Do you think drugs should be legalized?

[Maud Fitch]

Yes, they did legalize marijuana in Colorado and about 97 people died of overdose on the first day.

.....And here's me thinking it's a slow painful death from lung cancer.....

[srittyx3]

Depends on the drug.
Marijuana is a gateway drug, so I'm not sure legalizing it would be a smart idea. & also, it's not like people that are not authorized use drugs on the low.

[suzy1124]

Depends on the drug.
Marijuana is a gateway drug, so I'm not sure legalizing it would be a smart idea. & also, it's not like people that are not authorized use drugs on the low.

i knew i liked you for a good reason!.....right on srittyx3!


quote="Maud Fitch"]

Yes, they did legalize marijuana in Colorado and about 97 people died of overdose on the first day.

.....And here's me thinking it's a slow painful death from lung cancer.....[/quote]


Maude! lolol, good one!

[chaser]

What the government should have learned, after ALL this time, is that you cannot legislate morality. They've tried with alcohol, prostitution and drugs. Look where that's got them. That being said, I'm glad those of us in Colorado took the first step on eradicating this ridiculous prohibition against a harmless plant. It's much safer than alcohol, you would need to smoke a few tons of it to overdose, people are generally easier to get along with who smoke pot and the biggest complaints are coming from those who don't smoke it. It's like anything else---if you don't like it, don't do it. Do not presume to demand that "I" live by your whims and prejudices. We have a place for you if you don't like the new laws here in Colorado. We call it Wyoming.

[marissamace92]

Which drugs? Definitely not all!

Marijuana - I'm for legalization. It's not going anywhere, people have been using it without caring whether it's legal or not for many years. Why not make it legal and make a profit from it?

Alcohol is much worse, in my opinion. If anything should be illegal, alcohol is the one.

[Fran]

What the government should have learned, after ALL this time, is that you cannot legislate morality. They've tried with alcohol, prostitution and drugs. Look where that's got them. That being said, I'm glad those of us in Colorado took the first step on eradicating this ridiculous prohibition against a harmless plant. It's much safer than alcohol, you would need to smoke a few tons of it to overdose, people are generally easier to get along with who smoke pot and the biggest complaints are coming from those who don't smoke it. It's like anything else---if you don't like it, don't do it. Do not presume to demand that "I" live by your whims and prejudices. We have a place for you if you don't like the new laws here in Colorado. We call it Wyoming.

Ouch!

[Loveabull]

Way to go Chaser...foxy avatar too

[needcowbell]

Just the ones I like. All my faves come in capsules. I like:
1. The white ones with the royal blue strip around the middle.
2. The yellow ones with red stripes.
3. Tan, with an "E" in the middle.
4. Blue and white ones. The blue ones are better, because they have more of the good stuff in
them.
I'd like the taxes on the drugs I purchase to go to treatment programs and to repeal stupid laws
like the marijuana law in Colorado. Whenever I smoke marijuana, I drive my car into the sides of buildings
and/or other cars.
A CONCERNED CITIZEN

[suzy1124]

What the government should have learned, after ALL this time, is that you cannot legislate morality. They've tried with alcohol, prostitution and drugs. Look where that's got them. That being said, I'm glad those of us in Colorado took the first step on eradicating this ridiculous prohibition against a harmless plant. It's much safer than alcohol, you would need to smoke a few tons of it to overdose, people are generally easier to get along with who smoke pot and the biggest complaints are coming from those who don't smoke it. It's like anything else---if you don't like it, don't do it. Do not presume to demand that "I" live by your whims and prejudices. We have a place for you if you don't like the new laws here in Colorado. We call it Wyoming.

Youth speaks...

[chaser]

Not youth---I'm probably older than you are. I'm just not for stupid laws. It cost us billions yearly to prosecute and incarcerate people for a plant. One that doesn't even cause you to be violent or even marginally addicted. One that has more medicinal uses and is much better for your body than the toxic swill pharmaceutical companies are more than happy to shove down your throat. One that is massively better for you than alcohol. It doesn't cause the deaths, violence or the loss of control that alcohol does. It doesn't cause the extreme psychosis that alcohol, or say, meth can cause. It doesn't have the side effects that all pharmaceuticals have. It's easier on your system than Tylenol. It has been proven effective on glaucoma, cancer rehab---in a few cases doctors and patients have found it has been known to shrink tumors and eliminate seizures.
Most people that are against it don't have the first clue about it---they want to hold on and cuddle the scary stories that the government told you for YEARS to keep up the facade and the prison sentences rolling. Even Sanja Gupta said that he has found no reason to keep pot illegal:
"After traveling the world, meeting with medical experts and medical marijuana patients, Gupta concludes "we have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that."
If you really take the time to investigate it, you'll find most of the horror stories are just that---stories.
Personally, yes, I do smoke it. I have a medical license for it. I have complications from breaking my back and a spine they're talking about fusing. Rather than take the percodan every day as the doctors prescribed, I'd rather go with something a bit less addicting and easier on my system.
And the entire Wyoming crack was somewhat of a joke. One of the sheriffs from Wyoming said what people did in Colorado was one thing, but don't cross the border thinking it's OK to do it in Wyoming because he'd have to arrest them.

