Drugs are just one of evolutions tools to root out the weak and stupid. Ha! I've used 'em but I 'm still here! (But wait, I've chosen to not reproduce so I am evolutionally irrelevant.) See why I'm glad I dropped acid in college. I'm constantly entertained.
LMAO - that is a good one. If something is illegal, there is a damn good reason why that is the case. I'm with Max on this one - it is never okay to take things that can f*ck your life and others up so much as drugs. And it disgusts me that there are people out there that don't feel that way. So, Andy go ahead and blast me for my response, but I don't care. I'll continue to glance over your posts from time to time, but I'll take things that you say here with a grain of salt.
I don't think it was supposed to be a personal attack, so much as prove a point. No one should want their child to do drugs, even if they're under the mistaken assumption that doing drugs is part of normal development. I think the entire article is just an excuse for those who have experimented with drugs/want to experiment with drugs. "Oh hey, this guy says what I did was ok. Awesome!"
Why are you blasting Andy? Drug use is part of the human experience, and has been for millions of years: check this out The need for drug experimentation might be innate. Just like all other needs of experimentation.
dylan, I like you and everything and hey you caught me making a statement that was a hyperbole. But please don't ask me why I think illegal drugs are illegal. That doesn't warrant a response from me. Tell me what your counter-examples are? Is it stuff like speeding, jaywalking, betting on sports, etc?
This is eerily similar to pretty much anything in life. Maybe I'm just biased, but articles and opinions like these seem completely rational...yet they simultaneously make the drug war seem senseless. I'm sure my 5th grade D.A.R.E. officer was right about the whole thing though, 'cause no good person would mislead children. I see this kind of sentiment and think: "Wow, somebody out there has a brain. Logic and rationality aren't restricted to potheads and dopers on this issue. Wow." ...but don't be offended by my preceding opinion, because I too am one of those folks who have experimented with the sinful substances and like the good doctors said, I am now consequently cursed with a case of open-mindedness.
What I am advocating is a strong system that makes it extraordinarily difficult for kids to find and use drugs (including alcohol). In addition, I favor a united message from ALL adults, rather than just the ones who think they know what is best for everyone else. We can dramatically reduce rates of use under the system I propose whereas the status quo simply guarantees that our society will continue to tolerate drug and alcohol use by minors. No, I am advocating being strong and unified with the message that drug use by minors is ABSOLUTELY out of bounds. I believe we can increase the number to over 75% with a strong system of regulation. Holland has a horrible kluge of decriminalization and prohibition and they STILL have half the rates of drug use by minors. When we as adults and society become so devoted to ignoring the massive evidence that the VAST majority of drug users are responsible, productive adults we have chosen to cede control of the drug market to criminals and ensure that the only information our young people receive that they trust is from their peers. I am talking about the possibility of dramatically lowering drug use by minors, virtually eliminating overdoses and cross reactions, and reducing the deficit by more than $100 billion per year (or more). You can ignore the evidence, but you will find yourself on the wrong side in the history books of Prohibition II.
ty I actually misread your post. Sorry about being so harsh in the middle part of my rant. I do not want to trivialize the effects drugs have, I want to educate EVERYBODY, and especially those who choose to take them. Currently, education is done by peers, ensuring that the message received is watered down, to show my gift for understatement. We can create a system where kids cannot get drugs and would not choose to take them if they could. I believe the key is to get as many kids as possible to defer the decision until adulthood. We can accomplish this more redily with a regulated market as opposed to prohibition. Yes, and the most positive strategy would be to take all of the unsafe and impure substances off the streets by regulating the market for recreational pharmaceuticals. We educate all people who want to be licensed to purchase the substance in question completely once they are adults. Adults will stand a much better chance of making educated, informed decisions about their drug use. I absolutely DO NOT condone drug use. I am simply saying that a regulated market for adults will minimize the harm done by drugs while at the same time reducing both minor and overall drug use. I am talking about formulating a policy specifically to mitigate those risks. This policy has failed for ALL Americans, the propaganda machine has simply snowed the public and obscured the facts on the issue. Every study of drug policy points to a different direction, including the study Nixon had comissioned just before he coined the term "War on Drugs." They did not see the risks to others that the change in policy has fostered, or if they did, they WANTED us to move more towards being a police state. We are totally agreed. The dealers are not just encouraged by, but created directly by the current policies. We can deal them a death blow by regulating the market. In that case, we need a system that tracks actual usage data and uses real metrics to measure the performance of the system in regards to reducing overall drug use (after we concentrate on virtually eliminating use by minors). This is only possible with a regulated market. Exactly. We need a system where 80+% of teens leave high school without experiencing drugs (including alcohol). We can create such a system if we use our brains rather than our brawn. Yeah, this thread has my first one, too. Happy New Year, CF.net!
Exactly. We need to create a system that changes the dynamic. Drug use is already a part of child development, as sad and scary as that is. We can create a system that minimizes that exposure, but it will not happen as long as we have a black market that does not discriminate between buyers. It is not trivial for those who have had problems, but those problems are exacerbated rather than solved when we involve the criminal justice system at a higher level than the health care system. For most people, drug use is a responsible act, as much alcohol use is. The problems associated with drug use can be solved if we look for intelligent solutions (like the Swiss, who have proved that even daily heroin users can be happy, healthy, productive members of society).
That message has not worked because of the weak regulation regarding alcohol. If we had a strong system of regulation (detailed more fully in a fairly long thread a few months ago), we would be able to seriously limit teen access to currently illicit drugs and if we extended that system of regulation to alcohol, we could more fully limit access to that as well.
Cocaine IS one of the most highly addictive drugs and yet less than 5% of the people who use it become addicted. Silly you for believing everything the ONDCP has to say.
I suspect that my son will have a MUCH better chance of graduating high school without using drugs than your kids do because of your utter lack of accurate information regarding drug use and my attitude towards it.
Yeah, according to Nixon, it was the "Jews" who were using drugs. In other times opium was demonized because of the Oriental people who used it. In the south, cocaine (and pot) were supposed to turn black men into homicidal, raping machines. They are illegal because of the lies, myths, and propaganda that your tax dollars pay for. They are illegal because of ignorance. I suppose you are in favor of going back to alcohol prohibition since alcohol is the most dangerous of the drugs. And it disgusts me that people will simply choose to remain ignorant on this issue. Blast me all you want, but YOU are the one ignoring facts, not me.
