Posted by Xevious on June 3, 2002, at 23:47:54
In reply to Liberal thinking ? (very long post), posted by omega man on June 3, 2002, at 22:38:08
Two comments, as I agree with some of your sentiments but am quite conflicted over the debate you raised:
First, in regards to your comment about no recreational drugs being legal in the United States, I'd like to point out that I know of at least three, not including various herbal concoctions that you can get at your local health food store or herbalist - Alcohol, Caffeine, and Nicotine. All perfectly legal, all completely recreational.
The main difference between legal and illegal recreational substances, politics aside, is that in principle, illegal substances have been shown to have serious detrimental effects to the health of their users. In practice, I agree with you that politics has perhaps a greater role than it should, as both alcohol and nicotine can be quite dangerous and THC can be rather benign; still, the matter is that a great many people, perhaps the majority of people who *would* try drugs, are unable to simply try drugs once or twice, and instead have a predisposition towards abuse.
This brings up my second point, namely that a significant amount of illegal substance "abusers" are most likely using street drugs to self-medicate conditions that are treatable using much safer prescription medications. These people arguably have a much greater tendency towards addiction and abuse, as their need is great and illegal drugs tend to cause further organic damage, creating a self-amplifying cycle of abuse and injury.
This is perhaps the most compelling reason for me why illicit substances should not be made readily available, but I do have to admit that I'm no fan of government over-regulation; because of the DEA and FDA's overzealousness, my doctor has to be concerned about a possible investigation into his motives for prescribing psychostimulants, and valuable psychiatric drugs such as MDMA (Ecstasy) and LSD have been made completely untouchable, whereas arguably more dangerous substances like coccaine are commonly used in dental practice.
Strange world we live in...
poster:Xevious
thread:108590
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020602/msgs/108598.html