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?

People who are blase about the effects of cannabis on MH are probably thinking of the sort of weed that was around in the 60/70/80s. Which is hard to come by these days. The damage done since skunk drove out the less harmful forms of weed is immense.

I hate the smell of weed and the fact that largely you have no choice but to inhale it when people smoke around you, at least other drugs have the decency to only affect the people taking them. It's also obviously not as bad as Class A drugs but there are obvious links to mental illness, especially when starting young. I don't think it should be legal, vapes are horrendous for your health and now so many kids are doing it because they think it's cool and "healthier than cigarettes".

Realistically though, there's a very big difference between heroin, cocaine (and other drugs) and alcohol. The fact that many are highly addictive means that people who are curious but would never have made the effort/taken the risk to do it illegaly could easily take it once and be hooked. Look at the downward spiral people on meth go on after just one hit. In fact there was a big think about weed being laced by harder drugs and people becoming addicted to it that way.

Yes exactly this. I don't think OP gets what the article is saying

Anyone who thinks heroin should be legalised has never seen an addict. Or seen an addict withdrawing from heroin.
Very few herion or cocaine users begin on those drugs. They begin on weed and move up.
There are enough problems with alcohol let's not increase the problems by making drugs legal too.

Iam12andThisIsDeep

If you want to smoke weed in your home I have no issue, but what I have an issue is the smell and the antisocial behaviours it brings to my neighbour hood, two wrongs don't make a right.

I don't take drugs never have and drink only on special occasions sorry I don't need a crutch to enjoy myself.

Smoking joints bloody well stink out your neighbours, disgusting habit. My neighbours drinks on moderation never affects me but the scruffy junky I had renting next door stunk my house out with week and brought all manner of issues to the street.

So basically alcohol is considered the most harmful to society, but due to e.g. £, and the e.g. Prohibition era, it's not likely to be going down the drains. ?

Has the op got any personal experience of drugs/alcohism? Especially drug induced psychosis?

I have in all 3. Family members.

And weed being seen as a soft drug is so wrong. It can cause mental health issues. And is a gateway to harder drugs.

Alcohol is a drug yes. And I have seen alcohism in a close family member. It killed him in the end. Although was dry, the health issues couldn't be reversed.
But Alcohol is used by most. And most are ok with it.
I drink. I wouldnt touch even weed from what I've lived with my family.

The research by Professor Nutt supports this idea. There is also a really interesting book on the drug side of things called Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari. People mostly just don’t want to give up alcohol so ignore the research.

This! YABVU

As a mother of two kids now both in their 20's id prefer them to drink than smoke weed! Seen them both smoking weed they turned into monsters, both more likable drunk

See I had the opposite with my ex husband.
That is the issue I guess people react differently.

Yes alcohol is pretty much as bad a drug as any. You leave someone withdrawing from heroin in a room, come back next day they are alive... alcohol they are dead.

I knew a guy who died from a seizure from not topping up with alcohol enough :/

Problem is society thinks it's normal. Government gain a lot of money from it. Besides they tried banning it once and people started making it illegally and it ended up very lethal and a lot of people died and cant remember the history but it was an utter disaster.

Needs to be more moderated perhaps, more education. Not sure as to the solution. But it kills so many people, and long term health issues is horrendous. In my 20's I was a party goer binge drinker... it gave me fatty liver 😬 all fixed now 😅 but I don't touch it anymore.

My son smashed up the house smoking weed, my daughter ended up in all sorts of trouble, paranoid and unstable..... alcohol isnt great but give me that any day of the week

Ps im my opinion weed triggers mental illness quicker than alcohol

Prohibition - of anything - has never worked and still doesn't. All it does is put the profits in the hands of criminals. Always has. Always will. We need more rational and sensible methods of managing the intake of drugs, whatever poison people choose.

I think the push should be more personal responsibility that seems to be eroding as time goes on

Some people can have a few glasse of wine/beer occasionally with no issues other people cannot.

Or whatever if people have issues with whatever they are taking then they need to address this and yes there is the full on addicted heroin users, I am speaking of the more average users like the people who think the music is so bad at music festivals or their friends are so boring they need party drugs to enjoy themselves

I absolutely hate alcohol. For me, it's the single most overrated thing in the world. Professor David Nutt said that if it were invented tomorrow, it would not only be illegal but would be classed alongside heroin. It's bad for your health, makes anxiety and depression worse, and turns mild people into screeching idiots or violent thugs. Countless lives have been ruined by this disgusting drug.

I would much, much rather make alcohol illegal, but have MDMA, ecstasy and mushrooms available in specialist shops. Obviously there should be warnings attached (no drug is harmless), but society would be vastly happier.

Whilst weed may not be addictive, it's generally smoked with tobacco. I don't need to explain what's wrong with thay

Its a gateway drug

I have had a psychotic episode and was previously a weed smoker from teens to 20s.

Can it cause psychosis. I reckon so. Certain strains these days are unbelievably powerful. Most habitual smokers don’t even realise it’s so powerful because their receptors are depleted and so the THC can’t bind.

Did it cause mine. I don’t think outright as I had smoked heavily for a decade and a half no issues and the triggers were quite a lot of perfectly timed quite extreme events/layers but it didn’t help that’s for sure. But maybe it did. Maybe all that unbound thc rolling about just built up to the level that did something crazy. Who knows.

I do think it should be legal though. If used extremely sparingly and respectfully it is an incredible drug. I have only smoked a quarter of a joint once a year since my episode and I do think it is a really special treat which helps me reflect/ process the year. It’s like a reset for me.

The main reason I think it should be legal is that weed smokers should be able to choose their strains and their quantity. You shouldn’t have to pick up minimum of £20 worth or whatever it is these days of an unknown god knows what. That’s like saying your never allowed a glass of wine unless you buy a 12 bottle crate. No wonder people get addicted.

And you should be able to choose mild weed and/or a well balanced cbd to thc strain which are less likely to cause issues. And you should be able to buy an odd spliff by itself.

Making psychically addictive drugs legal is probably quite a bad idea.

Sorry typo - making physically addictive drugs legal probably very bad idea

🔼👏🏻

Oh cmon now hes called prof nutt! Unless you have tried every drug, i really dont think you can comment! I have tried them all so ask away....

My big issue with alcohol (having worked in a bar for a long time) - it's illegal to serve alcohol to someone who is intoxicated. So once you've had a few drinks, that's supposed to be it. If you're pissed, you've had enough and please go home.

People getting shit-faced in bars and clubs is (technically) not supposed to happen and is where a lot of trouble starts. Fights, girls getting assaulted, and so on.

Nobody seems to be aware of the licensing laws. And it's illegal to be pissed on a plane too.

Lots of 'respectable', mentally healthy people smoke weed.