Marijuana

[squall]

I never was against legalizing pot. Pot is a soft drug. I'm talking of making sure hard drugs remain illegal. I've done pot before, most people have. I don't see a reason why it shouldn't be legal. It has medicinal uses and it is relatively safe unless laced with pcp or other shit.

Bah....abstinence education?! You mean sex ed? Abstinence education was not prevalent in my area or school...at least when I was growing up. I'm not exactly a model Christian either, very far from it. There are no laws regulating it, so I doubt it is successful. That and the fact that sex is a part of human nature, it's going to happen to 99 percent of people eventually. I really have no opinion on abstinence movements. Making people aware of stds is a good thing, and I know that I wouldn't want my preteen daughter(if I had one) to have sex until she's at least 16 with protection, and preferably 18...still with protection.

[Primer]

If drugs were to be legalized, they could be regulated and heavily taxed.

Yes, there will always be those who abuse substances, regardless of their legality. Bring back the opium dens, and make regular tours a requirement for public schools so that the kids can see for themselves what can happen.

People keep telling themselves, "Oh, that can't/won't happen to me." They need to SEE that yes, it can/will happen to anybody.

If I had been forced to interact up close with smokers dying of lung, throat, and other cancers, and other direct cause ailments, I probably would never have started smoking.

My father is an alcoholic, so I did have up close and personal experience with drinking. Today, while I am not a tee-totaler, I drink very rarely.

Most kids are extremely smart and self-preserving. If they experience the devastating consequences, they tend to abstain.

[squall]

Cocaine is not useful enough to be legalized, there are drugs today that are better and safer that do the same thing. To legalize a former illegal drug, I believe that the drugs should meet certain criteria regarding its safety and abuse potential. Opium and cocaine will never be completely safe, and synthetic street drugs have no use whatsoever other than getting people high, so cross them off. Marijuana is not physically addictive and kills no one.

[linguist]

and synthetic street drugs have no use whatsoever other than getting people high, so cross them off.

not strictly true. some of the synthetic street drugs are actually in use medically (ketamine and dextromethorphan, for example), and mdma (ecstasy) has been studied for use in treating post traumatic stress disorder, with some promising results.

[Rubystars]

Forced March, which was a medicine containing caffeine and cocaine, no longer for sale, was used to help explore Antarctica. I wonder if it might be possible to use something like it in specific applications, not in an abusive way, but to help with long, strenuous tasks for certain people in certain jobs.

[AFPheonix]

Interestingly enough, opium tincture IS a legal drug. It's a class II narcotic, typically used to stop severe diarrhea.

Cool, huh?

[NightAngel]

No, I didn't read the whole thread...
A friend of mine wrote a very persuasive argument FOR the legalization of Marijuana using me as an example.

When I was pregnant with my second child I had disabling Migranes. Migranes so bad that I would go into spasms and have to be taken to the ER. Back then there really weren't all these fantastical Migrane meds- so first they'd always give me a Narcotic- which NEVER worked- but they always gave it to me even though they were told it never worked. Then they would give me a Barbituate.

Sometimes I'd be high for 48-72 hours after a visit. Remember- I was pregnant.

Anyhoo~ her argument was that if Marijuana was legal I could have partaken in a "natural" remedy as opposed to chemicals. A remedy that probably would have been much easier, in all honesty, on me and the baby.

Oh, she received an A+ on her paper. Of course, she was much more articulate than I am here.

Personally, I would only agree to the legalization of Marijuana for medical purposes.

[Rubystars]

I know that regular cigarette smoke can be harmful to a developing baby. Couldn't marijuana be a teratogen? Just because something's natural doesn't mean it's safe!

[AFPheonix]

I'm sure smoking it would be harmful for the fetus, perhaps even more so than cigarettes, because joints are not filtered at all.

However, she might have been a candidate for Marinol, which is a legal medication, made pretty much of the active ingredients of marijuana.
We don't dispense it all that often, though. It's expensive and other anti-nausea meds like zofran, formulated for chemo patients, work very well.

[Rubystars]

It would be horrible for a baby to end up with a deformity or a sickness because their mother wanted something 'natural' to ease away pain. I don't see how that kid got an A without at least devoting some paragraph space to that aspect of it.

Is Zofran non-teratogenic? Is it safe in the first trimester too?

[AFPheonix]

Zofran is not teratogenic, and has been prescribed for women through all 3 trimesters if needed, but it is a pregnancy class B drug, simply because they don't know the long term effects on it.
It's primary uses are for chemo and post-op patients.

It so far is considered safer for the unborn than phenergan, although it's a lot more expensive.

[Rubystars]

.

It's good to know there are some things that can be used relatively safely.

[rahmota]

As to forced march the USAF is trying to find a stimulant that is safe for aircrews to use on the extra lojng missions like has become common in the gulf war and afghanistan support missions.

I know some of the street drugs like meth are just whatever people can find in their medicine/chemical cabinets and mix together. That is why governmental control and regulation would be a good thing in this instance. Making sure that the pot or cocaine or whatever is the stuff it is supposed to be. Making pot cigs available from liscenced dealers with the whole age requirements tobacco has. Then taking those tax monies and dumping them in to education and prevention and other programs for those people who are not going to do drugs.

Because as was pointed out there are always going to be people who will do something that is bad for them even if you stand in their face and scream with a megaphone while holding a picture of a diseased lung. As long as they are consenting adults and capable of making the decision for themselves then that is their right to abuse their own body.

[Rubystars]

.

The real concern comes in with drugs that can cause someone to become violent or hurt other people. Maybe there ought to be places set up with designated 'trip sitters' for those who wish to endulge in those kinds of drugs, so that at least they would be legal, but in a controlled environment where the person could be kept from driving, etc. while high.

There might even be a tv show based around it where people could see how stupidly people behave in those types of facilities so that it wouldn't look so 'cool' anymore.

When the person's trip has ended, they would be allowed to leave, and would have to sign a consent and legal release form beforehand to go in.

The main problem I see with this idea is that some drugs can make people forget where they are, make them lose time, etc. and while in that state, they're vulnerable to being raped/abused, etc. so the sitters would also need to be monitored closely.

[Primer]

However, she might have been a candidate for Marinol, which is a legal medication,

Thalidomide was legal, also...

Scientists are between a rock and a hard place when determining the efficacy and harmlessness of drugs for pregnant women. You can do only so much research with animals, but they are not humans, and drugs will always have some different effects on humans than on other animals.

Personally, I cannot see that marijuana is any less harmful than alcohol, and alcohol is legal and widely accepted. Why not legalize, regulate, and tax the hell out of marijuana?