Drugs

[TheTheorist]

2.5 million pills are taken every weekend here in the UK.

That's 130 million a year.... and there's 4 deaths.

How much do we drink a year?

Your point that more people drink than take drugs is valid. But look at the statistics up there... They're not made up!

[formerly known as hf]

You need to look at the % of users that die from drug-realted deaths... I had the info a while ago for a report I wrote... I'll see if I can dig it up...

[formerly known as hf]

EDIT: Bah! The tables won't work on here...

Somehwhere there are figures about the likely hood of dying or developing illness as a result of drug use... Tobacco was something like 80% higher than anything else...[/list]

[The Industriallist]

Somehwhere there are figures about the likely hood of dying or developing illness as a result of drug use... Tobacco was something like 80% higher than anything else...

While I'd prefer it restricted to dying...easier to measure, and tobacco leads to some sorts of illnesses really fast...which doesn't make it immensely deadly.

It is pretty deadly stuff, of course, but 'death or illness' statistics will exaggerate that.

[rklenseth]

The reason why Alcohol and Tobacco are not made illegal is the simply fact that they have been around for so long and you have 100 times more users than people who do illegal drugs. Now if you made them illegal you now have 100s of millions of addicted users that the government would have to pay to get treatment and I would bet that most of them wouldn't even bother and would go underground and as well as the government itself would go bankrupt trying to give treatment. There is also the simple fact that State Governments (such as New York State) has very high taxes on the purchase of tobacco products. Plus then you would have to compensate tobacco and alcohol companies for putting them out of business as well as now you will have thousands if not millions of workers put out of business because you just closed the businesses that they worked for. Plus I would imagine that millions of those addicts would go underground do get what they are addicted to. Just like what happened in the 1920's when the US made a constitutional banning of alcohol except it woud be a million times worses. This would also give organized cime liked the Irish Mob or the Mafia something to do and would once more make them the most feared and most powerful groups in the world.

Now over the years, research of alcohol has found out that if alcohol is drank moderately than it is good for you. One of the main reasons for death in alcohol related deaths are from having people's senses impaired leading to accidents especially car accidents. Now if weed or any of these hallucinated drugs are made illegal being hugh behind the wheel of a car is just being as impaired as being drunk behind the wheel. So if these were made legal and use went way up then I would imagine that death of people smoke weed would go way up due to accidents because their senses were impaired.

Tobacco on the other hand I think will eventually be illegalized but perhaps not in my lifetime. Government has huge education programs in schools to keep kids from smoking. Smoking has been banned at government establishments. Smoking has been banned at public establishment (New York State law) unless you have a special permist which means you can't smoke in a bar or restaurant or inside a mall anymore. New York State has very high taxes on tobacco products in the hopes that this will deter people from buying. I don't know how high cigarettes cost in other places but at the Rite Aid I work are lowest cigarette prices on popular brand of cigarettes (Marbolo Sp?) are around $6 a pack and people say we have the lowest prices on cigarettes. So I think slowly the government is making it harder to use tobacco as well as trying to get people from using tobacco so that they can eventually get to the point where they can make this illegal without causing too much harm to the economy or having to deal with millions of addicted users.

Weed and some other recreational drugs are being made legal is some states so perhaps the trend of having them illegal is slowly changing though I can't imagine government here in New York State ever passing a law that would allow and this. Hell, they can never pass a budget on time. The people from New York City know what I'm talking about.

[rklenseth]

Somehwhere there are figures about the likely hood of dying or developing illness as a result of drug use... Tobacco was something like 80% higher than anything else...

While I'd prefer it restricted to dying...easier to measure, and tobacco leads to some sorts of illnesses really fast...which doesn't make it immensely deadly.

It is pretty deadly stuff, of course, but 'death or illness' statistics will exaggerate that.

Lets remember that it usually isn't the tobacco that leads to most these diseases but it is the other chemicals that they put in. And tobacco itself is not addicting but the nicotine that they put in that is addicting.

[XBL]

Weed doesn't cause more car accidents.

I've never read in the paper "The driver was high". I do read, everyday again, "The driver was drunk".

I smoke weed in weekends (not all weekends, like once every two/three weeks) and I drink every weekend. I find that drinking sucks more than smoking weed, because I've seen a lot of times that people start fighting or get mad at each other. Never seen that when I was high (or at least smoked some weed), we are only having loads of fun.

I used to be a recreative smoker (only smoking when going out), but I don't do that anymore. I don't say to people that it will kill them (used to do that). It's up to them, if they want to ruin their lives by useing wrong stuff, I don't mind.

Jochem

[The Industriallist]

Somehwhere there are figures about the likely hood of dying or developing illness as a result of drug use... Tobacco was something like 80% higher than anything else...

While I'd prefer it restricted to dying...easier to measure, and tobacco leads to some sorts of illnesses really fast...which doesn't make it immensely deadly.

It is pretty deadly stuff, of course, but 'death or illness' statistics will exaggerate that.

