Drugs! Drugs! Drugs!

[Lemur]

I'm feeling very left out of the drug scene here in rural Wisconsin. One of my neighbors has chronic pain from a motorcycle accident, so he's always high on Oxycodone. Says his doctors help him "manage" his inevitable addiction, which sounds scary.

One of the daughters of my police neighbor comes crying to my house 'cause her mom's on drugs. Great. A high cop. Wonderful. I tell the daughter that everything's okay (lie), that her mommy loves her (truth), and that she can come visit whenever she likes (truth). Then I find out that another neighbor, the one who listens to nothing but Rush and who always has Fox News on (visible from the street due to giant TV and lack of curtains) is growing his own pot and smoking it in large quantities. So I guess he's a pothead tea partier. Dude.

And here I am, utterly left out. I barely drink anymore, gave up smokes seven years ago, never got into prescription drugs and never got into illegal drugs. Hell, if I quit coffee, I'd be clean as a Mormon, which is kinda sad.

What's the drug situation where you live? Are you on any long-term medication? Are you dealing with addiction?

And since it sure looks as though everybody who wants drugs is getting them, why don't we legalize and tax this sucker?

[InsaneApache]

Just say NO!

[KukriKhan]

I just want to personally thank you for using the term "tea partier" instead of 'teabagger'.

I smoke. Tobacco. Alone, usually. And outdoors.

[tibilicus]

Drugs are so ridiculously easy to get hold of here in the UK (which I imagine is the case in most western countries) that they might as well legalise and tax it. At least then we could cut the deficit.

And no, I don't think it would lead to the world becoming one big crack smoking ghetto. The US has wasted billions if not more trying to control the drug problem in the Americas over the past 40 or so years and has achieved absolutely nothing. It's probably easier to get hold of drugs in the UK today than it was in the 80's and I imagine it's the same in America. There's always going to be drug users, at least if it's legal the rest of us can earn our own tax break of their stupidity.

[Pannonian]

Drugs are so ridiculously easy to get hold of here in the UK (which I imagine is the case in most western countries) that they might as well legalise and tax it. At least then we could cut the deficit.

And no, I don't think it would lead to the world becoming one big crack smoking ghetto. The US has wasted billions if not more trying to control the drug problem in the Americas over the past 40 or so years and has achieved absolutely nothing. It's probably easier to get hold of drugs in the UK today than it was in the 80's and I imagine it's the same in America. There's always going to be drug users, at least if it's legal the rest of us can earn our own tax break of their stupidity.

I've said it before, but one way to make the war in A profitable is to put fewer boots on the ground, buy up the farmers' produce on the cheap, and sell the products back home.

[drone]

Alcohol is my only drug. I'm not a fan of OTC or prescription meds, I don't take anything, not even aspirin or decongestants. I assume pot is easily accessible, but I don't really run in those circles anymore. There is a high school not too far away, I'm sure some pot could be scored with little effort. It's not obvious that anyone in the neighborhood is an addict, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

Lemur, sounds to me like you need to start a meth lab. If you aren't going to partake, at least make some money out of it.

[Lemur]

I smoke. Tobacco. Alone, usually. And outdoors.

Seven years on and I still kinda miss smoking. I wouldn't go back to it, but I reserve the right to feel wistful.

[Rhyfelwyr]

There are a lot of alcohol problems round here, the Scottish Parliament is wanting to go the route of Sweden and get a state monopoly on alcohol sales and hike the prices up.

I heard that parts of Scotland and Norther Ireland have the highest number of teetotalers in Europe, yet also the highest levels of alcohol consumption per person. You do the maths...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

There are a lot of alcohol problems round here, the Scottish Parliament is wanting to go the route of Sweden and get a state monopoly on alcohol sales and hike the prices up.

I heard that parts of Scotland and Norther Ireland have the highest number of teetotalers in Europe, yet also the highest levels of alcohol consumption per person. You do the maths...

Buckfast does not seem to help. In a survey last year of 172 prisoners at a young offenders’ institution, 43 percent of the 117 people who drank alcohol before committing their crimes said they had drunk Buckfast. In a study of litter in a typical housing project, 35 percent of the items identified were Buckfast bottles. And the police in the depressed industrial district of Strathclyde recently told a BBC program that the drink had been mentioned in 5,638 crime reports between 2006 and 2009 (the bottle was used as a weapon in 114 of them).

