Why we should legalize all drugs

[dopeheadlogic]

My psychonaut compadres. Have you ever wondered why we are PERSECUTED for the substances we imbibe? Have you ever searched or wondered why?

The reason we are punished is because we do not stand up and let people know the truth. That smoking the occasional point, or popping the occasional pill isn't the be all and end all of life. But I digress: here is why I believe ALL drugs should be legal. Discuss.

Why We Should Legalize All Drugs: The Debate is Over - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2824392/why_we_should_legalize_all_drugs_the.html?cat=9)

[leadmagnet]

Are you Alexander?

Come visit us at LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - Cops Say Legalize Drugs (http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php)

[cannabis=freedom]

I'm thrilled you brought this up. Most of the pro-cannabis people I talk to are still of the opinion that people should be locked up for using anything harder, which is such a shovel-ful of bullshit as I can hardly stomach. It is not for any kind of moralizing bureaucracy to tell people what they can ingest and what they can't, and doing so does not one fragment of an iota of good.
Oh, and honest, factually-based drug education is an important thing--both my psychology and biology textbooks preached the evils of pot (and everything else), and talk to basically any young person and they know nothing at all about drugs, even the ones they use.

[pentigram]

I'm thrilled you brought this up. Most of the pro-cannabis people I talk to are still of the opinion that people should be locked up for using anything harder, which is such a shovel-ful of bullshit as I can hardly stomach. It is not for any kind of moralizing bureaucracy to tell people what they can ingest and what they can't, and doing so does not one fragment of an iota of good.
Oh, and honest, factually-based drug education is an important thing--both my psychology and biology textbooks preached the evils of pot (and everything else), and talk to basically any young person and they know nothing at all about drugs, even the ones they use.

Honestly I am one of those people that you are referring to. This is just my opinion. I think it is everyone's right to smoke, drink, or shoot up if they want to, but when you are making meth labs and crap like that you are now endangering me too. Wanna go smoke crack? Go for it! Wanna draw up some "junk"? Go for it! Just don't make labs for meth and shit like that. Once again I'm not shooting down your opinion because it makes perfect sense, but I'm 1000% against meth and anything associated with it.:hippy:

[gypski]

Honestly I am one of those people that you are referring to. This is just my opinion. I think it is everyone's right to smoke, drink, or shoot up if they want to, but when you are making meth labs and crap like that you are now endangering me too. Wanna go smoke crack? Go for it! Wanna draw up some "junk"? Go for it! Just don't make labs for meth and shit like that. Once again I'm not shooting down your opinion because it makes perfect sense, but I'm 1000% against meth and anything associated with it.:hippy:

I agree with what you say. I've seen what some of it has and does to friends. :thumbsup:

[Loki2176]

I think it is everyone's right to smoke, drink, or shoot up if they want to, but when you are making meth labs and crap like that you are now endangering me too. Wanna go smoke crack? Go for it! Wanna draw up some "junk"? Go for it! Just don't make labs for meth and shit like that. .:hippy:

If drugs were legal, they would be manufactured and distributed the same way tobacco/alcohol is. Private industries would profit from them while abiding by state and federal regulations. Obviously people would still grown their own pot, but there would be no need for meth labs down the street if people could just get their fix at the convenience store. I would never use meth, and I am strongly against anyone else doing so. But those who will, will, so my concern is with the dangers that plague society from the black market demand that prohibition produces like gang violence.

[SirMoist]

This one is tricky. On one hand you have the destruction that some drugs can cause. On the other hand you have your liberty of decision making.

It's easy to say "It's my body, my life. Let me do whatever i want with whatever I want as long as I am not hurting anyone else." I've seen some terrible situations where people are physically ill due to withdrawals or overdoses. People's whole persona change. It's hard to deal with especially when people who struggle are close to you.

The icing on the cake for me is when you compare other activities that are dangerous, to that of recreational drug use. Alcohol and cigs are one example. Doing backflips on dirt bikes and breaking your neck is also bad for your health (obviously). One day while power lifting weights, you could shoot your lower intestines out of your anus. Very bad for your well being (obviously).So, why aren't there restrictions on these activities? I'm not saying there should be, but it almost is like a double standard.

People involved in certain "dangerous" activities know the risk. They are educated. People know the dangers of drugs as well because they are educated. The bottom line is I think YES, you should be able to do drugs whenever you want, however, i know the risks of certain drugs and would choose to personally never do them. YES, it should definitely be a choice of the person and their responsibility to be educated on the negatives of any activity.

