For Those Of Ya'll that Use the Evil Drug Cocaine...

[MattTheSkywalker]

it isnt only the incidence of addiction which is greater but also the degree of addiciton. i can assure you, widespread use of cocaine would be far more problematic than that of ethanol. furthermore, the mode by which the drugs are administered and the severity of an overdose in the case of cocaine would undoubtably lead to deaths on the spot, as well as a probable equivalence in road deaths.

You are making the incorrect assumption that people who choose NOT to use cocaine today are doing so because of the law, not for other reasons. I don't use it. The law doesn't scare me - I used pot and drank underage. I don't do coke because I want to use my time for other goals. if you legalized it, there would be no incentive for me to try it. This is true of many Americans who choose not to use drugs.

personally i think ethanol use should be controlled. cars should be fitted with immobilisers as standard, and greater efforts should be made to modulate underage (and general) binge drinking

In the US, only certain places are allowed to sell it, there are huge taxes, there is a drinking age de facto enfroced at the federal level, and teh US Supreme COurt has created 'constitutional exceptions' to allow for search of DUI drivers. Short of implanting a chip in people's bodies, how much more regulation are you proposing? The US has a body of evidence from a time when alcohol was illegal -it was a dismal failure.

its all very well to say its up to the person but in practice, there are a lot more associated and follow on problems

This is a vague statement these follow-on problems are here today.

all that would do is dodge the issue. indiscriminate consumption, and inevitably the adverse health effects associated with such consumption, would follow.

Why would consumption be indiscriminte? Despite aggressive advertising campaigns everywhere, millions choose not to drink.

Legalization of cocaine would not make me a user. WOuld it make you one? What makes you think that legalization of a drug that *was* legal in the past would hasten society's demise, when in the past it did not?

if you truly have been front row to addiction, you have seen how amazingly destructive powerful addiction can be. the face of our society would change as a result of the legalisation of cocaine and similar drugs. there isnt a facet of life that wouldnt change. the number of unviable individuals would skyrocket. too many things to chat about, really.

it is very sad - I watched it every day for over a eyar. A real tragedy, agreed. And what did all these laws do? Nothing.

I still don't gather how legalizaing something would hastenthe demise of scoiety by turning everyone into an addict. You could make it free and I still wouldn't do it. Would you? Do you smoke? Nicotine rivals cocaine for addiction, yet I am not addicted to cigarettes, and they are legal.

thats true, but im sure that imprisonments due to violent crime would increase. so many other industries would shit themselves that such economic rationalisms are negated

Actually, if you agree that most crimeis an economic phenomenon, the removal of the financial incentive to sell drugs would cause violent crime to plummet.

And again - cocaine is readily available here in the US today, yet most Americans are not addicted to it. How do you explain that?

i didnt know that. they probably want you alive and well, paying tax to fund your long, slow rot (ahem, i mean prescription retirement) rather than offing yourself

OR theyre lobbying against marijuana...now that would put a hole in their pockets

The drug companies want you on drugs: theirs.

 

[hardrock]

Good post matt!

 

[plowboy]

use to be one of the biggest heads around. smoked pot, crack, meth, acid, pain killers, whiskey, beer, any thing to get stoned. went from 190lbs to 120lbs. my life was on a down hill spirrel. i looked in the mirror one day all i saw was a skeleton i knew something had to change. anyway i got myself clean an have been clean for about 6 years. i just thought i felt good on all those drugs. i feel better now than i ever did. no dope for me.

 

[GoldenDelicious]

You are making the incorrect assumption that people who choose NOT to use cocaine today are doing so because of the law, not for other reasons. I don't use it. The law doesn't scare me - I used pot and drank underage. I don't do coke because I want to use my time for other goals. if you legalized it, there would be no incentive for me to try it. This is true of many Americans who choose not to use drugs.

this statement is way off. i made no such assumption, nor did i express such an assumption in my post.

what i said was that the degree of addiction would be greater. ie people would get hooked more deeply on cocaine.

this was teh basis for my following comment about equivalent cocaine (with respect to ethanol) use being more problematic.

the problem with cocaine use isnt just legalisation- its availibility. if its legal, its available, and its cheap. not only are you very likely to get addicted to it, but you have a virtually unlimited supply (it would cost about the same as aspirin, really).

you would have more problems (in all likelihood) from a public health/safety perspective from, say, 500 casual cocaine users than from 50,000 drinkers. no doubt in my mind.

In the US, only certain places are allowed to sell it, there are huge taxes, there is a drinking age de facto enfroced at the federal level, and teh US Supreme COurt has created 'constitutional exceptions' to allow for search of DUI drivers. Short of implanting a chip in people's bodies, how much more regulation are you proposing? The US has a body of evidence from a time when alcohol was illegal -it was a dismal failure.

I am in australia and laws here are similar. i am aware of past attempts to control ethanol use. I am also regularly on the pub/club scene and have witnessed many horrible incidents with alcohol- from bashings to stabbings to sexual assault. i have even had to administer first aid on a couple of people who passed out.

be that as it may, i accept ethanols place in our society, and to me, the most apparent shortcoming of the drug (apart from the hangover) is the road toll. I believe that cars should be fit with breathalyser ignition locks. my reasons for this are not only anectdotal (i know people who drink and drive regularly) but from the endless streams of stats i hear where 50% of all fatal accidents involving youth involve alcohol etc etc.

i would pay for such a device for a car driven by my children/younger siblings.

