Drugs

[jblade8]

I recently heard a very convincing argument for the legalization of drugs and decided I would put the ideas to a forum and ask others their opinions. I have never used drugs. I've never smoked. I have, however, consumed alcohol. That is my limited perspective on the idea of mind altering substance. I say this so it's easier to understand my

Comments

[divine_shadow]

The answer to the cannibus thing is a hell of a lot simplier than one might think. Has absolutely nothing to do with the recreational effects at all. Since industrial hemp is quite a lot easier/cheaper to grow than commercial cotten, cotten farmers threw the government a number of kickbacks in order to outlaw the production of industrial hemp(not the same thing as recreational hemp, but close enough for legalese) and similar plants. Nothing to do with it being a MILD psychelic at all, really. Same thing was done to discourage the growth of sugarcane and ENcourage the growth of corn...which is why there is a HELL of a lot more corn syrup in American goods, than actual sugar

[jblade8]

Except that the discouragement of growing cannabis has nothing to do with the fact that it is illegal to possess, sell, and smoke marijuana. That particular reasoning sounds more like sensationalist anti-industry stuff. But it would be irresponsible for me to just write it off cause it sounds off. What is your source for this info? Because it is my understanding that outlawing the growing of hemp doesn't stop imports and can't prevent people from selling hemp products

[divine_shadow]

Industrial revolution chief. Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. Cotton damages the land you grow it on, requires VAST amounts of pesticide to maintain, and also isn't nearly as diverse in its uses as industrial hemp. Of course we can import the stuff, but said imported hemp has rather large taxes associated with its import. As it stands, because of the taxation, it isn't profitable nor financially feasable TO import industrial hemp for day to day use, even though it is tens of times cheaper to physically produce than cotten. Works out great for Canada, as right now it's their biggest cash crop. Do you honestly think some association well-to-do cotton lobbyists AREN'T going to keep sending kickbacks to their candidates of choice, to outlaw a crop that would most assuredly put them in the poorhouse? It's been going on for years. Southern cotton farmers didn't want any competition. Same reason, as I said, Corn growth is government subsudized while sugar-cane isn't

[jblade8]

You keep giving me neat arguments, but not too much proof. It's easy to say that but just because this explanation is simple doesn't mean it's right. Now, I know you can't really get a statement from anyone saying "yes, I received kickbacks from x" but just saying "humans suck, businessmen want money, and politicians are corrupt" doesn't tell me anything. These are heavy claims going off general reasoning. It's like racism. All large business does this because some of big business does it

[ashnod]

My mom smoked pot, and she was addicted. When she was high, everything was so colorful that when she wasn't high everything looked dull and dank, thus making her depressed whenever she wasn't high. It took almost 5 years for her to start seeing color again to the point where it wasn't depressing for her

[jblade8]

:) I liked the weeded out joke. I agree that pot isn't glorious. I don't smoke anything for the express reason that I don't want to risk addiction, but my argument is that people should have the choice. But I do think what is important, regardless of legalization, drugs aren't seriously discussed often. We see commercials that illustrate powerful concepts, but not as much fact as we want. The Truth advertisements do a good job of providing fact along with sensationalism, but that's just tobacco.

I can understand your distaste for addictive drugs. I personally think they're a bad choice, but I do believe that people should have the option to make bad choices. Is it your opinion that pot shouldn't be allowed and tobacco should be taken off the market to prevent people from having the option of using these products or am I misunderstanding?

[zimdanen]

I only skimmed what you wrote because I just got back and am too out of it to read it all, and I've been catching up online and this is my last stop (still need to unpack and rest and get back to work on the site), but:

1) I don't think the government should protect one from oneself in such a manner. Educate the populace and let them make their own decisions.

2) Drugs are a lot more dangerous because they're illegal; if they were legal, they could be controlled and made a lot safer