If Drugs were legalized tomorrow what would happen?

musicismylife78

benzedrine, codeine, morphine, benzedrex, cocaine as an anaesthetic. All these are forms of major drugs, that can and have been used in medical ways by doctors on patients, or in over the counter pills. Again, i just dislike the outright hypocrisy. Plus the history of drug use and drug outlawing in terms of US History, most of it is tied to racism. Most of the major drugs and even soft drugs were used by whites for years and fully openly. It wasnt until people of different races started using them that they became outlawed and seen as harmful. The idea of crazed african americans smoking pot or using cocaine was rampant in the early part of the 1920s or so

musicismylife78

Jason P wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

For me, its just the hypocrisy. Sure meth has major consequences, But so does alcohol and tobacco. talk to some family who lost their family as a result of being hit by a drunk driver if they feel alcohol is destructive. We all grew up with those images of people with holes in their necks, with odd voices as a result of smoking. The amount of people who have died from lung cancer, or from liver disease from drinking, is astronomical. Way more than the amount of people who die from meth or any other drug combined.

thats my main beef. Either all drugs are bad, including tobacco and alcohol and thus should be outlawed completely. Or some drugs are helpful to people ie, codeine, pot, those who claim wine is beneficial, etc... and thus should be legalized. You cant have it both ways. Saying drug use is awful, while allowing cancer patients to ease their pain by smoking pot, or allowing people to freely drink to death at the local bar. Its blatant hypocrisy.

I agree. But alcohol and tobacco are readily available without prescription and that is why the damage they cause is astronomical. With the end of prohibition, we did eliminate the amount of murder, and death and mayhem and outrageous behavior associated with the black market. But as you pointed out, issues associated with alcoholism and tobacco use are a huge and disparaging.

so i guess we are in agreement. I got the feeling you were suggesting alcohol and tobacco use was somehow lesser of a problem than meth use. that the problems associated with those are lesser than meth. I vehemently disagree. To me, its silly to categorize whats worse than another. Im an absolutist myself. Either ban any and all drugs, or legalize them all.

mickeyrat

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=183596

kenny olav

If it grows in the ground, it should be legal, but I don't think anyone should profit from selling it. It should just be free to grow and use and distribute to adults. It shouldn't be sold at all.

All other drugs should remain criminalized, but users shouldn't be put in jail.

DriftingByTheStorm

kenny olav wrote:

If it grows in the ground, it should be legal, but I don't think anyone should profit from selling it. It should just be free to grow and use and distribute to adults. It shouldn't be sold at all.

All other drugs should remain criminalized, but users shouldn't be put in jail.

Opium (ergo, heroin) and Cocaine both "grown in the ground"

Wassup, yo ?

your move now

kenny olav wrote:

If it grows in the ground, it should be legal, but I don't think anyone should profit from selling it. It should just be free to grow and use and distribute to adults. It shouldn't be sold at all.

All other drugs should remain criminalized, but users shouldn't be put in jail.

why is natural more important to legalise than chemical? I would have though in terms of controlling the substance and making drug problems a medical issue rather than a legal one it would be the other way around. It is the chemical drugs that can be full of all sorts of scary shit which wouldn't be in them if they were legal and controlled substances

pandora

I find it funny cause some of the same people wanting all drugs legal
want rigorous smoking bans
dare they might breathe a bit of second smoke while walking down the street.
Yet the high pup on legal bathsalts welding a knife is okay in their book.

When people use drugs they make victims from their use everyday
everywhere whether legal or not. Victims of the use victims of the abuse.

I wonder if cigarettes would have been illegal how many would not be dying
that horrible, slow, painful death as we speak. If a different message had been sent
to our society so many generations ago.

Dropping like flies they are the smoking generation.
Unable to breathe, missing their grandchildren's lives, them missing
their grandparents. Parents gone too soon to the cancer stick.

Oh but that's ok that was their choice ... bet not for most gasping their last breath.

Yet this argument those who want all drugs legal use... cigs are legal
alcohol is legal...

Would we have a better world if they weren't?
All the families mourning their innocent dead due to DUI's,
all the innocent families broken due to alcoholism.

