So I Just Had A New Look On Drugs

Now you I know there are many drug topics on here but hear me out. And before you start no I'm not saying I want to start doing them, in fact I am strongly against them but here's my thought process (Mind that I'm a 15 y.o so correct me if I'm wrong). Here it goes.

Why do people get arrested for drugs? Because they are illegal. Why are they illegal? To help people because it hurts themselves. Now why should we give two s***s if someone wants to ruin there body and lose their money? Let them screw themselves up if they feel like its the way they need to go.

Now if I were to be all for any "drug" it would be Marijuana. I just don't see the difference that it has between alcohol and cigarettes. If it were to become legal I would still agree on some restriction that come with alcohol such as don't do it public and of course while driving. Do it in a confined area such as your home or dedicated bars. They already have hookah bars that may i remind you that they let minors into. I just think society is messed up.

Let the hating begin I know Im gonna get some.

Can't argue with the marijuana part. But there are a lot of valid reasons people get arrested for selling drugs.

Now you I know there are many drug topics on here but hear me out. And before you start no I'm not saying I want to start doing them, in fact I am strongly against them but here's my thought process (Mind that I'm a 15 y.o so correct me if I'm wrong). Here it goes.

Why do people get arrested for drugs? Because they are illegal. Why are they illegal? To help people because it hurts themselves. Now why should we give two s***s if someone wants to ruin there body and lose their money? Let them screw themselves up if they feel like its the way they need to go.

Now if I were to be all for any "drug" it would be Marijuana. I just don't see the difference that it has between alcohol and cigarettes. If it were to become legal I would still agree on some restriction that come with alcohol such as don't do it public and of course while driving. Do it in a confined area such as your home or dedicated bars. They already have hookah bars that may i remind you that they let minors into. I just think society is messed up.

Let the hating begin I know Im gonna get some.

MexicanNinja8

Cocaine/Heroin/Meth/Etc. have all proved to do more damage than weed and other drugs. The public cost of these drugs far outweighs the benefits to the user and these drugs have all proved to be lethal if taken to excess.

Weed cannot be overdosed upon, and the public toll it takes on society and families is far lower than even alcohol.

Weed should be legalized, taxed, and mainstreamed in US society. Whether or not people want to embrace it is irrelevant. California will eventually have legal weed and I can only assume it will spread from there once California can get out of debt from the drug.

I dont got much to say for marijuana that other people havent. The thing that gets me though is that its a plant. Thats it, its a plant, how do you make nature illegal. I can carry poisonous plants that could kill people instantly and carry them around and if a cop saw they'd say "hey nice plant, whats that called?". You dont do anything to it, no added ingredients, it can be used for countless productive things, and you just cant grow it. It isnt addictive, doesnt cause lung cancer, the worst its ever been attached to is breathing problems, no ones ever died from it, it doesnt make you uncontrollable like alcohol does.

I dont smoke it but thats my opinion.

I dont got much to say for marijuana that other people havent. The thing that gets me though is that its a plant. Thats it, its a plant, how do you make nature illegal. I can carry poisonous plants that could kill people instantly and carry them around and if a cop saw they'd say "hey nice plant, whats that called?". You dont do anything to it, no added ingredients, it can be used for countless productive things, and you just cant grow it. It isnt addictive, doesnt cause lung cancer, the worst its ever been attached to is breathing problems, no ones ever died from it, it doesnt make you uncontrollable like alcohol does.

I dont smoke it but thats my opinion.

Jolt_counter119

A plant it may be, but so is heroin. Granted, it's a purified and modified version of the plant, it's still derived from it. Plants on the surface don't seem that potent, but many of our pharmaceuticals and most powerful medicines are derivatives of plants.

That being said, marijuana is a fairly safe and weak plant drug compared to most other plant derivatives.

Just because "I'm" the one taking drugs and the only person it effects is "me" doesn't change the fact that drugs alter the chemical make up of the brain. If the brain wanted us running around like that it would provide hallucinagenic or stimulant chemicals in far higher doses than it does. Also "just because" alcohol and tobacco are sold legally doesn't make it any more justifiable. The government can still order its armies to kill en masse does that mean Joe Citizen should be given that same right?

Yea it's backwards. Every year there is a reggae festival and everyone there is high as balls and there are cops patrolling (the event is for charity).ZumaJones07

I completely agree, OP. I'm 100% against anybody using drugs, but I think it's ridiculous for the government to play mommy and tell people what they can and cannot do to their own bodies.

