What is Digg?189 Comments
- Aggaman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+84"Yeah. I definitely want a lifelong addiction that I can't kick that makes me sick, lose my hair, lose my teeth, lose my ability to perform sexually, lose my reflexes, grow distant from my family and friends, lose track of reality and consume my bank account."
You've played World of Warcraft too? - treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -17/+67Legalising drugs and education programs (with scientific facts) WILL ACTUALLY REDUCE drug use.
... first year microeconomics will tell you that :)
The prices will reduce, and education will reduce demand. - transfire, on 10/12/2007, -6/+43My Version:
When Drugs Are illegal:
There are drug addicts.
Drugs are exepensive.
Drugs cost lots of tax dollars to fight crime.
Prisons fill up.
When Drugs arre legal:
There are drug addicts.
(But they no longer have to sneak about = less crime)
Drugs are exepensive.
(But at least product is assured = safer)
Drugs cost lots of tax dollars to fight addiction.
(But governemnt collects tax revenues on drugs = cheaper )
Clinics fill up.
(Clinics lead to less crime, not more = cheaper too)
Niether is a perfect world. But at least the later mitigates the bad --the former only makes it worse. - bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -2/+35Its not really THAT bad of quality for a streaming documentary.
I remember the days when Real Player was used for things in the days of dialup, now that looked like a big blocky blob on my screen, this is fine. - wonkavsn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25SebastianMoser
It's bad practice to conclude that natural = good.
You wouldn't go eat those red berries your mom told you to stay away from, would you? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -16/+39drugs are already legal. at least alcohol and tobacco. don't forget about that.
drugs like Ecstasy are bad, in fact, because they are not natural. Canabis in fact is even less harmful than alcohol. It's just that you can make so much politics with fear, why it's still prohibitted to use/smoke/consume. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Hmmm... an hour long... is it worth watching?
- brandonr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27Also, I'm curious how many diggers out there would do any drugs if they were legal.
I gotta say, I'm a firm no. - Misos, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27THC isn't an hallucinogen. If someone smokes too much cannabis they'll just take a nap.
- SmokedL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Yes.
Judging from the first 12 minutes it appears to be reasonably balanced providing arguments and visions of the future from both sides of the fence. Some parts are alarmist, but then again some current drugs are alarming indeed, and I have little faith that large corporations will give more consideration to the well being of their customers than organized crime does now. The difference is that legal corporations can, in theory at least, be made responsible.
I wish people could stop arguing the issue like it's an all or nothing proposition. If people sat down and rationally looked at the properties of various drugs things should be clearer.
As long as people use knee jerk "Don't tell me to look at the scientific evidence, I know what's dangerous and not. I look it up in my gut." reasoning little real progress will be made.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125633.100-drugdanger-league-table-revealed.html - Shorties, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24A lot less drug sales would go to terrorists and Columbia if it was legalized, I personally think drugs should not be illegal (And I don't/have never done any drugs) At least Marijuana, Cigarettes and Alcohol are much worse then Marijuana. They even prescribe Marijuana to long time smokers because THC repairs the lungs. Some processed drugs are a little too dangerous though, and it just isn't safe to legalize them all but there are many that I think should be legalized.
- brandonr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Reason magazine has a very unique way of looking at illegal drugs through economic terms. That is making drugs illegal creates violence, as it's the only way to solve disputes within the black market.
- Misos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Not all drugs send people in to pits of hopelesness and despair. Meth, heroin, crack cocaine, yes, those lead to destruction because they are very potent and can create PHYSICAL dependencies because they cause one's body to stop producing various chemicals needed in order for it to function properly. Extreme addicts to drugs like the ones mentioned above may die from withdrawl if done cold turkey.
Most drugs that people use recreationally like cannabis, magic mushrooms, hashish, etc, do not create physical dependencies and thus they are not actually addictive. Someone who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day for an entire year then suddenly stops will have show much more severe withdrawl syndromes than someone who smoked cannabis daily for an entire year and then quit.
More to the point: if drug prohibition were ended the same thing would happen when alcohol prohibition ended - significantly less violent crime (less people dying for no reason), fewer people in jail (thus less tax dollars being devoted to maintaining prions, possibly, though doubtfully less taxation) ,slight increase in overall consumption of drugs after legalization, then a drop, and normalization. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Drugs should be legal. If you like this video, then try to find Penn & Teller: ***** - The war on drugs.
- krispykremlin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17SebastianMoser: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy
treelovinhippie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality
Wikipedia FTW? - Ruckgesicht, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Take your soma and shut up about it :D
"A gram is always better than a damn"
Good book, that. - JamesWilson, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17"crack is probably the most addictive of the substances that we have around"
I had a friend who told me quitting crack was easier than quitting tobacco... to this day he still smokes cigarettes, but not crack. - adfsj, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15oh I already know, a clockwork orange!
