Original Sin wrote:
For the record, I don't partake of anything but Absinthe, and even that is very rarely. However, what people do with their own lives is their business, and so long as they don't infringe upon my life, it shall remain so. It's not my place, your place, or anyone's for that matter, to pass judgement off on someone's private life unless it directly effects you.
Your casual user of certain drugs is not a detriment to society.
Now, junkies who steal/kill/rape etc for more crack...yes, that is a problem, but it only represents a small percentage of substance users.
Over time you will poison yourself from absinthe, so moderation is definitely a must. Otherwise I agree with most of what you said.
Arka wrote:I've never used mind-altering substances (with the exception of the huge gobs of caffeine I've doubtless consumed in my day-to-day life). They're really not for me. And they DO have nasty side effects. You can argue that they won't happen to me if I'm exceedingly careful, and have no pre-existing conditions (including those I don't know about), and this and that and the other thing... but even if you're correct that there's some way to eliminate risk / reduce it to a trivial level, why bother? What do I gain from them?
The answer for the vast majority of drug users is social. It's either "I want to be a rebel!" (in the case of illegal drugs), "I want to be cool!" (in the case of most anything), or "I don't want to deal with the stigma of being a teetotaller!" (in the case of alcohol). Sometimes it's just "I'm too lazy to do it that way, even if it means risking my health!" Sorry, but these people ARE losers.
Sure, there are a few people who use drugs out of a sense of curiosity or something else. Most of the users I know don't. The kid down the street who got MIRSA from shooting up started doing it because all his friends did. The girl who dropped out of the local college because she had to be sober to attend classes started drinking because "if you're at a party, you've just gotta drink." Why do you think we're stuck with all these dumbass radio commercials focusing on convincing kids that conformity isn't a sufficient need to do drugs?
Side-note: I'm with OS that we'd be much better off if virtually all these substances were legalized. People would no longer delude themselves into thinking they're being rebellious by taking hits. And they would now be more likely to be distributed by people who actually cared about their customers' well-being, and would try to cut them off if they were sufficiently trashed. (Bartenders are supposed to do this with alcohol nowadays, for all the good it doesn't do.)
I'm going to have to agree with potter on this one, there is no way to acieve the heightened states of consciousness/altered states of reality without controlled substances. I can see how some drugs are social (mdma, cannabis, alcohol, tobacco) but others such as heroine, crack, or meth I don't really see where you can be doing it for a social reason. Unless you want to shank your friends for money afterwards.
Legalizing hard drugs is about the dumbest idea I have ever heard. Maybe you could
try to control the crime rate that would be a result of the access to these drugs by having them easily accessable and cheap, but thats just a vicious cycle that would eventually leave most cities dead.
malictus wrote:Two words for you Potter:
LUCID DREAMING
Yeah, you'd definitely be conscious during that...
Might I add that I do not believe in any way that marijuana is a gateway drug. If you're going to do hard drugs, you're going to do them no matter what. If people lack self control and discipline it's completely their fault.
I dont drink and I haven't smoked pot, but I like to know what one would be getting into before they do anything. I believe there's a time and place for everything, and if you don't be cautious- sure, you're gonna get fucked up bad. Everyone reacts to stuff differently, so one person's trip definitely doesn't mean there's a safe assurance that you're going to have a good time.