Lets remember that it usually isn't the tobacco that leads to most these diseases but it is the other chemicals that they put in. And tobacco itself is not addicting but the nicotine that they put in that is addicting.

Ah, not quite. All tobacco contains niccotine. Cigarettes are massively chemically engineered, which adds greatly to their health hazards, and are nicotine fortified. But nicotine is a natural component of tobacco, so less-modified forms of tobacco, and even natural dried tobacco, are also addictive.

...if alcohol is drank moderately than it is good for you

Really? The only thing of the kind I've heard was that wine in moderation might be beneficial because of the anti-oxidants it contains. Not because of the alcohol. Alcohol in moderation may not have ill effects, but I haven't heard any good things about it.

Good point about the causes of alcohol-related death, though. I'd forgotten that dying as a result of alcohol might include dying as a result of an accident that resulted from alcohol. But I would think that given the statistics that have been waved so far, they're only talking about deaths that result from the health effects of alcohol.

Seeing the amount of artists, both painters and musicians, that have used drugs I would say that many drugs alter your perception and puts you in a creative mood...and that is benificial.
Just to give an example

I missed this argument...I would suggest two things. One, that art leads to drugs, not the reverse. Two, that I'm not quite convinced drug-induced creativity is actually good. But this is a point where I could be mistaken...

[Revanael]

Smoking weed is normally worse than smoking tobacco, because most people mix tobacco and marajuana. So you get the bad effects of both.

[Pirog]

Really? The only thing of the kind I've heard was that wine in moderation might be beneficial because of the anti-oxidants it contains.

Beer is healthy when consumed moderately. It has pretty much the same well-doing effect as wine.

Hard liquor I don't know about though...

missed this argument...I would suggest two things. One, that art leads to drugs, not the reverse. Two, that I'm not quite convinced drug-induced creativity is actually good. But this is a point where I could be mistaken...

Why would art lead to drugs?
I have enough experience of drugs to understand that it can be a great source of inspiration...especially regarding experimental art or music.

If drug induced creativity is good or not is of course a matter of opinion, but seeing that almost all great artists, painters etc. have used drugs I wouldn't write it off as chance...

[ephiroll]

Weed doesn't cause more car accidents.

I've never read in the paper "The driver was high". I do read, everyday again, "The driver was drunk".

That's the same point I made in a research paper I did for a college class about 5 years ago, I did a week or study for the paper and never found a single case in which weed could be blamed, every wreck that involved someone high was when people had it in their system along with alcohol or other "hard" drugs. I'd be more then happy to vote for tobacco and alcohol to be illegal, long as they legalized weed.

Oh, yeah, drugs definantly lead to art, not the other way around.

[Psycho Pixie]

EDIT: Bah! The tables won't work on here...

Somehwhere there are figures about the likely hood of dying or developing illness as a result of drug use... Tobacco was something like 80% higher than anything else...[/list]

its a proven fact that people who take pills for illnesses will eventually start having kidney and liver damage from all the heavy drug use... PERSCRIPTION drugs that is.

people who are perscription pill poppers, who take antibiotics for everything, use drugs to stope headaches daily and those who cronically take anti histamens(or however that is spelled) are much more likely to get ill because it compromises the immune system


im just full of useless information.

Psycho Pixie

[avi messika]

Let em provie you with a little of my background...

Earlier this year, I picked up smoking, now I'm smoking so often i find that i just do it whenever i have free time. And last year I started drinking on a regular basis, only with friends, never alone, but still... And two summers ago I was introduced to pot, I didn't do much with that though, up until this past spring when I found out I was going away to college, away from everything I knew and loved. Ever since i found this out, it seems as though I have been abusing my body more and more. I stay up really late now, writing home, I don't drink here because it is against rules on school campus, btu when I go to Santa Fe i drink when i have teh chance. I feel liek my entire world is fallign apart. family problems, friend problems, etc. I feel like I am abusing my body sooo much. but I can't seem to stop. Earlier today I ordered a carton (10 packs) of cigarettes from Switzerland (its cheap there). The reason I order tobacco from Europe is because it has less additives. Cigarettes purchased in the US contain Nitrosamine, which is a known cancer causign agent. Its funny i guess, in retrospect. I am buying cigarettes to stay healthy, well, not really but you get what I am trying to say.

It might not be the addictions that are giving my probelms, but it might be. But I can't bring myself to stop. It just seems liek at has become a part of me. I understand when people say quit, it will help save your life, but I can't bring myself to d it, it feels like if i do, I will lose the thrills that it gives me.

well thats my two cents about alcohol,tobacco and weed...

[Mavsfan911]

They're trying to add a new law in Montana, either I-147 or I-149, I don't remember, but it'd raise the tax on tobacco products by a dollar, making it the fourth highest in the country. Though, they aren't doing it for alcohol.

[avi messika]

but there are ways to avoid the taxes. by ordering from international websites, such as sites in the Ukraine or switzerland, you are bypassing the american tax laws. Apparently there is a loophole about shipping.