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?

Denmark has allowed drug users to legally use heroin and coke in specific places. This has massively reduced the death and crime rates that are drug related there. Regulated and taxed drugs would, on the whole be safer. Doses, batches and mixes wouldn't be full of adulterants and poisons and users would know how much of a drug is in each amount. This would make it safer.

Now, alcohol is a disgraceful drug, just like heroin and coke. And it's a nightmare to withdraw from and stop as if one is heavily addicted, coming off it can be fatal. The same isn't true for heroin and coke but still alcohol is legal.

The problem with making these drugs illegal is that people ALWAYS find a way. The alcohol prohibition of the past taught us how deadly and crime inducing this can be. We have lost the war on drugs. It's time to think of a new strategy.

As for cannabis, it should be legal.

Absolutely agree.

Weed is awful. I don't think the dangers are talked about enough. Or even widely known.

What do you think would happen if the sale of alcohol was banned in the UK?

Well ....

Let's go back to 1920s America and look at the gang violence, smuggling and bootlegging.

There were deaths from the gangs, deaths related to smuggling and deaths related to products not being made properly.

Beer is very easy to brew. The ingredients easy to get or grow. Good luck stopping it, given how we can stop people growing weed. And beer can't be taxed if home-brewed.

I think the experiment with prohibition was such a success they decided to continue with it for a century.

Oh wait, they didn't.

It's looking like perfectly legal (but illegally procured) pharmaceuticals are going to be an even bigger problem, if San Fransisco is anything to go by. The uk seems to follow in the usa's drug fashion footsteps.
Having said that, . . . the dreaded crystalmeth wave didnt actually materialise in the uk . . .

This 'weed isn't physically addictive' bollocks has always bemused me. Having lived with someone who has been intermittently addicted to weed and alcohol, there are definite physical withdrawals from weed, definite cravings, definite psychological changes. Not addictive? My arse.

Weed is the devils drug

Idgaf about any of this I just think weed smells like cat piss and I don't want it or anyone who uses it anywhere near me, legal or illegal.

@ohjeesus @bluetakkis

Agree. My friends partner smashes the house up when he can't get a smoke. :(

That may be, but health wise and general behavior wise, booze is a lot worse

Yet with weed, you don't get drunk drivers causing accidents,

Why don't the government make it all legal?

Because the Daily Mail. Politicians know they would be torn apart by the tabloids if they tried to legalise recreational drugs. People who read these papers are not highly knowledgeable or well informed about legalisation California, Canada, Uruguay etc, so they believe whatever nonsense they read.

There should be stronger regulations around hard alcohol. You can drink spirits and go from feeling fine to feeling floored within minutes. Especially young people will underestimate the strength and find themselves knocked out after a few doubles drank too fast.
It takes a lot of beer, wine, etc. drank over a few hours to get into that state. You feel the effects more gradually. So it’s more of a conscious choice.

In my youth I got into vulnerable situations from drinking spirits that I’ve never been in due to wine or beer. Now I’m older I know which spirits I can handle in small doses and can judge that responsibly in moderation. But as a teenager I just didn’t know.

Increase the drinking age for spirits
Restrict the quantity spirits are sold in at a time
Treat spirits the same way as cigarettes when sold

Shots of vodka on a night out can’t be categorized in the same way as a glass of wine with your dinner.

Weed smokers probably argue for legalization on the same basis. As a previous poster put, the occasional low strength joint to relax isn’t in the same category as the super strength weed sold in masses by criminals with no way to judge what’s inside.

If there special locations to consume like coffee shops, you wouldn’t annoy your neighbors. There could be restrictions on strength, age limits, amounts sold.

With Weed you get drug drivers causing accidents instead. Driving under the influence of drugs is also illegal

Drug driving is on the increase and causes plenty of crashes around the world.

That said, the only way to tackle the huge social harm from the supply of drugs is making them legal. We will never, ever stop people taking them, so regulation and the treatment of addiction as a health issue not criminal is the only way forward.

The sooner it happens, the better.

Weed can be taken in many forms, and smoking with tobacco is no longer the favoured way - vapes and edibles gets rid of the smell.

MDMA / mushrooms have been shown to have huge therapeutic benefit as part of controlled protocols.

Cocaine and heroin are more addictive but many people do take them recreationally and without addiction.

Even those who will end up addicted and as problem users would have better outcomes if they were treated as patients not criminals.

It’s disgusting how shortsighted and reactionary government policy is on this matter. Science-based laws should trump Daily Fail nonsense.

I think drugs should be decriminalised, taxed and regulated so they’re high / pure quality. It would allow for clinical trials to be done on their use for treating mental and physical health.

The US experienced what pretty much happens when you legalise opoids with the oxycontin epidemic. The idea that you reduce the social harms involved in the supply of the drug isn't exactly true; you just shift the social harms from criminal enterprises to legitimate enterprises.

No matter what the substance, if it is state altering, a lot of people will use it. And inevitably, for many of them, the use will become lifelong and develop into abuse.

I've seen what happens with regular weed use. We used to refer to a certain phenomenon as The Thirty Shock, because so many weed smokers we knew got to thirty and realised they'd done virtually nothing in the previous ten years but a bit of casual, low paid work while spending their evenings smoking weed and gaming.

Now I'm in my late 40s, I've seen lives intrinsically altered by regular weed smoking. Not because it's triggered mental health problems per se, though I've seen nasty cases of that, but because regularly smoking weed stops people from dealing with the shit they really need to sort in their lives. It allows people to hide from necessary decisions, provides a hazy screen between them and slowly brewing housing, employment, financial or relationship problems.

If we legalised drugs, we would need to be prepared for the fallout. Okay, you'd reduce criminal activity involved in the supply, but you'd inevitably see social harms develop elsewhere: child neglect, for a start.

And you'd be bringing it all out into the open, and you'd need to fund decent rehabilitation centres.

Respectable??!! Are you having a laugh

They are propping up the modern slave trade, abuse, exploitation of children and the vulnerable all to fill the pockets of drug gangs.

Respectable people don't break the law, nor financially support other people breaking the law, nor support children being abused and exploited.

Respectable my arse. Despicable more like.

Cigarettes/nicotine is also a highly addictive drug with a high death rate...

Whatever.

Oh yes it bloody well is ffs, stop spouting claptrap

All the more reason to legalise it.

I wish booze was only available in special shops like is Australia. It's so bloody hard for people trying to stop using it when it's on the end of every sodding aisle at half price. It's like waiving discounted baggies at a cokehead when they're just trying to buy their bread.

*Respectable??!! Are you having a laugh

They are propping up the modern slave trade, abuse, exploitation of children and the vulnerable all to fill the pockets of drug gangs.

Respectable people don't break the law, nor financially support other people breaking the law, nor support children being abused and exploited.

Respectable my arse. Despicable more like.*

😂 You seriously need to get a grip. Jesus Christ

I am teetotal and enjoy alchohol free drinks. Its much better. I would say no to booze, bad for the belly, bad for the health, causes arguing

@LemonSwan - it's like a reset for me too. Like my mind is full to bursting and it opens up new space. A sense of well-being and space. Space to process and formulate future action.