Illegal drugs - worse than legal ones?

[Dopeyjopey]

Well peanuts should be illegal then We know how harmful they can be to a lot of people!

Careful! They don't get you high

 

[Eve]

 

[kiwimama]

Tomatoes are not a danger to your health

And there is a debate as to whether cannabis is or not! Some people are allergic to tomatoes and if you ate too many you'd be ill. Interestingly, tomatoes were thought be poisonous in the 1800s. Times change!

I wish i didn't have to put a disclaimer every time i give a comparison, example or metaphor

Tomatoes are definately not harmful in any way shape or form

They are if you have arthritis actually. My mother's been told to steer well clear of tomatoes as they are bad for her decades long arthritis. Whereas cannabis is good for arthritic pain.

DJ made a comment on the issue of legality not of the harm. People can try endlessly to pick it apart because that's all that's left to do but its not really productive as it's not progressing the discussion and it's annoying for her I imagine.

Since 2005 (and DJ may not be aware of this as she commented on the dry mushroom situation earlier) magic mushrooms are illegal.

But ever autumn they grow NATURALLY without being planted in fields all over the country.

It's a similarly silly situation in terms of legality.

Are the police going to raid and close down fields all over the UK when they find a suspicious mushroom? Are they going to arrest people for having a magic mushroom sprout in their garden? Are they going to arrest mother nature with intent to supply? Considering most drugs laws are about possession or intent to deal it's ridiculous. People in the UK have for CENTURIES gone for walks in the countryside and eaten magic mushrooms. You can't stop them unless you dress as a bush or a tree and follow them up some hills/fields and catch them the moment they pick a mushroom from the ground.

Its very different to poppies which also grow naturally as you have to prepare them for consumption as opium or heroine or codeine etc.

And although cannabis is cultivated, it didn't appear from nowhere and it does and can grow naturally pretty much anywhere. I met a woman at a party who grows the stuff in her back garden. It's just there amongst her other plants and flowers. It doesn't need any attention and her hubby said whenever they want some they just go directly out and pick it.

Now this might cause shock and horror to the more naive but it's not a scary thing. it's just human nature. Both man and wife are working individuals with an almost fully paid off mortgage in their 30s. (which was far more shocking to me than their cannabis growth or usage! can you IMAGINE having a fully paid off mortgage by the time you're 40!!!!)

We used to get cannabis growing wildly, but I think they put a stop to that now.

I don't think they are illegal in that form. I'm not sure they're even much illegal in other forms to be honest, or at least it's not enforced. There's a bong shop in Newcastle that has been selling them openly at the counter for donkeys and nothing's ever happened to them.

We have several different chains that sell bongs and growing equipment (hydroponics, fans etc.) and fertilisers here too. They even advertise with a jingle that goes along the lines of " lots of juicy cabbages, right behind your pants and shirts, growing indoors with photosynthesis, grow anything you like and no one needs to know with a hydrophonic wardrobe!" A couple of friends from England came over, heard that on the radio and were in hysterics, and said nothing as open and obvious as that would ever be allowed to be advertised over there.

 

[smokey]

Tomatoes are not a danger to your health

And there is a debate as to whether cannabis is or not! Some people are allergic to tomatoes and if you ate too many you'd be ill. Interestingly, tomatoes were thought be poisonous in the 1800s. Times change!

I wish i didn't have to put a disclaimer every time i give a comparison, example or metaphor

Tomatoes are definately not harmful in any way shape or form

Depends if you throw a tin of them at someone or not

 

[smokey]

I don't think they are illegal in that form. I'm not sure they're even much illegal in other forms to be honest, or at least it's not enforced. There's a bong shop in Newcastle that has been selling them openly at the counter for donkeys and nothing's ever happened to them.

