Recreational Drug Use

[Heath Winchester]

That would be utterly amazing. Typically speaking LSD if done right and undamaged is very safe and mind opening. Only problem is that the trips can go bad no matter what. You're not going to jump out of a window or something like that you'll just get very freaked out. People tend to do it wrong though which causes problems. But really, it's much safer than Speed and less addictive than Opiates.

[Zune5]

Well.
Drugs seems to cause a lot of violence these days...

[Heath Winchester]

In my opinion that's because they're illegal. If they were legal people wouldn't need to go through shady vendors and the like to get them. There would also be more help to people who get addicted.

[Possumdude0]

In my opinion that's because they're illegal

Mine too. I've heard a lot of arguments from people about why drugs should be illegal. A surprising number of them said that drugs lead to prison and criminal activity. Many people don't seem to understand that this is arguing that drugs should be illegal because they are illegal.

Some drugs are provably harmful. So is drinking gasoline. Ok, that's a bad example, gasoline has uses other drinking, while most harmful drugs are only useful as a drug. But my point stands. There are plently of legal ways for people to get themselves hurt, skydiving, rock climbing, spelunking, walking across the street, etc. So why should something be illegal simply on the basis that people can hurt themselves with it?

What about tobacco and alcohol? Those are both provable dangerous, and yet they are perfectly legal. Why should a drug like marijuana be illegal when these other, more harmful drugs are legal?

[Finarfin Palantir]

Well, I hate the whole drug topic, because mostly I have this debate with people who use a lot (A lot consisting of at the very least 5 times a day) and they don't seem to get the point...

Here's a "hypothetical" example though....


Say person A is between the age of 18 and 24, A has a kid with his ex girlfriend.
Person B moves in with Person A

The whole scenario occured before person A started using drugs for "Recreational Use"

Now at the start Person A's ex gf could trust him to look after the kid and Person B could count on him to complete certain tasks, but over time, this had deteriorated and is now at the point where nobody can trust person A to complete any task.

This little example has led me to the conclusion I have today, which in short is, set a legal age.
Drinking in most countries are either restricted to 18 or 21 (Mostly, but not all), in my honest opinion drugs should be sold in pharmacies with a legal age and one central system that manages quantities sold in specific areas, sure people are always going to bs the system, but atleast this way the government still feels in control?

Anyway that's my personal view on the subject, set a legal age and put a system in place to make authorities feel in control. (I mean c'mon we do the same with alchohol and that's not illegal)

[Possumdude0]

Now at the start Person A's ex gf could trust him to look after the kid and Person B could count on him to complete certain tasks, but over time, this had deteriorated and is now at the point where nobody can trust person A to complete any task.

I've seen drug users who were perfectly responsible members of society (excepting the fact that they were using an illegal drug). To be fair, I've only ever seen this with marijuana. The one personal experience I've had with harder drugs was someone I know who did cocaine for a while, and she lost her kids over it. But I don't know enough about the specifics of the situation to know if that was because she became an unfit mother, or if it was simply because cocaine is illegal.

For that matter, I've heard of people who were completely irresponsible and the only substances they used were alcohol and tobacco.

My major point in any drug debate is that there is no reason for marijuana to be illegal in a country where tobacco and alcohol are legal. I can't really comment on harder drugs.

Well, I hate the whole drug topic, because mostly I have this debate with people who use a lot (A lot consisting of at the very least 5 times a day) and they don't seem to get the point...

I should point out that I don't use drugs (not even alcohol and tobacco). I have an irrational fear of putting any type of substance into my body, and I'm even wary of using things like aspirin and doctor prescribed medications.

[Finarfin Palantir]

I've seen drug users who were perfectly responsible members of society (excepting the fact that they were using an illegal drug). To be fair, I've only ever seen this with marijuana. The one personal experience I've had with harder drugs was someone I know who did cocaine for a while, and she lost her kids over it. But I don't know enough about the specifics of the situation to know if that was because she became an unfit mother, or if it was simply because cocaine is illegal.

Exactly why I support the idea of drugs being legal from a certain age. This age needs to be set where the majority (Since there all always exceptions on any rule when society is involved) of people when they reach the predefined age are in a position where they can still function as perfectly responsible members of society, at least that's my vote on the subject?

[Dan R]

If you get people on coke, yes, they may well start fighting, has anyone ever seen this effect with alcohol?

[Possumdude0]

If you get people on coke, yes, they may well start fighting, has anyone ever seen this effect with alcohol?

Uhm... yes.

I've also seen a man bust out a window that my dad had just spent all day fixing... why? Because he was drunk.

Alcohol can severely impair your ability to function properly. And the worst part is, at the time that your ability to function is impaired, so is your ability to make judgements. So you don't realize that you shouldn't be, for example, driving. This leads to thousands of deaths every year in the U.S. alone.

My point is that, yes, drugs like cocaine are bad. In fact, in the case of cocaine there is probably good reason for it to be illegal. But don't forget that there are completely legal substances that can really mess people up, too.

[Heath Winchester]

Yes, there are some good ideas being tossed about.

I am totally for an age limit. I see that as a very reasonable idea. And really, couldn't the government make millions off of Drugs? Instead of having people smuggle them in under the radar the government could use all sorts of means to make money off of drugs. I don't know why they don't take advantage of it. Maybe it's because some political figures make money off of the illegal selling of drugs. That's the only reason I can think of.