America's War on Drugs

[Napoléon]

I've always thought it strange how a drug which makes you violent, loud, idiotic and uninhibited, be legal, yet one which keeps you calm, relaxed, happy and hungry, be illegal.

The world is fucking stupid.

The only times I've ever smoked weed I've been too spaced out to even think about being a dick. Hell, I usually just sit in a chair laughing to myself and giggling at pictures on the wall in front of me, then after that's passed I get up and eat a shit load of pasta because I have the fucking munchies.

Now what the fuck is the harm in that?

Alcohol on the other hand? Well, when under the influence of this particular substance I have a habit of being extremely loud, extremely rude, I say things which I would never normally say, I tell girls they should split up with their boyfriends, I call them lesbians, I get into fights, I generally just act like a fucking dick.

So seriously, why is the one which makes me act like a dick legal, yet the one which makes me feel cool, calm and relaxed illegal.

The logic is just beyond insane.

[Anomalocaris]

I see this as a sign of depravity and destruction of family virtues. Family members are not ashamed of eachother anymore. Soon, the people on the streets will not be ashamed of eachother anymore, and the streets will turn into a pile of every depraved vice and lawlessness.

I completely agree that it is right and necesssary for turks in a country full of turks to be ashamed of eachother on the streets.

But the rest of the world is much better because it is relatively free of turks. Therefore it is right that the people in the rest of the world not be ashamed of eachother on the streets.

[Minimalist]

As has been mentioned the drug war is supported by various business interests who don't want to have to compete with them but also by law enforcement which sees it as a lucrative tool for themselves. The money we piss away fighting "drugs" could be better spent than on cop overtime, lawyers, judges and private prisons.

Of course, the upper classes would hate to lose one more tool to control the poor.

[JohnDG]

This is me.


This is me on weed.



Notice the difference?

[kılıç_mehmet]

I see this as a sign of depravity and destruction of family virtues. Family members are not ashamed of eachother anymore. Soon, the people on the streets will not be ashamed of eachother anymore, and the streets will turn into a pile of every depraved vice and lawlessness.

I completely agree that it is right and necesssary for turks in a country full of turks to be ashamed of eachother on the streets.

But the rest of the world is much better because it is relatively free of turks. Therefore it is right that the people in the rest of the world not be ashamed of eachother on the streets.

And you think that this only applies to us? This applies to nearly almost every country. People do not act in streets as they would act when they were alone.
Similarly, they do take care of their actions in front of fellow family members.
But a person who does something that alters the mind in ways that it could break the limits of family ties that relate to mutual respect and shame, what would keep those people of repeating this behavior in front of people they do not know? Like in streets, for example?

Such behavior was only confined to the very lowlifes of society, like junkies, bums and criminals, who would disregard every social taboo, and even they would lurk in the back alleys, derelict buildings and the likes. Now you tell me that they should practice their ways in front of society, whereas normal society should strive to be like them.

I've always thought it strange how a drug which makes you violent, loud, idiotic and uninhibited, be legal, yet one which keeps you calm, relaxed, happy and hungry, be illegal.

Well, alcohol is a beverage, friend. Not a "drug". You speak of it as though it were the same as marijuana, which makes you giggle at pictures at the wall, what a thing, that you'd like to partake with your business co-workers in an official meeting, instead of a glass of wine or a few beers.

Now to friend Horus' long reply:

Alcohol is worse than marijuana

Yes, this is what I hear from most people who advocate marijuana will save the world.

Alcohol impairs judgement far worse than Marijuana. You do not need "bongs" there are many smokeless forms of marijuana from edibles, to tea, to vaprizors.

The quantity of alcohol you need to impair your judgement as to liken the effect of marijuana is obviously a high amount. Besides, it doesn't really matter whether you get your THC from bongs, tea or vaporizors.
Maybe it's better if we had made THC into pills or nose sprays, as to provide you people with better alternatives to get high, but I'm sure that those, although a lot lot more potent than the grass you smoke now, will be on par with cocaine and other hard drugs in terms of expense.

Marijuana (hashish)........... and Heroin (opium).......... are nowhere near the same thing you're an idiot if you think otherwise

To me, anything that clouds the mind is the same.
Besides, I'm talking of social ill-effects, not what happens to *you*.
You can go on and smoke as much of that crap as you'd like to, but society should always be protected from drugs that have psychoactive properties.

It's insane (too me) that you think eating opium is okay as long as it's not in front of kids, but youre chastizing Cthulu Dreaming for smoking weed, with his parents, if you weren't Turkish I'd assume you were mentally insane to admit this

I did not say it's okay, I said that I think that you have the right to eat opium or use other drugs if you want it so much. You're no real trouble to anyone else but yourself. Even if you find like-minded drug users to go on and do it with others, yes, you can do that. But doing it in front of your own family, with your parents permission, or even participation, there is something that is really wrong with that.
Besides, I don't think that Cthulhu Dreaming claimed something like that.
But let's say he did. Yes. I would still say the same. I'd say that there ought not to be such parents, where we live in an age where parent do not even smoke in front of their childrens as not to be a bad example, but there are some who smoke drugs in front of their children, and act in ways which would damage their being as parents, as elders.
Eating opium and smoking marijuana, shooting heroin and snorting cocaine, they are all the same to me. They drugs, people partake in them with the same reason. They even use legal drugs which might have similar properties if used in ways they weren't intended for, to archive a similar, or greater effect!
But it's not really much of a harm to society if you choose to smoke your marijuana just as a civilized person does. By yourself, or your friends, and keep your elders, youngsters and general society out of it.
But you wish to bring both the old and young, and the whole of society into this by legalizing the sale and production? No thanks.

