Legalization of drugs

[Billy Optimist]

Originally posted by 33girl:
Super XO,

Did you see the series on History Channel called "Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way." One of the things they pointed out was that (really boiling this down to basics) cocaine and opium were outlawed primarily because of prejudices against certain groups.

I think a lot of the "drug war" waste and expense would be eliminated if pot were legalized. When you let a rapist out of jail to put a pot smoker in, where is the sense in that? Heroin & crack however...that's something else again - evil, bad, bad.

Also, I think the whole "gateway drug" theory taught to children in school needs to be eliminated, as does the theory that a drug is a drug is a drug. I mean if you teach a kid this way and he tries pot and nothing happens, he'll think that heroin will be just as harmless.

I am so confused. Opiom is Heroin and Cocaine is Crack. ARe you saying that they should be outlawed because of predjudice?

[lindsay_iu]

LSD is harmful, even when the user is aware that they have taken the drug. I had a friend physically attack me when he was tripping. He had previously used acid many times before and he knew what would happen when he took it, so he just wasn't freaking out because it was his first time. He couldn't speak or stand, and he really wasn't aware that anyone was around. Then after two more friends helped him stand, he fixated on me, grabbed me, and then shoved me as hard as he could. My other friends had to tackle him to make him stop, or he just would have kept attacking me. Any drug, legal or illegal, is harmful in some fashion. I've seen so many people mess up their lives because of drugs. I don't think that they should be legalized, just from my own experiences with seeing people I care about throw their lives away and turn their backs on their friends because of their habits.

[AlphaChiGirl]

Originally posted by 33girl:
Did you see the series on History Channel called "Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way." One of the things they pointed out was that (really boiling this down to basics) cocaine and opium were outlawed primarily because of prejudices against certain groups.

I didn't see the show...but I am taking a class on urban politics this semester, and this was how the professor introduced the course. He mentioned that marijuana and opium were drugs that were connected to two specific racial groups (Mexicans and Chinese, respectively). The propaganda surrounding these drugs was racial in tone--many said that if these drugs continued to be legal, that Mexicans and Chinese men would seduce white women while they were under the influence. I believe that most of the drug criminalization is primarily racial in tone--and I'm not a person who calls things "racist" or "prejudiced" that often. Does anyone agree/disagree with me? I think this would make for a fairly lively discussion.

That said, I also believe in the decriminalization of marijuana. Yes, it is a "gateway drug", but so is boredom. Anyway, it cannot be categorized in the same way as karmically more dangerous drugs like heroin or crack, or even LSD.

[SuperXO]

Originally posted by Billy Optimist:
SuperXO--
LSD is dangerous. It was invented to get severly, abnormaly menatlly diseased paitents to stop thinking they were oranges or had run from the martians that were stealling their cheerios.

Billy, where you kidding? I couldn't tell if that was a joke or not. But, if you were serious, actually lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was created and researched for uses as either a truth serum or a drug that makes spies forget the info the learned. The CIA researched it a lot.

Yeah, 33 girl, I did see that history channel thing! That's what made me bring up the topic actually. It was VERY interesting. But, I have been interested in the topic since college when I took several classes on drugs (both legal and illegal) and both their biological and psychological effects.

Lindsay, did you think the Bad trip your friend had was any worse than some people get that we call "violent drunks" and have to be kicked out of bars because they fight and break things? I think there are certain people that need to be careful because of how their mood is affected by alcohol and drugs! But, still one is illegal and the other is not...I also kind of wonder if these people's lives get messed up with drugs both because they spend too much money getting it and too much time/ criminal activity getting money for it. well, if it were legal, it would be cheaper so people wouldn't have to commit criminal acts to pay for it, or spend all their money on it.

On the other hand, speaking of violence, some drugs just shouldn't be legal, IMO. Like PCP. I can't remeber what it does psychologically, but I know that someone who is in an altered state and has superhuman stregth is pretty scary! Also, Ecstasy (MDMA) is very dangerous. Eats holes in your brain and all that.