Having cigs and alcohol legal changed many lives in the last century,

they became a norm for social behavior
for much of society as will legalizing all drugs.

They are a perfect example of the use and abuse that will take place
just because they are legal.

A bit late to make cigs and alcohol illegal and we see what that has done to our society.
This is an important time, a turning point perhaps in the human race
where healthy may finally become the norm to work towards.

Do we want to send a message like

hey meth is great ... it's legal try it?
Cocaine, cool man, have some fun don't worry about addiction
that only happens to the other guy.
Shoot up now ...enjoy! Life sucks make it go away!


The message to send is don't do every drug known to man and then make some more
Don't take 20 prescriptions your doctor has prescribed for you so you can live 5 years longer
Don't run to the doc with every imagined symptom for a pill :wtf:

The answer is not in a pill nor getting fucked up it's caring about others
outside our own bodies
and yes being an example for all our children, they are our best hope.

MayDay10

pandora wrote:

I find it funny cause some of the same people wanting all drugs legal
want rigorous smoking bans
dare they might breathe a bit of second smoke while walking down the street.
Yet the high pup on legal bathsalts welding a knife is okay in their book.

When people use drugs they make victims from their use everyday
everywhere whether legal or not. Victims of the use victims of the abuse.

I wonder if cigarettes would have been illegal how many would not be dying
that horrible, slow, painful death as we speak. If a different message had been sent
to our society so many generations ago.

Dropping like flies they are the smoking generation.
Unable to breathe, missing their grandchildren's lives, them missing
their grandparents. Parents gone too soon to the cancer stick.

Oh but that's ok that was their choice ... bet not for most gasping their last breath.

Yet this argument those who want all drugs legal use... cigs are legal
alcohol is legal...

Would we have a better world if they weren't?
All the families mourning their innocent dead due to DUI's,
all the innocent families broken due to alcoholism.

Having cigs and alcohol legal changed many lives in the last century,

they became a norm for social behavior
for much of society as will legalizing all drugs.

They are a perfect example of the use and abuse that will take place
just because they are legal.

A bit late to make cigs and alcohol illegal and we see what that has done to our society.
This is an important time, a turning point perhaps in the human race
where healthy may finally become the norm to work towards.

Do we want to send a message like

hey meth is great ... it's legal try it?
Cocaine, cool man, have some fun don't worry about addiction
that only happens to the other guy.
Shoot up now ...enjoy! Life sucks make it go away!


The message to send is don't do every drug known to man and then make some more
Don't take 20 prescriptions your doctor has prescribed for you so you can live 5 years longer
Don't run to the doc with every imagined symptom for a pill :wtf:

The answer is not in a pill nor getting fucked up it's caring about others
outside our own bodies
and yes being an example for all our children, they are our best hope.

or fatty foods

pandora

MayDay10 wrote:

pandora wrote:

I find it funny cause some of the same people wanting all drugs legal
want rigorous smoking bans
dare they might breathe a bit of second smoke while walking down the street.
Yet the high pup on legal bathsalts welding a knife is okay in their book.

When people use drugs they make victims from their use everyday
everywhere whether legal or not. Victims of the use victims of the abuse.

I wonder if cigarettes would have been illegal how many would not be dying
that horrible, slow, painful death as we speak. If a different message had been sent
to our society so many generations ago.

Dropping like flies they are the smoking generation.
Unable to breathe, missing their grandchildren's lives, them missing
their grandparents. Parents gone too soon to the cancer stick.

Oh but that's ok that was their choice ... bet not for most gasping their last breath.

Yet this argument those who want all drugs legal use... cigs are legal
alcohol is legal...

Would we have a better world if they weren't?
All the families mourning their innocent dead due to DUI's,
all the innocent families broken due to alcoholism.

Having cigs and alcohol legal changed many lives in the last century,

they became a norm for social behavior
for much of society as will legalizing all drugs.

They are a perfect example of the use and abuse that will take place
just because they are legal.

A bit late to make cigs and alcohol illegal and we see what that has done to our society.
This is an important time, a turning point perhaps in the human race
where healthy may finally become the norm to work towards.

