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Why are drugs hated so much in the U.S?

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Aiko-Aiko

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Kind of a 2 part question......

1.Why is it so terrible to smoke some weed, take some ecstasy or maybe even drop an oxy or two if it is our own choice? Sure there are drugs like heroin, meth, pcp etc, but why is it known to be so terrible to take "softer drugs?" Especially when we have the technology to do research and make the already "safe" drugs possibly even safer. Alcohol is much, much easier to overdose on than marijuana but yet it is still legal and marijuana is illegal.

2.Heres another Question while Im at it: If we can make a pill that helps us get a boner, relieve allergies, make us less paranoid, control our adhd, get rid of our headaches, cure our depression, relieve bi-polar disorder symptoms, put us to sleep.......I think you get my point......THAN WHY IN GODS NAME CANT WE MAKE A SAFE FDA APPROVED DRUG THAT CAN GIVE US DESIRED EFFECTS?! Think about it, alcohol has been around for hundreds of years, MDMA was first synthesized in the 1800's, but yet these drugs are still very popular to this day. Same can be said for heroin, meth and pcp.

Basically

Why can't we make our own decisions on our drug use.

Why can''t we make the existing drugs safer and possibly more desirable.


Ive rambled enough but I'd like to hear some thoughts on this :)
 
If everybody was allowed to take any drug they desired for the euphoria then society would be nothing like it is today. Legality does actually stop people from using and if that was not a barrier anymore then we would be surrounded by addicts everywhere. Im with you in that marijuana should be legal but I definitely dont think that ecstasy or oxy's or any of the other drugs along those lines should be. IMO society would definitely not function as well as it does today(if you can call it well) if a lot of the illegal drugs were made legal.
 
perfect drugs that you can take all the time without getting addicted dont exist, drugs are illegal to prevent addiction and stuff (while you can get addicted to alcohol too, but society needs a legal "drug" and thats the one least likely to get banned)
 
1.Why is it so terrible to smoke some weed, take some ecstasy or maybe even drop an oxy or two if it is our own choice? Sure there are drugs like heroin, meth, pcp etc, but why is it known to be so terrible to take "softer drugs?" Especially when we have the technology to do research and make the already "safe" drugs possibly even safer. Alcohol is much, much easier to overdose on than marijuana but yet it is still legal and marijuana is illegal.
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A lot of people would put oxycodone in the same category as H. Do some research into the illegality of marijuana and cocaine, you'll find there is some racism involved there.

2.Heres another Question while Im at it: If we can make a pill that helps us get a boner, relieve allergies, make us less paranoid, control our adhd, get rid of our headaches, cure our depression, relieve bi-polar disorder symptoms, put us to sleep.......I think you get my point......THAN WHY IN GODS NAME CANT WE MAKE A SAFE FDA APPROVED DRUG THAT CAN GIVE US DESIRED EFFECTS?! Think about it, alcohol has been around for hundreds of years, MDMA was first synthesized in the 1800's, but yet these drugs are still very popular to this day. Same can be said for heroin, meth and pcp.
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I don't really understand this question, but MDMA was synthesized in the 1930s.

If everybody was allowed to take any drug they desired for the euphoria then society would be nothing like it is today. Legality does actually stop people from using and if that was not a barrier anymore then we would be surrounded by addicts everywhere. Im with you in that marijuana should be legal but I definitely dont think that ecstasy or oxy's or any of the other drugs along those lines should be. IMO society would definitely not function as well as it does today(if you can call it well) if a lot of the illegal drugs were made legal.
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I would legalize MDMA and at the same time put a lot of effort into getting information out about how to stay safe with it and prevent damage. Ditto for marijuana, LSD, a lot of the psychedelics in fact. Things like smack or morphine or meth though, I don't know...
 
Mr Blonde said:
I don't really understand this question, but MDMA was synthesized in the 1930s.
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Wooops, lol I meant it was first discovered. It was written on a piece of paper in the 1800s and forgotten until the 1930s.
 
Yeah, if you've been watching the History channel, then you know that pot was made illegal because a government brainwashing campaign made it synonymous with blacks and mexicans. And we all know how America feels about blacks and mexicans -especially in those days.

Not to mention, I don't think there is a more pro-Christian nation in the world than the US of A. And that's why I say if the bible had depicted Jesus lighting up a doob, everybody would be lighting up doobs.

It would be mandatory in churches in order to accentuate the experience of enlightenment. Faith healers would be handing it out like candy and taking credit for making everyone feel better. In fact, it wouldn't even be called pot. It would be called "God's only begotten weed."

Plus, I think Americans take pride in identifying with a warrior culture. We look back on WWII and say remarkably stupid things like, "We sure bailed you europeans out that time, didn't we?" In fact, people in the states can't truly call themselves American unless their granddaddy fought in some war or another.