[This message has been edited by SuperXO (edited April 30, 2001).]

[SH80]

Please no flaming!
I just want to give my opinion.
Marijuana should be legalized and alcohol should be deleagalized!

[lindsay_iu]

In terms of the violence, I don't think that my friend's reaction was any worse than a violent drunk. People just need to know their limitations when using substances, legal or illegal. They also need to know the consequences of whatever they're using. None of the people I knew started committing crimes, other than dealing, becaues of their drug habits. They always came up with the money some how, but they never stole it. In some cases, yes, people would commit crimes to get money to support their habit. My friends just changed physically, mentally, and emotionally. They started to become ill more often, they looked horrible. They turned their backs on me because they were so dependant on drugs, and they knew that I didn't approve. It's just a touchy situation for me because a lot of the people I cared about completely changed, but in hindsight, I'm very glad that I'm not friends with them any longer. I don't think that legalizing drugs would make them harder to get. I think that more people would start dealing or using just because they are legal and they couldn't get in trouble for it. However, there are the people who do things just because they are illegal, but I think they might be in the minority. Oh well...that's just my two cents.

[newbie]

First, here's something you must know about me: I'm SO VERY anti-drug. I hate drugs...I've seen how X, pot, LSD, heroin, etc. have ruined my friends (ex-friends some of them).

That being said though...I think it is very interesting how more people will try to access things which are illegal (take for example the '20s Prohibition, which didn't work obviously!!). I've asked some of my druggie friends why they do this kinda $hit, which is obviously killing them inside and out. Some say that they do it to alleviate their problems. Some say they do it b/c it has a danger element--since they know that at any given time they can be caught--and that adrenaline rush is "fun." So I think that SOME problems could be solved if drugs were made legal. HOWEVER, that being said, I totally know that that also opens up a new can of worms...since it's so "free," more and more people might want to try it. Yet, we really do not know what will happen if we made drugs legal...whether that would help or just make things worse!

I really hate drugs, for what they have done to some of my friends, as well as many teenagers...but if legalizing drugs would save some of my friends from self-destructing...I'm all for it.

It's too bad that my school atmosphere (competitive, super-challenging, always in the top three for Best Public High School in all of California) has caused so many of my classmates to become complete druggies...it's sad that I grew up with many of them (I went to a Christian, private school, K-8th grade with them)...unfortunately drugs are their outlets for letting out the immense pressure that we endure at our school.


[This message has been edited by newbie (edited April 30, 2001).]

[newbie]

My goodness...LSD is CERTAINLY dangerous! Ask any doctor, he'll tell you. For my Psychology class, we studied drugs for a unit. And if you saw some LSD-doing druggies, you would know it's certinaly dangerous! Maybe not up there with Cocaine and Heroin, but up there nevertheless. I wish that I had my Psych book with me right now, where I could directly quote...but unfortunately it's not at home right now.

Even X (Ecstacy) is not as dangerous as LSD...but it is very dangerous too. All of these drugs that I have mentioned can be lethal.

[This message has been edited by newbie (edited April 30, 2001).]

[newbie]

Lindsay, I just wanted to say that you're not alone! I have seen so many of my classmates and friends just change so drastically once they started doing $hit like that. It is truly very sad...and all throughout sophomore year of HS I was trying to deal with this...all of a sudden about 70 percent of my class--almost literally--started doing drugs!!! I finally realized that I had to let go of some of them...for my own health, too. I'm sorry that you have had to gone through this, too...it's so sad and totally frightening to see your friends just change like this into some foreign person! I realized, though, that I had to stop being Babysitter to all of my friends. Unfortunately, some are no longer in school anymore and have been kicked out...some are in Rehab...

