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  Weydon
  December 1, 2007
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  Certain drugs bring about harm to others. You won't lose your job and commit crimes to get another fix of french fries. Also, it's a lot easier to get addicted to heroin, and more immediately dangerous, than it is to a Big Mac.
  
  There is certain merit behind some of the drug laws, I think. Interesting points though, I do think drugs should have a different way of being handled within the law, and many should be legalized.
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  petethemeat
  December 1, 2007
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  The only reason you will lose your job or commit crime is due to it's illegality. Heroin users can function while having an addiction and prescribing the heroin would remove all the criminality and health issues related to it. this would help stabilise the user, who would eventually be able to come off it or at least manage it- which is relatively harmless and is certainly more cost effective than the current system.
  
  Drugs should not be exempt from laws, yet it is only when they are legalised that they are truly controlled- black markets have no regulations whatsoever.
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  aerozeppelin
  December 1, 2007
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  "Certain drugs bring about harm to others. You won't lose your job and commit crimes to get another fix of french fries."
  
  In a way that's true, but the only reason people commit crimes to get any drug is because of the hyper-inflated black market prices, which mean they resort to stealing to cover the cost. If drugs such as heroin and cocaine were legal but carefully controlled, the prices would be much lower, and people wouldn't have to steal to pay for them, just like you don't see people stealing to pay for their cigarettes or alcohol (well, hardly ever). Loss of jobs would also be much lower because employers may fire someone just for having a drug conviction, which again is only created by the drug's illegality.
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  Weydon
  December 2, 2007
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  An addict is not looking to calmly regulate themselves off of the drug. People are also addicted to prescription medicine and there is a healthy black market for that as well. It's just not as thrown about in the news and movies because prescription drugs usually aren't that dangerous to begin with. So you have a Vicadin or an oxycotin addiction? It's certainly not healthy for you and may lead to trouble down the road, but there are worse things you could be going through as long as you're careful.
  
  Philanthropic facilities giving away free heroin may hold someone over while looking for their next big score, but that's about it. They're not going to go "Thanks for all the free, clean drugs. That was a good idea. I'm gonna go lead a productive life now." They're going to go "Thanks for all the free, clean drugs. You won't give me anymore because I've been given the proper weening off? Okay, let me go get some of my own." Even someone who has successfully gotten over an addiction for many years shouldn't SEE the use of it as it will bring a tweaking temptation to them. Relapses happen because of the inexplicable thought that they could control themselves if they just do a little for old time's sake, after seeing someone else use--even in a movie sometimes. Regulated doses will help the horrendous detox, but the problem is that the bigger the addict the higher the tolerance. A small dose won't do much.
  
  Perhaps it is an unfair bias to present, but I cannot imagine either of you have had someone you love become addicted to heroin, crack, or even meth. You may see these people tweaking out on the street, begging for money, being a dirty looking whore who must get some ugly customers. And it's somewhat easy to ignore them a little because there's nothing you can do, and you may shake your head and go "If only there was a better way for these people..." But unless you know them, unless you've seen the transformation, it's just completely different. You loved the person for a reason. You knew them quite well, and enjoyed what you knew and trusted them. And gradually they turn into something else entirely. It's horrifying to see. Even the health affects make them look like skeletons of themselves. Then they lose their jobs, and steal. And who they steal from first? The safest targets--the people that trust them. Then after that trying confrontation and many others, you have no choice but to give up on them. And spend night after night trying to not think about what they're doing on the streets, or what they used to be like when they were the person you knew. And even days where you're better, you always know other people that cared for these addicts as well, and watching them go through turmoil isn't uplifting either.
  
  I can only see providing opportunities for these people to get a little of what makes them feel good inside as a hinder to their potential detox.
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  Applehead
  December 2, 2007
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  Well said weydon, your post is a sharp reminder of friends i have tried not to think about for some time
  
  "In a way that's true, but the only reason people commit crimes to get any drug is because of the hyper-inflated black market prices, which mean they resort to stealing to cover the cost."
  
