Why are drugs ilegal?

[James]

I was wondering why you think drugs are ilegal?

And why is alcohol legal when its another drug?

Do you agree that they should be ilegal?

[AXJules]

My theory, and this is a pretty lame-ass theory-------

Drugs are illegal because, even in the smallest amount, they still do some type of damage to you. Marijuana hurts your lungs b/c of the smoke (and some would argue your brain, too.) Exstacy eats away at your brain, even in the smallest doses. I'm not too sure about cocaine and heroin but they're obviously not too good for you either.
Alcohol, however, in a small dose, say, a glass, has actually been proven to give health benefits. And even if its not helping, its not hurting. I think that's the main difference.
With pot, you can say that it eases pain and should be used medicinally (I agree with this) but its still hurting your lungs.

I dunno????? that was my pathetic attempt

[SSS1365]

That was a pretty good idea, AXJules. I'd say the same thing. I mean maybe alcohol is not illegal even though it's a drug (same for tobacco) because it takes a lot of it to seriously harm a person. I mean, acid or something like that can kill you the first time you do it, and it doesn't take much. Alcohol can kill you the first time you do it too, if you drink a LOT of it. The theory is if you drink responsibly, you'll be okay. I don't know if there could ever be a such thing as snorting coke responsibly.

[librasoul22]

Drugs like heroin and cocain should remain illegal. Marijuana should be decriminalized. Heroin is a very dangerous and addictive drug, as is cocaine.

As far as marijuana damaging the lungs, the same can be said for cigarettes, yet they are legal. No scientific evidence has been presented that would say that marijuana does any sort of damage to the brain.

For a different spin on the government's own research, go to

www.drugwarfacts.org

[SSS1365]

I learned in high school that smoking one joint (marijuana) is like smoking 10 packs of cigarettes when it comes to lung damage, or something like that. Of course most people don't smoke weed as often as they smoke cigarettes I guess. I personally don't think it needs to be legalized.

[James]

One of the problems with the war on drugs is the propaganda or misinformation.

Once an issue becomes political or has an agenda it is very difficult to get real data.

I learned in parochial school that masturbation causes hairy palms, hair loss, and blindness . . .

[SSS1365]

Originally posted by James

I learned in parochial school that masturbation causes hairy palms, hair loss, and blindness . . .

LOL, if that were true, there'd be a lot of hairy, bald, and blind people out there!

[Kevin]

The only good argument I've heard for NOT decriminilizing Marijuana is an economic one.

Think of all the jobs in law enforcement, DEA, prisons, etc. that would be lost if marijuana was no longer criminal? All the inmates that would be free to harm their lungs as they pleased?

[lifesaver]

I advocate decriminilazation (sp) of marijuana.

I have never done pot. Ever. Never even tried it. Never. But I absolutely and passionately advocate its legalization. I prolly still wouldnt do it, because its not something that interests me.

My belief in its decriminalization comes from an understandign of how it was criminalized in the first place. Several big points:

1) William Randolph Hearst sensationalized the effects of smoking pot to sell papers. He got the nation in a fury over it.

2) Paul Anslinger (sp) and J. Edgar Hoover used illegal drugs to target minority populations and fringe groups (blacks, mexican immigrants, etc) as a way to opress and harass those populations. Then as now, minority offenders recieved sentences dramitically different based on race.

3) The govmt said and the laws were written because they said it had "no medicinal value", which we all know now, it does.

It will stay illegal tho prolly for a while for the folowing reasons:
1) Most americans want the laws on the books, but dont really want them inforced. Yeah, were whack liek that.

2) THe only people in this country that vote on a regular basis are little old 80 year old women, who are terrified of crime and candidates knwo they are tied to that group. They believe this tripe becaus ethey grew up in the tiem when it was being sensationalized, and bought into it. As soon as their gone and our generalting gets a bit older, it will be decriminalized, bu that wont be for another 20 years or so.

I dont haoverver advocate the legalization of coke, speed, meth or herroin. Just pot.

My 2 cents.

[justamom]

lifesave, were you stoned when you wrote that! J/K

Alcohol is legal because wine is mentioned in the bible!

I have a LOT to say about this because I've been around the block a few times and KNOW what I'm talking about.
Given, many of you may have been around HUNDREDS of times...

