at risk of sounding like your mum and pulling a cats bum face 
im a bit shocked. Ive seen reference to drugs and recreational drug use on here before, and while i love the diversity of mn, im always quite shocked at what seems to be a majority? view that recreational drugs are just part of life, that its ok because 'professionals' do it too, that its not the same to be seen to use cocaine at the weekend as it is to be a shoplifter or prostitute with an addiction to herioin....
is it just that no one sees the murkier side of drug use?
i suppose i see the darker side because of what i do for a living, but even before that, i would never have been tempted to try. There are the wider issues with production, trafficking, crime, gangs, and the environmental issues in production
just one such story here
my brother was a heroin addict, and i lost my sister to drugs, one way or another, i believe drug use contributed to her death. Seriously, most the crime i deal with is in some way drug related. Two weeks ago i was involved in an attempted murder over cocaine and cannabis supply.
i am not some rabid campaigner, but this is mumsnet - are most of us parents? i find it odd that people can froth about the small stuff, that people get pilloried for some really bizarre stuff on here while threads about drug use get a fairly "meh" response. (yes its a thread inspired by the coke using teachers assistant....)
why is that? genuinely interested to explore why coke use is seen as ok, and wonder what is not ok?
if its ok for the TA to use coke at the weekend, is it ok for them to smoke crack? or use heroin? doctors were mentioned on the last thread....would you undergo an operation knowing your doctor or surgeon had used coke? or smoked cannabis?
if its just part of life, where would you draw the line?
do people not realise what it takes to get that gram of coke at the pub at the weekend?
AIBU?
to be a little shocked at the laissez faire attitude to drugs on here?
ThatVikRinA22 · 03/10/2012 13:13
amillionyears
You called CoteDAzur a he.
Sorry, typo.
I do make them on occasion
I also said cross-purpise when I meant cross-purpose.
I may well be an arse, but not a name-changing arse....
amillionyears - Sorry, I confused you with MaryZ, who was the person calling me names (incl. "arse") and then asking me to be nice and polite.
What exactly do you mean by "admits to lying on a thread"? 
I most certainly am not a man, and I've been on MN for many years. If you are really going through my past threads looking for dirt on me, you must have surely come across several birth trauma threads I've been on. (Not that I need to prove my gender to anyone. Wtf)
Vicar - I have not "poked at someone's hurt" and was not talking about you when I referred to people who are unable to discuss it due to having been hurt. I was talking about people like MaryZ who say they suffered due to people around them being addicted to drugs, who are now telling people on here to respect their hurt and not point out that some of their assertions are incorrect.
"Do we absolve ourselves of all decency on this board then?"
MaryZ is the one who called me quite a few names, including "arse". What do you think I have said that was indecent?
I am very sorry about your sister. I really am. I cannot imagine losing my sibling to such slow decay over many years.
However, I will still say that my experience and of many others I know personally shows that it is entirely possible to recreationally enjoy many substances just like one enjoys a glass of wine several times a week.
This is why I asked MaryZ what she thinks about alcohol: Alcohol is more addictive than most drugs. If you think all recreational chemicals are evil, people should be forcibly prevented from, and if that fails, prosecuted and punished for their use, how do you square that with the open acceptance of occasional enjoyment of wine or beer with friends? Serious question. I would appreciate an answer to it.
"comparing my alcoholic brother, with my drug addicted sister, i would say yes, both are bad, but one brought noticeably worse effects than the other"
Perhaps for your family.
"ive never come across someone who could just use heroin at the weekend."
I haven't either, but that is because I don't associate with idiots. I'm told that there are many recreational heroin users (who don't inject it).
"i dont see people dying because someone sold a bottle of wine that wasnt from their usual supplier"
In the very rare instances that happens, it is the fault of the Prohibition, not the recreational chemicals themselves, most of which are quite incredibly safe in usual doses.
"if they were legal, how many more people would use them, and suffer those ill effects?"
There is an important point here imho: Adults should be free to consume whatever they want without harming anyone else. You do your own risk/reward assessment and go mountain climbing and bungee jumping, for example, without asking for the government's permission. You are able to buy cancer sticks cigarettes and slowly poison yourself into an early grave. You should also be able to have some fun playing with your brain chemistry, if you know of the risks and accept them, considering that most of these substances are not as addictive or even harmful as cigarettes.
There are already many millions of people using recreational drugs in the UK and the fact that there are so few reported "ill effects" should give you an idea about the level of "danger" here. (I remember the London club I went to in 1999 or so, where I asked for a beer and bartender said "Why?". Everyone else was on bottled water 
)
From what I have seen and experienced, the danger is when people start using them at an early age, when their brain is still developing. This is when you have problems of addiction & intelligence/focus/psychoses. (Same with cigarettes, really - early starters have the most difficulty with quitting because nicotine is deeply wound into their brain chemistry).
As I said before, I would like drugs legalised and a minimum age of 30 imposed on their sale and use, with regular testing and severe penalties.
For the record, I don't use drugs so it is not for my benefit that I would like them legalised. This is because I see that prohibition is not working and believe that this is how freedom of choice for the individual and prevention of harm for the society can be achieved together.
You have too much time on your hands 
There, people were talking about wanting to give their DDs the cervical cancer vaccine but fearing that this would encourage promiscuity in their DDs in their teens. I said if that is their fear, they can always not tell their DDs what the vaccine is, for surely preventing cancer is much more important than telling children the absolute 100% truth about every medical procedure you do for their benefit.
It is a gross misrepresentation to present that as "admits on a thread to lying in some circumstances" . My DD is only 7, so I haven't even thought about what to do about the Gardasil vaccine yet and certainly haven't lied to her except to tell her that green vegetables make her hair grow long and shiny like a princess'.
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