  Drugs these days are actually a lot cheaper these days and if they were legalized would probably be taxed and therefore more expensive. People steal because the drug becomes all there is to there life. They give up on everything around them. Yes they may be able to pull off there jobs for a while but eventually if the habit persists they will face decline and then drop out of work altogether. Then they got themselves a habit that they cannot afford to feed. It could even be that the cost of there habit exceeds their income. As weydon said tolerance changes with time and so the bigger the habit the more money the user nust find. Heroin in particular is the most horrific drug I have seen. It tears away a ersons entire being they become infused with this drug until it becomes them. No more enjoyment in life no more future just the next hit..desperation necessity hunger pain all for a drug that does what exactly?
  
  What a malicious lie to people this thing is. It makes me almost livid.
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  aerozeppelin
  December 2, 2007
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  "Drugs these days are actually a lot cheaper these days and if they were legalized would probably be taxed and therefore more expensive."
  
  That's absolutely not true at all. Cocaine and heroin, both of which should be almost worthless agricultural products, are turned into incredibly valuable commodities by the black market that our governments put them on. For both of these drugs, there is a mark-up of around 16 000% from source to user (http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,2214127,00.html). No other commodity, and specifically, no legal drug, has anything even close to this kind of profit involved. If they were in a legal, regulated market, there is absolutely no reason to believe they would be any more expensive than legal recreational drugs such as tobacco and alcohol.
  
  And I completely agree that an addiction can ruin someone's life and all they often care about is getting their next fix, what I strongly disagree with however, is that making that drug illegal is the way to deal with the problem. In fact it makes the problem much worse. It does not mean the drug is gone, it simply means that its production and supply is controlled by criminal gangs rather than strictly regulated government health authorities. And no confiscation of drugs by law enforcement has ever come even close to stopping the supply, it just drives prices up, leading to more stealing by addicts to get enough money to pay for these inflated prices. We all know what happened during alcohol prohibition in America, it helped establish the Mafia by giving them a huge source of income, and people became blind or died from contaminated alcohol. The exact same thing is happening with illegal drugs today, they provide criminals with enormous amounts of money and power, and many people die from overdoses due to contaminated drugs of unknown dosage. Not to mention all the money we're wasting on futile attempts to intercept drug gangs and incarcerating drug users, which could be spent on healthcare and honest education about drugs.
  
  Weydon, I would say that most addicts do wish to come off drugs, no-one wants to become a slave to a chemical. It's a miserable lifestyle. But how does treating these people as criminals help matters? They become more alienated from society, seen by many as inferior people and 'junkies', and have difficulty finding employment due to their criminal record. All factors which reduce their chances of coming off drugs and leading productive, healthy lives, and all factors that are created by the demonisation and criminalisation of drugs.
  
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  petethemeat
  December 2, 2007
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  You got most of my points down Aero-zeppelin.
  
  Contrary to popular belief- an addict does not want a bigger and bigger high- heroin for example only goes so far, and then it is required to feel normal- no high is aqquired whatsoever.
  
  Ella you surely know me well enough to realise I desire drugs legalised not because I live in a happy clappy world where drugs are magical and harmless- I know what they can do I am perhaps more versed in the harms of drugs than anyone here save Aerozeppelin.
  
  Drugs criminalised gives people criminal records- leading to fewer legitimate oppurtunities in life. Prostitution is a result of this addiction- prescribing these drugs is cheap and makes lives better for those on it.
  
  There is also the huge, huge reason that you are throwing people in jail who have harmed no-one but possibly themselves. Do not give me 'it funds drug gangs' or some other nonsensical statment because as you are surely aware these drug gangs only exist because of drugs illegality.
  
  $500bn a year you are giving to the black market. The second largest market in the world after oil (and by far the most profitable) Imagine what could be achieved with that tax revenue and how many legitimate jobs it would bring to the private sector.
  
  Weydon do you not see the lack of logic in your statement about legal drug addictions being less harmful! There are fewer overdoses, no people on the streets begging for legal drugs and while harmful to their health they are not taking over the lives of users as much. Do you honestly believe that all legal substances are much better than illegal? Carfentanyl ever heard of it? Well it has a potency of around 10,000 times that of morphine...
  