[TheChameleon]

To free up law enforcement to do the things they should be doing like catching rapists and murderers...

[leadmagnet]

I stole much of the following from others but I really like it so I'm going to post it here.

We in the United States represent 5% of the world's population yet we incarcerate 25% of the world's prisoners. What percentage of our population must we incarcerate before we've decided we've won this ridiculous "war on drugs"?

Prohibition is a sickening horror and the ocean of incompetence that has left corruption and human wreckage in its wake is almost endless.

Prohibition has decimated generations and criminalized millions for a behavior which is entwined in human existence, and for what other purpose than to uphold the defunct and corrupt thinking of a minority of misguided, self-righteous Neo-Puritans and degenerate demagogues who wish nothing but unadulterated destruction on the rest of us.

Based on the unalterable proviso that drug use is essentially an unstoppable and ongoing human behavior which has been with us since the dawn of time, any serious analysis of the subject and past attempts at any form of drug prohibition would point most normal thinking people in the direction of sensible regulation.

By its very nature prohibition cannot fail but create a vast increase in criminal activity. Rather than preventing society from descending into anarchy, it actually fosters an anarchic business model - the international Drug Trade. Through prohibitionist policy, any decisions concerning quality, quantity, distribution and availability are left in the hands of unregulated, anonymous, ruthless drug dealers, who are interested only in the huge profits involved.

Many of us have now finally wised up to the fact that the best avenue towards realistically dealing with drug use and addiction is through proper regulation, which is what we already do with alcohol & tobacco --two of our most dangerous mood altering substances. But for those of you whose ignorant and irrational minds traverse a fantasy plane of existence, you will no doubt remain sorely upset with any type of solution that does not seem to lead to the absurd and unattainable utopia of a drug free society.

There is an irrefutable connection between drug prohibition and the crime, corruption, disease and the death it causes. If you are not capable of understanding this connection, then maybe you're using something far stronger than the rest of us. Anybody 'halfway bright' and who is not psychologically challenged should be capable of understanding that it is not simply the demand for drugs that creates the mayhem; it is our refusal to allow legal businesses to meet that demand.

No amount of money, police powers, weaponry, diminution of rights and liberties, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safer; only an end to prohibition can do that. How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?

If you still support the kool aid mass suicide cult of prohibition and erroneously believe that you can win a war without logic and practical solutions, then prepare yourself for even more death, corruption, terrorism, sickness, imprisonment, unemployment, foreclosed homes, and the complete loss of the rule of law and the Bill of Rights.

"A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."
Abraham Lincoln

Prohibitionist drug policy precludes sensible control, regulation & taxation of these currently illicit substances while turning even our schools and prisons into black markets for drugs.

If you support prohibition then you've helped trigger the worst crime wave in history.

If you support prohibition you've a helped create a black market with massive incentives to hook both adults and children alike.

If you support prohibition you've helped to make these dangerous substances available in schools and prisons.

If you support prohibition you've helped raise gang warfare to a level not seen since the days of alcohol bootlegging.

If you support prohibition you've helped create the prison-for-profit synergy with drug lords.

If you support prohibition you've helped remove many important civil liberties from those citizens you falsely claim to represent.

If you support prohibition you've helped put previously unknown and contaminated drugs on the streets.

If you support prohibition you've helped to escalate Theft, Muggings and Burglaries.

If you support prohibition you've helped to divert scarce law-enforcement resources away from protecting your fellow citizens from the ever escalating violence against their person or property.

If you support prohibition you've helped overcrowd the courts and prisons, thus making it increasingly impossible to curtail the people who are hurting and terrorizing others.

Final word: Hate the Sin and not the Sinner.
Drug laws Perpetuate and promote the sin whilst hating only the sinner.

[wolfgar]

It is my opinion that hard drugs, meth, coke/crack, heroine,ect should stay illegal because of the negative impacts they have on individuals. I think they will be illegal because of the negative impacts they have on society. That being said the penalties for them are insane in the u.s.

Almost everyone i hung out with as a kid(from a suburb)were big time on meth,of all that were(i am 30 now) have few teeth,their face is messed up(scars,meth lip), no future,some of them are in prison from the government. all of them regret it(except the dead ones)...why would anyone benefit from it being legal? You know what ...imo everyone on the planet earth has a duty to mankind to stop that crap from entering the life of the young and dumb if the government wants a crack at it thats fine by me...they just need to smoke a joint while they do it...POT IS NOT A DRUG...i said it so it must be true :)

[leadmagnet]

Have you given any consideration to the negative ramifications of prohibitionist policy Wolfgar?

