To think alcohol should be made illegal or drugs made legal?

[ineverforgot]

I was on a training course recently and was told that alcohol is the biggest killer out of allll drugs. Also cocaine (which is now widely accepted) kills on average the same amount of people as heroin - note the prejudice differences between the two.

But my question is - someone has a few drinks = violence, aggression etc (not all obviously)

Someone smokes a joint = eats food, laughs, chills.

Now I'm not stupid, I know that they say that weed causes mental health issues. As does alcohol!! Also if someone has a mental health problem and smokes a lot of weed, then there's a problem as weed triggers the mental illness. However, weed doesn't cause the mental illness.

Much the same as alcohol.

So my questions are -

Number 1 - it is physically impossible to overdose on weed. Weed is not physically addictive. The opposite is true for alcohol.

• cocaine and heroin kills the same amount of people - however a massive stigma related to heroin users. Why? Cocaine is cheap these days as sectioned into 'council' 'prop' etc.

Why don't the government make it all legal? All taxable?

Yes , alchohol is a globalized mega industry that is going nowhere.

How long was this training course that you did and who ran it?

Dodgy statistics aside, drug induced psychosis is a huge issue, but so is depression and anxiety related to weed. There are huge problems with it, but because it’s a plant and commonly used loads of people think it’s harmless.

I could be completely wrong, but I thought it was legal (or at least not illegal). It’s the supply that is illegal. I don’t think you can be prosecuted for taking it can you? Just for supplying it.

(disclaimer - don’t use it, so don’t know)

Sugar, caffeine, the list goes on.

Sadly without education the UK public will confine to believe drugs = bad and refuse to believe weed should be legal.

Hopefully the UK will follow suit and legalise and take advantage of the additional alcohol instead of labelling anyone smoking a joint a criminal druggie.

There is definitely a case to be made for all drugs being legal, and taxable.
History shows that making alcohol illegal is unsuccessful.

*additional income that should say.

I do not believe Class A should be legal, but should be considered more openly for therapeutic use like micro-dosing and similar.

Cocaine is not 'widely accepted'

I love a glass of wine. But I haven’t been drunk in over 24 years. I don’t drink enough to get drunk.

ive never smoked and never taken drugs.

my glass of wine doesn’t interfere with anyone else, but the stench of weed does.

smoking does, it stinks, i can smell it.

i despise drug takers in any which way or form.

@ineverforgot I think you’re reading that link wrong. Cannabis use increases incidence of psychosis in those who are genetically susceptible anyway, I can’t see anywhere that it says they’d inevitably have developed psychosis with or without cannabis exposure.

You despise drug takers? That's so strange.

Why?

Sugar kills the most so should that not be illegal? Making drugs legal could actually cut usage and remove the stigma plus problems like county lines.

I think the big takeaway from all this is that prohibition doesn't work. Prohibit alcohol or make it impossibly expensive and what you get is people starting up dangerous home distilling enterprises and people dying of methanol poisoning.

All drugs have their dangers, and that includes alcohol and sugar. The mistake most governments are making is to treat drug use and addiction as a criminal justice issue rather than a health issue. If you look at Portugal (and other countries) which take a different approach, it's clear that better outcomes are possible. It's just that countries like the US and the UK have governments and electorates who are too stupid to realise it.

You do know @ineverforgot that prohibition practically created organised crime in America.

I agree that alcohol is responsible for large amounts of troublesome behaviour- violence, accidents, etc. plus the long term effects on the body. But it’s already legal and if it were to be banned there would be riots, illegal supply and issues of unknown strength alcohol being consumed from home brewing. There is no government that’s going to bring that in as it would be political suicide. There’s an argument for slowly increasing tax and pricing it out of a lot of peoples budgets until it’s socially not the norm, but you’ll put pubs out of business - and aside from the jobs and tax they provide there’s a social and community side to a lot of pubs.

I don’t believe that a lot of drugs are worse than alcohol but many have their own issues. Cocaine is highly addictive and can result in violence just like alcohol. Weed is not physically addictive but usually smoked which causes huge amounts of health issues - yes you can eat it but it’s hard to control quantity, having it brewed into a tea is probably the best way to ingest it but how many people actually do that? legalising drugs would result in an increase in use - as a society do we want that?

though I do agree legalising small amounts of MDMA or mushrooms might be the way to go!

Someone having a quiet beer at home doesn’t impinge on me in any way but someone having a quiet spliff is fucking revolting if you so much has have a window open let alone try and walk down the street. I’d rather they were much harder on weed overall to be honest as it’s so very antisocial.

They will never ban alcohol because of the tax revenue. Again I just think harsher punishments for drunk and disorderly and drink and drug driving might help to ship off some of those not capable of having a quiet glass of wine in a restaurant whilst allowing law abiding citizens to get on with life without affecting those around them.

The 18th Amendment of the USA constitution was a huge success, wasn't it?

Someone having a quiet beer at home doesn’t impinge on me in any way but someone having a quiet spliff is fucking revolting if you so much has have a window open let alone try and walk down the street. I’d rather they were much harder on weed overall to be honest as it’s so very antisocial.
Dry vapes have no smell 🤷🏻‍♀️

The changes in the blood alcohol level for driving have made an impact in Scotland in my anecdotal experience. Colleagues who would have had a glass of wine and then driven home now do not drink any alcohol because they are driving early the next morning. It's just not worth the risk.

I doubt it has had any impact on the drunk driving criminals though.

I feel like reducing the drink-drive limit has probably deterred the drink drivers who might have one/a few, or those who are still over the limit the morning after, but it has done nothing to stop those who are significantly over the limit (aka those most likely to cause harm)

^ This

It simply isn’t true. Alcohol is damaging but I don’t think you can compare it to heroin….

Can you imagine how the French would react
‘you can’t make champagne anymore’

Erm, However, weed doesn't cause the mental illness.

No, actually, it can be a factor in the development of mental illness.

Weed is not physically addictive. - based on what?

I actually in favour of everything being legal, so it is safer to use and obtain and contributes to the tax base. I dont think it would cause more addiction problems, but would solve a lot of other issues. But I am sick of hearing marijuana downplayed - some people may use it perfectly fine, others will not be able to.

I can only speak for myself but one toke of a joint turns me into a gibbering, paranoid wreck with an overwhelming sense of Doom. Horrible stuff. I have friends who work in mental health who have seen first hand the damage it does. Surely it's OK for some people but it really isn't as harmless as people like to make.
According to people who know me, I'm pleasant enough after a drink, I don't drink to excess or to the point of a hangover.
Now mushrooms however I did have a fabulous experience on, but then I know people who had a bad time on them.
Not sure what my point is but the whole drugs and alcohol thing is a very complex issue.
I do hate the way supermarkets have the booze offers right as you go in- you should have to get to the end of the supermarket to see it so that people trying to abstain aren't tempted, same as with cigarettes.
But then I also support a ban on advertising for gambling and alcohol.

I live in Canada, and here marijuana is legal. It is also legal in some US states.

Weed is vile!! The stench of it is awful and can affect so many neighbours who have to sit in their homes and smell it. Alcohol doesn't do the same.

Weed is as immoral in use as other drugs, given the slave trade and abuse it is linked to. Users of Weed deserve to be in prison for being complicit to this abuse.

Legalising may remove that, but ugh, imagine the stink around estates!! It's bad enough now 🤢