Thread: DRUGS

Originally Posted by Spoons

I also use psychedelics, which i believe are going to save the world. the insights they give into human nature and consciousness are invaluable. I believe the hippies were onto something when they said that psys expand consciousness and that we are all one. the only real danger is having a bad trip, which is jsut you trying to hold on to your ego and previous, ill conceived patterns of thought. there are a number of very intelligent people (timothy leary) who went against the grain and fought for psychedelics. I will admit that certain people should avoid them, but they generally know that they dont wanna trip.

Can you expand on the type of psychedelics you use?
I tend to believe that altering your brain function and chemistry over a long enough time span basically will make you like Walter from the TV show Fringe.
Thanks

Originally Posted by Rooster

Actually weed is harmfull. It fucks your head up. My ex girlfriend was a psychiactric nurse and she said there was a very strong connection between heavy cannabis use and mental health problems.

there arent any studies to substantiate this. there is some evidence that heavy use at a very young age can exacerbate schizophrenia in already pre-disposed people, but thats about all. this is all the more reason to legalize because i know it was a lot harder to get booze than pot when i was young

Originally Posted by Haul

Can you expand on the type of psychedelics you use?
I tend to believe that altering your brain function and chemistry over a long enough time span basically will make you like Walter from the TV show Fringe.
Thanks

if walter from fringe is all you know about psychedelics then you need to do some reading. check out aldus huxleys doors of perception. just because something alters brain chemistry doesnt mean its harmful. caffein and a lot of prescribed drugs alter brain chemistry. you have to look at what the effects are. pretty much all psychedelics (shrooms, LSD, mescaline, DMT, ayahuasca) have the same basic properties such as ego transcendence and hallucinations. sure, if someone trips every day, or even every week, they will be a few fries short of a happy meal. But psys are not addictive. in fact its sorta the opposite; once you get the message, you hang up. and used responsibly they dont fuck up your brain at all. that shit about LSD getting stuck in your spine and flashbacks is just Reagan administration bullshit. by far the largest userbase is college kids, and they are the cream of the crop in our society.

Originally Posted by Spoons

It seems clear that a responsible drug user shouldnt be locked up, but lets ponder if anybody should. abusers of heroin, cocain and other addictive substances are not criminals, they are sick people. jailing them does no good. if anything will make a person want to shoot up, its being raped by bubba on a daily basis for months on end. they are going to get out wanting to shoot directly into the jugular. they need HELP, not punishment. the real dangers from drugs come from the black markets that control them.

Amen to that. The sad fact is that in the US we spend millions of dollars each year to punish people for something that is an integral part of human nature. There will always be people who use recreational drugs and there will always be people to supply them. Making drugs illegal puts more power in the hands of cartels and organized criminal elements across the globe.

Simply put, if you want to reduce the negative impact of drugs in our society, make them legal and TAX THE CRAP OUT OF THEM. OK, maybe some people will find that silly but I honestly believe that the best way to address problems of drug crime and addiction is to make the whole system more transparent. By making all drugs legal not only can the government actually impose some real measure of control over the market but those who insist on using trash-drugs like meth and heroin won't be forced to buy them from scumbags who make their products using impure ingredients and guesswork. Who would you rather have making your poison, a high school dropout thug cooking meth in his dusty attic, or a laboratory that operates under some minimum of standards and quality?

Anyway, I think this solution is probably well beyond our reach, at least for what I would call 'hard drugs' like heroin, cocaine, meth, etc. As for psychedelics and cannabis, those are more likely to find a home in the legal drug market within my lifetime. Where I live, Colorado, cannabis is regulated much like it is in California. What I'm seeing is a 'trial run' for cannabis as a legal, taxable substance. Things are in flux right now with lawmakers trying to establish the consequences of the cannabis market but there can be no doubt that 1) it has created thousands of new jobs 2) the taxes generated from this new market are much better than having to fine people for possession.

With 'medical marijuana' I feel like we've set up a system in which our state government, MMJ dispensaries, and the general population all have the same unspoken understanding: that criminalization of cannabis is rather silly, why can't we all benefit from its legalization? Sure, there are those who might actually NEED cannabis to relieve pain, for cancer, or other serious problems but for the most part, its the stoners who are signing up. The requirements for a MMJ card? Do you have $100? BAM, you're legal! Not saying that all MMJ doctors are a sham but they are in a pretty specific business...

Oh and psychedelics? Not to say that you can't get in some trouble from being caught with these substances but for the most part you never hear about 'big mushroom busts' in the news . Also, from my experience the people who like mushrooms, phenethylamines, and other fantastic life-enhancing drugs generally have nothing in common with users of meth, heroin, and other terrible life-raping drugs. Addiction seems to be uncommon with this crowd and I can't imagine wanting to trip everyday. I would think you would just get tired from all the mind-blowing revelations and profound understanding of the cosmos and deep explorations into your own psyche :) Either that or the things you learn under the influence are sometimes best reflected upon while sober...

You can't change human nature in the way that we've tried with the 'war on drugs'. It simply doesn't work to fight against ourselves this way. Maybe with the recent progress in medical marijuana we will see a shift in the social climate surrounding drug culture. Maybe drugs aren't just for rock stars and stoners and scumbags. Maybe a perfectly normal, well-adjusted, possibly even 'enlightened' human being can benefit from the moderate use of certain substances in the privacy of their own home. But you won't see that person on the news. You'll see the story of the drug dealer who shot a cop. :(

Anyway, sorry to ramble on about this. I get all worked up when it comes to the sad state of our social liberties in America. :)

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Is there any particular reason why a new thread had to be started for this repetitive reiteration, when the same topic can already be found two threads below this one in Legalize Drugs and Prostitution ?