How much of what you attribute to those "evil drugs" cocaine, methamphetamine, and, cough, cough "heroine" are actually the direct result of prohibitionist policy?

Do we really need laws based on bigotry in order to keep us safe Wolfgar?

How can you- on the one hand say you recognize the need to keep these drugs out of the hands of children and the ignorant- than on the other tell us you want to turn over the responsibility for the production and distribution of these so called â??dangerous drugsâ?� to greedy criminal predators via prohibitionist policy who care little about the age or mental stability of their clients?

[leadmagnet]

Wolfgar, have you considered how many people die in the US per year from the use of those "evil drugs" methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin?

(2000) "The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435,000 deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity (400,000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85,000 deaths; 3.5%). Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75,000), toxic agents (55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors
(20,000), and illicit use of drugs (17,000)."

Ahhh yes, around 17,000 for ALL illicit drugs combined. Can't you find a better way to save us all from ourselves than throwing us in jail for ingesting our drug(s) of choice?

[wolfgar]

The stats u brought out might be true, but this isnt about how ppl die, this is about how ppl live.

Making something illegal wont stop it. Making something legal means that you have a right to do it. Even the ppl who write the laws understand this. Still just because druggies will have an easier life and be less criminal isn't justification for legalization.I personally don't want my 18yr old kid coming to me saying...ill do meth if i want its my right to do so.

If you buy an island in international waters you can make your own rules. A lot easier than moving an entire country into seeing things your way.Unless ofc you have billions to spend on advertising ...

I doubt the legalize all drugs attitude you have is shared by many ppl in America anyway. Which btw is where i base all my words from. I hate when every American on forums types like its the only place on the planet... I may have been doing that already... :stoned:

So i ask you as a favor to potheads everywhere, use your activist soul to help legalize cannabis(again like only place on planet :(). After all isn't it best to get the low hanging fruit first?:rastasmoke::thumbsup: If u must work on the others after....freedom is a luxury millions have died for use it well.

[SirMoist]

I also don't want my kid leaking his brains all over the pavement from a drunken accident. I wouldn't want my daughter smoking cigs for 20 years and end up sounding like a rusty old man either. Either way you look at it though drugs are going to be there. At least if they were legal they would be regulated and probably less dangerous. It's important to teach your kids the effects of anything foreign in their body. Don't think just because I smoke a lot of reefer that I don't think it has some negative side effects. That's something I wouldn't hesitate to pass on to the next generation as well. That said, I definitely wouldn't want my kids turning into dope heads/ meth addicts. :jointsmile:

[RedwhitEsonavaB]

people should be able to do anything they want as long as it doesnt hurt anyone else. i wouldnt want a bunch of people drivin around on crack but if hard drugs were regulated really well that might be okay. i would definetely stick w/ bud tho.

[leadmagnet]

The stats u brought out might be true, but this isnt about how ppl die, this is about how ppl live.

Through prohibitionist policy we promote human misery, suffering and death. It impacts how we LIVE and DIE.


Making something illegal wont stop it. Making something legal means that you have a right to do it. Even the ppl who write the laws understand this.

And your point?


Still just because druggies will have an easier life and be less criminal isn't justification for legalization.I personally don't want my 18yr old kid coming to me saying...ill do meth if i want its my right to do so.

The law as it currently exists isnâ??t keeping your 18 year old from using meth. Prohibitionist policy makes it more dangerous for your child to use meth and rewards criminal predators who would encourage your 18 year old to use meth.


If you buy an island in international waters you can make your own rules. A lot easier than moving an entire country into seeing things your way.Unless ofc you have billions to spend on advertising ...

Like a Nazi in pre-world war II Germany telling a Jew to get a boat ride out of the country if he doesnâ??t like the way things are going. Ridiculous. How do you come up with that stuff?


I doubt the legalize all drugs attitude you have is shared by many ppl in America anyway.

So when the majority opinion is contrary to yours you just pack it in and give up?


So i ask you as a favor to potheads everywhere, use your activist soul to help legalize cannabis(again like only place on planet :(). After all isn't it best to get the low hanging fruit first?:rastasmoke::thumbsup: If u must work on the others after....freedom is a luxury millions have died for use it well.

I ask you as a favor to human beings everywhere to snap out of your fog and consider someting beyond yourself and what is best for users and non-users alike as well as the millions of future deaths that will result if we donâ??t cease and desist this crazy â??drug war" on our people.

