|
Post by Danny Boy on Feb 6, 2003 2:31:29 GMT -5
SG If you suffer from any type of epilepsy, steer well clear of any unprescribed drugs. Even strobe lighting at a nightclub can bring on a attack.
|
|
|
Post by Srrh on Feb 6, 2003 9:42:17 GMT -5
LOL... Dolphin tranquilizers? Now what exactly is the effect of those? It relaxes your blow hole ;D S...h
|
|
|
Post by smokingun on Feb 14, 2003 4:39:27 GMT -5
hmmmm, it's been a while since someone posted over here, and i got this gut feeling that it was this thread that helped get me on to the elite board. so bite me if i insist on keeping it alive.
DeadCat, that stuff about nicotine being very addictive is so true. as i mentioned before, i am trying to quit. well i never thought that i could actually be physically addicted, but it turns out that i was. i managed to put the worst behind me though and i am talking real physical cravings. i couldn't sleep, couldn't concentrate and then there is the psychological cravings. i mean i really enjoyed a cigarette and just thinking about it makes me want to light up. but at least now, i can sleep at night without a smoke, and the headaches are gone.
Nicotine must definately be banned. although i pride myself on having a lot of will power, i fear that when i meet some buddies over the weekend i may actually smoke a few.
|
|
|
Post by daSilva on Feb 14, 2003 10:16:12 GMT -5
Yes drugs should be banned, And cigarettes, and alcohol, and gambling, All addictive and VERY dangerous. I think we should also get rid of; motorcycles (very dangerous machines that cost taxpayers millions in health costs), Cars should be banned (more people die in automobiles every day than any other way), Food should be banned (abuse of food causes obesity and millions in healthcare costs for heart disease alone). This is of course saracasm, but if we banned everything that was dangerous we wouldn'tbe left with much. Did you know that life itself will kill you? Might as well enjoy it while you can without a paternalistic government or society telling you what you can and can not do.
|
|
|
Post by Henrik on Feb 14, 2003 11:28:49 GMT -5
You can get rid of everything...almost!!
Just let me keep my bike!! ;D
About the withdrawal difficulties, I spoke with a friend a while back who decided to give up coffee. For the first few weeks it was difficult, and he suffered with serious headaches etc. So, caffeine can also be considered a dangerous habit forming, and physically adictive drug.
Now I'll go and have a nice espresso and a smoke....
|
|
|
Post by pabs on Feb 14, 2003 14:40:47 GMT -5
My supervising professor is the biggest addict to caffeine that I know. At the suggestion of another graduate student, he is now collecting all his starbucks cups. I don't know why but so far I'm impressed by it.
|
|
|
Post by smokingun on Feb 17, 2003 2:08:58 GMT -5
Yes drugs should be banned, And cigarettes, and alcohol, and gambling, you may be sarcastic, but i happen to agree to all of the above. and IMO there are places where at least one of the above or combinations of the above are banned. so obviously i am not alone in feeling this way. it depends da Silva. do motorcycles fool your brain, make you stupid, cause you to do things you wouldn't normally do? do they make you violent and compell you to commit a crime just to support your habit? why not legalise suicide? or cannibalism. is molesting kids wrong? hell if we can sell them drugs, booze and cigarettes, what the fvck is wrong in abusing them further? how far do we have to go before society as a whole degenrates to something unthinkable? just because we cherish our freedom does not mean that we repeat the mistakes made by other people. a lot of the things dictated by society are in the larger intersts of the individual and the society he/she live in. i have no problem if a grown and educated adult who knows the risks still decides to use and abuse these substances. but i do draw the line when innocent people get mugged, robbed and killed just because these substances can be so addictive. smokingun [who beleives that intelligence distinguishes us from gutter rats who apparantly enjoy living in the sewers]
|
|
|
Post by daSilva on Feb 17, 2003 10:34:55 GMT -5
As far as society goes it is a matter of controlling the drugs. Making a substance illegal has never stopped people from partaking in said substance. The current war on drugs and prohibition in the US in the 30's are excellent examples of illegalisation not working. As a society we need to look at how we can solve the problem, one way in my opinion is to legalise and control the flow of drugs. This takes the back alley criminal element out of the picture almost immediately, furthermore we could begin to help the addicts recover. Addiction is where somebody is primarily abusing themselves, of course there is peripheral emotional damage to others, but to suggest legalisation of pedophilia in your argument is ridiculous and to me suggests that your argument has lost it's way (pedophiles of course abuse others and is not an addiction). We need to begin to teach parents how to parent, we also need to teach children the value of other human beings and themselves as opposed to just having our governments tell us what we can and can not do.
