Drugs and the people who use them

[Halcyon Dayz, FCD]

I just don't see nothing beneficial in having it legalized.

Am I to understand from this statement, that activities have to be proven beneficial, never mind not harmful, before free citizens of a free nation can indulge in it?

Who made you the guardian of me?

I'll rephrase, who appointed you the nanny of me,
or, who made the Gubmint the nanny of us?

I'd really like an answer.

[Lonewulf]

I'll rephrase, who appointed you the nanny of me,
or, who made the Gubmint the nanny of us?

I'd really like an answer.

Y'know, this makes me curious.

Is it Conservatives or Liberals who, in the main, dislike Marijuana? Because I know that, originally, the Conservative movement was more against giving more power to the Government than it needed. Banning Marijuana, when it's a major economic crop for a few states, and has no proven "OMG SHIT THIS IS HORRIBLE" effects... well.

(Of course, back at the time of the Constitution being written and all, the Conservatives were for individual state power, not Federal power, but that's ancient history).

[Enzo]

It is the self-righteous.

Drugs are mainly a boogeyman for the conservatives. They are the ones who want to shrink government... until it fits in your bedroom. Or I suppose your rec room too. Liberals who don't like drugs mainly want to "help" you get off them. COnservatives want to lock you up. You can do a longer stretch for drugs than for murder.

The conservatives think you should be able to lead your life as you see fit without government intrusion, so long as your life is in that Ozzie and Harriet/Leave it to Beaver mold. Otherwise we have to stomp you.

Marijuana has become some sort of cosmic mantra. it is evil incarnate, and couldn't POSSIBLY be of any benefit to anyone ever anywhere, no siree. They proclaim that pot absolutely has NO beneficial qualities and offers no practical value. THey proclaim that it does not now serve a medical purpose and that is can't possibly in the future. And don't even research it, because we already know it can't possibly hold any promise.

When cancer or glaucoma patients report it soothes them and makes their therapies more bearable, the right counters with , well we have real drugs that will help. Implicit in that argument is the concept that there is some reason that pot should not be used even if it does work, apparently because of that inherent evil nature. If it does work for you, you still shouldn't be allowed to use it because, well, it is marijuana afterall. You can find something else. Sure, maybe somethng else might work, so what. If this works, and can be grown simply without the need for complex and expensive industrial pharmaceutical plants, why not? Well, drug company stockholders and campaign contributprs, that's why not.

It always comes back to that bottom line, THE bottom line.

Can you imagine if someone found that chewing willow bark helped reduce pain and inflamation, and then the government stepped in and outlawed the practice because we have aspirin, how we'd react? Same deal.

Marijuana doesn't take over someone's life like crack does, or even alcohol in some folks. It doesn't destroy lives. As far as being addictive, that is silly. It is less addictive than going on the internet every night. Try turning off that computer for a week. Try looking at it without logging in and spending another night online. For many people that is almost impossible. Better make it illegal.

I was not a typical pot user, I didn't start on it, nor did I end with it. I was one of those people who wanted to see how many ways I could get a buzz. Didn't like pot, even after giving it a chance to grow on me. (Now there is an image) Yes I tried heroin, you name it, I tried it. I even tried, gasp, cough syrup. That is not the profile of most pot smokers.

So yes, I was one who was predisposed to trying other things, not one who started on one and went to another though some gateway phenomenon.

It wasn't a horrible experience, I just got tired of doing it. I had my fun and it was growing old on me. My brush with the law was timely in that it perforce gave me the break to clear my system. I spent three months as a guest of the county. I don't recommend it, but I made the best of it, and in retrospect, it was not a horrid time, just a pain in the ass. (And no, none of that happened, in case you wondered. For that matter it didn't happen evenif yuo didn't wonder.) WOuld I ever want to go there again? (Dope or jail) No. Do I regret my life having gone through that stage? No again. It is a part of me. My life isn't ruined. How would my life be different today if I had never been involved in drugs? WHo knows?