  Doses can be carefully measured for all addicts - giving them maintanence doses does not have to be set- they can be tailored to an individuals level of addiction.
  
  I can list you everyting Heroin does if you desire but that is pointless- the reason people become addicted to heroin is very similar to the mechanics of alcoholism- it makes you not care... Having a sad life is made worse with a heroin addiction and we can do little about the sadness of peoples lives on a national or global scale, yet heroin addiction is the one thing that can be controlled.
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  Weydon
  December 2, 2007
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  Aero- "Not to mention all the money we're wasting on futile attempts to intercept drug gangs and incarcerating drug users, which could be spent on healthcare and honest education about drugs."
  
  Agreed.
  
  "Weydon, I would say that most addicts do wish to come off drugs, no-one wants to become a slave to a chemical."
  
  Of course not. And I could not tell you how many times my heart has crumbled when addicts have told me this, wanting another chance at trust. I believe them because they are telling the truth. But they can't do it, whether they have the desire or not. Abandoning everything you ever knew about them is the only thing you can do to help. In two cases, I believe it contributed to REALLY making them realize they were losing something and sticking to their clean up. I still keep my distance from these people, but breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they are now in happier lives.
  
  "But how does treating these people as criminals help matters?"
  
  I don't think possession should get you put into jail, perhaps just a mandatory stay at a clinic to give the person a chance to get a better hold on their mind. Giving them baby doses of the thing that's taking them over isn't going to help any.
  
  "and have difficulty finding employment due to their criminal record. All factors which reduce their chances of coming off drugs and leading productive, healthy lives, and all factors that are created by the demonisation and criminalisation of drugs."
  
  That is why drug dealing should be absolutely criminalized. These people are making a profit off of ruining people's lives in the worst of ways.
  
  Pete-
  
  "
  Contrary to popular belief- an addict does not want a bigger and bigger high- heroin for example only goes so far, and then it is required to feel normal- no high is aqquired whatsoever.
  
  Ella you surely know me well enough to realise I desire drugs legalised not because I live in a happy clappy world where drugs are magical and harmless- I know what they can do I am perhaps more versed in the harms of drugs than anyone here save Aerozeppelin."
  
  These statements seem to contradict each other. You make it sound like after heroin has run its maximum course in the body, you become normal again as long as you keep taking a simple prescription of it. It's not a cup of coffee every day. It still messes you up, and you do need more of it to get just a taste of what you used to. During or after the horrid detox, your body will once again feel incredible under the influence. There would be no such thing as a relapse if that were not so. The prescription won't be enough for them. Even if they're so bad that weening them off a little is required to keep them healthy and sane, the heroin should at the very least be substituted with morphine.
  
  "Drugs criminalised gives people criminal records- leading to fewer legitimate oppurtunities in life."
  
  I think the sale should be punished by imprisonment, not the use.
  
  
  "Weydon do you not see the lack of logic in your statement about legal drug addictions being less harmful! There are fewer overdoses, no people on the streets begging for legal drugs and while harmful to their health they are not taking over the lives of users as much."
  
  That's only if you're taking it from the prescription only. I can't get prescribed Vicadin because I love it. But I can get it illegally and not overdose on it, because it's not AS addictive and easy to control.
  
  "Carfentanyl ever heard of it? Well it has a potency of around 10,000 times that of morphine..."
  
  Which is why it is a large animal tranquilizer. A human taking it would likely die without medical treatment, and after surviving would not have the euphoric rush of a lifetime. The only people prescribing this are veterinarians and animal rescue.
  
  "Doses can be carefully measured for all addicts - giving them maintanence doses does not have to be set- they can be tailored to an individuals level of addiction."
  