[MEDEDCANNABIS]

It is my opinion that hard drugs, meth, coke/crack, heroine,ect should stay illegal because of the negative impacts they have on individuals. I think they will be illegal because of the negative impacts they have on society. That being said the penalties for them are insane in the u.s.

Almost everyone i hung out with as a kid(from a suburb)were big time on meth,of all that were(i am 30 now) have few teeth,their face is messed up(scars,meth lip), no future,some of them are in prison from the government. all of them regret it(except the dead ones)...why would anyone benefit from it being legal? You know what ...imo everyone on the planet earth has a duty to mankind to stop that crap from entering the life of the young and dumb if the government wants a crack at it thats fine by me...they just need to smoke a joint while they do it...POT IS NOT A DRUG...i said it so it must be true :)

i disagree. people on the these hard drugs (my quote: hard nugs not hard drugs) need help getting of these same drugs. prisons are nothing more than businesses with no moral compasses. they do nothing to correct people as their title claims. how about forced rehab with actual couselers , educators and doctors. in the end it would save taxpayer money. i suppose some idiot would abuse that job, suck this ill get what you want. aaaarrrgh people are all stupid and it will be our undoing.

[MEDEDCANNABIS]

I also don't want my kid leaking his brains all over the pavement from a drunken accident. I wouldn't want my daughter smoking cigs for 20 years and end up sounding like a rusty old man either. Either way you look at it though drugs are going to be there. At least if they were legal they would be regulated and probably less dangerous. It's important to teach your kids the effects of anything foreign in their body. Don't think just because I smoke a lot of reefer that I don't think it has some negative side effects. That's something I wouldn't hesitate to pass on to the next generation as well. That said, I definitely wouldn't want my kids turning into dope heads/ meth addicts. :jointsmile:

if there is a negative side effect to mj it hasnt been found yet (other than prison). its older than prostitution and used just as much.

[4harley]

weed is not a drug,its a herb and benaficial.drugs are not.anyone who classifies weed as a drug is a idiot.so when some one said drugs should be legalized is fuckin stupid.fuckin idiot.

[mndart]

Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, orange juice, morphine, Count Chocula, weed.

They all alter our body chemistry. Virtually everything we take into our bodies including O2 changes us physiologically. Obviously some, more than others.

I'm in the middle of an experiment (if I can get the d** plant to grow) to find out if a little smoke will get me off Zoloft for depression, Xanax for anxiety and Elavil to get me to sleep at night. All of those chemicals are hard on my body and if a natural, growing herb like weed will do that, then it can only be good.

But I also have to wonder what the world would be like if we legalized heroin, for example. Personally, being an abuser, I'd probably get hooked and die in 6 months. Most of my family and friends would too. The reality is that I wouldn't try it, for that reason, but when I have surgery or a tooth extracted and the doc gives me a scrip for Vicodin, by the time it's gone, I'm looking for more.

That stuff is nasty. It's no different than heroin, except for potency, and I'd take it until it killed me.

The major difference between every substance we use is - physical vs. psychological addiction.

If something is physically addicting, it should be illegal.

If something is only psychologically addicting (like weed AND video games AND chocolate) it should be legal.

Caffeine headaches during withdrawal are like migranes. I've been chewing nicotine gum for 20 years. I've been on Xanax for 4 years and the doctor never mentioned physical addiction. I quit taking it one week last year and I've never been that sick in my life. I was awake for 144 hours straight and dry-heaved for 3 days. I had no idea it was Xanax withdrawal until I came across an article on it and put it all together.

Major pharmaceutical companies stand to loose a lot of money if we start legalizing drugs. Nicotine kills us and we became a nation of addicts while tobacco companies made billions.

Ban caffeine, ban nicotine, ban Xanax and alcohol, but weed? Something else is going on here and I'd make a wild guess that it has something to do with money and Corporate entities.

-mn

[leadmagnet]

But I also have to wonder what the world would be like if we legalized heroin, for example. Personally, being an abuser, I'd probably get hooked and die in 6 months. Most of my family and friends would too. The reality is that I wouldn't try it, for that reason, but when I have surgery or a tooth extracted and the doc gives me a scrip for Vicodin, by the time it's gone, I'm looking for more.

The vast majority of us don't have that problem with opiates. Are you suggesting that because YOU and your apparent little gene pool there have a problem controlling your craving WE should go to jail? How... quaint.


If something is physically addicting, it should be illegal.

We already tried that; with alcohol. It didn't work.