And warriors don't use drugs -period. That is unless we're talking steroids. And pretty much every conservative media personality in the country says that those athletes are being punished way too hard.
 
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It's difficult to predict the conseqences of full-scale legalisation. Perhaps more people would become addicted, but there would also be many positive consequences. Many of the dangers associated with drug use, abuse or addiction are a direct consequence of their illegality, for instance high prices making addicts turn to crime, the need to deal with dodgy characters to get your fix, not knowing exactly what it is you're taking, and so on. If drugs were legal, I honestly believe that safer drugs would be developed. Try to imagine the amount of money the pharmaceutical industry would put into developing recreational drugs; it would be a boom industry for sure. In time and with technological advances I do not doubt that a substance resembling Aldous Huxkley's perfect drug, i.e. something which produces a great high without being damaging to our bodies or causing physcial addiction, would eventually be developed.

I honestly do not know why our governments hate drugs so much, but I do not think it is simply a consequentialist line of reasoning that they follow, as others have suggested in this thread. The comments about the link to race are well made. The simplest answer, I suppose, is that if they legalised any drug, even a populist legalisation of marijuana, they would probably lose the next election on account of the loss of votes from the moral majority.

I think there is certainly a high degree of social conservatism in the proscription of drugs, i.e. most politicians are probably uneasy with the idea of getting high as a means of recreation. The exception is, of course, alcohol, but I think this was left legal simply because politicians themselves enjoyed it, and because it was allowed to gain such mainstream popularity that an electoral advantage was gained by whoever supported its legalisation, rather than the other way around.
 
^^^That is a great post.


On a side note...as much as I would like to reason otherwise, I do have to admit that if Oxycontin were sold OTC, I would be dead in a year.
 
^^^1st, I agree oxy definetly isnt a softer drug

2nd, I watched a show on the history channel and it was talking about the racism involved in criminalizing cocaine, opium and weed.

^Sponger, I agree 100%,,,,but 6 months,lol
 
History View: I think it's also about history. Historically alcohol has been around since the agricultural revolution (1700's). It is much more difficult if not impossible to replace without consequences and 'special interests'. Same for Tobacco which has been around for centuries.

All of our present drugs are really from 1900's upwards. The old stuff is too ingrained.

Blackmarket View: Allowing a certain market to become legalized means someone is going to make a lot of money and the mafia's are going to lose out big time. This causes a security 'balooning' effect as the gangs spread to other tasks. Who gets to choose which pharmaceutical starts to hand out ecstacy like candy?

Also this would result in a HUGE problem for customs (as evident in amsterdam) as the country it is legalized in would start exporting / leaking to other countries where it is illegal placing strain on foreign relations

Fatality Potential
I think the most important is overdose fatality potential. You can 'technically' overdose and die from alcohol but you'd have to drink an awful lot very quickly. If you just kept drinking you'd eventually throw up and pass out so no more drinking :) You also can't die (immediately) from smoking too many ciggarettes. Probably get very ill first ... 8)

With drugs like ecstacy there's a high potential for overdose. You feel good, take another, have some more and then die or Serotonin Storm and end up in a wheelchair or in a box.

Ecstacy in various forms (eg. ritalin) is available as a prescription drug. To make ecstacy as easily available as, say alcohol would really spiral things out of control.

My View:
I think goverments need to get past the political and religious bullshit and maybe provide some sort of legalization to drugs like weed and MDMA. One needs to be able to control it in a way - maybe invent a breath-alyzer for Ecstacy :P

I'd personally spend most of my time tripping balls =D
 
neurofall said:
History View: I think it's also about history. Historically alcohol has been around since the agricultural revolution (1700's). It is much more difficult if not impossible to replace without consequences and 'special interests'. Same for Tobacco which has been around for centuries.

All of our present drugs are really from 1900's upwards. The old stuff is too ingrained.

Blackmarket View: Allowing a certain market to become legalized means someone is going to make a lot of money and the mafia's are going to lose out big time. This causes a security 'balooning' effect as the gangs spread to other tasks. Who gets to choose which pharmaceutical starts to hand out ecstacy like candy?

Also this would result in a HUGE problem for customs (as evident in amsterdam) as the country it is legalized in would start exporting / leaking to other countries where it is illegal placing strain on foreign relations

Fatality Potential
I think the most important is overdose fatality potential. You can 'technically' overdose and die from alcohol but you'd have to drink an awful lot very quickly. If you just kept drinking you'd eventually throw up and pass out so no more drinking :) You also can't die (immediately) from smoking too many ciggarettes. Probably get very ill first ... 8)

With drugs like ecstacy there's a high potential for overdose. You feel good, take another, have some more and then die or Serotonin Storm and end up in a wheelchair or in a box.

Ecstacy in various forms (eg. ritalin) is available as a prescription drug. To make ecstacy as easily available as, say alcohol would really spiral things out of control.

