[HeyZuess]

> Should you be free to use whatever drug you want?

Your body, your choice? There are many ways to answer this, and no matter how it is answered there will always be a group of people who disagree. This is why as a society we have a framework for making those decisions which sometimes gets it right and sometimes gets it wrong.

If we legalized all drugs and let people do what they want, do we stop a 10 year old from taking meth, after all it their choice. I think it would be absurd to have 0 restrictions, but that would go against the concept of being able to make free choices.

> Do doctors hold any responsibility over getting you addicted by drugs they prescribe? (Aren't doctors the experts?)

If they prescribed them outside of the boundaries of their professional framework, then yes.

> Now that marijuana is legal, should you sue the legal stores if you get addicted?

You buying marijuana intentionally is a little different from being under the mindset that a licensed medical professional (and health system) is acting within your best interest. Part of this problem also is Purdue mislead people on the addictiveness of their product.

However in saying the above, there is a lot more to this than just supplying a drug. They broke other laws such as the anti kickback.

[LinuxBender]

I want every drug to be on the shelf at the store, but depending on what it is you may have to show your ID to prove you are at the age of majority or emancipated. A pharmacist may still exist to answer questions but nobody is filling pill bottles. Every bottle has the factory safety seal. Scan the label with your phone to locally validate what risks are specific to you without the use of a cloud.

[HeyZuess]

In some ways I agree. I believe while there are still huge issues with the manufacturing, cultivation etc of drugs, that there are still a multitude of issues which we need to deal with first. That's why I am an advocate of decriminalization, so we sort those issues first.

I have had first hand experience of dealing with immediate family members and friends who have been addicted to legal drugs like alcohol, and illegal drugs like meth. The impact that addiction can have on others who are not addicts is quite disturbing and I have had a mild experience to say the least. I have even struggled with my own addictions.

I think drugs like marijuana is ok, but a drug like meth oh no that's just not good at all. Even alcohol I question a lot, even a quick google search suggest 40% of murders are committed in the USA while under its influence.

Also there are questions about how drugs can be legally sold, I read an article the other day that San Francisco was stopping tax hikes on marijuana stores because of the rise of the illegal marijuana trade. When governments get involved the outcomes are not always as expected. Would legalizing and taxing cocaine for example really stop the mass murders and gang violence in South and Central Americas.

Decriminalize, treat the people with addiction rather than locking them up for possession, educate, etc. That's my thinking.

[LinuxBender]

I can see where you are coming from and it makes sense to me. I personally am not a fan of decriminalization as it keeps the control and power of drugs in the hands of the pharmaceutical and medical industries. They can still abuse that power. I personally would prefer to move that power and the potential abuse to the individual at their own legal discretion.

I believe an alternate solution to somewhat mitigate the risks you mention would be an insurance system whether private or public funded that incentivizes good health. Not just good health in the sense of getting off of and staying off of opiates, but also things like sugar, alcohol, starchy processed foods, etc... People that prove they are making progress towards being and staying healthy get lower insurance rates, lower federal income taxes and probably some other realistic benefits. But again, I can see where you are coming from. I have lost people I care about to drugs and alcohol and I empathize for others that have also lost people they care about. It is a vicious cycle that seems to be never ending. I hope that some day we start doing different things to try to break those cycles.