Seems like an opportunity for drug-user insurance.

Ka-ching.

But alcohol can get you fucked up and it's legal. You can't drive on alcohol. You can't very effectively learn while drunk. But it's legal.

So, why should cocaine be illegal if alcohol is legal? "It can get you fucked up" isn't an answer. I can see making the operation of heavy machinery illegal under the influence, as it is with alcohol already, but I don't see how it's the government's job to concern itself with whether or not you're going to class.

It's ok, you're a Goonie and Goonies always make mistakes......just, don't make any more...

Or something, I don't know what I'm saying, I could very well be wasted. Or maybe I'm just sleepy. Always get those two mixed up.

Last edited by Jimmy B (2010-09-22 00:52:08)

Some substances need to be controlled because they are severely addictive, because addiction takes away the free will that allows you to exercise good judgment and remain a responsible and productive member of society. It's one thing to be stoned for a couple of hours in a location of your choosing; it's something else to be sober but desperate for a fix and willing to do anything.

Anything that is not especially addictive—including marijuana and alcohol—should be legal. Anything that is highly addictive—including Oxycontin, cocaine, and heroin—should be illegal.

I'm flexible about nicotine on principle because hardly anybody ever went in for prostitution or armed robbery to get cigarettes, but as a product you sell to consumers that takes away their ability to choose not consume it, it's a comically bad product that amounts to purposeful fraud.

Those are good terms to frame it, ones I hadn't considered before.

Of course, under those terms the argument to make nicotine flatly illegal becomes pretty strong. It always amazes me how much tradition trumps internal consistency.

Yeah, it all depends on where exactly you draw the line on the definition, much as with debates about taxes and the definitions of "poor" and "rich."

Yeah, better to just tax it into oblivion at a thousand dollars a pack.

And we all remember how the Civil War turned out for the redcoats.

Whoah whoah whoah, Zarban.  Alcohol isn't especially addictive?  I think not, sir.  Even physically- when I turned 21 I went on a several week bender of daily inebriation just for shits and retarded giggles.  When I decided one day "meh, that's enough booze for a while" I started getting shaky and craving it, and actually had to wean myself off the sauce like trying to wean myself off of cigarettes.  Shit is scary.

And then there's the issue that there's some crazy fucking drugs that aren't especially addictive.  PCP is addictive, but not very.  Most hallucinogens aren't, which is fine when we're talking about a tab or two of acid, some shrooms, or whatever.  But do enough of any of them and the line between "tripping" and "flat out psychotic insane" is pretty thin.

If cali goes ahead and legalizes, it'll be a step in the right direction, I think. I'm not even remotely close to CA, nor do I live in a place that is alright with weed, but that's never stopped anyone.

It IS insane how alcohol is legal and cannabis not. I mean, this will will sound repeating, but, pot smokers don't go out fighting people, hurling at private/public properties, peeing in your back-alley, singing out loud till late at night orfuck as many as they can in one night for sport.
Pot smokers sit mostly in their home, locking their door, getting high, laughing and eating a lot. I've never seen how this is a problem.

Fun fact(Or at least this is what I've heard): Pot can't kill you unless you *REALLY* want it to. Alcohol can kill you if you'reunlucky, and/or just a bit too hard on it.

I say most of this based on personal experience. I've never, or know anyone who's died from neither, nor been in the hospital, but I've had my fair share of both substances over the years. When I drink, I can be quite the asshole(but I don't Teague it and fall asleep), but when I'm high/stoned, I watch films, play games and eat. And have a laugh.

Sure, cannabis is addictive, but not much more so than nicotine. Alcohol is also addictive, but unless your will power is thru the floor, you'll do just fine.

Pot can't kill you unless you make a giant pile of it, soak it in gasoline, set it on fire, and jump on in.  In thousands of years of use, there has not been even one single death from cannabis overdose.  Not one.  You can die from too much caffeine, or too much aspirin, or too much water, but you can't die from too much weed, period.  The smoke has been shown to not even cause lung cancer even when consumed with the same frequency of cigarettes- which sounds ridiculous, I know, but there's evidence towards it.

No offense, but this is all fairly innaccurate.  For one, cannabis is not physically addictive at all and as far as psychological addiction it's comparable to someone really, really liking jelly beans.  Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs on the planet, it's considerably more addictive than most "hard" drugs.  And alcoholism is a serious, widespread problem that has plagued humanity for thousands of years... I don't know that chalking it all up to "you have zero willpower" is fair.