Drug Legalization

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Ok, what better for a philosophy, religion, and POLITICS forum than a thread on everyone's favorite topic: DRUG LEGALIZATION!! ! Ok, I am going to set up a poll and then everyone else can pick options, state opinions and argue ideas ALL for my amusement!

Really though, we don't have a thread like this on this forum right now(at least not on the top and I am not a necro so.... anyway), but it is a nice topic.

Last edited by Awesomelyglorious on 05 Mar 2008, 10:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

legalize everything

I've never heard one rational argument for why marijuana should be illegal. It is safer and causes less problems than alcohol but I don't hear anyone trying to ban alcohol.

I feel the same way. FDA tries banns things that used to be legal but alcohol. I'm a recovering alcoholic myself and I think that's crazy.

I don’t think the mere possession or ingestion of any drug should be considered a criminal act. Selling or distributing hard drugs should remain illegal. I would completely legalize only marijuana and the milder hallucinogens. They could be regulated.

I'd be open to legalizing pot if and ONLY if there were strict bans on smoking it out in public. We don't need to be getting secondhand highs now. Plus it smells like cat s**t.

Certain drugs like pot and shrooms should be treated like alcohol. Hard drugs like heroin and coke should be treated as contraband like cuban cigars. It should be illegal to import it, export it, sell it, but not possess it in small quantities. Still, i don't think any plant or natural plant product should be illegal. It's dumb to criminalize a green thing that grows in the ground.

I completely agree with you. Only mass production and distribution should be considered criminal.

If someone wants to grow their own poppies and make heroin for themselves they shouldn't be thrown in jail for it. If someone decides to become a junkie it's their own damn fault. They can be disqualified from jobs and certain government services if they refuse to get clean, but they shouldn't be considered criminals.

Legalize and collect taxes. I'm surprised most governments haven't already.

Cocaine used to be legal in the US. Anyone wonder how the popular soda coca-cola or coke got its name? The coca part comes from cocaine, one of the ingredients used to make it before the government banned it. Children who drank coke were using cocaine. Cocaine has many benefits, it acts as an anti-depressant, increases energy, and makes people feel good. It was used in dentistry until Novacane (or the new cocaine) was invented to replace it. The problem with cocaine is that some people abused it. Ritalin and other stimulants really aren't much different than cocaine and meth. The difference it that the dosage is much less than the amount used to get high and it's taken in a different form that isn't absorbed as quickly so it produces a moderate benefit for hours instead of an intense high that lasts minutes.

Racism may be one reason why these drugs were banned based on some of the history I've read such as the quotes below indicate. Some people think the war on drugs is an excuse to lock up black people. I think they may be right.

"The New York Times published a story that alleged "most of the attacks upon white women of the South are the direct result of the 'cocaine-crazed' Negro brain." The story asserted that "Negro cocaine fiends are now a known Southern menace." (4) These stories were in part motivated by a desire to persuade Southern members of Congress to support the proposed Harrison Narcotics Act, which would greatly expand the federal government's power to control drugs.(5) This lie was also necessary since, even though drugs were widely used in America, very little crime was associated with the users.(6)"

http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/positio ... istory.cfm

Ephedrine used to be used in diet pills. I don't agree with it being made into meth but I think that's the real reason why they banned it. The original reason was that it caused heart attacks. That stuff was out for a very long time, and the percentage of heart attacks are just the same as would be caffeine pills. They should at least be honest when they discuss this issue.

If drugs really make people commit crimes, then we can lock them up for the crimes they commit. However, I don't think it's right to lock up people because someone thinks they might commit a crime in the future.

This reminds me of the pre-crime division in the movie Minority Report. When the government locks up people in prison for using drugs recreationally or confines people with mental problems to hospitals, what they are really doing is detaining a person because they might commit a crime in the future.

I don't think people should be locked up and have their freedom taken away unless they actually did something wrong. Pre-crime laws aren't compatible with a free society.

I'm Presbyterian, so I come from a tradition that supported Prohibition. I voted legalize everything, though. Freedom and personal responsibility and all that crap. Your arguments in later parts of the thread are getting a bit absurd, though. Cocaine is bad for you. End of story. I would drink mercury before I used cocaine. Yes, it was used in Coca-Cola before they realized how bad it was for you. They also used laudanum (opium and alcohol) as a painkiller. That destroyed a lot of lives when people were prescribed painkillers and became opium addicts as a result.

Whatever's already legal, plus weed. Weed is not the most horrible drug, to be honest, and legalizing it would mean people could get it clean. The other drugs are just horrible and legalizing them would be... well, wrong.

Honestly, I'm all for banning alcohol and cigs, but realistically, that's never going to happen.