Legalize drugs?

This thread should be called legalizing Marijuana, not legalizing drugs.

WeFoundTheDuck:

I wish I could remember where I read the information about joints causing more lung damage than cigarettes...

Perhaps I misread it?

I've heard that same information somewhere in one of my health classes years ago.
I've looked up the topic on various websites but I couldn't find anything even mentioning it.
I've just concluded that I either misread it, or I was severely mis-lead by my teachers into believing some ridiculous, made up statistic.

i dont think joints have tar and nicotine and stuff in them. thats what causes the lung damage and addiction and whatnot. oh yeah, and carbon monoxide

Kurtni:

This thread should be called legalizing Marijuana, not legalizing drugs.

Yeah. Mostly because no one [at least on this thread] wants to legalize any other drug. Which is something I agree with.

Jello Biafra:

End the war on drugs. Decriminalize marijuana and illegal narcotics such as heroin, cocaine, and crack. Hard-core addiction is an illness, not a crime. Put users on prescription, and crime will drop dramatically when they don’t have to rob and kill people to pay the Mob’s high drug prices. Any president or governor can stop the prison-building boom right now by commuting sentences for minor, non-violent drug offenders to time served. Why not pressure them to do it?

So I know this was part of the campaign Jello Biafra for president, and I know he was a singer in a punk band, but I wanted to see your views on this idea.

Kurtni:

This thread should be called legalizing Marijuana, not legalizing drugs.

well, I can't edit with this new system
whether I don't know how or Dujo doesn't want me to
you can though

Dr. Cuddy:

Kurtni:

This thread should be called legalizing Marijuana, not legalizing drugs.

Yeah. Mostly because no one [at least on this thread] wants to legalize any other drug. Which is something I agree with.

Jello Biafra:

End the war on drugs. Decriminalize marijuana and illegal narcotics such as heroin, cocaine, and crack. Hard-core addiction is an illness, not a crime. Put users on prescription, and crime will drop dramatically when they don’t have to rob and kill people to pay the Mob’s high drug prices. Any president or governor can stop the prison-building boom right now by commuting sentences for minor, non-violent drug offenders to time served. Why not pressure them to do it?

So I know this was part of the campaign Jello Biafra for president, and I know he was a singer in a punk band, but I wanted to see your views on this idea.

yes, we all look up to the Dead Kennedys
but honestly, he ran with a convicted cop killer as his running mate, he hardly took that election as serious as his run for mayor

spill_no_sick:

Kurtni:

This thread should be called legalizing Marijuana, not legalizing drugs.

well, I can't edit with this new system
whether I don't know how or Dujo doesn't want me to
you can though

Oh, I didn't know other users couldn't see an edit button, I'll change it, unless you want this discussion to include other drugs. I just think when you compare pot to drugs like heroin, meth, club drugs, ect. they are different issues, and could have different threads.

Haha, I just did a project on pot for health. I don't agree with what people are saying about how it isn't dangerous, though:

"Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke"

"Marijuana users are four times more likely to report symptoms of depression than people who never used the drug."

"Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency to obstructed airways. Smoking marijuana possibly increases the likelihood of developing cancer of the head or neck. A study comparing 173 cancer patients and 176 healthy individuals produced evidence that marijuana smoking doubled or tripled the risk of these cancers."

"Smoking marijuana leads to changes in the brain similar to those caused by the use of cocaine and heroin."

"Mentions of marijuana in emergency room visits have risen 176% since 1994, surpassing those of heroin. In 2001, marijuana was a contributing factor in more than 110,000 emergency department visits in the United States."

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/amer_know_marij/myths.pdf

As to whether or not to legalize it, I'm actually not sure. xD

.:

"Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke"

But most people don't smoke as many joints in a day as they do cigarettes.
So it kinda evens out, wouldn't you think?

druscilla; callmedru:

.:

"Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke"

But most people don't smoke as many joints in a day as they do cigarettes.
So it kinda evens out, wouldn't you think?

Yeah, but still - 3 joints is equal to 20 cigarettes.

.:

druscilla; callmedru:

.:

"Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke"

But most people don't smoke as many joints in a day as they do cigarettes.
So it kinda evens out, wouldn't you think?

Yeah, but still - 3 joints is equal to 20 cigarettes.

2 joints is equal to one cigarette
the one thing I noticed, those sources are from propaganda based websites
that don't fly here

spill_no_sick:

.:

druscilla; callmedru:

.:

"Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke"

But most people don't smoke as many joints in a day as they do cigarettes.
So it kinda evens out, wouldn't you think?