Do they seriously think that if drugs were all of a sudden legalized today that normal people are just going to ignore their values and self-respect and start shooting up heroine? It's stupid that laws are made to protect us from ourselves.

I completely agree, OP. I'm 100% against anybody using drugs, but I think it's ridiculous for the government to play mommy and tell people what they can and cannot do to their own bodies.

Do they seriously think that if drugs were all of a sudden legalized today that normal people are just going to ignore their values and self-respect and start shooting up heroine? It's stupid that laws are made to protect us from ourselves.

BMD004

If you're just talking about pot because "it's harmless" - they call it a gateway drug for a reason. You can't assume every pot head is Cheech and Chong, loveable goofy hippies. For some it starts with pot and they want something more. For some it's ecstacy until the high's aren't enough. Then they use more, then they want something harder.

[QUOTE="Jolt_counter119"]

I dont got much to say for marijuana that other people havent. The thing that gets me though is that its a plant. Thats it, its a plant, how do you make nature illegal. I can carry poisonous plants that could kill people instantly and carry them around and if a cop saw they'd say "hey nice plant, whats that called?". You dont do anything to it, no added ingredients, it can be used for countless productive things, and you just cant grow it. It isnt addictive, doesnt cause lung cancer, the worst its ever been attached to is breathing problems, no ones ever died from it, it doesnt make you uncontrollable like alcohol does.

I dont smoke it but thats my opinion.

starfox15

A plant it may be, but so is heroin. Granted, it's a purified and modified version of the plant, it's still derived from it. Plants on the surface don't seem that potent, but many of our pharmaceuticals and most powerful medicines are derivatives of plants.

That being said, marijuana is a fairly safe and weak plant drug compared to most other plant derivatives.

But im pretty sure poppy isnt illegal (thats the plant), to make heroin involves a process and change which is illegal, marijuana is just marijuana, a plant, a plant that you can never grow.

Actually marijuana and magic mushrooms don't have any bad long term effects (depending how much you're doing it over periods of time). In fact magic mushrooms have some benefits and have helped many people in understanding life better and start appreciating every little thing in life. They say magical mushrooms may be the reason for the rapid evolution of brain growth thousands of years ago, not meat as previously thought. I highly suggest for you guys to research a man named Terence McKenna who can explain this much better than I can.

The proliferation of the "Mommy State" is the single most important porblem in the US IMO... it needs to be stopped...

I completely agree, OP. I'm 100% against anybody using drugs, but I think it's ridiculous for the government to play mommy and tell people what they can and cannot do to their own bodies.

Do they seriously think that if drugs were all of a sudden legalized today that normal people are just going to ignore their values and self-respect and start shooting up heroine? It's stupid that laws are made to protect us from ourselves.

BMD004

Now, I'm all for the SALE of drugs being illegal.

Should someone get sent to prison for having a little bit of crack on him? No. But I'm all for arresting the hell out of anyone who SELLS it.

Gary Johnson, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination said it best - we are treating drug abuse as a criminal justice issue (which has failed miserably) when in fact we should be treating it for what it is, a public health issue. -Sun_Tzu-

Most other Western Nations take a similar approach to what he is suggesting. Most of the same drugs are illigal in Australia but its treated as a health issue and not a criminal offence. Thats not to say people don't get fined for commiting the offence but there is a bigger emphasis on treating them if they have a serious addiction.

There have been debates in Australia about "Safe Injecting Facilities" that the government funds that supply addicts with clean needles and a safe place to take drugs which are intended to reduce the number of diseases being transmitted and to reduce the number or needles being discarded in public places, Does the US have similar programs in any of the states?

I completely agree, OP. I'm 100% against anybody using drugs, but I think it's ridiculous for the government to play mommy and tell people what they can and cannot do to their own bodies.

Do they seriously think that if drugs were all of a sudden legalized today that normal people are just going to ignore their values and self-respect and start shooting up heroine? It's stupid that laws are made to protect us from ourselves.

BMD004

Seat belt laws are in place for a reason. The public health concern over the absurd amount of fatalities from easily preventable deaths caused this. Most of the laws we have in place are there because the majority of people and the government thought they were good ideas in the first place. Do I agree with all of them? No. But to call laws stupid because they protect us from ourselves is a blanket statement that's not backed up by reasonable logic.