My View:
I think goverments need to get past the political and religious bullshit and maybe provide some sort of legalization to drugs like weed and MDMA. One needs to be able to control it in a way - maybe invent a breath-alyzer for Ecstacy :P

I'd personally spend most of my time tripping balls =D
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Ecstasy
 
Aiko-Aiko said:
Why can't we make our own decisions on our drug use.
Click to expand...

Our population isn't educated enough about safe drug use practices due to the failure of our nation's Drug Education Program to educate them.

Why can''t we make the existing drugs safer and possibly more desirable.
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Because they're illegal, so they have a very low priority on the research and Development agenda of educational, private, and government research efforts.


If and when massive reforms are made to to our Drug Education Programs and they put a priority on teaching Harm Reduction instead of drugs should and will remain illegal.
 
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Aiko-Aiko - Did you think i was high? =D

No i'm afraid that post was while i was sober. On the rare occasion when i am high or actually able to find unadulterated stuff then my posts are non-existant or are spent rambling about how the squirrels are trying to steal my nuts
 
pemde said:
If everybody was allowed to take any drug they desired for the euphoria then society would be nothing like it is today. Legality does actually stop people from using and if that was not a barrier anymore then we would be surrounded by addicts everywhere. Im with you in that marijuana should be legal but I definitely dont think that ecstasy or oxy's or any of the other drugs along those lines should be. IMO society would definitely not function as well as it does today(if you can call it well) if a lot of the illegal drugs were made legal.
Click to expand...


Have to disagree man, i reckon that anyone who wants to do drugs of whatever nature are doing them. Just cos they were legal doesnt mean someone who previously had no desire to snort smack for instance isnt gonna suddenly go do it just co sits legal. Breaking the law isnt exactly much of a deterrent to those who are so inclined to take drugs
 
I've always thought of some sort of "licensing" program. Like a 40 hour class you have to take, and bam, you get a cocaine license. Possession up to 3.5 grams or something. Regular doctor visits to keep your license, make sure you're using safely. Of course, there would be problems with people with a license giving their drugs to people without. Tough restrictions, punishments, I don't know. I haven't got that far.

But if everyone that was doing their drug had to be completely educated on safe usage, and I mean honest safe usage, drugs would so much safer on the streets. If you could buy cocaine at a dispensary, you know it is cocaine. Not some combination of nasty amphetamines. It would just be so much safer. The people who do drugs legitimately would have no problem sitting through several drug education sessions to get a license. I would love it, get them all. And the streets would be safer.
 
Aiko-Aiko said:
Alcohol is much, much easier to overdose on than marijuana but yet it is still legal and marijuana is illegal.
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They tried to make alcohol illegal, remember? But since alcohol has been used for who knows how long (and apparently also used by Jesus) it was already socially acceptable and everyone went apeshit; violent crime skyrocketed.

My question would be why is nicotine legal (and has NEVER been prohibited) when it's so addictive, and all the other drugs are illegal. I don't know for sure but I believe it's because certain government organizations make $ for illegal drugs being imported into the country, more than they would make if they legalized and taxed them. But nobody would use tobacco if it was illegal because it's a pointless drug (and would be pricey), and there would be no need to import. So they go ahead and tax it to make what they can off it.

That's my theory when it comes to explaining this junk.
 
i think that the drug war is in part a continuation of the witch hunts

the witches were the heretical drug users, obtaining altered states of mind by summoning (psychological) demons and angels and gods and godesses and such, obtaining altered states by drinking potions with psychoactive plants

there are two things that have shown themselves capable of changing society on a vast scale:

* drugs (the 60s changed the face of civilization in a huge, positive way)
* and technology (the basis of any civilization, the economy/technology defines a large part of the societal structure, we know this thanks to Marx's work)

there are adamant oppositions to both, usually stemming from the conservative religious memes

---

another MAJOR reason would be the severe problem with hedonism that the Christian (and the other two similar religions) religion has

another reason, if you look at the history of prohibition, is racism (see the speech on prohibitions by Charles Whitebread, excellent reading)

another reason is that once alcohol prohibition came to a close, those in govt offices related to stopping alcohol needed another scapegoat to prohibit. hence, harry anslinger (sp?) could be regarded as a guy just tryin to "keep his job" :)

---

there are many other reasons, it is a recent and odd sociological phenomenon. and interestingly, every prohibition involves a higher stratum social class 'punishing' a lower social class

EG cigarettes, the patterns we saw before alcohol and illegal drugs became illegal, the same is happening to cigs, and i predict cigs will be illegal within 10 years.

* less and less of the middle class are using
* the poorer areas do NOT stop using, however
* media frenzy about the negatives
* more and more local and national legislation
* changing attitudes among citizens across the entire nation
* stereotyping the users becomes easier when certain groups of people use a lot more than other groups
 
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