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What Are Our Reasons That We Choose Not To Use Illegal Drugs

Why have you decided not to use illegal drugs?

  • Because I hear horror stories about addiction to them

    Votes: 12 23.5%
  • Because I know people personally who have suffered from addiction.

    Votes: 17 33.3%
  • Because I am perfectly happy and serene without them (If it ain't broke...)

    Votes: 26 51.0%
  • Because the consequences of their being illegal make life miserable for addicts

    Votes: 8 15.7%
  • Simply because they are illegal

    Votes: 10 19.6%
  • Other (specify in the thread if you would like)

    Votes: 19 37.3%

  • Total voters
    51
Okay... Again, you can find lists of worse adverse side effects than that for legal substances.

Cigarettes have worse side effects than cocaine. Alcohol is just about as bad as anything except amphetamines, crack and heroin.
 
We were talking about Alcohol and Marijuana. (read up)

Alcohol is far worse, it makes affect the nerve system and damages the brain just like any other similar poisons. You can die from alcohol, you cannot die from Marijuana.. The effects of Marijuana is oil, and the most likely bad effect is that it effects the fatty cells and possibly mutate(if frequent smoker) them since they stay there for quite awhile.
Alcohol is worse for every organ than Marijuana.
 
Cigarettes have worse side effects than cocaine.

:shock:

Cigaretts don't make you steal, lie, commit assults etc.

Cocaine may have less physical side effects (and even that is debatable) but it definitely has side affects socially that are far far worse.

Alcohol is just about as bad as anything except amphetamines, crack and heroin.

:shock::shock::shock:

Ummmm have you ever seen a crack baby? Or what cocaine does to an neighborhood?
 
:shock:

Cigaretts don't make you steal, lie, commit assults etc.

Cocaine may have less physical side effects (and even that is debatable) but it definitely has side affects socially that are far far worse.

This is because cocaine is illegal and expensive, no other reason.
Cigs also have some serious social side effects.

:shock::shock::shock:

Ummmm have you ever seen a crack baby? Or what cocaine does to an neighborhood?

Yes, thats why I said alcohol is worse than anything, EXCEPT crack, amphetamines and heroin.
 
Are you suggesting drug inspired crime will go away if we legalized cocaine?

How cheap are cigarettes and alcohol as a result? No need to steal if they are easily affordable.
The prohibition on alcohol provides some further insight into this.
 
Are you suggesting drug inspired crime will go away if we legalized cocaine?

Yes. Much like prostitution where violence can only occur because the act is illegal. If a prostitute is raped, she cannot go to the police seeking aid. Same goes for drugs: There would be no drug smuggling or "drug deals gone wrong" if they were legal.
 
This is because cocaine is illegal and expensive, no other reason.
Cigs also have some serious social side effects.

No. It is NOT expensive. It is the fact they spend every penny they have to get it. HUGE difference.

With crack you can end up one of two ways in jail or dead in a very short amount of time. The same cannot be said for cigarettes.

The biggest social side effect of cigarettes is bad breath and second hand smoke. Not even close.

Yes, thats why I said alcohol is worse than anything, EXCEPT crack, amphetamines and heroin.

I sort of agree here. I don't agree fully because so many designer drugs like acid, Ecstasy etc was left off the list.

In the end I think drugs should not be illegal anyway for adults. I own my body and don't need the government to tell me what I can or cannot put in my body.

For the record; I don't use drugs.
 
So, tell me again what point you are making -- I am failing to see your argument. It's been a long day at work, take it easy on me. ;)

He knows you are right, and is as best as he can trying to avoid admitting that. :roll:
 
Are you suggesting drug inspired crime will go away if we legalized cocaine?

Cocaine itself doesn't make people commit those crimes described (assault and stealing) or make them lie. The inability to get cocaine easily does. If some smokers were dying for a nicotine fix, they'd do the same stuff.

For the most part, cocaine just makes people talk too damned much and grind their teeth.
 
Plus, we would have a lot less dead cops. There is no reason for someone transporting a truckload of cocaine/marijuana/LSD to shoot a cop if what he is doing is a legal activity. So, we have less dead police officers and virtually no drug-related crimes.
 
No. It is NOT expensive. It is the fact they spend every penny they have to get it. HUGE difference.

With crack you can end up one of two ways in jail or dead in a very short amount of time. The same cannot be said for cigarettes.

The biggest social side effect of cigarettes is bad breath and second hand smoke. Not even close.

There are many other bad effects of cigarettes, its one of the biggest drains of all on the healthcare system and budgets for example.
I was not talking about crack btw, but cocaine powder. Crack is something entirely different, difference of cocaine and crack is like the difference between cocaine leaves and cocaine powder.


I sort of agree here. I don't agree fully because so many designer drugs like acid, Ecstasy etc was left off the list.

In the end I think drugs should not be illegal anyway for adults. I own my body and don't need the government to tell me what I can or cannot put in my body.

For the record; I don't use drugs.

Ecstasy is amphetamines..

Forgot acid yes, put it on the same list as worse than alcohol.


I dont use drugs either.. I have tried a few, mostly Marijuana derivatives.

I used to smoke and drink, but dont do that anymore. I can witness the bad effects of cigarettes. I smoked for 6 years, it took me 3 years of hard exercise and healthy diet to catch up to the health I should have been in if I never smoked, and still I am probably a bit behind. So I guess it will take around 5 years to delete the effects of cigarettes.
Its one of the worst ways to deteriorate the body that exists today, especially since you use it so frequently unlike some other drugs.

So as of now and for a few years I do not take drugs, do not drink and do not smoke. Exercise and healthy diet is a damn good drug to me, never tasted anything better :)
 
Ummmm have you ever seen a crack baby?