- VPurpmalkV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13The first song in the Club being played is "It's a Fine Day" by Opus III . The second song is "Ready, Steady, Go" by Paul Oakenfold
- esteban, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16You can legalise drugs and not encourage their use. It would be bad policy to legalise MDMA and then encourage people to use it in clubs by selling it in clubs. Make all drugs available only through your local dreary pharmacy, over the counter. I think quickly people would find it pretty uncool to go to the pharmacy like an addict in order to have a good night out. People would rather go to the pharmacy than get it from a dodgy illegal dealer so there is still no market for more convenient outlets.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I think legalizing drugs will bring down crime, and will actually bring down the amount of people who do drugs because a lot of people who do drugs do it because they think it's rebellious...Plus if the government has warnings on the drugs on how to do them and what to do when they do them, the only people responsible are the people taking the drugs...and from there it's survival of the fittest.
- triforcer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12i'm pretty sure alcohol already cover all those bases.
- candiru, on 10/12/2007, -19/+28yes, mr. treelovinhippie. :P
- Misos, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14>I love how most people who want to legalize drugs are drug addicts. It is such a shock.
Legalizing drugs would be a bad idea for many reasons. Some include: Higher death rate, people not performing well at work etc., more violence, family problems. Also, I don't like to idea of spending my money on taxes to "help" drug addicts, they shouldn't have started to begin with. <
If drugs were legal, would you all of a sudden start snorting, smoking, and shooting them?
If you answer yes, you're an idiot and shouldn't be complaining.
If you answer no, why do you think everyone else would? - mike_p, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14I saw it... guarantee you this piece of work by the BBC is at least worth a look. Even if for a short one.
- JamesWilson, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13great soundtrack. :)
- stisaac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8SebastianMoser: There are plenty of natural things that are bad for you. Take heroin or cocaine for example. Just because it was originally derived from a plant source doesn't make it better for you.
In food science, there's an almond flavor than can be produced artificially or naturally. The natural version is extracted from bananas using a mercury compound, while the artificial version is synthesized (quite cheaply in fact). Even though the natural version has traces of mercury, it is worth more in America because food manufacturers can use the words "Natural flavorings" in their ingredient list (natural flavorings must be derived from plants or animals). The FDA policy has created a market for pseudo-healthy ingredients.
The other place the idea of natural wholesome-ness can be seen in the pro-organic con-GM groups. I'm not saying organic foods are a bad thing, but an GM-free organic bag of potato chips a day will still make you fat and increase heart disease risk. - Jalexxi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Actually, cannabis can cause some mild hallucinations if used heavily. Nothing major, like seeing smurfs when there are none, but things like seeing something move back and forth a little when it's actually standing still. They're minor enough to be missed, but they're definitely there.
- dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -8/+16I have used drugs in the past, haven't done so for 15 years but will start to pretty soon... pretty much E to stay awake at parties. It's no big deal here in holland. Quality is better than ever, bigger parties provide objective testing for constituing components in whatever pill for a few euro, and the average pill costs 1-2 euro, the better quality E costs 5.
E has some longterm effects which I aint happy about but I find those tolerable when compared to other existential vicissitudes I suffer in daily life; diminishing qualities of foods in supermarkets, cars exhausts (NO2), veneral diseases, Cancer, G.W. Bush, taxes... it's an acceptable exposure. I am confident at 41 addiction chances are manageable to nil. I know I have suffered depression, which may or may not be unrelated to me taking E before.
In a few years synthetic drugs can be massproduced in a single large room. Distribution using internet will be easy. I am against putting that financial power and infrastructure in the hands of criminals with the morality of the White House staff. I am equally reserved about just dumping it in the lap of big corporations who have a history of being eager to make money as heroin junkies are about scoring. So that will mean, something which is almost impossible in the US but well doable in the EU, Government Controls.
I am not the least bit interested in what the US will do as that country is allready hemorhhaging to death, but I am all for legalisation with strict and unforgiving controls in the EU. Let people who want to take drugs get a "responsibility" waiver. Test those same people every year on kidney/liver function, social adjustment, neurological damage. If they commit a crime (DUI for instance) take the waiver away so they can't buy any and then give them blood tests. Career people wouldn't be able to get a waiver for most types of drugs.
This would still leave some black market dealing in place, but these are the measures we'd apply in case of every enfective disease, which ofcourse addiction and abuse of narcotics is. Chart the potential sources of the disease. Immunize. Test often. Treat victims, don't persecute them. Isolate dangerous cases.
This will ofcourse fall on deaf ears with conservative-inclined people. That can't be helped, they are on their own as is. The rest of the world will be moving on soon. - perepo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Once I took ecstasy it was one of the best nights I have ever spend, and I saved lot of money from taking alcohol drinks.. and avoided the hangover
- scrubadub, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@hjo3
I don't know how anyone can complain about the quality without searching for the source
http://www.mininova.org/tor/7224 - MAdaXe42, on 10/12/2007, -11/+18Not all drugs are like that, though. Nothing wrong with recreational use, so long as it isn't impairing to your life as a whole.
- kicken18, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12the only drugs I ave taken are Weed, fags and Alchole. But that being said, I am a major advocate (spelling) for legalizing some drugs. Ecstasy for example, has a VERY low death rate. I think in England its about 500 people in about 15 years. Most of them are from dehydration (you lose water quicker on E so you need to make sure you drink), the E actually being rat poison or something, or there have been a few cases of children finding drugs and taking them, I remember a young pre-10 year old finding her brothers E and dying.