[KABillyMac]

I think that the teachings in highschool as to the effects of drugs is very conservative. You have to realize that most of what they are teaching you stems from the fact that your mind is young and impresionable, so the harder the stance that they take on drugs is going to make anyone who isnt already burnt out anti drug. Now I'm not giving you grief because of your age, please dont think that. Coupled with the fact that the drug problem is on a much larger scale in California, and from your description of your highschool, it is probably on a large scale there because your school is so large. Kudos to your school administration for trying to stop young people from using drugs but I promise you will hear conflicting stories as to what you are being taught now once you get to college, which is flaming liberal, and you take some drug classes. Example: Lets take the argument on the table about LSD. A couple of you say it is harmless, a couple of you think its bad. Lets put that into a highschool/college comparison. Say your highschool offers a class about LSD, I promise you that the entire semester all you will hear about is the ill effects of LSD to your body and mind, whereas a college course would only explore the actual facts about the drug, leaving most of the interpretation totally up to you. You may come out of this course knowing that you will never take LSD, but what you learned back home wasnt entirely the truth, or you could come out of it with the exact same stance that you had in highschool.

[prdlocal]

I think the legalization of drugs, specifically marijuana would have some major detrimental effects on the economy, and economies of other countries, third-world countries such as Jamaica whose main industries are marijuana and tourism.

------------------
"For every lie I unlearn I learn something new..." Ani Difranco

[dzrose93]

I'll add my $.02 in here. I am firmly against the legalization of drugs. I can see how people would think that a seemingly insignificant drug like marijuana does not pose a risk to anyone and, therefore, should not be banned. But I have seen firsthand how doing drugs, even the "harmless" ones, can change a person.

In college, I had a boyfriend who I loved more than anyone else in this world (and still do). We had a very serious relationship and he wanted us to get married after college. I truly thought that I would be with him forever.

He had been introduced to pot in high school and used it occasionally, but he only smoked when his high school buddies would come to visit. He knew I didn't approve, and was respectful of that. Then, after almost 2 years together, he started hanging out with a new group of friends who were heavily into marijuana, among other things. These guys would wake up and smoke a joint before their 8 o'clock classes! (And, just for the record, none of them were Greek.)

As he began using marijuana more often, my boyfriend's personality started changing. He was more edgy and impatient, his temper was shorter, and he wanted to spend all of his time with his druggie friends. He didn't notice that he was acting differently, and would get very angry with me when I would mention it.

Things kept deteriorating and, that summer, while I was doing an internship, he spent the time bartending at the beach. I could tell by our phone conversations that something wasn't right. Somehow, I just knew that he was into things bigger than pot. We broke up that summer. He finally admitted after we got back to school in the fall that he had begun using cocaine. Nothing I said got through to him.

Now, almost 4 years later, we don't speak at all. Mutual friends tell me that he is still in our college town. Although he received his degree 2 years ago, he works for a local restaurant and spends his time bartending there. His ambition has gone out the window.

He had so much promise before drugs got in the way! I'm sorry that this is so long, but I just want people to know what kind of an effect that drugs have on people. Tests have proven that using "harmless" drugs like marijuana opens the door to more dangerous drugs. It is for this reason that I don't think ANY of these drugs should be legalized. All they do is ruin lives. Not just the lives of the drug users, but of their loved ones as well.

[This message has been edited by dzrose93 (edited May 03, 2001).]

[carrot]

Actually, X and LSD are very dangerous.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/565530.asp...http://msn.com

[SuperXO]

Hmmm, actually all it says about LSD is that Ecstasy can be compared to it for its popularity...LSD being popular and widespread in the 70s and X being popular in the 90s and now.

Rightly, they did not claim that LSD has harmful biological effects. Although I won't argue that LSD can be dangerous if people abuse it. Meaning, I make a distinction between biologically/ physically harmful and socially harmful to those who cannot control themselves or are unable to be controlled, so they hurt someone. The again, like I've been saying, alcohol can do the same thing, PLUS it is physically harmful! So, why is alcohol legal and LSD is not?

[AlphaChiGirl]

I feel as if I could contribute greatly to this discussion, however, I don't feel as if this is the best forum to discuss something of such a personal nature. If anyone wants to hear my take, please feel free to drop an email. I know I don't really contribute anything of merit here normally.