17-27 Being involved with musicians, I "SAW" it all (no heroin), magic mushrooms, LSD, pot/angel dust, hash, coke, uppers, downers AND alcoholism... NONE of it was good. You can't imagine how many bands just fell apart because the lead guitarist thought he was perfection when he was loaded or the bass went into some riff that blew the song. Friends dropping out because they woke up-lit up and didn't bother going to class.
Girls giving it up to basic strangers (this was mostly pre AIDS) because they got high together. BAD, BAD, scene. It was an era of raids, failures and Monday gossip at the UC and later the pool side or apt. gatherings. People who began their 20s with hopes of becoming doctors or lawyers saw their dreams ripped from them in either a single night of poor judgment or over the course of months that turned their attitudes into "I don't give a--"

28-current Some parents were still indulging and their kids were
"farmed out" so they could get high. Some got caught and the whole FAMILY was disgraced others carried their reputation with them and their success never materialized.
THE CHILDREN-Even the BEST parents have seen their kids succumb to drugs. The availability is great and the potency is greater. The age at which young people can acquire substances is before they have the where-with-all to deal with the affects.
Cigarettes are illegal under 18, but you still see 12 yr. olds smoking. Consider drinking! Grass is so enticing. It holds the excitement of risk, alters your thinking (there are a lot of people who are unhappy with their reality) and enhances the senses and sexual experiences. Yet, I've seen BRILLIANT kids get involved and without intervention, they fall off and never seem to climb back up. Sometimes you have to weigh the factors. It's easy to say, "I can handle it." ...maybe so, but that IS what EVERYONE thinks.

There are 50 and 60 year olds making the paper every other day-being tried for "Possession with intent to distribute". How sad is THAT! I understand the desire to legalize grass, but I also recognize the ramifications. The one point I'll give on this topic is lessening the punishment for a first offense. I almost wish I could say "NO RECORD" on the first offense because it IS so alluring and it IS heartbreaking to see a young person's dreams go "up in smoke" because of one incident of poor judgment.

I am not judging anyone on their choices. I do NOT think negatively of those who choose to or not to. BUT, ask yourself- are you only friends with people who do? Are your "best times" when you were? Do you plan an evening around it...like "How cool would it be to see this movie, go to that concert, hook up with...if I were zoned? When you think everything in life is BETTER stoned, you need to think about it...but not when you're stoned.
Though EVERYONE KNOWS what great conversations evolve from a joint. I just hope you CAN control "it" and "it" NEVER becomes so important that all you can think about is the next high.

Do I have any friends left???

[CanadianTeke]

Originally posted by justamom
lifesave, were you stoned when you wrote that! J/K

Alcohol is legal because wine is mentioned in the bible!

I have a LOT to say about this because I've been around the block a few times and KNOW what I'm talking about.
Given, many of you may have been around HUNDREDS of times...

17-27 Being involved with musicians, I "SAW" it all (no heroin), magic mushrooms, LSD, pot/angel dust, hash, coke, uppers, downers AND alcoholism... NONE of it was good. You can't imagine how many bands just fell apart because the lead guitarist thought he was perfection when he was loaded or the bass went into some riff that blew the song. Friends dropping out because they woke up-lit up and didn't bother going to class.
Girls giving it up to basic strangers (this was mostly pre AIDS) because they got high together. BAD, BAD, scene. It was an era of raids, failures and Monday gossip at the UC and later the pool side or apt. gatherings. People who began their 20s with hopes of becoming doctors or lawyers saw their dreams ripped from them in either a single night of poor judgment or over the course of months that turned their attitudes into "I don't give a--"

28-current Some parents were still indulging and their kids were
"farmed out" so they could get high. Some got caught and the whole FAMILY was disgraced others carried their reputation with them and their success never materialized.
THE CHILDREN-Even the BEST parents have seen their kids succumb to drugs. The availability is great and the potency is greater. The age at which young people can acquire substances is before they have the where-with-all to deal with the affects.
Cigarettes are illegal under 18, but you still see 12 yr. olds smoking. Consider drinking! Grass is so enticing. It holds the excitement of risk, alters your thinking (there are a lot of people who are unhappy with their reality) and enhances the senses and sexual experiences. Yet, I've seen BRILLIANT kids get involved and without intervention, they fall off and never seem to climb back up. Sometimes you have to weigh the factors. It's easy to say, "I can handle it." ...maybe so, but that IS what EVERYONE thinks.

