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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Catspyjamas17 · 25/07/2023 11:49

Can't say as I've noticed endorsement of drug use on MN. Quite the opposite. I suppose it depends what threads you read. There are thousands of MN posters, it's not a hive mind.

Gatehouse77 · 25/07/2023 11:58

Cider, often the gateway alcohol, is the beginnings of the slippery slope for some.

Puff on a cigarette in your teens is the beginnings of the slippery slope.

Shoplifting is the beginnings of the slippery slope.

For some. For others it’s not.
People throw out anecdotes as though they’re evidence across the whole of society.

I know many people who’ve never gone further than a joint or two in the evening, a drink it two, etc. and are perfectly functioning members of society.

Given the amount of violence, trauma, money, resources, etc. needed to combat the ‘acceptable’ drug of alcohol why isn’t that being debated?

Thepeopleversuswork · 25/07/2023 12:01

I agree that policy around drug use and the way its managed is highly dysfunctional and I also think a lot of people do turn a blind eye the supply chain which, as you say, is full of cruelty, profiteering, exploitation.

But I have to say I think most of this can be laid at the feet of policymakers as opposed to users.

I don't use drugs personally (although I have done in the past) and I think most of the time they do more harm than good, but I do think the blanket illegality of all drugs is an extremely blunt weapon, which fails to distinguish between, for example, extremely occasional recreational cannabis use and heroin addiction.

It's this and the so-called "War on Drugs" which is to blame, as opposed to individuals who use.

tootallfortheshelf · 25/07/2023 12:01

Where do you even get it from ??? I genuinely hand on heart wouldn't even know where to start if I wanted pot
I have found these people to be very good:
https://www.sapphireclinics.com/
Obviously drugs need to be kept out of the hands of criminals, criminals are bad people, bad people do bad things.

Sapphire Medical Cannabis Clinics

Sapphire Medical Cannabis Clinics are an award winning, CQC registered Medical Cannabis Clinic who specialise in online consultations.

https://www.sapphireclinics.com

bigmoyo · 25/07/2023 12:03

I don't do drugs but I understand that others do for a variety of reasons and taking a hard line war on drugs type approach isn't going to stop it. Our current system clearly doesn't work and is fuelling serious organised crime. We need a different approach and legal framework and better education.

Annaishere · 25/07/2023 12:03

Where do you even get it from ??? I genuinely hand on heart wouldn't even know where to start if I wanted pot

if you were determined enough you would get anything

tootallfortheshelf · 25/07/2023 12:04

Do you find it disturbing to see shelves full of harmful intoxicating drugs in the supermarket OP?
All that alcohol being sold openly!

Largeslice · 25/07/2023 12:13

Quveas · 25/07/2023 11:42

I have no idea what you mean by people "apologising for drug use". But I disagree fundamentally with what you are saying and advocating. And to be clear, I do not take nor have I ever taken illegal drugs (and to be honest, I am deeply concerned about the doling out of legal prescribed drugs without adequate consideration of impacts and damage).

It was not drug use per se that led to this appalling crime. It was the fact that the sale of certain drugs is illegal and is therefore firmly in the hands of criminals. Prohibition of any kind has been repeatedly shown to have absolutely no impact on the availability or sale of prohibited items; its only impact is to place the market for the items in the hands of criminals, with all that that entails.

There is only one way to change that, and that is to find a strategy that decriminalises drugs. I am not in favour of advocating widescale availability - we currebtly have far too much easy access to a wide range of drugs including recreational drugs (like alcohol). Personally I would legalise all use of drugs, and make most (except, perhaps, for the most dangerous ones) available for purchase through the NHS. I would have them sold at a market price - between the purchasing power of the government and trade deals with supplying countries we could reduce costs to well below that which criminals can offer, users and addicts would be better monitored and supported and the profits made could support better drugs and addiction services.

This would also have an impact on drugs related crime - given the amount of lower level crimes like burglary that are driven by the need for money to buy drugs, these would also reduce in number. And it would equally have massive impacts in supplying countries, because we could use economics to support and control the growth / manufacture of supplies, through offocial channels, and suddenly the big cartels have no drugs business - that would free many communities and families abroad who are held in trall to the big crime syndicates.

The bottom line is that we have tried making the supply and use of certain substances illegal for centuries. It hasn't worked. It will never work. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.

Someone with sense.

Great Post.

tootallfortheshelf · 25/07/2023 12:19

Very well said @Quveas 🥇

Moneynewpence · 25/07/2023 12:40

Hufflepods · 25/07/2023 11:31

One anecdote doesn't mean anything. Do you know the sheer number of people who use things like weed recreationally and never get close to trying something like heroin or become an addict?

Are you advocating a ban on all alcohol and closing pubs because a beer after work could lead to you becoming an alcoholic? Or have you somehow convinced yourself that drug is socially acceptable and therefore fine to you.

Show quote history

That's exactly what they have done. Booze is okay because they drink it.

wineschmine · 25/07/2023 12:56

PurpleButterflyWings · 25/07/2023 10:51

Yes I get that some people take drugs/do drugs/smoke weed, due to a bad/traumatic upbringing, but many MANY people take them coz they think it's cool and 'edgy.'

Grow up FFS.

I don't know any adults who take drugs because they think it's "cool" or "edgy". That's a teenage mindset and one that (I think) the upcoming generation are rejecting, as well as alcohol / drinking to excess.

The issue mainly lies in drugs being accessed through trauma, which is obviously desperately sad and needs to be addressed.

I do know some adults who have a joint on a Friday night, mostly instead of alcohol as alcohol doesn't agree with them for whatever reason. These are professionals in their 40s/50s/60s and it's absolutely not a slippery slope to anything.

I think things are more nuanced than you seem to believe, and I find your aggressive language unnecessary.

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