  I am essentially an alcoholic. I make a lot of jokes about it, and it doesn't often affect my work performance or family life, but I am well above what society deems the bare minimum of a casual drinker. I absolutely love it. I think about drinking all week long, and unless I try really hard to distract myself with exercise and people-time, I end up drinking by myself every weeknight. When I go out on the weekends I sometimes don't eat because it will weigh my stomach down. When the lights come on, if I'm still able to see, I go to someone's house and drink until the bars open again and repeat the process. I would never, in a million years, take a prescription level that just teases me with drunkenness but lets me function as a healthy member of society. Sad to say, it would almost break my heart--it is what I look forward to all week long. And I'm a functioning ALCOHOLIC. I sympathize with addicts, but I know what they are, and I know they will not sigh with relief that a piece of paper is telling them how much they should take from now on. They will get more illegally in supplement of the prescription.
  
  "I can list you everyting Heroin does if you desire but that is pointless- the reason people become addicted to heroin is very similar to the mechanics of alcoholism- it makes you not care... Having a sad life is made worse with a heroin addiction and we can do little about the sadness of peoples lives on a national or global scale, yet heroin addiction is the one thing that can be controlled."
  
  Being stabbed with a knife is very similar to being pricked with a pin. It's metal piercing your skin and making you bleed. But the majority of alcohol users, and even alcoholics, are in much more control and have much more time to develop their own tolerance understandings. Heroin gets you addicted fast, and most of its users are not waking up in the morning with an aspirin and able to wait until the next office party before they chase the dragon a little more.
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  petethemeat
  December 2, 2007
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  I would rather someone was prescribed heroin than was an alcoholic. Addicts are welcome to as much heroin as they desire, sure they will not live productive lives but that is the choice they take essentially. Heroin itself is physiologically mild. Having heroin always there for them allows them to live and maintain their life- no diseases from needles and no collapsed veins. Sure being zonked on Heroin all the time will result in you being about as exciting as a snail on valium, yet no crime is being committed, a person can live until 80 this way, hold down a job and subject to a cost/benefit analysis is shown to be far cheaper than what is currently being used- even if unlimited heroin is given for free.
  
  Yet anyone familiar with heroin addiction does most of the time want to quit- the highs have long since gone, and they just need it to function. Should they relapse... who cares? It has barely harmed them and they are in no rush to come off - it just makes sense to do so...
  
  I know my views sound incredibly strange to you, heroin is always regarded as the daemon drug that should always be illegal, but this is not working and is causing the dregs you see stealing and selling themselves.
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  Weydon
  December 2, 2007
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  But how will they maintain a job at all being under the influence? Also with unlimited heroin, with 20 times the normal dose not doing it for you anymore, what would stop the addict from upping it to lethal levels in an attempt feel like heaven again?
  
  I'm not basing heroin's dangers off what my grade school teachers told me. People I loved becoming perverse shadows of themselves, betraying the people most important to them. If all they needed to get better, to be back in my life the way things were, I would put all of my money into their habit. I make decent money. I drop out of school and give up alcohol and I can support my lost loved ones and a couple strangers to boot, just so hoards of other families and friends and lovers don't have to go through it all. It's worse then having them tragically die. It's seeing them dying right in front of you and not being able to save them. To only be able to tell them "No." Someone you love more than yourself, crying at your feet for twenty bucks.
  
  EDIT-I'd rather not many people have access to some of my most personal memories and regrets. Suffice to say, new readers, bad things happened and drugs were at the center.
  
  
  They're not going to listen to prescriptions. Just like how I drink until I puke sometimes, you're going to take it until you get what you want. A prescription will make the dosages safer? Yeah, if taken as prescribed. Like any other medication you'd get a week's worth. If only done in a facility, once a day, you'd then go to the black market--which will not instantly disintegrate because now there are legal means. Because the legal means are limited. The legal means don't give the addict what they want, they give them a taste to hold them over. So they'll get the possibly FREE, clean, well done drugs, and then they'll hop to the dealer who also has the Oxycotin and Vicadin but no sale limit.
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  petethemeat
  December 3, 2007
  Edit | Reply
  I understand your feelings Weydon, I too had a friend who became addicted. This person is now dead.
  
