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Is it wrong to use drugs.
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Ok, here I go:
On the term "gateway drug"... It is possibly the most irritating thing associated with the conversation on recreational drug use. It is traditionally thrown out by people either sitting behind a news desk, school teachers glancing over the topic in 3rd year CSPE class, or by people who've bought into what's been said by the previous two. The fact that it's so regularly used seems to imply that there are certain substances which are demonstrably, scientifically proven as being the starting point for future hard drug addicts.
Once and once only:
There. Are. No. Such. Things. As. Gateway. Drugs.
First off... The only supporting information ever seen is some survey done of 100 recovering drug addicts or of 50 college students which proves absolutely nothing other than that certain people know how to waste time and money or ridiculous tests. I can't count the amount of tools that have brought up one of these surveys or tiny 4 line snips from magazines into the debate. People need to start separating what they see on the cover of MetroAM from scientific fact and reality. I'm not even kidding.
Second. Anecdotal evidence == no.
Not interested in your friend who "only smoked a joint once and then turned to"- No. Irrelevant.
Not interested in the person who "started smoking at 16, got into E at 18, became a heroin addict at 19 and is now DEAD." Sorry, your friend was an asshole and so are you.
I don't want to hear you spout that sort of crap in the same way you don't want to hear me mentioning the numerous examples of people going STRAIGHT ONTO HARD DRUGS.. .. ... FROM NOTHING!!!
It's a shock, I know. But, everything drug-related isn't a measurable downward spiral. Ok that'll do on "gateway drugs". I don't have enough fingers to count people I know who have only ever smoked cannabis and nothing else.
As far as Bill Hicks is concerned. I ****ing love Bill Hicks and I thought he so funny and right and a bit preachy but he always hit the nail right on the head. 3 years of college later and I grimace every time someone launches into a 50 minute performance of every well known bit the man ever did. Bill Hicks is no longer obscure, a cult figure, or new, so please, pipe down and develop some of your own opinions instead of rattling of rhetoric and other people's standup material.
Quoting Bill Hicks and making a George Bush joke are now on the same intellectual rung of the socio-political joke ladder. Sure it's funny when he did it. But it's not funny when you do it. And it's not funny that your opinions on the subject are derived from a few pieces of standup from a dead comedian. If I understand his jokes and his ideals, he was against people being sheep and unintelligent/ill-informed. It's hardly a fitting tribute to a great comedian to have a fan following of morons wearing out his one liners.
That last paragraph felt great to say. I'd compare the absolute feeling of relief I got from writing that to the first sip of a tall beer after a long day's work, or the feeling of relaxation mid-way through a long, strong spliff. Oh baby!
Now, for the focus:
The question posed by the OP isn't valid. I would hope that most people agree that what we choose to with out own time on Earth and our own bodies is our own choice. If you feel like getting your hands on a plant that is harvested off this Earth, ingesting its smoke to temporarily alter your state of consciousness temporarily, then go right ahead. It's your decision, your body, your time. Morality doesn't enter the equation. Morality relates to the conscience, and if you feel guilty for ingesting something it speaks more about your upbringing and your personal (religous?) beliefs than what the law should read.
The objections raised thus far have included (but may not be limited to):
- Obtaining an illegal substance shows disrespect for the law.
- Buying illegal substances funds criminality
- Gateway drug bs
Counterarguments:
- Legalize it
- Drug users should be left alone if they do no harm to anyone else
- "It's not a gateway drug."
So, effectively, bog standard, cliché drugs discussion. What I'd love to see is someone on the opposing side (i.e. Drugs are bad side) with a 3 figure IQ making a decent case as opposed to doing the traditional thing and scratching the surface, hopping along onto the usual, worn out points and arriving neatly at the inevitable stalemate just in time for the personal abuse/lock.
On cannabis: I think most people I know at least know someone who either 1) grows it, 2) brings in some of it from abroad or 3) has it delivered off the internet.
Situation is grand as far as I'm concerned. I'm not funding scumbags, I'm not influencing anyone with my actions and I'm enjoying life. Any of your business? No. Immoral? No. That whole "immoral" thing is a bit Catholic anyway... I bet the OP feels guilty after masturbation or sex too. Loosen up ffs.