A spokesman for J. Chandler & Company, which distributes the drink, said that Buckfast accounted for less than 1 percent of the alcoholic beverage market in Scotland and was being unfairly singled out. Nor, he said, is wine-making a sign that the monks of Buckfast Abbey have strayed from the teachings of St. Benedict, an accusation recently leveled by an Episcopal bishop.

“It’s always wise to remember that Jesus turned water into wine,” the spokesman, Jim Wilson, said in an interview.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I'm feeling very left out of the drug scene here in rural Wisconsin. One of my neighbors has chronic pain from a motorcycle accident, so he's always high on Oxycodone. Says his doctors help him "manage" his inevitable addiction, which sounds scary.

Some people legitimately do need a lot of painkillers for constant pain. A bigger problem to me than some people consuming painkillers constantly is the attorneys and DEA going after doctors for prescribing painkillers. The attorneys are looking to score convictions based on science they don't understand, leading to people not being treated because doctors are afraid to do so.

Also, addiction may be overstated:

What is lacking is not the way to treat pain effectively but the will to do it. For a quarter of a century, pain specialists have been warning with increasing stridency that pain is undertreated in America. But a wide array of social forces continue to thwart efforts to improve treatment. Narcotics are the most powerful painkillers available, but doctors are afraid to prescribe them out of fear they will be prosecuted by overzealous law enforcers, or that they will turn their patients into addicts . . . “We are pharmacological Calvinists,” says Dr. Steven Hyman, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

The authors go on to state:

But at the heart of the debate is confusion about what constitutes addiction and what is simply physical dependence.

Most people who take morphine for more than a few days become physically dependent, suffering temporary withdrawal symptoms–nausea, muscle cramps, chills–if they stop taking it abruptly, without tapering the dose. But few exhibit the classic signs of addiction: a compulsive craving for the drug’s euphoric or calming effects, and continued abuse of the drug even when to do so is obviously self-destructive. In three studies involving nearly 25,000 cancer patients, [researcher Russell] Portenoy found that only even became addicted to the narcotics they were taking . . . “If we called this drug by another name, if morphine didn’t have a stigma, we wouldn’t be fighting about it,” says [researcher Kathleen] Foley.

More recently, The Feds have taken to having grand juries investigate activists who defend doctors with crimes, and asking for gag orders on those who defend the doctors. And then agents forced their way into the homes of patients.

People ought to be able to get whatever pain meds they need. I don't give a care if some people abuse the system. Better that than those in need not getting any relief.

One of the daughters of my police neighbor comes crying to my house 'cause her mom's on drugs. Great. A high cop. Wonderful.

Good grief.

Then I find out that another neighbor, the one who listens to nothing but Rush and who always has Fox News on (visible from the street due to giant TV and lack of curtains) is growing his own pot and smoking it in large quantities. So I guess he's a pothead tea partier. Dude.

Well, hopefully that's another republican against the drug war.

And here I am, utterly left out. I barely drink anymore, gave up smokes seven years ago, never got into prescription drugs and never got into illegal drugs. Hell, if I quit coffee, I'd be clean as a Mormon, which is kinda sad.

What if you drink soda?

What's the drug situation where you live? Are you on any long-term medication? Are you dealing with addiction?

Lots of BC bud, in which I do not indulge.

And since it sure looks as though everybody who wants drugs is getting them, why don't we legalize and tax this sucker?

Why do you hate children so much? They'd just become addicted and then become crackheads. And it'd only take a week tops!

CR

[Myrddraal]

I'm naturally a little bit afraid of anything addictive. Forget about health consequences, the thought of being dependent on the intake of some substance my body doesn't normally need to function is enough to put me off trying drugs. Of course I drink, but I have gone great stretches of time without drinking and not even thinking of it.

[The Stranger]

I'm naturally a little bit afraid of anything addictive. Forget about health consequences, the thought of being dependent on the intake of some substance my body doesn't normally need to function is enough to put me off trying drugs. Of course I drink, but I have gone great stretches of time without drinking and not even thinking of it.

same here... though i dont actually drink either :P if my average is one glass a week or above im surprised. i doubt i even make that, its prolly closer to a glass a month.

