Drug Legalization; your view?

[columbia]

You cannot drive into DC and buy a bag

heh.

[shmenguin]

So could we drive down to Washington and buy or do you have to prove you live there???

Back in the day a 1/4 oz lasted me 2 weeks. Now that was me smioking every day and sharring with my friends. So a .oz would last me 2 months. If i were to start up again i would think using it responcablly a oz would last me a year.

I quit once i had kids, i hated when friends had stoner dads (the dads who didn't hide it from their kids that they smoked.) I couldn't imagine taking care of my kids while stoned.

no residency needed, but you can't buy it from anywhere. no retail.

taking care of an infant, i can't even imagine having a damn beer at the moment. i have no interest in being even 8% hungover at 4am when the kid might start his day. although i wouldn't really have to worry about hangovers in this case.

i've had a decent buzz while being around my kids, but nothing close to real intoxication. it would be an after bed time activity if this legislation ever makes it to NJ - once christie is done his term or has a heart attack.

[columbia]

I'm tired of my tax dollars going to putting pot smokers in jail.....so bring it on.
(I don't smoke anymore and very likely wouldn't do it again, even if it were legal.)

[no name]

You cannot drive into DC and buy a bag

heh.

Damn, I am not driving to Denver, to far.

[Malkamaniac]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

[shmenguin]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

[count2infinity]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

I think there's a language disconnect here... decriminalize =/= legal

additionally, I think that people with a bit of common sense can certainly make a spectrum of dangerous to less dangerous drugs. The problem comes with where the line gets drawn.

[shmenguin]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

I think there's a language disconnect here... decriminalize =/= legal

additionally, I think that people with a bit of common sense can certainly make a spectrum of dangerous to less dangerous drugs. The problem comes with where the line gets drawn.

i know the difference (not sure if that note was for my benefit). i don't think anyone should ever obtain a criminal record because of a substance they put in their body. so all of it should be decriminalized (which generally means...give them a ticket).

now...if you want to get more nuanced, i would say for drugs like meth, crack and heroin, under certain conditions, an offender of some sort could be forced to attend treatment sessions, and if they fail to do so X amount of times, the police could get involved. but it should never be a simple, "we found drugs - your life is now ruined"

[count2infinity]

i know the difference (not sure if that note was for my benefit). i don't think anyone should ever obtain a criminal record because of a substance they put in their body. so all of it should be decriminalized (which generally means...give them a ticket).

now...if you want to get more nuanced, i would say for drugs like meth, crack and heroin, under certain conditions, an offender of some sort could be forced to attend treatment sessions, and if they fail to do so X amount of times, the police could get involved. but it should never be a simple, "we found drugs - your life is now ruined"

It was just for more in general. Just because someone wants a drug to be illegal doesn't mean they want the person thrown in jail if they're caught with some of it. And I agree, there should be more aid and treatment than punishment for the more life devastating drugs.

[shmenguin]

i know the difference (not sure if that note was for my benefit). i don't think anyone should ever obtain a criminal record because of a substance they put in their body. so all of it should be decriminalized (which generally means...give them a ticket).

now...if you want to get more nuanced, i would say for drugs like meth, crack and heroin, under certain conditions, an offender of some sort could be forced to attend treatment sessions, and if they fail to do so X amount of times, the police could get involved. but it should never be a simple, "we found drugs - your life is now ruined"

It was just for more in general. Just because someone wants a drug to be illegal doesn't mean they want the person thrown in jail if they're caught with some of it. And I agree, there should be more aid and treatment than punishment for the more life devastating drugs.

i was trying to drill down to malkamaniac's POV. i wasn't sure if he wanted people arrested.

[Troy Loney]

Somewhat related to this story. But there was a interesting/depressing story about the sort of treatment people get for heroin in this country.

The story centered around a kid that suffered a sports related injury, got addicted to his pain meds, then when his prescriptions ran out, got on heroin. Was in a treatment facility that advocated abstinence, and didn't treat with methadone or saboxone. He gets clean briefly, relapses and OD's.

The gist of it being that treatment centers refuse to acknowledge the need for things like sabaxone, the people that work at the treatment centers are ones that could get off the drug with abstinence, and thus believe that it works and it's the addicts weakness that keeps them on the drug.

I forget the connection to the states, but because legislators just view addicts as criminals, implementing those drugs as a sort of standard treatment is not possible.

It's a situation where facts are ignored and people are denied proper treatment because of bias.

[count2infinity]

i know the difference (not sure if that note was for my benefit). i don't think anyone should ever obtain a criminal record because of a substance they put in their body. so all of it should be decriminalized (which generally means...give them a ticket).

now...if you want to get more nuanced, i would say for drugs like meth, crack and heroin, under certain conditions, an offender of some sort could be forced to attend treatment sessions, and if they fail to do so X amount of times, the police could get involved. but it should never be a simple, "we found drugs - your life is now ruined"

It was just for more in general. Just because someone wants a drug to be illegal doesn't mean they want the person thrown in jail if they're caught with some of it. And I agree, there should be more aid and treatment than punishment for the more life devastating drugs.

i was trying to drill down to malkamaniac's POV. i wasn't sure if he wanted people arrested.

I see... your initial response to him seemed overly aggressive to me on first read.

[shmenguin]

i'm curious what the difference in long term recovery rate is for people who get clean with abstinence vs. something like methadone

i thought that once you're clean any relapse would be independent of how you got there - since you've kicked withdrawal either way.