On other hallucinogenic drugs: Those interested in truly experiencing completely altered states of perception with personal goals such as exploring the nature of reality and other pyschonauticesque aims are usually able to find salvia, mushrooms, acid etc. through friends or online. These are the people who have a completely different perception and generally have more perspective (IMO) than those who don't have their "third eye squeegeed." (couldn't resist after that big long Bill Hick's paragraph)
Also, stupid people need to not talk about drugs. It gives the intelligent users a bad rep.0 -
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One or two drinks puts you into a relaxed state. In my opinion it's ridiculous that anybody drinks alcohol with the intention of getting drunk. You can get away with it when you're young but you generally have the excuse of being a moron but if you're not starting to cop on a bit by your mid-late twenties then you might have a problem.Some people like one or two drinks but would stop short of getting drunk. Which I think is ludicrous if your taking a drug the main reason is to experience the altered state IMO.
I don't think it's morally wrong to use drugs. What I do think is that it's just plain ****ing stupid and a horrible waste of time.
Also "recreational drugs" is by far the most annoying term. :pac:0 -
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Are you 12? Seriously that post is so offensively stupid it could be deemed a bannable offense. Wow.Did you not see what happened to Batman when he tried to fight crime while somebody had drugged him!? He nearly killed everybody!
From this we can tell that drugs generally don't accomplish anything and may even kill millions of people one day. Batman could have eaisly have used this time to actually stop the criminals.
... Wow... Are you really using Batman as a way of illustrating a point? Batman. The comic book character. In an over the top film... Where the effects of everything are exaggerated.
"So throw out all your cds..." (I'm becoming one of the serial Bill Hicks quoters now, thanks a lot.But there's rarely a case that drugs lead to anything productive.
)
Could run in the family? Could have nothing to do with drugs? Either way, purely anecdotal, deductive reasoning which in no way contributes to the debate.My older brother also seems to have gone a tiny bit mental from drug use.
That's a mouthful [of crap].I don't think it's a wise decision to take anything that has not been well documented about it either and just assume the lack of hard evidence for something means it can't cause you harm.
Don't act like you stop and plough through stacks of papers on the legal drugs you take and have taken. Don't tell me you've read scientific studies on over the counter drugs such as aspirin, let's say, or where it's derived from or even googled what aspirin has been linked to by various studies. See? I, the stoned slacker who has trouble motivating himself, went and did it for you...
There's enough scary headlines there to have aspirin removed from the shelves by the reckoning of the anti-drug squad posting on here, I'd imagine. There's a lack of "hard evidence" there, but don't assume that it can't cause you harm!!
Incidentally, there's plenty of resources available for the responsible, mature adult who interested in trying something.
Erowid.org is one which is packed with information on the chemistry and history of a drug, as well as hundreds of reports and guides on how to responsibly use utilise it.
For a responsible, intelligent person, that's just the beginning.
I'd like to think most of us who've experimented have read hundreds of pages on the pro's on con's of whatever substance they're trying, the cautionary tales, the positive reports, as well as the scientific studies performed as opposed to blindly going for it unprepared. Then again, there's a lot of idiots on either side of the fence... so..
Anyhow, back to the point about the "over the counter" drugs.. When confronted with the choice of actually going and finding out what you've been prescribed, you go ahead make an assumption.
That's fair enough, considering a properly trained MP with years experience is writing the prescription.. My point is that people who are incapable of forming their own opinion with coherently backed up reasons (not you) often blindly trust the figure of authority.
You trust the doctor (with good reason), you trust the men synthising what you put in your body (drug company guys), and you trust the scary headlines. The other person you trust is the motivational speaker who talked to your class about drugs when you were 14... You also trust your parents as they spent years hammering in the "drugs are bad" concept into your head, which incidentally is where the moral aspect of it comes from.
Without becoming a total, ranty, preacher hippie type, let me say this. We're all conditioned to think a certain way, and adhere to a certain code of conduct. If you do the research, make the effort to study real information and observe things properly as opposed to being dogmatic and you arrive at the same conclusion, then come and discuss it with me...
But if it's going to be anecdotes and generalisations and really basic (read: flawed) reasoning, and Batman (again, wtf??), then don't bother... Because you're not contributing anything meaningful.
p.s. This isn't an insult, but I take it you're about 17, yeah?0 -
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