Millions of people take E every weekend of the year, they don't die. How many people drink alcohol and end up in A&E at the weekend from a fight, falling over, or just too much? I don't know but its a hell of a lot.
My point?...well a lot of people think a drug like E is very bad, you could go to prison for about 12 years as its class A, mostly, police will just confiscate your pills and chuck you out the club if its a busy night, but they could be mean about it and take you in. All this for a drug which is actually pretty harmless. Ok, there are reports of mental side effects after years of use, but alchole has liver and mental side effects after years of use, but that's "ok" right? - obimk1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8FYI, how it is organized in the Netherlands.
First, this is very important a key 'feature' of dutch legalization, a strict distinction is made between hard drugs and soft drugs.
Possession, dealing, preparing etc of hard drugs, is a criminal offense. All hard drugs related activities are criminal and can have sever punishment (at least according to our laws)
Soft drugs is legal, it can be had at so called coffee shops, hard drugs are not allowed in the coffee-shop, a coffee shop that deals hard drugs is considered a criminal act.
The thought behind all of this, is that people who want to use soft drugs are not exposed to hard drugs (your local dealer can only offer soft drugs, no hard drugs) and maybe want to try it. When both are illegal the path that provides you soft drugs can also introduce you to hard drugs.
And what is the result, compared to others?
- we have a low number of drug addicts of 2.5 addicts per 1000, it is a problem, but compared to other countries it is low
- Crimes related to drugs are less
- Hard drugs addicts are relatively a small group, programs that are in place to cure/help are more effective
- The number of deaths related to drugs are less
- The total number of cannabis users is approx. 500.000~800.000 on a population of 16 mil. which is average.
read about it here for history and reference:
http://www.taima.org/nl/nl_uk.htm - TubaTechno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7mike17032 had a very good point:
"There is a reason that alcohol is the most abused drug."
How many alcoholics are in America? How many drunk drivers? - xxBondsxx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8the documentary makes some REALLY good points and shows both sides of the issue. The only problem is that there is too much story inbetween... I'd rather just hear the facts than watch some cheezy detective story
- VPurpmalkV, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I don't do drugs anymore. I still think legalization would solve more problems than prohibition.
- enigmatics, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14Lets put it this way...
Michael Moore would do well to sit down and take some notes while watching this documentary. - esteban, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8More specificaly I think the Opus III track is the remix by Orbital. ;)
- dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11For me quitting cigarettes was easy.
Quitting cocaine was about as easy but I never used much.
I tried crack cocaine, but then again it was very pure. It didnt make me addicted in any meaningful sense.
I used amphetamines on and off for a while and didnt find getting off those a problem. I may have been irritable a while.
The worst comedown for me was antidepressants... Effexor. Vastly worse than anything I've experienced before. Psychosis. It took me 3 days.
But other people have different genes. That implies ofcourse they need medical aid - not victimization, demonization and incarceration. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+15I don't have a problem legalizing drugs, as long as I'm still able to shoot you if you try to steal my property or mug me for drug money or you become violent and dangerous as a result of whatever high you're on at the time.
- JamesWilson, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9This is a pretty good docu, seems to cover all sides of the issue.
- freexe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@DirtyWorker
Alcohol is worse! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5230006.stm
If a few more people stopped drinking and started taking e or smoking pot (or both), then it would be better for society. - dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Do you have any idea on how much money you spend on enforcing the prohibition on drugs?
http://www.answers.com/war+on+drugs
35 billion last year for the US alone. That would be, for some 300 million people, more than 100$ per american, per year. Plus the effects of the war in organized crime, corruption, police repression, maintaining bloated police systems that do almost nothing about the problem, imprisoning millions of people and medical costs for the distribution of largely toxic drugs would add to that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rriIUE8Fcsk&mode=related&search
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0fZExTqQ8
Can you estimate what the possibilities were if we would half the expenditure on persecuting this but instead spend the benefits on employment, education, medical care, wellfare. Most americans would have a standard of living on european levels ! No more trailer parks ! - geronimo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Having lived in Holland, legalization works, unfortunately for all the detractors. I'm sure that all the people who maintain pot must remain illegal just hate Holland. Yeah yeah, say whatever you want, but 16 million people in Holland seem to be doing just fine. They haven't gone into mass reefer madness and they manage to function surprisingly.
Having said that, I don't smoke marijuana, I think it makes you lazy and I hate lazyness. But I fully support your right to do whatever you want as long as it doesn't involve hard drugs. - asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Most people aren't aware of the War on Drugs and how much of a failure it is. Most aren't aware of the truth and the real danger of drugs, or even what some drugs do. These things help spread awareness and make people think, research and/or discuss the subject.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5dont forget that Hezbollah are involved in the drugs trade - bekaa valley in lebanon - hash & heroin trade.
North Korea is also involved - amphetamines.
so the end result of this stupid "war on drugs" , is that the terrorists have a cash cow. - nikkesen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I smoke pot regularly, and I drink a lot of drinks with caffeine.
I can go without pot, but, I need caffeine.
And yet, which one is legal? -
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