Thats like with popper, they have been on and off illegal for years as no one knows where to place them among the bad or not scale.
Even while being illegal (cant remember where they stand at the moment) alot of the shops around camden still openly sold it and placed stands of them near the door and got around it because they claimed and sold them alongside insence oils.
I think they just gave up and classed them along with the controlled medicine act as well because they used to be used to treat angina.
Pretty much every shop in camden is a bong shop and sells things openly if there is enough people or places doing something like this then the police just dont have the man power (or balls) to go around every person checking them, I have a fond memory of when I was 16 of going to what was called Smokey bears picnic, it was a massive gavering in brighton I think (I was too past it by the time I got there to remember for sure) of about 10,000 odd people just sitting in a field getting stoned and not much else the police just sat on the side watching as there was nothing they could do if they arrested one then they had to arrest all 10,000+

 

[Justagirlxx]

Any drug that is proven to be less harmful than legal drugs should absolutely be made legal. It is absolutely hypocritical for the government to legalize alcohol and tobacco when it is proven that these drugs cause far more crime, death, and health issues than marijuana. Additionally I believe marijuana should have the same limitations as alchohol (ie to purchase you must be of age, you can not be under its influence while driving, etc) It should also come with a warning label of adverse health effects and side effects. Adults can make the informed decision of whether to smoke it or not. I just want to add that I do not smoke marijuana, I just believe that as an adult I should have the right to smoke it if I wish to, just like I have the right to drink alchohol if I wish to.

 

[Dopeyjopey]

Any drug that is proven to be less harmful than legal drugs should absolutely be made legal. It is absolutely hypocritical for the government to legalize alcohol and tobacco when it is proven that these drugs cause far more crime, death, and health issues than marijuana. Additionally I believe marijuana should have the same limitations as alchohol (ie to purchase you must be of age, you can not be under its influence while driving, etc) It should also come with a warning label of adverse health effects and side effects. Adults can make the informed decision of whether to smoke it or not. I just want to add that I do not smoke marijuana, I just believe that as an adult I should have the right to smoke it if I wish to, just like I have the right to drink alchohol if I wish to.

That is what i've been trying to say, you said in one post what i haven't been able to in 60-odd pages

 

[BlackBerry25]

I think the problem with that is, most people would just grow their own personal plant, so they couldn't attach warnings and they couldn't tax it?

 

[Tiff]

I think the problem with that is, most people would just grow their own personal plant, so they couldn't attach warnings and they couldn't tax it?

Hmm, that's a good point that I never thought of. Makes sense!

 

[JASMAK]

Any drug that is proven to be less harmful than legal drugs should absolutely be made legal. It is absolutely hypocritical for the government to legalize alcohol and tobacco when it is proven that these drugs cause far more crime, death, and health issues than marijuana. Additionally I believe marijuana should have the same limitations as alchohol (ie to purchase you must be of age, you can not be under its influence while driving, etc) It should also come with a warning label of adverse health effects and side effects. Adults can make the informed decision of whether to smoke it or not. I just want to add that I do not smoke marijuana, I just believe that as an adult I should have the right to smoke it if I wish to, just like I have the right to drink alchohol if I wish to.

See, I am the exact opposite. I think alcohol and tabacco should be illegal too...and of course, pot should stay illegal. I don't smoke it either.

 

[aliss]

Wow, what a long thread!

Well, I work in law enforcement and I know quite a bit about them - cooking, recipes, paraphernalia, (Canadian) law codes, what people do on them.

Truth is on a personal level, I couldn't care much what people do on their own. I have a lot of issues with drugs like methamphetamine and opiates because the cost of addiction affects my personal life (car theft, etc) but I am more disappointed in the lack of punishment (if only you guys knew how few offenders were actually punished rather than discharged, etc). That being said, rehab can work for people - more rehabilitation programs for strong drugs would be great.

As for smoking pot, well, I think it's a bad idea to smoke stuff you buy off the street due to the amount of lacing and other dodgy practices, but quite frankly I could care less what someone does on their own time if it doesn't affect me personally!

And the #1 drug to influence crime is of course, alcohol. Without alcohol, I would be unemployed.

 

[Justagirlxx]

I think the problem with that is, most people would just grow their own personal plant, so they couldn't attach warnings and they couldn't tax it?

Legalizing marijuana would be a very involved process. There would have to be limitations on growing your own. You would have to be licensed to grow and sell. I haven't worked out all the mechanics but I believe it would be do-able. Millions of people smoke cigarettes but very few grow their own tobacco. Not to mention actually growing marijuana is extremely complicated. I dont believe there would be a wide-spread problem of people growing their own when they could walk into a store and buy it, considering how complicated and involved it is to grow it properly.