  Yet you offer nothing proactive for dealing with these people except to continue with existing methods which do not work and never have done.
  
  My friends death was entirely due to the prohibition of drugs.
  
  Living an unemployed life of going to the clinic to pick up your heroin is not fun. Yet it is infinitely preferable to living a life of squalor, disease and crime. It is the aqquiring of heroin which turns people into dregs- they willingly sacrifice many things if it will get them heroin. Yet should they have the heroin they desire then they do not have to steal from their families, neglect their health and beg from their friends.
  
  It is shown in animal trials that addictive drugs can cause organisms to neglect other parts of their lifestyle. Yet if they have these drugs available then they are prepared to get on with life and can actually function.
  
  I too used to believe in a kind of decriminalisation for posession yet harsh penalties for dealers. Yet such a stance is theoretically worse than existing conditions. Allowing usage to be free removes any possible disincentives that a drug being illegal has, yet it does not address the source. The people producing the drug are still criminals, and not subject to any form of control whatsoever. The harder you 'crack down' on the criminal gangs, the further you marginalise the market, increasing barriers to entry to all but the most desperate and dangerous of criminals.
  
  Supply side intervention is doomed to failure, such tactics indicate no grasp of economics. Should the authorities seize a big drug load or arrest a major drug gang, then drugs become rarer and profit margins increase. Once drugs are more profitable -(demand exceeds supply) then more suppliers will arise to meet the latent demand for drugs. The Illicit drug market is subject to economic principles and laws just like any other, and one of the principle economists of our time- Milton Friedman advocated legalisation of drugs.
  
  "The legal means don't give the addict what they want, they give them a taste to hold them over"
  
  My system would give them all the drugs they desire (not overdose however). However Heroin especially forgoes a high after a certain point of tolerance, it is actually impossible for you to feel good from it. You can only feel normal.
  
  Heroin addiction is also currently a self - destructive spiral, because people use to feel numb and not care about their problems. Many of these problems stem from heroin addiction itself- stealing from family, losing job etc, so addicts use more. If these problems could be taken away rather than masked- by prescribing them heroin in the manner I have described, then they will be more reluctant to relinquish the good things they have in life, compared to today's junkie which has noting going for him except drugs.
  
  Why would they not listen to prescriptions? Lets imagine a hypothetical. You are a hard core addict. You can go to my clinic where the heroin is free, clean and you are not breaking the law. Or you can continue selling yourself or mugging for a fix of low grade, dirty fix that makes you a criminal and funds gangsters?
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  Weydon
  December 3, 2007
  Edit | Reply
  "I understand your feelings Weydon, I too had a friend who became addicted. This person is now dead."
  
  I'm sorry.
  
  "
  Yet you offer nothing proactive for dealing with these people except to continue with existing methods which do not work and never have done."
  
  I do not think users should be jailed. Detaining of some sort may be helpful, but it should be confidential and not subject to employment searches. Aside from that, I have about as much to help these people as I can domestic abuse victims. Forcibly remove the problem when possible, and otherwise offer free clinics that will help them. But they usually fall back in the same trap too. People are flawed, and sometimes there just isn't a solution. While I'm sure I could get my hands on some heroin in the next 48 hours if I really wanted it, it's not exactly completely easy. Not as easy as walking into the local free drugs clinic to experiment with something that is being advertised as totally safe now, and either relapsing or developing an addiction in the first place.
  
  "Living an unemployed life of going to the clinic to pick up your heroin is not fun. Yet it is infinitely preferable to living a life of squalor, disease and crime. It is the aqquiring of heroin which turns people into dregs- they willingly sacrifice many things if it will get them heroin. Yet should they have the heroin they desire then they do not have to steal from their families, neglect their health and beg from their friends."
  
  This is an interesting point that fills myself with the same dark hope I've experienced before. That at the very least I can buy for them and watch over them. Our loved ones will be boring shells of themselves, but we can still see them and know that they're safe at least. But enough is never enough. The dosages will increase because even though the incredible pain will subside a little, the incredible goodness will only tickle.
  
