How does this make sense?

[Jools]

Okay, some may be shocked that I am posting this... especially Ian!

BUT, after doing a bit of research after watching this Family Guy episode: http://www.watch-familyguy-online.com/W ... e_420.html

I have been wondering; why exactly are Cannibis and Ecstasy illegal?
It has been proven they are less harmful to the body than both Tobacco and Alcahol, Ecstasy being one of the least harmful around. It turns out Ecstasy is constantly used for medical tests, and benefits the body at first, unless used a lot and people beleive that cannibis was illegalised because it was harming the paper/chemical industry in the late 1930s, and like I said, is better for you than a regular cigerette.

So why are they illegal, can someone give me an answer?

I would like to point out I am not advertising the use of them, 7 years (how can they justify that) can be taken if the ownership of ecstasy is unliscenced being a class A drug, and Cannibis is now Class B again, but I don't know what the circumstances would be.

 

[Pokemaniac]

My first wild guess, without any backup, would be:

These drugs affect yo "in the moment". They may not be as harmful in the long run, but right there and then, you're completely away, or you possess a different personality. Hallucinations and the stuff. Yes, alcohol can have the same effects in large quantities, but so can staying awake.

If a person was to do something risky "under the influence", like driving a car, or operating heavy machinery (like, chopping down trees with that new chainsaw you just bought just becomes an AWESOME idea after drugs), the risk of disaster is a lot higher. Unlike alcohol, you have control over your movements, but you don't see the effects of what you're about to do. Thus, you pose a greater risk to the people and things around you when influenced by these drugs, though your body does just fine... unless you try to prove that you are, in fact, invincible by diving off the roof.

 

[Jools]

But cannibis doesn't do that does it, ecstasy maybe, cannibis just makes your mind and body relax right, nothing really mental? I forgot to show this chart:

Red being worse.

 

[Dave]

Its something pleasurable so the government immediatley see this as a possibly way to make it illegal or tax it.

But because its easy to over-dose and do some damage it was deemed illegal.

 

[kimahri]

Plus Ecstasy has that odd habit of sometimes killing you outright.

 

[furie]

It's a complicated issue.

There haven't really been any long term studies done on a lot of drugs. Like alcohol too, cannabis is also very dependent on the person using it. Also, cannabis is generally mixed with tobacco, and in health terms, cannabis contains many more carcinogens than tobacco.

There is definitely a psychological effect using cannabis - so it is a risk to public mental health.

E is a little more complex. With no system in place looking after quality of production, the drug you take will have varying effects. The biggest issue though is that once you've taken a pill, you have little or no idea where the drug will take you. Unlike alcohol or cannabis, you can't just stop once you're as high as you want to be. Again, it's down to pill strength and each person what kind of effect this will have.

So, with the varying issues on health it's not something that the government could just easily make legal.

You can cite Holland as an example of how relaxed drug laws work. However, in France the drinking age is lower and they have fewer problems with binge drinking and alcoholism. There's societal perceptions to take into account - our society isn't mature enough to have such things released on them (although I personally think it's worth trying rather than burying our heads in the sand).

Do a quick search and you'll get very conflicting results over how many people take drugs. However, I think you'll find a figure of about one in four to be reasonable across most polls. That's around 11 million adults. Roughly 2,500 people die from "drug related" deaths a year in the UK - that includes big hitters like Heroin though, Ecstasy claims around 250 - 500 a year, cannabis is negligible (less than 5 on average).

Half a million people die each year from smoking related illnesses, and 5,000 - 40,000 a year from drink related.

Smoking and drinking are the biggest problems, but by legalising E and cannabis, I don't think we'd see a simple "multiply by four" response on the number of drug related deaths. I suspect it would be higher as people suddenly start to over do it.

To be honest, I think is there was decriminalisation I don't think it would have such an adverse affect as the government think. It would just stop people like me from being a criminal on the few occasions a year I know enjoy a toke. I wouldn't smoke more if it was available over the counter even, like many others - it's just something I do every so often when I fancy it. It's easy for me to obtain now, so it really wouldn't make any difference.

Odd fact - it's easier for some body under 25 to buy heroin than it is for them to buy alcohol - just to make you think :lol:

Erm, I didn't have a point to this post at all. It's really just some thoughts about the whole thing from both positive and negative sides. I'm obviously pro drugs, but not really pro legalisation. I think there needs to be better communication and education - I don't think it should just be swept away.

The Frank ads were good to start with, but now they've gone a bit to the "scary" end of things. Showing the negative. The problem is that the negative side only happens rarely, so people seeing the ads think "I'll end up paranoid/sick/whatever". Then they try it and in fact it's just pleasant and mellow. So immediately they think the ads are lies. They tell their friends they are, and they also ignore warnings about stronger drugs. It needs to be much more balanced - but nobody can be seen to be encouraging it :roll:

 

[Pierre]

Theres way more drugs out there they need to prioritise before looking at things like cannabis... the fact I can buy magic mushrooms in my town centre, because they're dried so apparently legal, is ridiculous, they **** you up bigggg time.

Jools, lol, my mate started doing a lot of research into drugs, now he tends to try anything, I wonder how long it will take before curiosity gets at you