[the_other]

Pot will definitely fuck you up if you're on the wrong end of the response curve.

That said, criminalising drugs has absolutely made the situations around and with them worse for more people. Those with the greatest gain in the current situation are the warlords in South America, the commercial jails and politicians stoking fear of drug use.

A great number of people can and have used a wide range of drugs successfully, peacefully, creatively, introspectively and with joy for 1000s of years. The current predominant legislation doesn't seem to reflect the will of a huge number of people. I don't have stats to say "a majority", but it wouldn't surprise me, especially if you include alcohol.

The problems exist. Better methods need to be sought to deal with them than criminalisation.

[m0zg]

> A great number of people can and have used

And a great number of people have died because of this use. I mean, are you really going to argue that it is possible to have a "normal" life and take heroin or meth at the same time? I'm not saying taking heroin should be a felony, but selling it definitely should.

[reassembled]

I had a relatively normal life, working a job in tech and keeping up a stable relationship with my girlfriend while also using heroin every day. Of course I would rather have not been going down to the Mission every morning to procure the stuff. The lifestyle that accompanied the illicit use was ultimately the problem for me, not the use of the substance itself.

Thousands of people are high functioning and doctor-prescribed amphetamine users (Adderall) in this country and we don't bat an eye. As soon as you call it "meth" people get weird about it.

[the_other]

I agree, those two in particular seem to fuck people up. We need to do something about that.

But I am going to argue that a VAST number of people take caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, MDMA, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, sugar, 2CB, DMT, ayahuasca, amphetamine and many others in a wide variety of settings with largely positive results. As such, the general trend of legislation around the world against (most) of these chemicals seems grossly at odds with on-the-ground opinion and practice.

[m0zg]

I'm in full agreement with you there. I see no reason to jail people for taking non-addictive psychoactive substances. I voted to legalize pot in my state (measure did pass), even though I'm not a user myself. IMO, pot, for example, is strictly better than alcohol from both health and addiction standpoint. I think that not only should we allow pot, we should allow people to grow it for their own consumption. As to other non-addictive drugs, I'll defer to those who have studied them. LSD, for example, is known to sometimes fuck people up in its own ways, and it is generally not safe to take without supervision.

[hospadar]

> I'm not saying taking heroin should be a felony, but selling it definitely should

And in Oregon, it still is, presumably because the people agree with you?

[m0zg]

Yes. People in the thread suggest it should be "cheap" and "available at Walgreens".