Your view on drugs

[silvermirage]

(Note: While techniqually, medicine, alcohol, and cigarette are all drugs, in the context of this post, only illegal substances are considered "drugs")

Personally, I hate drugs, I hate drug dealers, I hate drug users, and I'll even go as far as saying cigarettes should be made illegal. Alcohol is more acceptable for me seeing as how it doesn't smell like crap, and there are at least health benefits associated with it when used moderately.

Stereotyping a bit, I know, but in my mind, drug dealers, and especially drug users, are the type of people we can live without, your house got broken into? Probably a druggie. Your car's windscreen was smashed?? Probably a drug user. Your pet dog died from cancer? Its caused by drugs.

The fact that at where I work, we always have losers coming in asking for change or pen and paper ain't making me any more fond of them.

Recently an Australian was caught smuggling drugs into some Asian country, as a result, he was put to death. A huge issue was made of it, some thought his punishment did not fit the crime, others believed that his death is well justified. I'm with the latter group. While I feel sorry for his friends and family, the only way to be 100% sure he won't ever make the same stupid mistake again was to shorten his lifespan considerably. Ofcourse, IMO the same punishment should also apply to murderers and rapists. (Well... maybe not rapists... that'll probably result in more trouble...)

I wish the 9 Australian in Bali jail right now the best of luck... in their next life.

[Fenix]

Well, there are many types of drugs.. In my country all drugs, like hash, e, pot, kokain, heroin and so on are all illegal. Only alcohol and cigarettes are legal.

I think this is bullshit, drugs should be legalized. I, myself drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes during weekdays and sometimes smoke hash at parties. I've always been told, that in the modern society you have rights to do whatever you like, as longs as you don't cause any kind of pain to other people - this means: if I want to take drugs, so be it. Why should some politicians with aboslutely no knowledge on the area choose what I should do?

Now I talk about hash, as that is what I know the most about. There is absolutely no reason to make hash illegal, still they have done it. Alcohol is far more damaging to your body than hash; alcohol kills your braincells, while hash only makes them sleep for some time.

In my country, if someone steals your car, it's probably some young drunk kids, if someone steals something from you, it's probably a drunk you guy or girl trying to prove himself/herself to some friends. If someone attacks you and beats you up randomly on the streets (yep, this happens a lot) they're probably drunk.

My point: in my country misdeeds are not done by drug users, but by drunk people - it's a fact. Ok, each monday you can read in the papers, that several people have died from taking too much e, but I don't have pity on them; it's their own fault.

About the smelling; in my country, there has been a rage against cigarettes, 'cause non-smokers think they smell bad. I think it's ok cigarettes get banned in the restaurants and places where non-smokers and smokers sit next to each other, but on the streets? No way! The smoke gets caught by the wind and disappears (ok, doesn't disappear, but..). In the trains there was one carriage for smokers and in the rest, smoking was banned. Now that carriage is gone, 'cause the non-smokers didn't want it.. Wait, can't they just sit in one of the 100 other carriages? Probably not...

If drugs were made legal, you could remove all the underground selling of drugs and thereby the problems many drugusers experience when they can't pay. It would be cheaper, 'cause it wouldn't be so difficult to transport it into the country and it could be sold, like in Holland (it is Holland, right?) in cafes and such. Also the state could make money on it, due to taxes.

So stop all the rambling against drugs, when you don't have any knowledge about it.

Ok, this was a bit incoherently written, but I'm tired..
_________________
"It is also paradox that the earth moves round the sun, and that water consists of two highly inflammable gases. Scientific truth is always paradox, if judged by every-day experience, which catches only the delusive appearance of things."
-Karl Marx

[Ahala]

long posts...

my 2 cents on this is,

I dont like drugs but i dont care if other people use them.


and that is it.

[XeroFaith]

To say this bluntly i think drugs are bad in general. Medical wise i say its good, but other ways abusing it, using it because you are bored it is very bad.

[1ce]

In my country and most of North America, when your house gets broken into, its a crook, who most likely desperately needs money, not necessarily a drug user. When your car windscreen is smashed, its either by a drunk, a group of thugs causing ruckus, or an accident. Pet dog dying from cancer? I don't know.

Different countries have different laws and extremes to those laws. For the Australian, he was unlucky enough to stumble upon a country with high penalties for drugs, or possessions, thus why he was put to death.

In countries such as Canada and the United States, you don't get put to death penalties for drugs. You simply get arrested, punished (by community service) or juvie. I for one should know since i've been caught with possession of illicit drugs and weapons - furthurmore, punished for it.

Overall, I don't believe drugs are too much of a bad thing. If you use them, you've taken responsibility of your own acts and whatever happens to you from drug effects is your own problem. As Fenix has said, as long as you don't harm anyone else, you're not doing anything wrong.

[AuraBlaze]

The thing about drugs is that it's addicting and this causes people to waste money on stuff which they should be spending on other things. They can't stop and they lose all will power and want more and more. This eventually makes you fall ill and possibly die or other serious side affect especially when you take high doses often. Also because not everyone is rich they will usually go to high stakes such as stealing from their parents and friends, prostitution and other things.

So my stake on drugs is that it's pretty bad, sure it might be fun to do them but overall it negativly affects your life and causes you to head into a wrong direction.

