Quote Originally Posted by Philipvs Vallindervs Calicvla View Post
I would never claim to "know" about God, but thanks for the compliment anyway.

But, actually, I do know something about drugs and their effects on people. I come from a poor farming community and use of canabis and cocaine is 9or rather was) quite widespread. There were several men in their twenties who had heart attacks when I was a teenager, and I watched several friends descend into drug addiction, most of them are recovered now, but not all. Having said that, I also know alchoholics - fewer of those have recovered.

Here's the thing I don't understand, some of these drugs are much, much worse than alchohol. Also, "alchohol" is merely a component of many fine beverages, it isn't the point of them the way snorting cocaine on the back of a toilet is just about getting high; but the that doesn't extend to cheap manky cider designed to yet to smashed. I don't believe heroin should be legalisd, or cocaine, or meth, because taking them doesn't involve "risks", it's pretty much a sure thing. Meth will rot you from the inside out, as will Acid, Cocaine WILL knacker your heart at about four times the normal rate.

With Pot and things like LSD I am more ambivelant, given that most of the people I know who did Hash stopped more or less when they became legal adults I'm not convinced that legalising it is particularly worthwile on a cost/benefit basis. My major problem with Hash is is can cause long term psychological problems and damage your short-term memory. I lived with a guy for a year, spent two weeks drinking someone else's milk because he forgot he wasn't buying his own (he thought he was), and that was the whole in his short term meory from smoking Hash as a teen. Still sharp otherwise, but he's stuck with that handicap now.

The argument that drugs are worse than alcohol because some alcohol is in the form of "fine beverages" is laughable. If drugs of any type are illegal the so should alcohol. The abuse of any causes social problems. The argument I like is that if drugs are legalised then the "softer" types become more acceptable socially. "Harder" drugs will continue to be less socially acceptable because they are simply less social in nature. The abuse (and/or addiction to) any drug should be a health issue rather than a criminal issue IMO. Forgive me if this is a ramble, since I have been drinking (my drug of choice).