugs, the drug cartels would lose a significant portion of their income and thus would shrink, along with their power. That being said my third point is that the shrinking power of drug cartels would bring more stability to many countries, especially Colombia. A fourth result I see happening is that many idiots will get high and get behind of a wheel of a car. This will undoubtedly result in thousands of deaths. However, the same thing happens with alcohol. Some idiot will go to a bar, consume way too much alcohol, drive home, and kill someone.

Tis my 2 cents, VOTE LIBERTARIAN!

Legalize. Educate. Mature.

The question for me is, are we mature enough to begin this process without creating more problems than we solve?

im not american, but id vote bush if i was if he fought 'terror' by legalising drugs rather than bombing and killing.
-
lae

What about drugs that turn wouldbe normal citizens into violent abusive thugs. Dangerous to people who did not choose to take them. By all means legalise the nice ones though, hash and E do no harm to anybody other than the user.

Here's a great little stat. One person has died as a direct result of cannabis and nobody has died indirectly. The guy who did die died because a bag of dope landed on his head while he was waiting to recieve it smuggled into a field. If it was legal he would still be alive!

what i love is how the authorities that be, whoever they were at the time, were the ones who took coca leaves, synthesised cocaine, and thereby created addicts. weed is illegal for the original belief that you turned into a violent psycho thug when u smoked...opium was turned into morphine, that wasnt enough, lets try heroin how....its so ridiculous, they created the problems then found a simple answer, tell them its bad. well i think they r just as bad for doing it....i will admit that it takes enormous responsibility to do drugs safely, but we ALL wont ever learn. so now im forced to hide in my room or somewhere to smoke a joint. instead of keeping it illegal because of all the silliness it was made illegal for, they made bigger problems. just keep fuckin this world up because the powers that be will never have enough power or money.

Of course morons live. I've even met a few on Totse, shock of shocks. But some of us realize, even when under the influence of intoxicating substances, it's not a good idea to drive or go hunting or operate heavy machinery. So long as I just sit in my home, smoke some doob, and watch Ren & Stimpy, what's the problem? Who do I hurt besides myself?

Alcohol is legal. The irresponsible use of alcohol - i.e. using it in such a way as to harm others - is most emphatically not legal.

Those who synthesized morphine, cocaine and heroin deserve no ill view. All three of these drugs have medicinal purposes. Without these drugs, many, many people would be in pain, and some would have nosebleeds that kill (cocaine is a very powerfull vasal constrictor, and is used in the ER for nasal bleeding which cannot be stoped using other methods).
Other than PCP, which I do not favor legalizing, no drug causes you to be a super-violent asshole while you are on it. When coming down, harder drug adicts ARE assholes, but much of that would be solved if the drug was legal, and thus much less expensive.
Although you always see the "Drugs ruined my life" people, the propoganda machine never puts out "drugs made me feel good" or "drugs lessened my pain" or "Drugs made Spongebob funnier" commercials. I do not do drugs, but I know the pharmacological effects of these recreational drugs, and one of them is release of dopamine and/or seratonin, which make one feel really good. I have taken n2o, and that stuff is great. The side effects of N2O are minimal (headache and upset stomach), and that makes one feel really happy. I figure the harder drugs must have about 50 times that effect, which is plenty reason for someone who's life sucks to do it as much as they wish. The government has no right to stop them.

Who knows? One or more recreational drugs, if taken in sufficant quantity could turn saturnrocketx into less of an asshole.

Homer

Alcohal is legal because of it's cultural significance.

I firmly believe in legalizing marijuana, but I have enough common sence to know that most harder drugs should remain illegal to sell. I believe in decriminalization, because hardcore addiction is an illness, not a crime, but to important millions of dollars worth of poison into this country to distribute to teenagers is an offence that should be prosecuted. I'm all for going after the cartels in full force, but logic should be used in deciding what drugs really must be regulated.

There's absolutely no reason to regulate marijuana or hashish. hardcore hallucinagens like LSD, Mushrooms, and Lescaline should be legal, but it should be illegal to use them outside the privacy of your own home. Tripping hard enough in public is a danger to you and possibly those around you. I think ecstasy should be legalized but harshly regulated. The only way to ensure you're really getting pure MDMA would be to buy your E straight from a pharmacy. Most Ecstasy now contains heroin. Opium and heroin should simply be descrimalized, because they're dangerous enough to require heavy regulation.

The one drug I'm split on is cocaine. It's possible for anyone with a sence of restraint to handle cocaine carefully, but if cocaine is legal there'll be crack, and that's enough of a danger to cause serious concern. Freebase cocaine is an absurdly dangerous, fucked up drug that's mere existence destroys more lived then most of the aformentioned put together. It's impossable to responsibly use crackkkkk, and damages babies in the womb so much that crackheads can't even clame that their crimes are victimless.

The Drug War is obviously a pointless failure, but anyone with half a brain would know that some effort needs to be taken to take drugs like crack and heroin off the streets.

Does it occur to you that the whole reason drugs are such a huge illegal industry is because of the War itself? Prohibition prevents legitimate companies from catering to this demand, thus forcing it into the waiting hands of those who have no such legal scruples. Legalize drugs, and the criminals will drown in the sea of cheap, openly-sold wares.

Regardless of how harmful a drug may be to you personally, I think they should all be legal. As long as you're hurting nobody but yourself, it's your choice to make, even if it's an immensely stupid one.

"a cocaine habit is God's way of telling you that you have too much money"

I can't remember who said that but he was probably very witty. Like the guy who wrote Huck Finn.

Anyway, if you can afford cocaine you can afford bribes, so in practice Coke is legal.

No company that sells crack cocaine could ever be considered legitimate. I think crack should be illegal cause it doesn't only hurt the users. It hurts their babies, the people they steal money from, and their entire families.

In other cases, I agree with you.

When I used to do coke I couldn't afford bribes. People find ways to make enough money for it whether or not they're rich.

Although the users of coke cannot afford bribes, the dealers sure as hell can, and that healthy corruption filters down to the consumer.
I am split on whether or not crack should be legal. Yes, babies will come out addicted to crack, and with horrible birth defects. I think that if it were legal that anyone found pregnant AND with cocaine in their blood should be forced to have an abortion, because we have enough freaks (cough)saturnrocketx(cough) in america.

Homer

I heard not to long ago that america wants to make salvia iligal to have. I can see where this will go too. Most people dont know what the drug is and when they hear about the new law they will learn more about the drug, then the drug will become a new seller in the market of illigal transactions.
This is the problem with all drugs in the states, they make a big deal about them, then the drugs become more known. If marijuana was ligalized back in the 70s it would be a normal part of todays youths lives, and the hole dirty, gateway drug idea given to marijuana would not even have ever been used because nothing wrong would have ever come out of marijuana.

The taboo factor is a large reason why some use drugs. It is true that whatever you are talking about and that new Yabo amphetamine will be huge here because
A)people wanna get fucked up
B)People wanna fight the power

Homer

That's true. Some people smoke pot entirely because they think it makes them look oh-so-rebellious. And in a way it is - you are kinda laughing at federal law.

(and everything else, for that matter)

"I would much rather play pool with someone stoned than someone drunk, simply because the stoned guy is less likely to haul back and ram you in the eye with a pool cue because he is too busy laughing at the balls"
-Dennis miller

Homer