[shmenguin]

i know the difference (not sure if that note was for my benefit). i don't think anyone should ever obtain a criminal record because of a substance they put in their body. so all of it should be decriminalized (which generally means...give them a ticket).

now...if you want to get more nuanced, i would say for drugs like meth, crack and heroin, under certain conditions, an offender of some sort could be forced to attend treatment sessions, and if they fail to do so X amount of times, the police could get involved. but it should never be a simple, "we found drugs - your life is now ruined"

It was just for more in general. Just because someone wants a drug to be illegal doesn't mean they want the person thrown in jail if they're caught with some of it. And I agree, there should be more aid and treatment than punishment for the more life devastating drugs.

i was trying to drill down to malkamaniac's POV. i wasn't sure if he wanted people arrested.

I see... your initial response to him seemed overly aggressive to me on first read.

no...it was. bad form on my part.

[Troy Loney]

i'm curious what the difference in long term recovery rate is for people who get clean with abstinence vs. something like methadone

i thought that once you're clean any relapse would be independent of how you got there - since you've kicked withdrawal either way.

There was a part of that interview I heard where he touched on that. Heroin is as much of a mental addiction. A mental trigger can trigger a relapse, say a user passes some bar they shot up in, they could get that mental image and get the craving to relapse.

Relapsing puts the user at a huge risk of OD, if they've been off, their tolerance lowers and if they use the amount they were used to using, they can easily OD.

[Geezer]

Specials I've seen explain that the "pleasure" parts of the brain are permanently changed by drug use; I don't think they ever truly recover.
Locally there's been a lot of methadone abuse but that's anecdotal info. I've never read any stats on its merits.

[shafnutz05]

i'm curious what the difference in long term recovery rate is for people who get clean with abstinence vs. something like methadone

i thought that once you're clean any relapse would be independent of how you got there - since you've kicked withdrawal either way.

There was a part of that interview I heard where he touched on that. Heroin is as much of a mental addiction. A mental trigger can trigger a relapse, say a user passes some bar they shot up in, they could get that mental image and get the craving to relapse.

Relapsing puts the user at a huge risk of OD, if they've been off, their tolerance lowers and if they use the amount they were used to using, they can easily OD.

My mom has been in the D&A recovery field for several decades (she actually got to speak in Harrisburg a couple years back during a special commission on the increase in "bath salt" abuse, but I digress)...TL is dead on regarding the tolerance problem. Cold turkey rehab is pretty dangerous...I mean, you can die from the withdrawal effects coming off a lot of things, including acute alcoholism.

[Willie Kool]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

I would support legalization of any natural plant material, which I don't really consider to be 'drugs' - cannabis, shrooms, peyote, even coca leaf and opium.

All processed drugs should be decriminalized, and addictions should be treated solely as the medical problems that they are.

[no name]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

If you seen a loved one or a friend deal with an addiction that they can't beat, you would feel different. Much much different.

It changed my view on it. Get rid of those hard drugs, what ever it takes. Just understand its a subject I am passionate about, no disrespect to anyone.

Imagine your mom or sister or brother, maybe your best friend addicted to something they can't control themselves over. It takes them over and kills the person you once loved.

[shmenguin]

Specials I've seen explain that the "pleasure" parts of the brain are permanently changed by drug use; I don't think they ever truly recover.
Locally there's been a lot of methadone abuse but that's anecdotal info. I've never read any stats on its merits.

That's kind of a sweeping statement. For things like MDMA/ecstasy, I think you are exhausting your limited serotonin supply. But there isn't real evidence that pot is like this.

[MWB]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

If you seen a loved one or a friend deal with an addiction that they can't beat, you would feel different. Much much different.

It changed my view on it. Get rid of those hard drugs, what ever it takes. Just understand its a subject I am passionate about, no disrespect to anyone.

Imagine your mom or sister or brother, maybe your best friend addicted to something they can't control themselves over. It takes them over and kills the person you once loved.

Does making it illegal make the addiction not happen? Take the money from the "war on drugs" and put it towards treatment methods.

[shmenguin]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

If you seen a loved one or a friend deal with an addiction that they can't beat, you would feel different. Much much different.

It changed my view on it. Get rid of those hard drugs, what ever it takes. Just understand its a subject I am passionate about, no disrespect to anyone.

Imagine your mom or sister or brother, maybe your best friend addicted to something they can't control themselves over. It takes them over and kills the person you once loved.

i'm sorry such things have happened to people you're close to, but decriminalization is part of addressing hard drugs. if you're passionate about this topic, please go read about what's happened in portugal and their drug reform.

the war on drugs didn't help your loved ones. it's a fool's errand. like MWB said, focus efforts on the right things and we may get better results. all we know is that turning people who need this kind of help into criminals is disgusting.

[no name]

If they do legalize Pot I hope they really define "recreational use" so people understand when and where it would be proper for you to use it. I know some people who use it and clearly only use it in a few settings where they know it won't get in the way of anything. Just so people would know how to be responsible with it. Might not do any good but even if you reached a few people might be worth it.

[PensFanInDC]

Kind of like alcohol then?

[BigMcK]

I'm for legalizing Marijuana. Anything after that I'm for saying illegal.

so you think someone should be arrested for eating a shroom?

i think legalize pot. decriminalize everything else - including crack, lsd, dmt, or any other narcotic.

If you seen a loved one or a friend deal with an addiction that they can't beat, you would feel different. Much much different.

It changed my view on it. Get rid of those hard drugs, what ever it takes. Just understand its a subject I am passionate about, no disrespect to anyone.

Imagine your mom or sister or brother, maybe your best friend addicted to something they can't control themselves over. It takes them over and kills the person you once loved.

Does making it illegal make the addiction not happen? Take the money from the "war on drugs" and put it towards treatment methods.

Judging by how poorly the government handles the mental health issue in this country, I would guess the money from fighting the war would find its way into many other social programs other than treatment.