  "It is shown in animal trials that addictive drugs can cause organisms to neglect other parts of their lifestyle. Yet if they have these drugs available then they are prepared to get on with life and can actually function."
  
  A chimp and a dog have no choice. They were given regulated amounts, and then slightly less. They won't experiment with what the next rush is by having too much to begin with, and they won't know how to get more and will be happy to have pain killer level medication here and there. If I throw a human addict on a deserted island, I can either detox him completely or skydrop minimal amounts. He will then live his life as best he can, under either condition. But society with clinics is not a deserted island. There are plenty of drugs to get on the side, and plenty of clinics to rob.
  
  "Allowing usage to be free removes any possible disincentives that a drug being illegal has, yet it does not address the source. The people producing the drug are still criminals, and not subject to any form of control whatsoever. The harder you 'crack down' on the criminal gangs, the further you marginalise the market, increasing barriers to entry to all but the most desperate and dangerous of criminals."
  
  I am not under the impression that legalizing all drugs will make the dealers start packing bouquets of flowers as opposed to guns. Likely, sale outside of clinics would still be illegal, and subject to the same conditions. If sale and production were legal, it would create even more addicts and contradict the notion of creating a cleaner, safer drug use.
  
  Selling, intent to sell, and producing should be criminal charges. Possession should be confiscated, those under the influence should be detained and given medical treatment if needed.
  
  "My system would give them all the drugs they desire (not overdose however)."
  
  Then you are not giving them all they desire all the time.
  
  "However Heroin especially forgoes a high after a certain point of tolerance, it is actually impossible for you to feel good from it. You can only feel normal."
  
  I believe you are exaggerating the tolerance expansion a bit, but the the growth of tolerance in heroin is part of what makes it dangerous as well. If twenty times the normal dose isn't doing it for you, you don't shrug it off and go "Well, it was fun while lasted. Let me go read a book instead." You got to twenty times the normal dose because you needed that feeling. And you will keep going until you can get that feeling back, until you are in a coma or dead. Most of the other drugs will leave you completely un-normal.
  
  "
  Heroin addiction is also currently a self - destructive spiral, because people use to feel numb and not care about their problems. Many of these problems stem from heroin addiction itself- stealing from family, losing job etc, so addicts use more. If these problems could be taken away rather than masked- by prescribing them heroin in the manner I have described, then they will be more reluctant to relinquish the good things they have in life, compared to today's junkie which has noting going for him except drugs."
  
  It would be wonderful but it wouldn't work. The drugs are more important than anything. Losing those closest to you should be enough of a reason to stop a vice, but it's not. All they can think about and concentrate on is getting their next score. Getting back to that good old feeling. Everything else is boring and painful by comparison. This will simply keep a junkie cleaner until the clinic says "That's all for today."
  
  "Why would they not listen to prescriptions? Lets imagine a hypothetical. You are a hard core addict. You can go to my clinic where the heroin is free, clean and you are not breaking the law. Or you can continue selling yourself or mugging for a fix of low grade, dirty fix that makes you a criminal and funds gangsters?"
  
  If I am a hardcore addict, then there is only the one option of getting free drugs and then getting more anyway you can.
  
  
  In this unlimited, free drugs society, do registers of the clinic also get made impotent and especially barren immediately? If not, what care is given to prevent the use of drugs to someone who becomes pregnant? "No, sorry."?
• 
  petethemeat
  December 3, 2007
  Edit | Reply
  Here is the results of the animal testing I referred to -John P. Morgan and Lynn Zimmer in the book Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice.
  
  The chapter can be found at Druglibrary.org, search down to "Animal Self-Administration".
  
  "What the research has shown is that rats who are tethered, alone in a small plastic box with nothing else to do, raised in isolation from other rats, trained to inject cocaine, and hooked to a constant feed of cocaine through a permanent IV in some experimental designs will fatally self-administer cocaine. If rats are given acess to sweetened water, adequate food, raised in families and given activity options, they do not fatally administer the cocaine, their daily dosages are much lower, and they tend to remain healthier."
  
