New Age

» oteas - On what basis are some drugs illegal and other's legal?

Should there be a more open forum for discussing the use and mis-use of drugs and chemicals which alter the mind?

What is a good drug? What is bad drug? And who gets to decide, the user or the used?

Who's more ethical & who would you trust more: a pharmaceutical company or your next door neighbour?

-- posted by oteas

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» hawkgazer - On what basis are some drugs illegal and other's legal?

In response to On what basis are some drugs illegal and other's legal? posted by oteas:

OOh, just my kind of discussion!
Good drugs and bad drugs...I guess it all depends on how we look at it. My kindergartner has ben coming home this week telling me "mommy, your coffee is a drug. Medicine is a drug. Cigarettes are a drug." Well, hmmm. I think the word "drug" has become a "bad word", and I fight the urge to argue these points with her - but then again, she's only 5 and I don't need her drinking coffee, let alone smoking...

I write for the substance abuse section here on suite 101, and I am in recovery myself, but I do feel that it is a personal choice. A good drug? When the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, I suppose. from my perspective, as someone who decided (realized) that living a life weighed down with addiction and all of its consequences was something I just didn't want anymore, getting "high" was no longer enough to make it all worthwhile. There wasn't enough booze or drugs to make up for all the friends, respect, and dignity I had lost.
This included pharmecutical drugs, prescribed by my psychiatrist and doctor.
But what about someone who can "control" themselves? (I apologize for the over-use of quotation marks!) There are many who can limit their alcohol consumption, who can toke on a little weed now and then without needing it all day every day so that it interferes with work and finances - who am I to say they need help?

Aha, ethics, and who would I trust more? That's tough for me to answer - because I never trust anyone with money as a motive, yet I have seen properly monitored medication save lives. I think that drugs are powerful forces when ingested, and they need to be used with caution and care. Nobody, not even our doctors, are God (or Allah, or Buddah, or any other name for a Higer Power). The only drug I think is pure evil is crack - and that's just my opinion - it's satan in a baggie. Don't see one benefit to that stuff at all, ever.

-- posted by hawkgazer

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» hawkgazer - LSD and alcoholism

In response to On what basis are some drugs illegal and other's legal? posted by hawkgazer:

Ok, so here's a real "trip" - what do you guys think of this one?
Article on LSD Studies on treating Alcoholism
Good drugs, bad drugs - I don't know if I have an opinion on this or not, but I thought it was interesting news and you might be interested in the whole story! Some of the details are a little scary - especially what the researchers who were trying to disprove the study did to the subjects...yikes!

-- posted by hawkgazer

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» Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman - On what basis are some drugs illegal and other's legal?

In response to On what basis are some drugs illegal and other's legal? posted by hawkgazer:

Anything can be used as addiction, so if addiction propensity becomes the criteria for criminalization, then shopping, sex and chocolate have all got to go.

My biggest gripe against the 'Drug War' is that there are no clear boundaries on who exactly the sides involved are. 'War' is such a handy catchall for insinuating some dangerous presence that needs to be eradicated, but truly if Drugs are the Evil, then aren't its users merely victims?

And since when is being a victim criteria for imprisonment and penalty? Rather, isn't the socially conscious mindset to decriminalize usage with appropriate treatment and education rather then incarcerating people who abuse substances, because the substances themselves are the things responsible for the addiction in the first place?

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