 

[redpoppy]

Any drug that is proven to be less harmful than legal drugs should absolutely be made legal. It is absolutely hypocritical for the government to legalize alcohol and tobacco when it is proven that these drugs cause far more crime, death, and health issues than marijuana. Additionally I believe marijuana should have the same limitations as alchohol (ie to purchase you must be of age, you can not be under its influence while driving, etc) It should also come with a warning label of adverse health effects and side effects. Adults can make the informed decision of whether to smoke it or not. I just want to add that I do not smoke marijuana, I just believe that as an adult I should have the right to smoke it if I wish to, just like I have the right to drink alchohol if I wish to.

It's strange to me that people don't believe in freedoms when it's not affecting other people. Driving cars totally sober is probably more of a danger to society than individual adults choosing to smoke cannabis. And the argument makes more sense if you believe all drugs should be illegal but the reality is that cannabis is less addictive and less harmful than both alcohol and cigarettes especially if you consider that smoking it need not be an option.

When people are quick to take away human rights to do as we please so long as it does not considerably harm others then that's where people lose me. I don't understand where people get the idea that telling other people what to do in their own time and own space when it doesn't affect them is any of their business?

As for growing your own plant, it's actually very easy apparently to plant a marijuana seed and it pretty much grows itself. But then a lot of things are easy to grow that are available in the legal market which people don't like growing themselves. And to cause more tomato confusion and pedantry dare i suggest tomatoes as an example?

But in terms of growing your own not having warnings. The thing is you can grow all sorts of far more dangerous things and misuse even common plants but surely most adults should be trusted to learn about what they're growing and consuming?

This is the film I earlier mentioned. I asked a friend and they reminded me it was called "reefer madness" apparently it is a moral educational tale of how smoking marijuana can lead to menacing acts of dancing and debauchery and ultimately murder and sexual depravity. It's funny because it's become a hit with stoners worldwide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM_vLk1I6G4

 

[kiwimama]

Reefer Madness videos are bloody hilarious!
There is a dvd called Grass which is a great doco about the criminalisation of marijuana. Really interesting watch.

 

[aliss]

Reefer Madness was a good idea in theory except what stoner has that much energy to cause havoc like that when stoned?

I remember when Ross Rebagliati lost his Olympic medal after testing positive for THC in Olympic snowboarding (he later admitted he was at a party where people smoked). If anything, does he not deserve yet another medal for having pot in his system and still being the best snowboarder in the world?

Oh lordy............

 

[Dopeyjopey]

Haha aliss that's an excellent point.

I'll watch the video tomorrow when i get on the pc

Only major risk to others in my smoking days was the chance of me eating them when the pringles and haribo ran out

 

[kiwimama]

Haha aliss that's an excellent point.

I'll watch the video tomorrow when i get on the pc

Only major risk to others in my smoking days was the chance of me eating them when the pringles and haribo ran out

Gosh I couldn't smoke these days, since having kids, my metabolism has slowed right down and I gain weight like nobodys business. I couldn't eat the amount I did when I was smoking because I'd just turn into a blob!

 

[redpoppy]

Haha aliss that's an excellent point.

I'll watch the video tomorrow when i get on the pc

Only major risk to others in my smoking days was the chance of me eating them when the pringles and haribo ran out

Gosh I couldn't smoke these days, since having kids, my metabolism has slowed right down and I gain weight like nobodys business. I couldn't eat the amount I did when I was smoking because I'd just turn into a blob!

Off topic! Your baby's a day younger than mine! So she probably has the super cool birthdate of 01/01/10?

 

[redpoppy]

Reefer Madness was a good idea in theory except what stoner has that much energy to cause havoc like that when stoned?

I remember when Ross Rebagliati lost his Olympic medal after testing positive for THC in Olympic snowboarding (he later admitted he was at a party where people smoked). If anything, does he not deserve yet another medal for having pot in his system and still being the best snowboarder in the world?

Oh lordy............

And michael phelps who has won a gazillion olympic medals (sorry, no, can't say gazillion as I'm sure i'll be asked to validate... *runs off to wiki* sorry, not a gazillion, just 16 olypic medals, that's all ) was harassed for lighting a bong.

I think anyone who wins more than 5 olympic medals for his country should be provided with a choice of the best high grade pot available to mankind.
And REALLY honestly, if you smoke pot and you can get THAT many medals they REALLY do need to give you an extra medal for not deciding to forget the olympics and instead sit down with a box of fox's classics biscuits and watch sky movies for two weeks.

 

[BlackBerry25]

Lol, my point was against it, I was saying I am sure someone would say that.

I for one, would just grow mine own. It's not that hard.