Drugs are not the problem, prohibition is.

In the first half of the 20th century, heroin was completely legal in the UK and regularly prescribed by doctors, and there were only a handful of addicts in the entire country. It was only after it was outlawed that it started to become a problem.

Legalising recreational drugs has two major positive effects. It makes them cheap, which eliminates most of the social problems associated with drug addiction, and it makes them clean, which eliminates many of the health risks. It also takes control of the industry - one of the most lucrative in the world - out of the hands of criminals. It is no coincidence that the golden age of organised crime was in the US during the 1920s.

A weed ATM? Awesome! Too bad you have to be sick to use it.

"Legalising recreational drugs has two major positive effects. It makes them cheap, which eliminates most of the social problems associated with drug addiction, and it makes them clean, which eliminates many of the health risks."

Like with cigarettes? ROFL sometimes you people kill me. Cigarettes are safer? Hahahahaha.

Your evidence of heroine in the U.K is ancedotal for numerous reasons that are probably not worth going into The main one being the lack of true independent research. While organized crime was very high in the 1920's do not forget about thee explosion of crime in the 60's 70's and early to mid 80's. It was not organized crime, but it was way worse than the crime rates of the 1920's. Especially the seventies. The 20's are glamorized by people looking to make money because there are true heroes and villians.

Have you not seen the number of addicts to opiate based drugs go ape-shit in the past few years? Most of them are taking legal drugs. Some drugs used to detox are just as addictive as the street drug they were detoxing from. There is no clear problem other than poor decision making.

Phendrana said: First chart: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5230006.stm PDF of original study: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmsctech/1031/1031.pdf Second chart: http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/50773?&print=yes#50979 Unfortunately a lot of people aren't very good at moderation lol That's why there's 300 lb people eating at McDonald's every day. Or using every free moment to play MMOs. Or contantly having sex/looking at porn. People abuse a lot of things besides drugs, but none of them have as much stigma attached. Sorry if I'm derailing the thread a bit. I'm not trying to advocate the use of drugs or anything. Just stating some facts.

 The links are interesting reads, thanks. There is a difference between obsessive compulsive behavior and chemical addiction. Some of the reward mechanisms are the same. There are some reward mechanisms that are only activated through the use of chemicals and some of the reward mechanisms have a genetic basis in how strongly they work (or don't work).

GhaudePhaede010 said: "Legalising recreational drugs has two major positive effects. It makes them cheap, which eliminates most of the social problems associated with drug addiction, and it makes them clean, which eliminates many of the health risks." Like with cigarettes? ROFL sometimes you people kill me. Cigarettes are safer? Hahahahaha. Your evidence of heroine in the U.K is ancedotal for numerous reasons that are probably not worth going into The main one being the lack of true independent research. While organized crime was very high in the 1920's do not forget about thee explosion of crime in the 60's 70's and early to mid 80's. It was not organized crime, but it was way worse than the crime rates of the 1920's. Especially the seventies. The 20's are glamorized by people looking to make money because there are true heroes and villians. Have you not seen the number of addicts to opiate based drugs go ape-shit in the past few years? Most of them are taking legal drugs. Some drugs used to detox are just as addictive as the street drug they were detoxing from. There is no clear problem other than poor decision making.

I don't understand why you're bringing up cigarettes. Tobacco has never been illegal so there is absolutely no parallel. The point I was making is that most problems linked to drug addiction are caused by criminalisation. Forcing products into the black market inflates prices, which leads to people stealing to support their habit. An ounce of raw opium costs pence on the streets of Afghanistan, but processed into heroin will sells for hundreds of pounds on the streets of the UK. Being illegal also means that drugs get cut with other substances (which may or may not be harmful) and this makes it more difficult for drug users to judge an appropriate dose. It is actually rather difficult to unintentionally overdose on pure heroin if you know what you're doing.

And you're comment on rising crime in the '70s is the perfect illustration of my argument. The rise in crime was directly related to growth in the illegal drugs trade. It would never have happened if recreational drugs were not prohibited, because the trade would not be controlled by criminals.

The rise in addiction to prescription drugs is completely irrelevant because it does not have the myriad social problems associated with it that drugs like crack and heroin do. The reason is because the supply is cheap and clean. Sure, addiction is still a problem, but it is completely dwarfed by associated problems that come with criminalisation.

Here's a link to an article from The Guardian a few years back, which sums up my case:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,506559,00.html

 

And an article on the success of liberal drugs policy in Zurich, from The Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/heroin-the-solution-480734.html

fkusumot said: Phendrana said: First chart: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5230006.stm PDF of original study: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmsctech/1031/1031.pdf Second chart: http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/50773?&print=yes#50979 Unfortunately a lot of people aren't very good at moderation lol That's why there's 300 lb people eating at McDonald's every day. Or using every free moment to play MMOs. Or contantly having sex/looking at porn. People abuse a lot of things besides drugs, but none of them have as much stigma attached. Sorry if I'm derailing the thread a bit. I'm not trying to advocate the use of drugs or anything. Just stating some facts. The links are interesting reads, thanks. There is a difference between obsessive compulsive behavior and chemical addiction. Some of the reward mechanisms are the same. There are some reward mechanisms that are only activated through the use of chemicals and some of the reward mechanisms have a genetic basis in how strongly they work (or don't work).

 I agree completely. You should always fully research what you're doing, but you should also know yourself and how your mind works before you even consider taking a substance.

I used to own a restaurant, and managed a hotel, and weezy is right. A lot of people do drugs, you would be surprised. Not all addicts or users are junkies. I do not use any illegal drugs.

First off, I think a lot of people didn't read the article. It's not a vending machine in the middle of the street, it's in a building with security, and you need to take in your perscription and I.D. and get fingerprinted before using your credit card to pay for it. I'm actually not even sure why it's in a vending machine, as it pretty much just seems like a limited pharmacy at this point.

Anyways, I think Marijuana is a fantastic drug and I greatly prefer it to alcohol. It's less addictive, You can't OD on it and have you ever heard of someone going on a high rage?

If you don't condone marijuana, that's fine by me. If you're opposed to weed but drink alcohol... Well that's kind of hypocritical don't you think? The U.S. in particular has this strange hatred of Marijuana, not even wanting it used for medicinal purposes, which is outright silly.

i smoked marijuana once in high school. didn't much care for it.

My god. Someone lock this hideous abomination of a thread. People my god! You are encouraging the use of something that kills you! Also this website isn't open to just adults, there may be little kids on this site too! And they're reading this thread thinking pot is okay! Someone just lock this for crimes against common sense.

dtewi said: My god. Someone lock this hideous abomination of a thread. People my god! You are encouraging the use of something that kills you! Also this website isn't open to just adults, there may be little kids on this site too! And they're reading this thread thinking pot is okay! Someone just lock this for crimes against common sense.

Congratulations, you just posted the most ignorant, least informed reply to the topic yet. As far as I can tell, it's been a discussion about the relative dangers of pots, and the general conclusion has been, while its definitely not a smart choice, and its not for some people, its generally harmless compared to most (all?) other drugs. Which is truth; if kids are reading this, they're simply being exposed to a fair, balanced dialogue on pot, instead of the false propaganda typically shoved down their throats.