|
|
|
Post by smokingun on Feb 17, 2003 22:46:26 GMT -5
hmmmm, well i am glad that i managed to horrify you. i would not suggest the legalising of pedophillia and indeed any other crime than i would suggest making drugs freely available. you term the peripheral emotional damage to others" does that include the muggings, robbery and killings to support an addiction??
smokingun
|
|
|
Post by Henrik on Feb 18, 2003 2:36:15 GMT -5
Smokingun,
I think a few of us have mentioned the thought that legalizing drugs would have a positive impact on the crime surrounding the drug trade today. As such, legalizing would probably reduce considerably the mugging, robbery and killing that currently is related to the addiction. It is more the criminal side of the drug problem that causes this, not so much the addiction.
As an example, look at the mugging, robbery and killing that went around the alcohol trade during the prohibition. We don't see so much of that today with regards to the legal alcohol trade, yet people are still alcoholics.
|
|
|
Post by smokingun on Feb 18, 2003 2:56:30 GMT -5
We don't see so much of that today with regards to the legal alcohol trade, yet people are still alcoholics. it's not so much the people selling the stuff as it is the people who need the money to buy the stuff. alchohol is still one of the major contributers to domestic violence. in india at least there are a lot of cases of men making their wives and children work and all that the lazy bastards do is use the money on alchohol. but hey alchohol is the wonderfull and glamarous thing. it is so cool to drink and flaunt that fact. once a person is hooked to the stuff he is hooked. he will do anything to support his habit. would it make a difference that the drugs are available over the counter? he still needs the money to buy it. money which he may not have because he cannot work, or that he has already exhausted on dope. dope is really cheap where i live. and yes with corruption it is legal. a handfull of dope will cost about 1 or 2 dollars. but it sure has hell has not made Goa any safer or a better place to live in.
|
|
|
Post by Henrik on Feb 18, 2003 3:06:32 GMT -5
Smokingun,
You add a very interesting perspective. I must admit to having looked at the current drug problem only as it exists today in Europe (and possibly the US). Given that the standard of living is considerably higher than in India, it portrays an entirely different picture.
However, I also think that the problem you describe in Goa is one that is probably linked to more origins than just the existence and easy availability of alcohol and drugs. Perhaps unemployment is a critical ingredient in that mix? What is the alcohol problem situation like in the areas with less unemployment?
Thanks for the feedback!!
|
|
|
Post by smokingun on Feb 18, 2003 5:40:56 GMT -5
Henrik, Compared to the rest of india, goa is a state with less poverty and lower rates of unemployment. it is also the one state where alchohol is very cheap due to the low taxes in the state. there are some states where alchohol is even banned. i do not have the statistics but most of the cases that i know of where dometic violence occurs due to alchohol are from generally well to do business people. i don't have the proof, but my guess is that rates of alchohol abuse and examples that i mentioned in my previous post would originate in poorer sections of society. but that would be states other than Goa.
the drugs have come about because of the wealth. and tourism. there are times when i feel that the posters on the other side of this debate are right. making drugs illegal is not the solution to the problem. kill the demand and you've killed the supply. but addiction is such a thing that it is the supply that can start and then sustain the demand.
smokingun
|
|
|
Post by Danny Boy on Feb 18, 2003 9:15:20 GMT -5
SG; Most of the alcohol abuse in your country is from "homemade alcohol" Palm Tree sap is turned into a very potent alcoholic brew and they use industrial alcohol to make other brews that cause 100’s of deaths every year. I think in India many of the problems (not only alcohol) are due to the corruption that is rife throughout the country, the caste system does not help either. It is a bit hard to blame the father for sending his sons/daughters out to work, when it is the employer that prefers to use cheap child labour, rather than pay more to employ their parents.
BTW, what is the title of the film where an Indian girl marries a tree, I am not taking the piss, I thought it was good film.
|
|
|
Post by pabs on Feb 18, 2003 13:09:22 GMT -5
So what's the moral argument for legalizing something that funds terrorism?
|
|