[QUOTE="-Sun_Tzu-"]Gary Johnson, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination said it best - we are treating drug abuse as a criminal justice issue (which has failed miserably) when in fact we should be treating it for what it is, a public health issue. mattisgod01

Most other Western Nations take a similar approach to what he is suggesting. Most of the same drugs are illigal in Australia but its treated as a health issue and not a criminal offence. Thats not to say people don't get fined for commiting the offence but there is a bigger emphasis on treating them if they have a serious addiction.

There have been debates in Australia about "Safe Injecting Facilities" that the government funds that supply addicts with clean needles and a safe place to take drugs which are intended to reduce the number of diseases being transmitted and to reduce the number or needles being discarded in public places, Does the US have similar programs in any of the states?

[QUOTE="BMD004"]

I completely agree, OP. I'm 100% against anybody using drugs, but I think it's ridiculous for the government to play mommy and tell people what they can and cannot do to their own bodies.

Do they seriously think that if drugs were all of a sudden legalized today that normal people are just going to ignore their values and self-respect and start shooting up heroine? It's stupid that laws are made to protect us from ourselves.

starfox15

Seat belt laws are in place for a reason. The public health concern over the absurd amount of fatalities from easily preventable deaths caused this. Most of the laws we have in place are there because the majority of people and the government thought they were good ideas in the first place. Do I agree with all of them? No. But to call laws stupid because they protect us from ourselves is a blanket statement that's not backed up by reasonable logic.

THey are not stupid per se, but they are potentially Unconstitutional, unethical and unnessecary...

[QUOTE="BMD004"]

I completely agree, OP. I'm 100% against anybody using drugs, but I think it's ridiculous for the government to play mommy and tell people what they can and cannot do to their own bodies.

Do they seriously think that if drugs were all of a sudden legalized today that normal people are just going to ignore their values and self-respect and start shooting up heroine? It's stupid that laws are made to protect us from ourselves.

DigitalExile

If you're just talking about pot because "it's harmless" - they call it a gateway drug for a reason. You can't assume every pot head is Cheech and Chong, loveable goofy hippies. For some it starts with pot and they want something more. For some it's ecstacy until the high's aren't enough. Then they use more, then they want something harder.

[QUOTE="mattisgod01"]

[QUOTE="-Sun_Tzu-"]Gary Johnson, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination said it best - we are treating drug abuse as a criminal justice issue (which has failed miserably) when in fact we should be treating it for what it is, a public health issue. -Sun_Tzu-

Most other Western Nations take a similar approach to what he is suggesting. Most of the same drugs are illigal in Australia but its treated as a health issue and not a criminal offence. Thats not to say people don't get fined for commiting the offence but there is a bigger emphasis on treating them if they have a serious addiction.

There have been debates in Australia about "Safe Injecting Facilities" that the government funds that supply addicts with clean needles and a safe place to take drugs which are intended to reduce the number of diseases being transmitted and to reduce the number or needles being discarded in public places, Does the US have similar programs in any of the states?

Yeah, Insite was opened in downtown Vancouver in 2003, I believe...as far as I know it is still the only one in N.A.

I know that Europe has a lot of them..

I think they're effective; they reduce the chances of overdosing, they reduce needle sharing, and even allows for addiction treatment.

[QUOTE="mattisgod01"]

[QUOTE="-Sun_Tzu-"]Gary Johnson, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination said it best - we are treating drug abuse as a criminal justice issue (which has failed miserably) when in fact we should be treating it for what it is, a public health issue. -Sun_Tzu-

Most other Western Nations take a similar approach to what he is suggesting. Most of the same drugs are illigal in Australia but its treated as a health issue and not a criminal offence. Thats not to say people don't get fined for commiting the offence but there is a bigger emphasis on treating them if they have a serious addiction.

There have been debates in Australia about "Safe Injecting Facilities" that the government funds that supply addicts with clean needles and a safe place to take drugs which are intended to reduce the number of diseases being transmitted and to reduce the number or needles being discarded in public places, Does the US have similar programs in any of the states?

The reason i bring it up is because at the core of the debate is about adressing the health issue involved and the issue of Government assisting in an act of breaking the law. One side argues that adressing and preventing health issues is more important then upholding the laws and the other side argues that it sends the wrong message and that the government is allowing, condoning and supporting a criminal act, As the police are not able to arrest or fine anyone seen using or possessing drugs on the site. Which epitomises the Health vs Law issue and as far as i know the vast majority of the Australian public supports the safe injecting rooms. Perhaps a good starting point to adressing the issue of health vs law is creating more safe injecting facilites in the US.