Ummmmm, have you ever seen a baby that suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome or a baby that suffers from fatally low birth weights because of cigarettes? All drugs have negative side-effects. That you cannot appreciate this fact merely demonstrates your narrow-mindedness and emotional bias against pragmatic solutions.

Or what cocaine does to an neighborhood?

Think rationally. Why do you think crack (not regular cocaine) ravages communities? Because criminalizing its sale creates an unregulated black market and discourages addicts from seeking help. Do you honestly think it serves a relevant purpose to jail non-violent drug users? Can you appreciate what a jail term does to a person with a propensity to abuse drugs? What do you think criminalizing drugs actually accomplishes besides providing you with some arbitrary moral satisfaction?
 
Cocaine itself doesn't make people commit those crimes described (assault and stealing) or make them lie. The inability to get cocaine easily does. If some smokers were dying for a nicotine fix, they'd do the same stuff.

For the most part, cocaine just makes people talk too damned much and grind their teeth.

Perhaps I'm misinformed, but everything I have read suggests your comparison of nicotine addiction to cocaine addiction is inaccurate. Someone smoking 20 years can kick the habit while a cocaine user of 20 years will be significantly scarred from their long-term experience.
 
Cocaine itself doesn't make people commit those crimes described (assault and stealing) or make them lie. The inability to get cocaine easily does. If some smokers were dying for a nicotine fix, they'd do the same stuff.

I disagree. People on cocaine are chasing a high. People using nicotine have a completely different type of addiction. People who quit cigarettes do not go into withdrawals that can kill them.

For the most part, cocaine just makes people talk too damned much and grind their teeth.

I guess you have never seen someone pull a knife on someone else because they would not give back a crack pipe? Never seen that happen with a cigarette, ever.
 
Ummmmm, have you ever seen a baby that suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome or a baby that suffers from fatally low birth weights because of cigarettes? All drugs have negative side-effects. That you cannot appreciate this fact merely demonstrates your narrow-mindedness and emotional bias against pragmatic solutions.



Think rationally. Why do you think crack (not regular cocaine) ravages communities? Because criminalizing its sale creates an unregulated black market and discourages addicts from seeking help. Do you honestly think it serves a relevant purpose to jail non-violent drug users? Can you appreciate what a jail term does to a person with a propensity to abuse drugs? What do you think criminalizing drugs actually accomplishes besides providing you with some arbitrary moral satisfaction?

I agree with what you are saying here, but crack is actually one if the worst drugs, I would rank it second to heroin as a deteriorating and destroying drug, third I would rank methamphetamine. Those are drugs that actually ruins a community, because of their highly addictive effects and its deteriorating effect on the body and mind. Making them legal should be done in a process where you rather medicate these addicts with these drugs like they do in the Netherlands(heroin). Many of the worst effects of these drugs come because its illegal. What I find strange is that crack and meth is almost non-existent in Europe, whereas heroine is the worst problem, and clearly the worst problem.. A second place would go to a drug far longer down on the damage chain like for perhaps ecstasy or cocaine.
 
The biggest social side effect of cigarettes is bad breath and second hand smoke. Not even close.

You forgot cancer and heart disease and blood clots and high blood pressure and emphysema and birth defects, just to name a few.
 
Perhaps I'm misinformed, but everything I have read suggests your comparison of nicotine addiction to cocaine addiction is inaccurate. Someone smoking 20 years can kick the habit while a cocaine user of 20 years will be significantly scarred from their long-term experience.

Cocaine addicts can also kick the habit. Not many smokers quit btw. Its frequently described as perhaps the very most addictive drug, beating heroine even. As a percentage of total users its very unlikely that a higher percentage of tobacco addicts kick their habits as for example cocaine and heroine. Cocaine and heroine compared with tobacco is a tiny health problem overall with far less addicts.

I dont know any smokers of 20+ years that have totally kicked their habits. I know many that have tried.
 
I disagree. People on cocaine are chasing a high. People using nicotine have a completely different type of addiction. People who quit cigarettes do not go into withdrawals that can kill them.



I guess you have never seen someone pull a knife on someone else because they would not give back a crack pipe? Never seen that happen with a cigarette, ever.

I think we all agree that its powder cocaine we are talking about, NOT crack cocaine which you seem to be talking about. Two completely different things.
I think everyone agrees that crack is worse than just about anything, including cigarettes, while its far more doubtful with powder cocaine.
 
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Lets see

-impairment of judgment
-money sink
-short term memory problems
-addictive

How do any of these effects benefit society. It has been my experience that people who smoke marijuana are usually lazy, lack a job (collect unemployment), lack motivation, and lack respect for law.

You may enjoy it personally, but people who care about you pick up the slack and are forced to watch you drag yourself down.

Some of that applies to alcohol and tobacco too, should they be illegal?

As for me. The illegal drugs I've chosen not to do I've done so because they effects they have. The illegal drugs I've chosen to do I've do so because of limited negative consequence, ease of proper regulation (i.e. not using too much), and they're fun.
 
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Cocaine addicts can also kick the habit. Not many smokers quit btw. Its frequently described as perhaps the very most addictive drug, beating heroine even. As a percentage of total users its very unlikely that a higher percentage of tobacco addicts kick their habits as for example cocaine and heroine. Cocaine and heroine compared with tobacco is a tiny health problem overall with far less addicts.

I dont know any smokers of 20+ years that have totally kicked their habits. I know many that have tried.

My uncle kicked smoking after 60 years. Comparing numbers does little for comparison purposes since the effects are not even close to being the same.

The fact is smoking and alcohol are already ingrained in society and are far less addicting than cocaine. As I see it Marijuana is a less clear case which could result in interesting debate, Cocaine is open and shut.
 
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