There are 50 and 60 year olds making the paper every other day-being tried for "Possession with intent to distribute". How sad is THAT! I understand the desire to legalize grass, but I also recognize the ramifications. The one point I'll give on this topic is lessening the punishment for a first offense. I almost wish I could say "NO RECORD" on the first offense because it IS so alluring and it IS heartbreaking to see a young person's dreams go "up in smoke" because of one incident of poor judgment.

I am not judging anyone on their choices. I do NOT think negatively of those who choose to or not to. BUT, ask yourself- are you only friends with people who do? Are your "best times" when you were? Do you plan an evening around it...like "How cool would it be to see this movie, go to that concert, hook up with...if I were zoned? When you think everything in life is BETTER stoned, you need to think about it...but not when you're stoned.
Though EVERYONE KNOWS what great conversations evolve from a joint. I just hope you CAN control "it" and "it" NEVER becomes so important that all you can think about is the next high.

Do I have any friends left???

JAM i agree with you on alot of what you have said, i know people and have known people since high school who's entire life evolved around pot, their favorite TV show was that Seventies Show, cause they smoked pot in it. In this country, unlike the US, pot is cheap, easily attainable and generally if caught goes unpunished. It is more or less legal here, or at least decriminalized already, regardless of whether the law says that or not. The opposite to that is that i know alot of people who smoke, who excel at school and could very well be lawyers and doctors. I guess the lesson is everything is good in moderation.

[33girl]

I know I pimped this program before on here, but "Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way" is on the History Channel today starting at 3 PM eastern. One of the main points it makes is that drugs were criminalized to punish certain ethnic or demographic groups.

A pro-legalization group had an ad in the City Paper saying that the "gateway" argument doesn't apply to marijuana's effects, but rather to the means by which you have to obtain it. That is, when you have to buy pot from a dealer, it's often the same guy who has cocaine, heroin etc for sale. You're more likely to try other things if you have to deal with someone who has them readily available and wants to make more $$$ from you. If you just went to the store and bought it that wouldn't be an issue. (Jim Morrison made a similar argument, actually, saying he preferred alcohol because of all the sleazy connotations of having to score drugs.) What pot physically does to you is not what makes you want to try coke etc.

If pot WAS legalized, it would be much weaker than it is now - much like moonshine as opposed to legal alcohol.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by James

I was wondering why you think drugs are ilegal?
Because some of them can alter consciousness and make you do bad decisions, like having unproctected sex with strangers, or drive a car and wrap it around a phone pole.

And why is alcohol legal when its another drug?
Hmmm...I guess because you need to abuse it for years and years before it damages you? Don't forget that alcohol was illegal at one time.

Do you agree that they should be illegal?
For chronically ill people, where prescription medication has failed them, I do believe that cannabis should be made available to them through a controlled bureau (We have some "Compassion Clubs" in Canada...each one varies, but one of them has an excellent relationship with the Police Dept, I might add.... The people who want to avail themselves of the cannabis must have a doctor's note. They can only go like once every 2 weeks and they only get a small amount of cannabis. They, themselves have to go IN PERSON, if they feel too sick to go, they still have to go themselves, they can't send a friend in their place. That's basically how it works.)
Thanks.


The Compassion Club

Links to other Compassion Clubs

[valkyrie]

I think drugs are illegal because of the misguided idea that the goverment is a father figure for all of us because they think we're too stupid to make our own decisions and need to "protect" us from ourselves. I'm not sure if I'm saying that so it makes sense.

I believe that ALL drugs should be legal. It is YOUR CHOICE to determine what, if anything, to put into your body, as long as you aren't hurting anyone else. Whether or not to use drugs is a personal decision, and I don't think it is the government's place to tell us what we can and cannot use.

[DeltaSigStan]

Originally posted by CutiePie2000
I was wondering why you think drugs are ilegal?
Because some of them can alter consciousness and make you do bad decisions, like having unproctected sex with strangers, or drive a car and wrap it around a phone pole.

Heh, I see you bought into those commercials too.