Do we want to send a message like

hey meth is great ... it's legal try it?
Cocaine, cool man, have some fun don't worry about addiction
that only happens to the other guy.
Shoot up now ...enjoy! Life sucks make it go away!


The message to send is don't do every drug known to man and then make some more
Don't take 20 prescriptions your doctor has prescribed for you so you can live 5 years longer
Don't run to the doc with every imagined symptom for a pill :wtf:

The answer is not in a pill nor getting fucked up it's caring about others
outside our own bodies
and yes being an example for all our children, they are our best hope.

or fatty foods

Exactly part of the new trend and concern....
a new message.

The best thing I thought I did for my kids was no fast food growing up, as my Mom did for us.
The industry has really taken over for the children of today though.
Messages from society are all important to behavior.

MayDay10

its all moderation. People need to live by that.
A drink to top off dinner.... or maybe on special occasion getting drunk (safely).
Having a cigarette every once in awhile, or a cigar.
Smoking a joint in the comfort of your own home to take the steam off of a productive, busy week.
Eating a bad meal once in awhile (not sausage McMuffins every morning and rotating fast food joints each lunch break).

But many people cant do this.

But what role should the government play in banning/regulating these things before it is considered 'too much'. You see the 'right' of this country freaking out when they try to eliminate/limit trans fats/soda sizes... but the banning of pot is considered "just".
Im not sure there is a correct or easy answer. I think it would be best suited state to state, and perhaps passed down by County.

mikepegg44

pandora wrote:

I find it funny cause some of the same people wanting all drugs legal
want rigorous smoking bans
dare they might breathe a bit of second smoke while walking down the street.
Yet the high pup on legal bathsalts welding a knife is okay in their book.

When people use drugs they make victims from their use everyday
everywhere whether legal or not. Victims of the use victims of the abuse.

I wonder if cigarettes would have been illegal how many would not be dying
that horrible, slow, painful death as we speak. If a different message had been sent
to our society so many generations ago.

Dropping like flies they are the smoking generation.
Unable to breathe, missing their grandchildren's lives, them missing
their grandparents. Parents gone too soon to the cancer stick.

Oh but that's ok that was their choice ... bet not for most gasping their last breath.

Yet this argument those who want all drugs legal use... cigs are legal
alcohol is legal...

Would we have a better world if they weren't?
All the families mourning their innocent dead due to DUI's,
all the innocent families broken due to alcoholism.

Having cigs and alcohol legal changed many lives in the last century,

they became a norm for social behavior
for much of society as will legalizing all drugs.

They are a perfect example of the use and abuse that will take place
just because they are legal.

A bit late to make cigs and alcohol illegal and we see what that has done to our society.
This is an important time, a turning point perhaps in the human race
where healthy may finally become the norm to work towards.

Do we want to send a message like

hey meth is great ... it's legal try it?
Cocaine, cool man, have some fun don't worry about addiction
that only happens to the other guy.
Shoot up now ...enjoy! Life sucks make it go away!


The message to send is don't do every drug known to man and then make some more
Don't take 20 prescriptions your doctor has prescribed for you so you can live 5 years longer
Don't run to the doc with every imagined symptom for a pill :wtf:

The answer is not in a pill nor getting fucked up it's caring about others
outside our own bodies
and yes being an example for all our children, they are our best hope.

I loved the drama and hyperbole in your post, but you didn't answer the main question

what would happen if drugs were legal tomorrow?

I don't know if anyone knows for sure, but you must have an opinion...I assume it will have something to do with kids dying in the streets at age 4 with a needle in their arm...

where as I would simply point to the recent country that tried decrim and say this may be a likely scenario but it is tough to say as the difference between legalization and decrim can be large in some ways...I think we can all agree that jail time for drug users ending would be a good thing...

mikepegg44

pandora wrote:

Yet the high pup on legal bathsalts welding a knife is okay in their book.

:roll:

JonnyPistachio

mikepegg44 wrote:

...I think we can all agree that jail time for drug users ending would be a good thing...

Definitely.