[1Silent_Angel1]

Mmmmm well, there is this old dealer who is always telling me "Drugs is bad, dont use them....sell them", himself is addicted to heroin thou, and herion is the only thing i am scared in this world...and everyone should be too...
Its funny how years ago, at least I know when i was very young, we would see the old junkies and beat em up or laugh at em ( and there were many of em cause i live very close to the rehabilitation or whatever -ion center ), but as time went drugs became the center of everything...everything now goes round em', everyday someones buying...ringing, searching.Its sad thou, but once your in you dance till the end of the beat.And as we all know...we all die, some sooner some later, drugs for instance make you die younger, we maybe not wanna notice that, or say heh one joint, what bad came come from it, pills make you dance till morning, its all fun.When you sniff your first gram, WHOA...i am Pablo Escobar....damn, its all one big damn movie.Everyone tres to talk to you, but who listens to em', so we dont know a damn and go on, living our movie.But the moment the heroin starts to flow in your veines you should know it will be horror one
Its true, junkies, drunkards steal, brake, kill, dance, but many other people do that too...everyone finds their own place and ways to survive or strive for power and wealth.
Hehe, since yesterday in my country smoking in public places is not allowed...its the dumbest thing i have ever seen in my life but as they say
braking the law makes everything taste sweeter
As for alchohol...we all know bout it don we

[Jsy3k]

[quosimos]

hash is another name for marijuana which by the way is not just a harmless recreational drug. it would be great if everybody could handle drugs, use them responsibly and only now and then for a little fun. But that's not the case.

[1ce]

[CrimsonShadow2]

some serious thoughts here

well my view on drugs(illegal junk)is that its just plan pointless...ill admit ive done some before...but nothin good came out of it...like Jsy3k said...even though you may not being hurting ppl physically, you may be hurting ppl emotionally...even if its just for fun or to have a good time, was it worth it in the end? blowing all your money on somthin useless and cant even use again...and then gong back for more just to feel that sensation again...theres better things in life than that...you just have to find them

Fenix said:

[Jsy3k]

Aaah, if you are talking about marijuana or cannabis, then I knew what they are. Looks like I am still young to the American terms for the drugs. I usually use the offical name of the drugs like heroin instead of pots (Is this correct?).
_________________

Innocent Tranquility

The Smile that defies all thoughts of rationality[/

[1ce]

[chingu]

My opinion is based on both personal experience and common sense. Drugs which are illegal in the U.S. should stay illegal. They're too easy to abuse and the vast majority of them don't offer any benefits, medical or otherwise, and severely alter people's judgments even in small quantities. Even marijuana, which is legal only when being used for prescriptive purposes, will often cause an individual to seek out harder drugs for a harder high. This is how my brother started out before he eventually got involved with crystal meth, and that crap royally fucked him up. And was he the only one affected? Hell no. Our entire family was affected by his damn habit, from his violent mood swings and temper to his constant stealing. He couldn't support himself because he couldn't keep a damn job, and he was always hunting us down for money, literally harrassing everyone until we'd be left with no other options but to call the police on him. We tried helping him, but he didn't want to help himself, and most people in his condition wouldn't even know where to start once they're addicted to some kind of drug.

Just as I don't believe that a person has the right to take his or her own life, even if he or she isn't "harming" anyone else by doing so, I don't believe that drugs should be made legal just because the people involved aren't hurting anyone else but themselves. Why? Because that's a fallible and naive belief. Family and friends always suffer the consequences right along with the users/addicts, and if that isn't enough, the addict is also a detriment to society. They can't hold jobs, they get others involved, and the breakdown of themselves also equals a breakdown of community. Everyone is a part of society, and when one person is suffering, a part of society is suffering, too. Me, I don't believe in looking the other way just because I'm not being directly affected. That's both selfish and obtuse.

Maybe making substances illegal won't prevent people from obtaining and using them, but it does provide regulated punishment and required counseling which has in many cases helped enough lost souls to be worth the time and trouble. For example, mothers who have lost their children to social services due to their bad drug habits have often worked hard to clean themselves up to get those children back, something they probably wouldn't have done without that necessary intervention. For those that don't really believe in effective proactive law enforcement, the law could be more for intervention than prevention. Personally, I believe in both because I've seen it work both ways. Sometimes it doesn't work. Other times it does.

My brother was arrested numerous times on drug charges, and the system had failed in all those times but one, and not because the programs themselves are ineffective, but because they're severely understaffed and under-financed to handle the huge workload. There are just too many people with problems, so they often get thrown back out without having received any help at all. But the system does not always fail, despite its problems. The final time my brother was arrested, bail was not posted for him and he was forced to wait in jail before his court hearing. Because he was not free on the streets, he went into withdrawal and his system was clean after about four weeks. After that, he was forced to remember everything that he had done both to himself and to everyone else as a result of his drug habit, something he hadn't considered much until his mind was finally clear. The guilt that followed was enough to keep him clean once he was finally let back out. This may not work with everyone, but it worked for my brother, and that's good enough for me. He'd still be out there, maybe even dead, if it hadn't been for the law.

Intervention is everything.

EDIT: and another thing, http://www.valdosta.edu/aode/alcoholfacts.htm

[Fenix]

Haven't read all the replies yet, 'cause of lack of time, but just another thing: In Holland they legalised hash, which actually caused less criminal acts done by drug addicts and it helped the government with more money. All in all, it was a good decision. But in many other countries people are scared of drugs, mainly because they don't know anything about it, and therefore they wont legalise it. This is what I think is bullshit - they make something illegal, because they are scared of it even though they know nothing about it. It's like nuclear power..
_________________
"It is also paradox that the earth moves round the sun, and that water consists of two highly inflammable gases. Scientific truth is always paradox, if judged by every-day experience, which catches only the delusive appearance of things."
-Karl Marx