Stanley said:
CTID1988 said:
mekonmcfc said:
does this mean that if legalised there would be far more deaths from drugs ?
The majority of say, Heroin deaths, will be from either bad quality or not knowing the strength beforehand. Same goes for ecsacy etc, people who die always seem to die as a result of the quality. If they were legalised it would be a lot more clear what is inside and the strength etc
I am not expert in drugs, never taken them, never will. Don't smoke either, I do however like the odd pint.
Deaths from Alcohol and Smoking are higher not because they are worse for you, but because they are freely available. Make the drugs mentioned above legal and freely available and the death rate will follow.
I am not trying to stop anyone from enjoying their thing, but to ask that they be legalized is a bit odd to me. Perhaps I along with the others here should belong in the past, ah but wait, the 60's were the "pot" era and opium has been abused for hundreds of years, so maybe the future belongs to us,
I'm not sure anyone can say fully (maybe medicinal, but even that seems a bit suspect) that their life is better because of drugs, but I know many people who say their life is worse.
Rant away.
My life is infinitely better for having taken drugs.
I have closer friendships with my mates than anyone else that I know, that, in part at least comes from having spent much of our formative years in a state of hugely increased empathy. We know each others deepest loves, hates, secrets and fears. We have a bond that has remained unchanged for over 10 years.
It all sounds a little bit homo haha, but only other E users would understand. We were able to say and mean things like I love you to each other in a completely non gay hetero way. This openness created a connection that will remain forever.
This is not me making unsubstantiated claims either, this is something that a large number of outsiders have commented on, including some of our partners, parents and other friends who have no idea that we all grew up taking drugs together!!
Ecstasy opens you up to a state of happiness that, in my honest opinion, cannot be reached unless you try it at least once. The beauty is, once you have been there you know that it exists and can therefore get much closer to it, even without taking the drug. But if you never take it you have no idea that a state of utter bliss even exists. Don't try to argue that you do, you are simply misguided. Disclaimer: I do not have children and I think the level of happiness could be matched by a child's birth.
Impact on Society
The mates I am talking about are all now successful in their own fields from IT, Catering, Insurance, Procurement - all sorts and most have children. All contribute to society through tax and in many other ways and all of them would be sadly missed if anything were to befall them.
The one person of this group who has fallen by the wayside has done so because of drink. He becomes an intolerant and violent idiot after too many beers, and he can never stop at one or two. He has been arrested for attempted murder and GBH and I know of other things that make me ashamed to have called him a friend - all booze related. But hey its a good legal taxable drug right.
If cigarettes were invented today they would not be legal. Not even close. They are hideous and if I have on regret from my illegal drug taking is that it no doubt contributed to me getting addicted to them.
I would however suggest that the stats from the pro legalisation camp are a little misleading as the volume of users of illegal drugs is significantly lower than the number of alcohol users and therefore there are bound to be fewer deaths from illegal drugs.
Also to those who think that people do drugs because they are illegal and there is something cool about it. The regular clamour to try all of the new 'legal' drugs such as M-Cat would suggest that legality or not has very little impact on demand.
Sorry for the long post but clearly the answer is not a simple one. What we do need is for the powers that be to engage in a adult debate about the topic. People like Daily Mails Back Heel need to wake up and realise that the war on drugs is lost and that a peaceful resolution to the conflict is the only way for the world to progress.