Drugs a moral issue?

Not arguing with you personally, just covering the points:

Because the media and other non-authorities chooses to associate relatively innocuous drugs with extremely addictive and dangerous ones.

Yeah, people do. Very often they are unable to get objective answers because of the "war on drugs" mentality. Official advice is biased, and "unofficial" advice reacts to this often by presenting a distorted alternative, an overly optimistic view of recreational drug use that downplays or denies any negative consequences purely because they know the "other side" will blow them out of all proportion. Either way, the fixed idea leads to a debate that is too polarised and politicised to be useful or constructive.

Well, to be fair, we do that all the time. The cop in the head didn't just appear, it comes from somewhere. Authority has always had some role in reminding us to be good to each other when it seems to be to our personal detriment. However, a lot of the justification seems to stem from cyclic logic - e.g. that drugs have to be illegal because they encourage other illegal
behaviour, even though for the most part, legalisation would lessen this illegal behaviour.

I doubt this. Most people who oppose drugs seem to be in favour of "health" pursuits (i.e. whatever they do at the weekend), and see drug users as people who lack such hobbies or whatever. I think if there's jealousy involved, it's quite often the old envying and resenting the young, wishing for a misspent youth that they feel they missed out on.

Well, smoking pot isn't an excuse for being unemployed. I think an opposition to those who voluntarily remain unemployed is understandable, even if we don't necessarily agree with it.

That does sound kind of sensible and healthy. I know HipForums' key demographic is keen on experimentation as an ideal, but they do so within well established parameters and with word-of-mouth guidance, experimenting largely with things that have already been experimented with. It's a more persuasive argument than most of the others. Stopping others from doing the same... I don't know, I don't think there's anything wrong with urging caution, but obviously someone should not claim to know what they merely suspect.

Everyone does. However, I know that my own generation has been given such an exaggerated and unrealistic assessment of the dangers of drug use - typically anti-drug films/theatre which invariably ends with someone dying for reasons that were never really clarified - that, once we found out that ALL of our parents had tried one of these supposedly ultra-fatal drugs at some point, we had no idea what to believe. For this reason, while I know that everyone is aware than drugs CAN kill you, I feel that teaching everyone that drugs WILL kill you has led to a complete lack of awareness in many people of what the actual risks are.

Not everyone knows the difference between "addictive" and "habit forming", however. I believe that there is a medical definition of both, but certainly some drugs lead to biochemical dependency on the drug. I think a lot of people do not know the difference between this and psychological addiction, or even just really liking something and not feeling the need to give it up.

I think they do now, but when marijuana was "declassified" a few years back, a fair few people didn't seem to get that that wasn't the same as it being legalised. There are a lot of misconceptions about this, and I do wonder whether it's the same with those who don't use. The news presents every other issue in an alarmist fashion designed to scare a certain type of person into believing that society is going to hell in a handbasket, so why not this one?

I think you can group a lot of people into a lot of those categories at once. The mental health issue is a BIG one, and I wonder how much research has been done or even COULD be done into establishing whether people with latent mental health problems are drawn to marijuana at a time when their condition is likely to worsen anyway, rather than the widely publicised "cannabis psychosis" theory.

Personally, I think moderation is important, and I think that a lot of people who use drugs don't understand it, just as a lot of people who drink don't understand it. That is to say, they don't understand that moderation is a movable feast - that most people believe that they are "moderate" rather than excessive, regardless of their intake. The average person drinks more than the healthy limit of alcohol, for example; most won't accept this, for whatever reason.

I'm sure it's the same with weed. You can have the same conversation with someone who's had a couple of joints in their life as with someone who visibly looks uncomfortable if they know they're not going to get any weed for more than a day, and they all think that, yeah, some people smoke way too much and it makes them a mess.

 

Drugs are not a moral issue. However when you stray into the realm of super-addictive drugs (opiates, amphetamines) then I'm not sure. Haven't given this much thought...

More later

 

Moral crusaders usually come in two forms, those that have no real clue about the subject they are crusading against, and those that are just hiding behind the facade.

 

Don't forget those who are part of what they are crusading against.

 

Drugs have nothing to do with morals. People who value their drugs over their friends and family however are another matter altogether.

I've met people who use and have used every drug under the sun. Some of them are nice people, some of them aren't nice people. Drugs don't dictate personality or social situations, don't you agree that it's wrong to judge someone for the food they eat?

Judge man by his actions, and not the clothes he wears, the food he eats, or the drugs he takes.

-Matt

 

Those are my favorite! :cheers2:

 

A vegan might not think so...
Come to think of it, has anyone ever studied the ecological impact of certain drugs apart from the moral/health issue? I remember hearing something about cocaine being linked to deforestation or some weird thing like that...