This is a vague statement these follow-on problems are here today.

certainly they are, but to a far lesser degree. I would not like to see a modern day equivalent to what was experienced in the 16th-17th in england where husbands/fathers would dissappear for days at a time into opium dens, allowing themselves and their families to founder. and when you are talking about coke, itll happen, no doubt. simple human physiology guarantees it.

Why would consumption be indiscriminte? Despite aggressive advertising campaigns everywhere, millions choose not to drink.

indiscriminate in the sense that a trained pharmacist or other competent health professional would not assess your safety. in pharmacy, the non judicious use of a drug is labelled indiscriminate. you dont realise how potentially disasterous taking some of these drugs are, especially in conjunction with other medications, or in people with certain conditions.

you might not realise how well looked after you are when you go into a pharmacy and get your drugs. i have picked up errors made by prescribing doctors that would have killed the patient. others that might have caused cancer. deafness. blindness.

i could rattle off about 50 scenarios where various illicit drugs could kill or maim an otherwise healthy person. do you really want to leave that in the hands of a retailer? whose only thought is seperating you from your money?

Legalization of cocaine would not make me a user. WOuld it make you one? What makes you think that legalization of a drug that *was* legal in the past would hasten society's demise, when in the past it did not?

me personally? no. but it would certainly create more users, and of those new users, many would become addicted.

i have seen people addicted to cough/cold medicines, for goodness sake, and addiction is barely mentioned in the literature for them. imagine if a full blown drug like cocaine was on the shelf ready to rumble. fuck. that.

it is very sad - I watched it every day for over a eyar. A real tragedy, agreed. And what did all these laws do? Nothing.

the laws surely did something. they reduced the number of people in a similar situation. if it was a less addictive drug, id say, sure, legalise it. in fact, i think marijuana should be legal. but not the more addicting drugs.

I still don't gather how legalizaing something would hastenthe demise of scoiety by turning everyone into an addict. You could make it free and I still wouldn't do it. Would you? Do you smoke? Nicotine rivals cocaine for addiction, yet I am not addicted to cigarettes, and they are legal.

one addict can destroy a family. im sure you have seen that. happens with alcohol, happens with many drugs. with a drug like coke, or heroin, or opium, you are 100% guaranteed to have a large proportion of your using population becoming addicted severely. almost to the point of incapacitation. sometimes to the point. this will affect the other family members; it will affect family integrity; it will affect taxation revenue; it will affect healthcare; it will affect the economy; it will affect labour logistics- hell what wont it touch. go out into your suburb and maim 3 or 4 people in each street. effectively, its the same thing.

Actually, if you agree that most crimeis an economic phenomenon, the removal of the financial incentive to sell drugs would cause violent crime to plummet.

in most drug affected households violence, physical, emotional and sexual abuse (jail time stuff) increase.

robberies by addicts will decrease, as will a lot of gang/drug related violence.

overall though i cant see a massive difference

And again - cocaine is readily available here in the US today, yet most Americans are not addicted to it. How do you explain that?

firstly it is not 'readily' available. it is 'available'. it is expensive, the quality is dubious, as are those you must deal with in order to get it. it is tested for in some workplaces and schools, it is illegal, and there is a stigma attached not only to its use, but if you are convicted using it. (as well as corresponding jail time etc etc)

you really want to compare that with the availability and acceptance of something like cigarettes? dont think so.

The drug companies want you on drugs: theirs.

of course. theirs, everyday, with no hope of cure, for the rest of your life, for maximum price point.

edit: F#$%ing typos

 

[hellorhih2o]

ALL DRUGS ARE EVIL, there’s NO such thing as a benign drug (alcohol and prescription drugs included).

Coke is evil but meth is much worse imho, and it's spreading like wildfire. I don’t care what DEA or CDC statistics say, meth is a hell of a lot more "in" than coke right now (meth is what coke was 10-15 years ago inmo) and you know that means that the kids will pick it up next (even more than they already have).

I’m sick and fucking tired of seeing talented and good guys fuck up their lives. And it’s almost impossible to know who’s going to be able to control their drug use and who’ll become addicted.

Evil. Pure evil.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

And remember who introduced that wonderful drug?

The CIA in conjunction with Clarence Thomas, of course

 

[Tiervexx]

Drug use is terrible but our experience with drug prohibition is enough to say that it is almost certain that drug laws DO NOT reduce abuse!

I have unpleasant memories of watching ex-friends waste away from drugs but the simple, obvious fact remains that they did it to themselves!!! Nobody else is to blame! It was their choice!

If you really want drugs to be illegal than what you are really saying is that you think the rest of the world needs to be graced your "enlightened" leadership. The very idea makes me sick! Just accept the fact that you can't save people from themselves.

 

[hellorhih2o]

Drug use is terrible but our experience with drug prohibition is enough to say that it is almost certain that drug laws DO NOT reduce abuse!

Drug laws aren't about preventing drug use inmo, they're about government control of the public (as evil as drugs).

 

[sermon_of_mockery]

I gotta shit

 

[jh1]

I gotta shit

hahahaha... that's fucking funny ass shit. For those in the know, well hell... I don't have to tell you if you know....