Hudman

I have to agree, the end results of alcoholism are every bit as bad as so called hard drugs. The anti-social immediate result of drink is pretty unique, I know hard drug users who can afford to supply themselves without indulging in petty crime to feed their habits who are no problem to society.
Unfortunately meth seems to create problems due to its vile synthetic chemical makeup.
The issue really is why do people feel the need to obliterate/ alter their senses with chemicals.
I think the problem with weed is that it is often a gateway drug, giving users access to other stuff through their lifestyle, people with severe addiction problems will access what suits, be it food, drugs, glue whatever.

Steve_P

Have you perhaps looked up the meaning of "condone"?

Here you can look it up for yourself in Merriam Webster.

Put me in the group that does not condone excessive drinking i.e. "10 pints of Stella or 2 bottles of red", and I do not condone the use of "Weed".

I as others have said, believe that weed is a gateway drug.

kt0157

Duh. On the same basis, bubblegum is a "gateway" to alcopops and should be banned too. The truth is that weed is only a "gateway" because it's illegal and you have to come into contact with criminals in order to get it. Which is why Canada's couldn't-give-much-of-a-toss about weed is so enlightened.

No, I don't smoke weed, or take alcopops or even bubblegum. I did try bubblegum once, but I didn't inflate.

K.

Pony

Have you ever been to Amsterdam as a young person (16 to 30)? If so were you the only person not to be approached by dealers on the streets offering to sell you coke, ecstasy, and illegal weed?
Did Amsterdam end all their drug problems by legalizing weed, which is surely the next logical step in a 'couldn't-give-much-of-a-toss' approach to canabis?

It appears one may be confusing enlightened with blasé . . .


Your analogy of bubble gum being a gateway to alcopops, as weed is to stronger drugs, holds no relevance.

kt0157

Funnily enough, a topical answer to that . Yes, Holland has less of a problem with drugs than the UK:

"[it is] worth noting that twice as many Britons as Dutch use cocaine and a third more use cannabis."

I don't care, as long as the result is allowing people to buy drugs. Lax law enforcement lowers the price, which means stealing less to feed a habit.

Is there a logical chain of reasoning behind that statement?

Drugs are outlawed ostensibly because of the risk of "self-harm". Yet the very illegality causes much more harm. Thus the declared reason is now bogus. However, I'm not the first one to suspect that the real reason drugs are outlawed is because people enjoy them. There is a certain type of person, particularly prevalent in the North American continent for historical and religious reasons, that doesn't like other people enjoying themselves. They over-reached themselves with alcohol in the 1930s, but they have held sway for the last 35 years. It is coming to an end.

K.

Pony

But the UK also has a couldn't-care-less attitude to canabis. I don't see your point.

Daedra

There seems to be both extremes of opinion on the topic of weed... may I just say, one of my brothers is a big pot-head, yes he's admitted to trying 'harder' drugs during his teens but hasn't enjoyed them and so sticks to his weed. One of my other brothers used to be like that too, but has since dropped the habit as well as quitting ciggarettes and reducing his alchohol intake.

Personally, I've never been a fan of weed, occasionally might take a single puff off a joint (occasionally being maybe once a year if even!) as I dont like the smell, dont like the way it makes me hack & cough up a lung and is basically, not something I choose to do nowdays.

Having said that, I used to, as a teenager, get stoned off my box regularly and would write some amazing poetry and got very artsy drawing stuff, weaving braceletes/necklaces etc... I was NEVER tempted during that time to ever try harder drugs, the only time I have is when a supposed 'friend' of mine tricked me into it by lacing a joint with cocaine... I dropped her as a friend after that, never spoke to her again... people who trick someone into doing something they have blatantly stated they do not want to do are not what I call a friend.... this friend (being a reg coke & pot user) found out as I would not give her a second chance and never heard from her since I gave her an earful. I believe we all have basic principles/morals but our interpretation of them differ and we all have the choice to define what that means to us as individuals, how much 'give & take' your okay with.

Maybe this sounds silly but looking at my brothers and myself;
1 brother has admitely become an addicted pot-head who's in alot of ways, wasting his life away, deppresed and lacking motivation.
The other brother who used to do it is now happily married and has moved to Ontario to work for a sucessful big company in IT with anice wage to match his nice title.
And me, who continued being a more creative, imaginative and a pioneering spirit post-pot, my life isn't perfect but its good, and I wouldnt give ANY of my past experiences up. It has made me who I am today and I'm pretty damn happy with how far I've come and where I see myself heading.

Now pour me a as I've shared WAY too much with a bunch of strangers (and British ones to boot!) and I'm feeling just a wee bit emabrassed now *lol*

kt0157

No, it doesn't. It arrests people (albeit at random, depending on the whim of the police). There's no chance of you going to Starbucks and buying weed with your coffee. Thus you still, even in the poorly-enforced UK, have to get involved with criminals to gain a supply. Thus the gateway argument.

K.

kt0157

You could say the exact same thing about the "demon drink" too..

Oh, you did.

K.

Daedra

LOL!! I did... and still not got my demon drink yet, will have to be after I make our supper now *sigh*

EDIT: Heard something about 'addictive' personalities years ago... puts the arguement forward that some people are more inclined to abuses, wether it be drugs/alcohol/sexual/cigarettes etc etc because they are pre-dispositioned to addictions (i think there was both a psychological and biological association to addictive personalities but this was years back so dont remember the details)... as I am still TRYING to quit smoking cigarettes and I do still love my Chardonays along with my morning coffees, I'm probably one of those Addictive Personalities

montreal mike

Daedra you write that a brother has admitely become an addicted pot-head who's in alot of ways, wasting his life away, deppresed and lacking motivation'.

Just curious here. I assume he is still a young man and thus not beyond hope. Is there anything you or your other brother or your mum can do? It is sad to hear of (especially younger) people wasting their life away.

montreal mike

I gave up the pipe after 23 years of addiction. (One fine day in Nov. 1991, out of the blue, I shocked my wife when I told her I had just chucked away my dozen or so pipes. Some of those pipes were very pricey.)

It can be done but it has to come from within.

All these fancy remedies or gadgets to stop smoking are great (no question about it) but foremost one must really want to quit.

I speak from experience.

PS .. I am not a medical doctor.

printer

Daedra

I'm getting worried about you. "Chardonays with your morning coffee"
Whatever next. A shot of brandy is normally better.

Daedra

Mike; well he's over 30 now and has been a (pretty much) daily pot user since he was 15, he has lost alot of weight and doesnt have money to pay for the dentist and so has a not very nice smile anymore with all the stains on his teeth & a couple teeth missing.
At various stages in his life we all (family) have all tried to help him & talk to him about it, I showed him articles on the link between regular pot smoking increasing the occurence of psychotic (not Psycho the movie, mental conditions such as Manic Deppresivness, Bi-Polar and Schizophrenia) illnesses... he knows all this stuff, he knows its not good for him, but he still wants to do it & ultimately, its his life and his choice.
In this way, I think it's very similar to me trying to give up the fags, no matter how bad I know they are for me and how much everyone around me tells me I should quit, the final sucess will only occur when I decide I have had enough of the smokes... does that make sense?

Daedra

*LOL* EWWW trying to imagine what that would taste like together and just gave me a tummy flip!

I bet its better then your suspiciously warm beer that you serve after having used the loo, cancel our RSVP, we're not coming down there after all