Mephedrone Mayhem - Just Do It - A Ban I Mean

[nutbrownhair]

Good on Labour, whoever it was that didn't muck about sitting on their hands, trying to please people, talking about educating kids out of it while retailers coined it in at the expense of our suicidal teens. Just saw Carlin on the news, what a load of rubbish. This stuff kills within days - ban first, ask questions afterwards say most of the mums I know. there's no time to pussyfoot around with 'talk time' with our teens with this substance-often after the first couple of days, they can't hear you any more. Thanks, Labour, Gordon, Ed,whoever!

[WidowWadman]

Yeah, let's just do a populist ban, that'll generate votes.

I can't see how a decision made on media and political pressure rather than on evaluating evidence can be a good thing.

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/02/eric-carlin-quits-drugs-council

[smallorange]

Yip drugs prohibition is working so well in Glasgow...

[smallorange]

Tisthe new drugs peril coming to get your teens

www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/mar/12/online-legal-drugs-stimulants

[DocBennett]

The government's crusade against drugs just leaves me weeping with frustration. Perhaps if they hadn't banned the relatively innocuous ecstasy (which the sacked Prof. Nutt rightly claims kills less people than horse riding) then mephedrone wouldn't have made such a rise on the drug scene. Kids started taking it because of the declining quality of street ecstasy.

I was big into the club scene at the very end of the rave era in the early to mid nineties and the whole thing was a damned sight better than the booze fuelled angry kids of today. The Criminal Justice Act was officially introduced because of the noise and disruption caused by all night parties to nearby residents, and to protect the countryside. However, it has also been claimed that it was introduced to kill a popular youth movement that was taking many drinkers out of town centres, where they would drink taxable alcohol, and into fields to take untaxed drugs. But I think it was more than that ... it was stuffy middle class types acting on media hype and prejudice. Now the drinkers are back in the town centres and boy do we know it.

Don't get me wrong? drugs (of all kind) can be damaging. Despite completing a bachelor and post-grad degree at a top university and pursuing a successful career, I ran into trouble with alcohol, prescription drugs and street drugs but was fortunate to get into recovery in my twenties and have been sober for 5 years (and now help other people in recovery on a voluntary basis). My family seem to be genetically predisposed to addiction, so I know first hand how devastating drugs can be; but moral panic helps no-one except dealers who profiteer. One of the more trouble consequences could be your child receiving a damaging criminal record which could hamper their employment prospects just for an occasional dabble into dance drugs.

[DuelingFanjo]

I know lots of people who have done this and say it's a horrible drug. If coke and Ecstacy are illegal then so shoud this be, election or no election. This is not a Legal high.

[WidowWadman]

I don't think criminalising is really going to improve anything. Educating people to make informed choices is a much better idea.

By criminalising the drug you only a) drive people to buy it from people who have much more dangerous stuff on offer, too and b) drive prices up and c) increase the risk about the substances being cut with much more unhealthy stuff.

All in all I can see a ban only make things worse, not better.

[traumaqueen]

Having seen the effects of it first hand initially I was in the Ban It Now brigade.

However, I have changed my mind big time.

There seems to be an assumption that if you Ban It people will stop taking it and our kids will be protected from it. This is obviously nonsense. Banning stuff clearly doesn't stop people doing things.

I don't know what the 'solution' is because I don't really know what the 'problem' is. How dangerous is meph? It's nasty, but would pushing it underground into the hands of committed drug dealers make it better? Doubt it.

[skihorse]

Awesome. Are we banning alcohol, ciggies & cars next week?

lol @ smallorange

[DuelingFanjo]

instead of banning them they should tax all drugs. They won't do that so yes, they should ban fags at the very least. Yes fags are bad for you, and alcohol can be bad for you. what's the argument. Let's ban them all.