[rory_20_uk]

There are a lot of alcohol problems round here, the Scottish Parliament is wanting to go the route of Sweden and get a state monopoly on alcohol sales and hike the prices up.

That will mean masses of cheap(er) booze coming from England - and of course numerous stills.

Chronic pain shouldn't be treated with opiates alone. It's much better to use a mix along with tricyclics, NSAIDs and dear old Paracetamol; a TENS machine is also quite good.

[LittleGrizzly]

Cannabis, Caffiene and Cigerettes. My body doesn't seem to take to kindly to drugs so I only really take the light ones... (ok cigerettes are really bad but on a long term time scale) I haven't drunk alcohol for over a year and im in no rush to have anymore as alcohol messes me up far worse than any of the A or B class drugs do... (although im not referring to heroin or crystal meth)
The three C's are an everyday thing for me though... can be a bit overwhelming when I kick off the day first thing with a combo of all three...

Its insanity not to legalise and tax it, there are only beneifts to doing so (apart from losing the election for daring to enact such sensible policy)

[Lemur]

People ought to be able to get whatever pain meds they need. I don't give a care if some people abuse the system. Better that than those in need not getting any relief.

Agreed 100%.

What if you drink soda?

You wanna know what's sad? I don't. Ever.

[Major Robert Dump]

I mix aspirin and melatonin, and throw in a shot of Nyquil and Red Bull when I really want to party.

[Mooks]

Right now in my high school weed is pretty much everywhere. Even the Student Association, chess clubs (I kid you not, my friend swears to baby jesus he sells to them), and similiar people with enough time on their hands to stay after school smoke marijuana. When I had dreadlocks people asked me for a hookup all the time when I walked down the street. One of my friends got caught stealing a aerasol can (The thing you spray to clean out keyboards), for some reason dont ask me why, the school sent him to the Renaisccance Academy. Basically a school they send all the troublemakers. They sent him in the "Drug intervention" program because they thought he was going to use the can as some sort of drug. Since then hes tried coke,ecastasy,and a variety of pills. He said he has access to pretty much everything now, its ironic.

Quit calling your neigbor a pothead. You dont know that, one drink doesnt make you a alcoholic so just because he grows that doenst make him a pothead.

[Prince Cobra]

Some words: I am unusually ironic recently. But drugs are really a sensitive topic and I am quite conservative here.

Even the Student Association, chess clubs (I kid you not, my friend swears to baby jesus he sells to them), and similiar people with enough time on their hands to stay after school smoke marijuana.

I am sure the chess club has come out with innovative ideas how to remove the enemy King from the game.

Then I find out that another neighbor, the one who listens to nothing but Rush and who always has Fox News on (visible from the street due to giant TV and lack of curtains) is growing his own pot and smoking it in large quantities. So I guess he's a pothead tea partier. Dude.

Just pray he won't dry his pot near a fireplace. Or worse, he could get an exhibitionistic leanings.

It' sounds funny when you are an ocean away, I know. More seriously, good luck!

And here I am, utterly left out. I barely drink anymore, gave up smokes seven years ago, never got into prescription drugs and never got into illegal drugs. Hell, if I quit coffee, I'd be clean as a Mormon, which is kinda sad.

No, you would call me so that we found a nice club of non-smokers and sober people. We are becoming a minority!

What's the drug situation where you live? Are you on any long-term medication? Are you dealing with addiction?

Well, Bulgaria and Eastern Europe in general is catching up to the Western standarts remarkably quickly in this aspect. I doubt anybody who wants to get drugs will have any problem with it in Bulgaria. However, I am still lucky not to clash this problem on daily basis. But I am not that optimistic for the future.

About addiction: fortunately, not. Perhaps the only similiar feeling I experienced was when I got Medieval Total war (I remember I spent my whole weekend playing it with only 4 hours for sleeping/per day) but fortunately, I put the things back under control before the beginning of the week. So no (much) more PC games and much more time on other activities. This forum is not really a bad addiction, although I sometimes realise I spend too much time here.