I actually agree with you here, peyote, cocaine, and as we said before, opium is all natural.... I 100% fully support marijuana legalization but i hate this "all natural" argument.....salt is all natural you can still kill yourself with it

I also fully support 100% legalisation for personal use and personaly use only. Because it's just you.

In America weed is easier to get as a teenager than alcohol......

The same for Turkey, for weed is generally a lot cheaper than alcohol, and allows you to archive a greater effect.

so just say you're "against any and all drugs or intoxicants including sugar and caffeine" nobody will have a problem with it, but singling out marijuana as worse than alcohol is fucking retarded

You're talking trash. You already know that caffeine and sugar are not under the same context as illicit drugs. They never were.
I'm not singling out marijuana. As a matter of fact, you are.
You say that marijuana is better than other illicit drugs, and better than psychiatric drugs, better than alcohol, better than smokes, caffeine, sugar and etc. and etc. If one were to ask you, marijuana is God, for I have never heard someone glorifying and defending a substance so much, as to tell me that he's not affected by it.

sorry in the West were not brain washed to worship our parents and hide things from them most of us are completely open and honest with our parents and relatives

Parents are not your friends. I believe it's time you act towards them in such a fashion, but I believe that there are still a lot of people who fear and respect their parents, and heed their warnings.

you're filled with fear and lies, I don't know where to start with this load of crap, I'll wait until you respond to the rest

Don't start, there is no real need to argue with you people, as a matter of fact, your opinions are shaped by a drug, while mine are shaped by impeccable and unshakable moral standards.

[Napoléon]

Well, alcohol is a beverage, friend. Not a "drug".

I beg to differ.

http://www.acde.org/common/alcohol.htm

Alcohol is the oldest and most widely used drug in the world

You speak of it as though it were the same as marijuana, which makes you giggle at pictures at the wall, what a thing, that you'd like to partake with your business co-workers in an official meeting, instead of a glass of wine or a few beers.

I don't speak as if they are the same thing at all. If you actually read my post properly you'd see that was the whole fucking point of it.

Besides, what businesses do you work in which allow you to consume alcohol in important business meetings? What kind of shitly run business allows you to consume any drug while working?

[Faith No More]

Well, alcohol is a beverage, friend. Not a "drug"

Oh, you really don't have any clue what the hell you are talking about, do you? Read Napo's link, and then when your done with that, read this one.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychar..._most_harm

[The Grand Nudger]

I'd legalise it, then tax it. Win-win scenario, no more wasting money on trying to find it, and money coming in from tax revenue. Also police would actually go back to being on the beat.

Not to mention higher quality and lower prices from competing legitimate business interests.

[thesummerqueen]

I see this as a sign of depravity and destruction of family virtues. Family members are not ashamed of eachother anymore. Soon, the people on the streets will not be ashamed of eachother anymore, and the streets will turn into a pile of every depraved vice and lawlessness.

I see nothing changed in my time away. Carry on, good citizens...carry on.

Most amusing.

Legalize that shit. Anecdotally I can tell you right now I'd rather deal with 30 stoners than 3 drunkards.

Life, and drugs subsequently, are what you make of them. I enjoy a glass of wine or scotch in the evening, and maybe a pint or two of beer now and then. They're relaxing, there's health benefits to the red wine, and conversation flows. All things in moderation, of course. But the thing is, I don't want to drink in excess 1) because getting on the road afterwards is singularly selfish as I might put others in danger and 2) I really don't want to because I feel my body craving water, not alcohol - it's been that way since I started working out. That might just be me, but I think more and more people (if tobacco's any trend to go by) are realizing the health benefits and risks much more and tailoring their actions accordingly. Not being a victim of circumstance and knowing your own limits goes a long way as well - my brother hates how dumb he feels when he drinks (or smokes) so he pretty much doesn't do it. He figured that out at 17. I know 47 year olds who haven't figured this out yet. This isn't a "drug" problem - it's a self-esteem and ignorance problem. It might cause you to have a problem with drugs, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should be punished for it.

I've yet to hear any health risks from marijuana though. Not from any peer-reviewed literature anyway - there's plenty from right-wing retards.

[Autumnlicious]

There was, if I recall correctly, a study of late that claimed that long term (>15 years) usage of marijuana correlated to an 8 point drop in IQ.

I'm not terribly certain how to interpret it, as the control group didn't seem properly restricted to me, and I wasn't under the impression that the quality and quantity of the weed wasn't tracked properly.

In any case, an 8 point drop in IQ for me, who was told once by a mensa recruiter that I clearly was in the 130 IQ group (I doubt it, nor do I really care to flex my e-peen and get an actual IQ test (cause that costs money)), is nothing.

I'd rather pay a bit of my sharp intellect to get peace of mind, being able to deal with people and being able to go to sleep every night.

Whenever I lay off the weed for any reason other than "I'm simply tired of it and keep forgetting to get high", I get incredibly agitated, sharp and mean. In reflection, I realize that is closer to my natural state all the time. Take a look at my first posts here on AtheistForums.org a few years back. I get incredibly vitriolic. Still do at times.

Of late though, I've forgotten to get high just because I'm bored and tired from the stress of late. Which isn't a problem, because I'm too worn out to care anymore.