Drug use

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/1/08 at 9:53pm

What are your feelings of recreational drug use? Do you engage in it? Are you against it?

Lighting up a Spike Lee joint and watching The Life Aquatic?

How do you feel about it?

I, personally, do not practice but I am around it constantly. The way I see it...moderation is the key.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 7/1/08 at 9:57pm

Only Cruel to start such a thread.

If the drugs you use are legal, can I please have some?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/1/08 at 10:19pm

I can't imagine this thread will last long, but I've pretty much done everything I could get my hands on at one time or another. Was it worth it? On one hand, I had some great, at times even transcendent, experiences. On the other, it's quite possible some of those drugs contributed to some of what ails me today.

I support decriminalization of marijuana and psilocybin("magic") mushrooms. I don't see either of them as any scourge bigger than alcohol.

As for the harder stuff, I really think more focus should be one tryiing to get people off the drugs, then punishing them for doing them.
Updated On: 7/1/08 at 10:19 PM

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 4:12am

I'm sorry to disagree, but marijuana and magic mushrooms are definitely a bigger scourge than alcohol. I don't see any alcohol dealers in the playgrounds and by the bus stops selling gin and tonic to kids- but I see drug dealers.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 4:15am

Well, that's because alcohol isn't illegal and easier to acquire. If it was illegal the dealers would be selling that too. It's not in demand so it's not supplied.
Updated On: 7/2/08 at 04:15 AM

[KrissySim]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 5:11am

SweetQintheLights appears to have a crush on you, Cruel_Sandwich.

I don't really go for recreational drugs. I'm not totally against it, I'm just not totally for it. Like many things, I think recreational drugs should be legal in a controlled setting. Otherwise it gives money to organized crime and puts the users in a criminal setting. It also encourages street crime. I've been to many countries that have handled the problem in different ways and there is no easy answer. Junkies from across Europe flock to Holland and as a result street crime is high in Holland. (Or it was when I was there.)

In an analogous situation, prostitution is also legal in Holland but there is still the illegal trafficking in underage girls there. Where there is a demand there are those who will try to make money supplying the demand.

Prohibition in America didn't improve the situation with alcohol. I think that legalizing drugs (and alcohol and prostitution) can eliminate some of the worst things surrounding it. It doesn't solve the problem.

Marijuana is a relatively harmless drug. If alcohol is legal it's somewhat hypocritical not to legalize marijuana. In Russia people would grow poppies for recreational opium on their family dachas and no one gave a damn, unless the government was looking for an excuse to get at them for other reasons. I didn't see opium use being a problem in the families I met where they occasionally smoked opium for relaxation.

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 8:08am

almost every political scientist/public policy analyst in the country believes that recreational drugs should be at least decriminalized if not legalized and i agree with them

my personal belief is that if it is restricted to adults (18 +) then people should be trusted to make their own decisions...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 9:14am

I'm sorry to disagree, but marijuana and magic mushrooms are definitely a bigger scourge than alcohol. I don't see any alcohol dealers in the playgrounds and by the bus stops selling gin and tonic to kids- but I see drug dealers.

Look up the numbers for people who go into rehab for alcohol vs people who go in strictly for pot and then tell me which is the bigger scourge, regardless of what you see on the playground.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 9:16am

I've never done drugs and don't have much interest in being around those who do. That being said, I think they should be legal.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 9:24am

I can just imagine the law suits if drugs were legal. People are sue-crazy now over french fries and Coke making them fat. They don't take responsibility for their own actions. They can't be trusted to drive without talking on their cell phones and causing accidents. They have to be regulated.

Drugs are fine. People are stupid. They should be illegal.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 9:26am

Drugs are fine. People are stupid. They should be illegal.

LOL. you make it sound like people should be illegal besty.

And certain people definitely should.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 9:27am

That's what I meant, Tazzy!

People should be illegal.

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 10:49am

it's called natural selection, and i am a firm believer that we would have a lot less problems in the world if the government just stepped back and left people to their own devices...

[DAME]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 11:16am

"i am a firm believer that we would have a lot less problems in the world if the government just stepped back and left people to their own devices..."

Amen to that.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 11:20am

E is the only drug I have ever bought and that was just during a little four-six month period we went through. I actually enjoyed trying to find the guy in the club that had it and I knew which bartenders to ask. I had a GREAT time for 12 hours, but felt like absolute crap the next day. It seemed like every time we did it, the day after got worse. One day I felt so crappy and wired that I just decided I had just had enough and didn't care to do it anymore. I tried to go back to my favorite clubs after that and couldn't enjoy myself. E ruined my good time..lol. It's hard to go back after you have had the intense experience. I just tell people to stay away from it. You know, that whole "eating your brain" think is kind of a turn off.

I see nothing wrong with a little herb, though.

Updated On: 7/2/08 at 11:20 AM

[DG]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 11:24am

They are all bad. In fact, as a service to humanity, they should all be gathered together and sent to me for safe disposal.

[javero]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 11:34am

Libertarian here who advocates decriminalizing ALL recreational drugs.

Decriminalize the sex trade nationwide as well while we're at it.

Regulate (translation: tax) both pastimes on the supply-side and let the marketplace dictate rates.

A colleague of mine suggests that prostitution will never be decriminalized nationwide because conservatives would balk at the notion of same-sex work.

I'd like to the violence removed from both the drug and sex trades. They'll always be a blackmarket but our experience with prohibition & HIV/AIDS should have taught us something about human nature by now.

Updated On: 7/2/08 at 11:34 AM

[DAME]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 11:56am

"as a service to humanity, they should all be gathered together and sent to me for safe disposal."

DG.. so that is how your always well supplied.

[shameless]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 12:03pm

I know that I have an addictive personality, so I've always stayed away from anything harder than marijuana. But, I'm also a control freak when it comes to my own behavior, so I never even liked being high that much.

That being said, I think marijuana should be legalized. I don't know enough about magic mushrooms to say.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 12:06pm

So happy to live in a state where my Marijuana and marriage are legal.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 12:06pm

"Regulate (translation: tax) both pastimes on the supply-side and let the marketplace dictate rates. "

Javero, I thought libertarians hated taxes?

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 12:09pm

While I do not do any drugs, many of my friends do. While a large number of drugs (Meth) are just too bad to legalize I believe that some are perfectly fine.
The only reason that Marijuana is illegal is because the politicians needed something to make Mexico appear evil. Before being made illegal hemp was one of the top crops in this country (George Washington's top crop) and you could even pay your taxes with it.
I truly believe that legalizing Marijuana really could help our country's economy.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 12:10pm

But, I'm also a control freak when it comes to my own behavior

This is true. "I am just gonna stay on the floor. It's safer, I think."

[shameless]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 12:16pm

See, and that was just beer and tequila!

Btw, you are MEAN!

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 12:19pm

I know. I am going to hell.