[ajaxfetish]

What's the drug situation where you live? Are you on any long-term medication? Are you dealing with addiction?

And since it sure looks as though everybody who wants drugs is getting them, why don't we legalize and tax this sucker?

I'm clean as a Mormon (is that sad?).

I've got a couple friends who smoke, but I'm unaware of anything more on the local drug scene. Of course, I've never been the most observant fellow. I've heard plenty of people make arguments in favor of the war on drugs. I'm not sure any of them were coherent. I'm undecided on harder drugs, but marijuana should definitely be decriminalized and taxed as soon as possible.

Ajax

[Husar]

I had a 0.5l bottle of beer yesterday, and it had quite a bit of an effect on me, which just goes to show I didn't drink a lot of alcohol lately (last 6 months or more).
I drink coffee occassionally, some Cappuchino at work, but partly because it's better than eating the sugar without it...

I can't really go for long without drinking water though but even that I don't take enough of often, simply because I forget, if nothing else.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Nothing for me. It's bad to drink and troll.

[Cute Wolf]

Nothing for me. It's bad to drink and troll.

drink olog hai's brewery then.....
Made from brewed human blood, mixed with burnt crops...

[Vuk]

I'm feeling very left out of the drug scene here in rural Wisconsin. One of my neighbors has chronic pain from a motorcycle accident, so he's always high on Oxycodone. Says his doctors help him "manage" his inevitable addiction, which sounds scary.

One of the daughters of my police neighbor comes crying to my house 'cause her mom's on drugs. Great. A high cop. Wonderful. I tell the daughter that everything's okay (lie), that her mommy loves her (truth), and that she can come visit whenever she likes (truth). Then I find out that another neighbor, the one who listens to nothing but Rush and who always has Fox News on (visible from the street due to giant TV and lack of curtains) is growing his own pot and smoking it in large quantities. So I guess he's a pothead tea partier. Dude.

And here I am, utterly left out. I barely drink anymore, gave up smokes seven years ago, never got into prescription drugs and never got into illegal drugs. Hell, if I quit coffee, I'd be clean as a Mormon, which is kinda sad.

What's the drug situation where you live? Are you on any long-term medication? Are you dealing with addiction?

And since it sure looks as though everybody who wants drugs is getting them, why don't we legalize and tax this sucker?

If you are sure, why don't you do your duty and report him? Then instead of winking at illegal activity and taxing it, we can stop it.

[Strike For The South]

If you are sure, why don't you do your duty and report him? Then instead of winking at illegal activity and taxing it, we can stop it.

He's smoking a bit of weed in his own home. Lets take it down a notch Johnny law

[Lemur]

If you are sure, why don't you do your duty and report him? Then instead of winking at illegal activity and taxing it, we can stop it.

I'm sorry, it's my "duty" to report a non-violent, victimless activity that transgresses a law with which I profoundly disagree? If you're looking for a totalitarian state where neighbors turn each other in for the love of the Great Leader, I think you meant to check out North Korea.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I'm sorry, it's my "duty" to report a non-violent, victimless activity that transgresses a law with which I profoundly disagree? If you're looking for a totalitarian state where neighbors turn each other in for the love of the Great Leader, I think you meant to check out North Korea.

And its never been easier! See here.

[Crazed Rabbit]

If you are sure, why don't you do your duty and report him? Then instead of winking at illegal activity and taxing it, we can stop it.

No, you can't. No one can.

And let only the people harmed by a crime report it.

CR

[Seamus Fermanagh]

No, you can't. No one can.

And let only the people harmed by a crime report it.

CR

The idea that crime should only be reported by those harmed thereby has a few flaws CR. At least in the case of violent crimes, even those not harmed are better served by reporting them and getting the miscreats dealt with.

I believe that a war on drugs is winnable -- but that the entity that could win such a war would not resemble the republic I love.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Yeah, the idea has flaws. Maybe something like, "Only report crimes where a person is harmed" would have less.

CR

[Megas Methuselah]

If you are sure, why don't you do your duty and report him? Then instead of winking at illegal activity and taxing it, we can stop it.

WOW, who is this guy? Lucky for me, NiQuil is sold over the counter; all the same, stay the hell away from me!