[Fran]

@chaser
I don't have an opinion one way or the other on this issue but I'm just curious why do you think successive governments have continued to authorise the spending of billions on fighting the drug trade - if it's all so harmless then what's in it for them?

[Loveabull]

Because they're making more money fighting it than finding a way to regulate the sale. Yes they could make money taxing weed just like cigarettes. But since weed is far easier to grow than tobacco how could they keep private growers from making a profit? You'd think someone would take into account how much it costs to keep a prisoner in the federal system that's overcrowded to begin with.

Putting someone away for minor possession...I'm not talking about somebody in possession of coke or a UHaul van full of controlled substance...the dealers they need to stop...but just for personal use...some of those people could actually be out and productive citizens, but having a federal offence on your record almost encourages offenders to get busted again. In some countries addiction is seen as a treatable illness not a crime.

Speaking of treatable illnesses...it's sad how difficult the health care system makes it for people to get the psych meds they need. Legal, by prescription...the clinics are overflowing. I know someone who is a local social worker. She said that when patients leave the hospital after having mental issues they're directed to out patient groups. There is a set time frame for how many days in the hospital, how many days in out patient.

If there is a waiting list at their surrounding clinics they might have to wait a month or more. Unless they can find and afford a private doctor to write their prescriptions. For people on anti-seizure or anti-psychotics going off their medications even for a day or two can have devastating consequences. Waiting a month or two will send them back to square one in the treatment game...back to the hospital, out patient...oh unless there's a cap on how many hospital visits they get...then they're just plumb out of luck.

There has to be a better way, I don't know what on earth it is, but there has to be...

[chaser]

Quote from Fran---
I don't have an opinion one way or the other on this issue but I'm just curious why do you think successive governments have continued to authorise the spending of billions on fighting the drug trade - if it's all so harmless then what's in it for them? (quote---they won't let me link to your post, they think I'm spamming.)

Because there's big money in keeping it illegal. Consider Big Pharma---the Prison Industrial Complex, law enforcement---all these very powerful lobbies have a lot to lose by making it legal. The science is there, marijuana combats many problems today---take just seizures for example. Big Pharma stands to lose BILLIONS of dollars on the legalization of marijuana when patients discover that there's a cheaper and better solution without the side effects of the toxins they're using. The PIC, stands to lose billions by not being paid by the government to house marijuana related prisoners any more. Law enforcement? Same thing, not only do their quotas fly out the window, but they lose asset forfeiture. People have lost their houses, their vehicles---trillions of dollars worth of goods since that particular law went into effect. They lose that on marijuana related crime which is a big chunk of their income. Drug rehab? No longer an issue for marijuana users if (when) it becomes legal all over.
You're looking at some really heavy hitters that have so much to lose by making it legal. And these are the people that buy and sell politicians like trading cards. However, there comes a point---we incarcerate more people than any other country on the planet. We warehouse 730 per 100,000 citizens in prison---compare that to Russia that incarcerates 577 per 100,000. Russia is number two on the list---but we far outstrip even them.
Go to any Prison Industrial Complex trade show and you can see how much money is invested in warehousing people. It's a booming business. Private prisons house more than 2 million people in the US and the number grows every year. And there's money in those prisoners! Not only do they get paid by the government for each inmate they house, they "farm" the prisoners out to corporations that only have to pay a prisoner a pittance---say a dollar an hour with no benefits or medical insurance needed. You would be appalled at the number of Fortune 500 companies that use prison labor. The private prison gets paid from companies, then turn around and charge inmates for everything---housing, clothing, food. Just to make a collect call from a prison costs an insane amount of money for the families---sometimes upwards of 20-30.00 per call. They get a cut of that, too.
It all boils down to money. But the numbers are now in the corner of marijuana---people are tired of paying to incarcerate people for what amounts to a ludicrous law. Again---you can't legislate morality. Not and expect to win. And so many smoke it now that the old "horror stories" don't hold the same power they used to. The 60's generation are now the ones that are retired---everyone that came after that grew up with a much better attitude about pot and they're better informed. Not quite as willing to swallow the government line.

[Bighuey]

Thats interesting about the prisons, I didnt know that. Another thing too is the pay-offs the big drug cartels pay to the powers that be. Here in Mexico thats common knowledge, but it happens in the US too. Every once in a while they have an "arranged" drug bust to make the general public think wow, they are really clamping down on these guys. But nothing changes. The only way it will stop is for people to change, but thats not likely to ever happen.

[suzy1124]

most kids go thru the " obligatory " drug phase as a " right of passage "....as they mature they decide to live in REALITY...

The ones who don't choose this path, end up DEAD, or at least " brain-dead "...nothing more PATHETIC than a mixed up failure-prone SR citizen LOSER who can't even figure out how to make a living at a meaningful job...

in their denial, they fail to consider their " drug habit " into the equation...( same for boozers )

KUDOS to all the rock bands ( once " druggies " ) who have given up drugs...........

Mick Jagger and his buddy Keith, would never be where he is today, STILL ROCKING!, as are so many others...

No mattuh they both look like a truck ran over them, but hey! ya end up w/the face you deserve..............