  Here is the source about cost of maintaning compared to crime committed.
  
  http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2283951.ece
  
  Here is a source of the time heroin was legal, please note the ex-users comment at the end pressing for legalisation.
  
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4647018.stm
  
  Results from Swiss experimentation in prescription:
  
  'Prescription of Narcotics for Heroin Addicts: Main Results of the Swiss National Cohort Study
  Volume One. Uchtenhagen, A;Dobler-Mikola, A.; Steffen, T; Gutzwiller, F.; Blattler, R; Pfeifer, S. Karger; Basel; 1999
  
  Page 20 states that the mean daily dose of heroin IV ( when used alone, without methadone on the side) was 491.7mg.
  
  Page 22 states "A stable dose was achieved after 6 months at most; beyond this point, almost no further increases in dose were required."
  
  Later in the volume, the authors state that most users tend to gradually reduce their dosages after achieving a peak.'
  
  Heroin is still a drug that inspires fear and quite rightly. No advertising would be allowed because it is not a product- it is medicine.
  
• 
  petethemeat
  December 3, 2007
  Edit | Reply
  'If sale and production were legal, it would create even more addicts and contradict the notion of creating a cleaner, safer drug use.'
  
  I can see the possibility of an increase in users. Yet this increase will not be great as some expect. Enforcement is highly over-rated as a deterrant. Levels of enforce ment vary around the world, and there is no correlation between usage and how strict policies are towards drug use. For example the US has incredibly harsh drug policies, yet has the worst drug crime in the world. While the Netherlands have liberal policies and are not afflicted to such an extent. Of course there are exact opposites to my examples, but my point is that drug use is more affected by culture, education and living conditions.
  
  Yet an increase in users does not necessarily cause an increase in problems. I have spent much time putting forth reasons why legalisation would reduce problems. Here is a summary of why Legalisation does a good job of 'creating a cleaner, safer drug use.'
  
  1.Legal drugs are 100% clean.
  2. Overdoses in almost all cases (including what happened to my friend) are caused by an unusually strong dose or cut with a more potent substance such as fentanyl. With pure heroin there would be no confusion over dose, it would always be like it is. Performed in a clinical setting medically supervised- this results in overdoses nearly eliminated.

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  petethemeat
  November 15, 2007
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  I hear this statement often, yet it seems to me incredibly weak. It does not make any difference whether or not a drug is natural or 'from the earth'. Synthesised THC will have the same effect of on you as 'natural' THC. Often synthetic drugs are less harmful than natural ones. Ever heard of Datura? Natural as can be, yet if you ingest it it gives powerful delusions, intoxication and possibly death.
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  Weydon
  November 15, 2007
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  lol I'm with pete. Poison ivy is natural too. This kind of argument hinders stoner progress in society
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  petethemeat
  November 15, 2007
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  Agreed Weydon, the sociological and economical reasons for legalisation should be put forward.

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• The Blind Bandit
  August 9, 2006
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  that is the dumbest thing i have ever read. some people on AP have stolen things from places.stealing is bad and it's breaking the law.just like pot.don't belive pot messes up your brain?go to abovetheinfluence.com.
• Carlos The Barlos
  August 10, 2006
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  oh! an adult-opinion-based piece that looks RAD for the kids who read it in order to fill them up with hope and somehow they'll have some sort of five year old epiphany about 'negative energies' or 'negative influences' because of all the cool child-like manneurisms in the text! fuck that, Winny the Dragon. Are you scared of being high, man? I saw an interview on tv about drugs, and a cop was telling everyone how terrible the drug is, saying stuff like "This is especially created so the drug makes a more effective, powerful high, while having no side effects..." and some woman was crying because she had tried it and loved it. I don't under stand you, you know that? And how is that the dumbest thing you've ever heard if I just finished throwing it back into your FACE?! hahahahaha mmmmmmBITCH.
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  petethemeat
  December 1, 2007
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  Seriously chill Carlos...
  
  Marijuana has potential for harm yet it should still be legalised alongside with every other drug, with various levels of control depending on its potential for harm.

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