Yeah, but still - 3 joints is equal to 20 cigarettes.

2 joints is equal to one cigarette
the one thing I noticed, those sources are from propaganda based websites
that don't fly here

Eh, it was for a health project. I had to use reliable resources.
You want something from Urban Dictionary or something?
"there is more of certain carcinogens in marijuana smoke than in tobacco smoke, but there are more of other carcinogens in tobacco smoke than in marijuana smoke. one way or another, puff for puff, marijuana is more harmful than tobacco."

The ratio of Cannabis material required to saturate cannabinoid receptors to the amount required for a fatal overdose is 1:40,000. There have been no reported deaths or permanent injuries sustained as a result of a marijuana overdose.

-http://www.medic8.com/medicines/Marijuana.html

spill_no_sick:

yes, we all look up to the Dead Kennedys
but honestly, he ran with a convicted cop killer as his running mate, he hardly took that election as serious as his run for mayor

Pfft, the Dead Kennedy's rule.

Anyway, back on the subject. Marijuana doesn't cause addiction. Its not more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes, in fact there is no firm scientific proof of its badness. A lot of ex heroin and cocaine junkies said that if marijuana was legalized they wouldn't try worse drugs. Marijuana can be used to reduce pain. Than why marijuana isn't legalized?

In 1997. marijuana was legalized in GB, but that decision didn't bring any success. More than 22 000 people every year go to a drug addiction treatment and half of them aren't even 18. A lot of teenagers use skunk, which is a form of cannabis dangerous as cocaine and heroin. The problem is that a lot of kids have a joint once, maybe even more times and don't try other drugs. But there are kids who will do that. They will become drug addicts which leads into other crimes. The point is, it all depends on the person and that is a big reason why marijuana shouldn't be legalized. Its not like cigarettes. Someone smokes them and someone doesn't, this is about trying and getting addicted to stuff that are way more harmful than marijuana. Not all will do that, but some will.

Bloodraine:

rehabreject:

If it were to be made legal - what regulations or laws should there be? Should anyone be allowed to sell it, or only authorised companies? Should the legal age requirement for its use should be higher or lower than alcohol/cigarettes/etc?

They should sell it in Coffee shops, á la Amsterdam

Yeah!

Also that would make sure you don't get shitty pot

if they made it legal then the seedy street dealing would stop, because there would be no more, standing on street corners and handing it all over.

druscilla; callmedru:

The ratio of Cannabis material required to saturate cannabinoid receptors to the amount required for a fatal overdose is 1:40,000. There have been no reported deaths or permanent injuries sustained as a result of a marijuana overdose.

-http://www.medic8.com/medicines/Marijuana.html

From the same site, they said someone died from an overdose.

On another note, I think it's sorta funny how the site says "Your most trusted source for health information online" and then at the bottom they say that their sources are wikipedia. Haha. But that has nothing to do with this topic, so...yeah.

Lucifers Angel:

if they made it legal then the seedy street dealing would stop, because there would be no more, standing on street corners and handing it all over.

Well actually, the street dealing would continue with other drugs. And since cannabis isn't that expensive and that harmful I don't think the drug dealing business would decrease.

Dr. Cuddy:

Lucifers Angel:

if they made it legal then the seedy street dealing would stop, because there would be no more, standing on street corners and handing it all over.

Well actually, the street dealing would continue with other drugs. And since cannabis isn't that expensive and that harmful I don't think the drug dealing business would decrease.

no granted things like cocaine should never be legalised, but if they had drugs like canabis of the streets that has still got to be better for the police and the drug enforcment officers

HOP TEH HOPPUS.:

Bloodraine:

rehabreject:

If it were to be made legal - what regulations or laws should there be? Should anyone be allowed to sell it, or only authorised companies? Should the legal age requirement for its use should be higher or lower than alcohol/cigarettes/etc?

They should sell it in Coffee shops, á la Amsterdam

Yeah!

Also that would make sure you don't get shitty pot

yeah but our law is weird too though (Netherlands)
its legal to sell it
but illegal to transport it
and there's also a ban on smoking pot in the centre of Amsterdam :S

pot's taken a lot less serious here ( at least by teens and people in their twenties) as in the states and all but our governement is trying to find reasons to close as many shops as possible and making every form of drug illegal (except for alcohol and sigarettes). and I've heard that its illegal to open shops so if a place gets closed down there wont be a replacement.