My life would be different I am sure, just as it would be different if I had attended Georgetown instead of Michigan State, if I had taken the opportunity to become a congressional page while in school, if I had tried organized sports, if I had never gone into music, if I had joined a different band, if I had accepted certain job offers and rejected others, and on and on. Life isn't one decision. I am me because of it, and I did it because I am me. Fucking cosmic, that.

[Lance]

Well put.

[Lonewulf]

Damn, Enzo, when you aren't just making silly jokes, you have a *LOT* to say.

I'm impressed.

[Halcyon Dayz, FCD]

Hmmm, cough syrup... :wink:

Actually, cough syrup works better in putting me
to sleep then any sleeping pill I've ever tried.

[Lonewulf]

Just remember, folks... here's some advice to you, straight from Diana.

2) The government always makes decisions that are good for the public (and the country). So if it banned something, it was for a good reason; and it's a good reason because it was banned by the government. Remember, circular logic is a *good* thing.

3) Sources are only reliable if they agree with you.

4) All kinds of Marijuana are exactly the same. There aren't variances.

5) The economy has nothing to bear on the decision to ban Marijuana. The economy should never be looked at.

6) It's a *good* thing to declare, without evidence, that Marijuana is worse than tobacco and alcohol (I mean, if Marijuana leads directly to cocaine, it has to be worse than alcohol). This is an even better thing if you follow up the statement with "I think that..."

I'm just glad that I don't recall her commiting #1 of "the usual arguments against Marijuana".

1) Anyone that defend Marijuana obviously smokes it, thus is obviously a stupid hippy that doesn't know better.

I'm proud of you, Diana.

[Diana30]

Well, thankyou Lonewulf that was really nice of you....for putting in things I did not say........ :D


And I would keep on going because I did have a good reply on the "preaching" that Enzo gave, (and boy was that preaching) but Dragon Star told me that I should stay the hell out becaue I can't take the heat. I quess he did not understand that it was not the discussion but the....insults....when there was really no need for it.......




But anyways take care guys....and don't get mad so much it is bad for you..........


Diana...... :wink:

[Lonewulf]

What insults? Besides me comparing you to Thompson over stubborness, what insults have I given out?

I know I was a bit harsh in a few of my posts, but it's because I don't like illogical arguments, and I'm *VERY* up front about it. I also don't like arguments that seem based on faith and opinion (and the majority of points brought were based on that). Furthermore, though you did not say many of the things I listed out exactly, it was, at it's basics, what you were saying indirectly.

[Мастер]

Drugs are mainly a boogeyman for the conservatives. They are the ones who want to shrink government...

If these are American conservatives we're talking about, they've been growing government at the fastest rate since the height of the Vietnam war...

[Enzo]

Well, yes, that was part of the irony that the group who touts smaller government works so hard to enlarge it.

Preaching? MAybe. As someone who has been on the streets and involved up to my psyche in drugs in my lifetime, I am annoyed by the propaganda from the right wing. I hear the hyperbole, and the rationalizations that are not based upon the truth, but rather on wishes and "the way things ought to be."

I have heard the anti-drug messages all my life, and I also know that when they lie to you about something, you no longer believe what they say about anything else. They tell you that if you use heroin/crack/awful drug du jur, that you will become addicted to it instantly - from one use. They used to tell us that exact thing. It of course is not true, and kids know this, so why should they trust other pronouncements. But the forces of good keep at it because it is the way things ought to be.

I see the mindless cretins like Rick Santorum who run this country,and it freaks me out. Santorum's issue is gay marriage, not drugs, but he is a shining example of the sort of ignorance that holds sway in Washington.

[Lonewulf]

It's the political system. Politicians are encouraged to fight with emotion and rhetoric, as well as backbiting. In no way are they "encouraged" to be like scientists -- just use scientific studies when it suits them, and ignore them comfortably when it doesn't.

For a nation build upon the idea of Science, that annoys me greatly.