 

there deforesting right here in "the golden triangle" here in Cali---saw it on nat geo--thousands of illegal pot garden with no regard for maintaining the land--the forest rangers couldnt care less about pot--just hating on the damage caused by profit seeking cartels

 

Why do they always have to set a bad example?
But then, the government doesn't set a very good one itself. Farming in this country is all kinds of bassackwards with equal disregard for what it does to the environment- plowing the hell out of the ground and planting resource-gobbling crops every year without a break causing erosion, saturating the ground with chemical fertilizers that seep into the water and poison wells, choke rivers with algae overgrowth that kills the fish...
When are people going to wise up?

Anyway... drugs...

 

There are so many variables that would change my opinion that it's almost impossible to answer.

Basically...

For your average person in a sound state of mind using something like cannabis, LSD or mushrooms once in a while is not a problem but for someone who isn't in a great place, I dunno maybe they lost a loved one or something, using heroin or alcohol as an escape is only going to lead to a lot of trouble.

 

Indeed. The morality of drug use, like most things is subjective. Dependent upon the person, not on the act of using drugs. Some drugs like crack and heroine are more likely not to be moral endeavors than drugs like LSD and marijuana and therefore a less wise decision in most cases, but the overall morality of drug use is still dependent upon the subject. Using hard drugs like crack is only immoral insofar as it is a detriment rather than a positive.

 

I agree with this.
But then cigarettes should be banned for sure, as I have yet to find a positive in smoking them. This is only the chemically-infused cancer sticks sold by the government, though. Careful tending of your own natural tobacco plants and use in moderation could possibly be on par with marijuana use or drinking: benefits in reasonable quantities, but overdo it and you're screwed.
There really are no absolutes here.

 

its my body I can do what I want with it, period.
Heck most "drugs" aren't nearly as "bad" as they're made out to be.

 

I believe that people that do drugs are generally good people, most of my good friends do drugs and they are the nicest people you'll ever meet 3 of them were addicted to meth, and heroin.
It's just a stereotype that druggies are bad people, just like the stereotype that all Muslims are suicide bombers, its just completely false.

 

If drugs were "decent" Jesus would have done them. Instead of dirty drugs He chose good wholesome alcohol for his fix. This makes me, a Black Belt Alcoholic, Christlike, and dirty degenerate druggies, Satanic.

 

Of course they shouldn't be banned, any more than HCL, or LSD, or marijuana, or methamphetamine, or alcohol, or cars, or chewing gum.

 

I believe in freedom in every aspect, no one should judge a person for something they put into their bodies. It's when people start messing with each other that we need judgement. Don't forget the golden rule. :afro:

 

Durg Abuse or any kind of abuse is a moral issue, resinating with the individuel using them.

I feel that all forms of Natural Medicine is not only vital to our existance and it is our right to use them and heal ourselves with them. Why are we forced to take man made products that harm our bodies, so some company can dictate our lives, telling us what we can and can not have bc if we chose to use Natural instead of snythetics they would lose their asses and lose their power over us.. Time to Wake Up ppl. We are going to lose all our choices if we keep letting them take them away.

A Doctor's Visit 125.00 and follow up 125.00
Tests 4,600.00
Meds 450.00
Gas to get to doc n pharmacy 10.00
Time spent waiting to see Doc 4 to 6 hrs
Actual time with the doc 10 minutes

Cost of Herbs/ Medicinal plants 0, you grow your own.. ohh maybe 20 bucks on seeds/water Time spent on plants 4 to 6 hrs a week, Gas spent.. 0 to 5 dollars, 0 if you have them shipped.

How does that even compare. How can Anyone justify it, Morally or any other way. How long will this insanity go on. It's all over the GOD ALMIGHTY Dollar. It rules these ppl that peddle their poison on us forcing it down our throats whether we like it or not, and we just keep saying Baaa Baaa like good little sheep as we are fleeced.

To be fair, there are some pharmasudicals that do help in some instances, but most of them are derived from a natural source and they modify it so they can slap a pantent on it and call it theirs and charge you out the nose for it.

Just look at the Cancer Industry, yes Industry as in biz'ness. Chemo is stuperfying. It not only kills all your White Blood Cells and frys your whole body. They Charge you 15.000.00 a yr and that is If you Have Insurance.

The list goes on. It's your Choice.. or Is It

sh

 

Surely it is easier to vilify recreational drugs and drug users in your mind if you have had no personal experience with them. In truth, it isn't such a simple subject. Every drug is different. And like almost everything else in life, some people handle drugs well, and some don't. It's a mistake to oversimplify the subject into nothing more than good vs. evil.

 

It is much better/sensible for the "decent" folk and their "authorities" to ask why people need to escape from reality.