Now, criminalization may be counter-productive, and I'm inclined to think it is. But let's recognize what we're dealing with, here, it's not just freedom and rainbows.
It's not a good idea for any kid to try marijuana. It's funny because now it's the exact opposite. There is all kinds of misinformation on how it has absolutely no drawbacks. Most people won't even admit there is a possibility of addiction.
It may not be as bad as they say, but it is definitely a mind-altering drug that can destroy your ambition in life and make it very difficult to succeed.
Pretty much all of my friends that started smoking pot (even the ones that were really smart) all have dead-end jobs and dropped out of school. This and all of the stupid shit that they have done while high make me never want to touch the stuff.
No, I'm not. I've seen a change that went directly from productive and ambitious individual to not giving a fuck only wanting to get high asshole. No confusion here. The pot is what did it. When some of those people quit, the were themselves again.
"I'm advocating a policy of drug legalization based on facts, not fear or the assumed "common sense" of the current prevailing religious hedegmony."
Ok, as long as we actually outline the adverse health effects of pot and mention stories like mine. You seem to eager to brush these things under the carpet. I feel that pot advocates don't want "facts", they want the public to be told that pot is alright to use. Pretty much all advocacy sites are completely biased and only told about the rainbows and kittens. Even people telling the truth about pot on here are immediately down voted.
You must be a heck of an outlier.
Haha, the beauty of NOT smoking pot and fucking up your life.
I'd really rather deal with the marijuana issue as separate from the heroin issue.
Would those things make heroin less harmful? In many important ways, no. There are simply some hazards of being a heroin addict that are intrinsic, not extrinsic. I still don't think that a heroin addict, even in the protected situation you're describing, would likely be a top candidate for "Parent of the Year," for example.
Is legal heroin better, on balance, than a rational needle-exchange program and a generous rehab program? I don't know, but I can guarantee that politically coupling that to marijuana legalization would simply kill marijuana legalization.
This is why I'm not talking about heroin's direct health risks and instead focusing on the bigger picture. Heroin's terrible effects are a consequence of physiology and behavior, not necessarily of cellular toxicity. The way that heroin makes people feel is so powerful that it outcompetes all other motivators. Therefore, heroin has the habit of dominating the lives of its users, enslaving them to itself and its pursuit.
The addictive potential of alcohol is nothing like that of heroin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence#Addictive_...
In my opinion, the fact that it's so addictive makes it more of a candidate for legalisation or at least greater availability, not less. If you have a population of addicts who will do anything for a fix, and the only people who will supply it to them are hardened criminals who are also into prostitution, extortion, theft, etc. what do you think will happen?
And note that while you are arguing that we should legalize heroin, I'm not taking a position on that. I'm merely arguing (1) that legalization is not going to happen politically so you shouldn't weigh down the marijuana legislation with this, and (2) that heroin is intrinsically devastating even when you remove the drug dealers, etc. Point #1 is based on my hunch, but I doubt many would disagree, and point #2 is based on my experience. Do you have evidence or experience that contradicts mine, or are you just speaking hypothetically?
Nice. Maybe try leading with that next time, instead of "Heroin is a wheelbarrow full of rockets." or something, hey? :)
I'm not arguing point #1 - I'm arguing that your point #2 is flawed. Your experience likely biases you in that direction, since you will have seen the absolute worst cases of addiction, instead of someone like a lawyer or executive who can afford to have a heroin habit without it bankrupting them, or who isn't addicted.
Here are a few horrific pages from a book about meth that illustrate what I'm talking about: http://books.google.com/books?id=qYOFM6aXSyEC&lpg=PA42&#...
This may surprise you, even shock you, but heroin is actually legalized, and given out by the government, in a lot of European countries. Addicts visit a special office and get their daily fix administered by trained professionals. I think this is the way to do it for heroin. Heroin in itself is actually not as insanely dangerous as portrayed. Sure, it's a really really bad drug, but just like morphine, it can be administered safely. The most dangerous thing about heroin is actually not the heroin itself, but the contaminants and unclean administration. The high price of heroin creates a lot of crime, in places where it's not legalized the addicts either have to steal, prostitute or push drugs to afford their own usage. Stats have shown that legalizing and incredibly strictly regulating it reduces addiction, crime and recruitment of new users. Nobody sane wants to try heroin, almost all the recruitment are done by the addicts themselves pushing it to other unfortunate people. When they don't have to spend their days working on getting enough money to buy their next fix they actually can have normal jobs and working on escaping their addiction.
I don't know how to handle other dangerous drugs such as cocain, meth, amphetamines and lsd. Mushrooms and MDMA should be legalized, but way stricter than marijuana.