FiveB247x

The notion that if drugs were legalized, society would be dramatically altered is silly.
1- Drugs are illegal now but it does not stop people in society for getting or using them
2- In the most controlled environment in the world, our jails, they can't keep drugs or use of them out..so to assume you can control them is a completely false premise.
3 - The amount of money and crime caused as a result of our current setup enables more problems and creates a nitche for unnecessary jobs (authories) and criminilization wastes court time as well as tons of money in costs for the system.
4 - There's no real correlatory saying that making drugs illegal actually causes society harm in the long term any more than legalizing them.

davidtrios

http://www.businessinsider.com/portugal ... rks-2012-7

interesting read about a country that decriminalized drugs over 10 years ago. addiction went down

Jason P

davidtrios wrote:

http://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-drug-policy-decriminalization-works-2012-7

interesting read about a country that decriminalized drugs over 10 years ago. addiction went down

That is an interesting approach.

I read an article a few days ago that Chris Christie was looking at this same approach. It makes sense to me.

redrock

Another article about Portugal - this one has a few numbers that can help put a bit of perspective on things...

http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... 46,00.html

Drug use, death from drugs, drug related crime, etc. has dramatically been reduced. Money is put in treatment, rehab, education.

Naturally, all of the above still exist and will never be eradicated but there are major positives to this policy.

JonnyPistachio

redrock wrote:

Another article about Portugal - this one has a few numbers that can help put a bit of perspective on things...

http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... 46,00.html

Drug use, death from drugs, drug related crime, etc. has dramatically been reduced. Money is put in treatment, rehab, education.

Naturally, all of the above still exist and will never be eradicated but there are major positives to this policy.

Interesting read, thanks for that. some interesting facts..

"Portugal's case study is of some interest to lawmakers in the U.S., confronted now with the violent overflow of escalating drug gang wars in Mexico. The U.S. has long championed a hard-line drug policy, supporting only international agreements that enforce drug prohibition and imposing on its citizens some of the world's harshest penalties for drug possession and sales. Yet America has the highest rates of cocaine and marijuana use in the world, and while most of the E.U. (including Holland) has more liberal drug laws than the U.S., it also has less drug use."

Pap

The story the Leavers have been enacting here for the past three million years isn't a story of conquest and rule. Enacting it doesn't give them power. Enacting it gives them lives that are satisfying and meaningful to them. This is what you'll find if you go among them. They're not seething with discontent and rebellion, not incessantly wrangling over what should be allowed and what forbidden, not forever accusing each other of not living the right way, not living in terror of each other, not going crazy because their lives seem empty and pointless, not having to stupefy themselves with drugs to get through the days, not inventing a new religion every week to give them something to hold on to, not forever searching for something to do or something to believe in that will make their lives worth living. And - I repeat - this is not because they live close to nature or have no formal government or because they're innately noble. This is simply because they're enacting a story that works well for people - a story that worked well for three million years and that still works well where the Takers haven't yet managed to stamp it out. Daniel Quinn, Ishmael (1992)

kenny olav

DriftingByTheStorm wrote:

kenny olav wrote:

If it grows in the ground, it should be legal, but I don't think anyone should profit from selling it. It should just be free to grow and use and distribute to adults. It shouldn't be sold at all.

All other drugs should remain criminalized, but users shouldn't be put in jail.

Opium (ergo, heroin) and Cocaine both "grown in the ground"

Wassup, yo ?

Yo Holmes...

Here's what I think about that... I think it should be okay to grow poppies and coca leaves, but not okay to take out the substances found in them, and concentrate them in a way that's unnatural... you'll get an unnatural high, and you're putting yourself, and potentially others, in danger.

I'm smoked opium. It's not particularly strong. It's just a mellow feeling you get. I would never use heroin, and never have used cocaine, don't want to, but I would chew on coca leaves to see what that's like... I'm guessing it would be like having a typical energy drink. They've been chewed for thousands of years by people in Central and South America simply to help them get through their work day, especially if they're building pyramids and shit.

Seems like a lot of these substances that grow naturally are there for a reason, but I'll stop now before I get all metaphysical.