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UK drug laws!
Skive
Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
Here in Britain, Cannabis is to become a Class C drug, which means possesion of the drug will not result in arrest. Intent to supply however still remains an arrestable offence.
In my view this is only a start to the changes that need to be made to Britain's current drug laws which seem tottaly outdated to me. Current laws make normally respectable citizens into crimminals, just because they like to consume soft drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy every once in a while.
Should we not have the right to make an educated descision on what substances we can put in our own body? We have the right with alcohol and nicotine which are proven to be very damaging, why do we not have the right with drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy?
I havn't put this into the drugs forum cos not only is it also a political issue the response in the drugs forum will be far more predictable if you get what I mean. <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/biggrin.gif">
Mary Jane in my brain, eases my pain! <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/nogood.gif">
In my view this is only a start to the changes that need to be made to Britain's current drug laws which seem tottaly outdated to me. Current laws make normally respectable citizens into crimminals, just because they like to consume soft drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy every once in a while.
Should we not have the right to make an educated descision on what substances we can put in our own body? We have the right with alcohol and nicotine which are proven to be very damaging, why do we not have the right with drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy?
I havn't put this into the drugs forum cos not only is it also a political issue the response in the drugs forum will be far more predictable if you get what I mean. <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/biggrin.gif">
Mary Jane in my brain, eases my pain! <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/nogood.gif">
Weekender Offender
0
Comments
Ive not used any drugs for a couple of years now, since I left school but I still think they should be legalised. Unfortunately this hasnt gone far enough for my liking. Keeping the supply of cannabis illegal means that the dealers are still going to be criminal scumbags..Fully legalise its use and supply.
If it werent for the fact that drug addicts will turn to crime to fund their habit then I would be all for legalising every kind of drug. If someone wants to kill themselves with heroin or cocaine then thats there choice. Unfortunately those people are liable to rob me in order to pay for their habit.
I really cant stand the people who want to keep such a feeble drug as cannabis illegal when alcohol has killed a million times more people than cannabis and yet their dole it out to anyone.
"Let's roll......" Todd Beamer, American Hero
(or doing anything that you would be stopped from doing if you were drunk etc)
unstonedchild
Deaths per year
Tobacco -120,000
Alcohol -4,235
Canabis -1
Penuts -7
(I know its not deaths per thousand but hey! Who cares?)
I also think that giving doctors the power to prescribe heroin to adicts is a very good idea.
I think there are now several politicians who are coming round to this way of thinking, but the attitude of the general public still hasn't changed much since the "Just Say No" government drug campaigns.
The only death ive ever heard about was a French Foreign Legionaire who managed to commit suicide by eating several ounces of Hashish-but that was years ago.
My personal view is that Britain should adopt a Dutch approach with coffeshops etc.
Im not sure about harder drugs but i think that addiction should become a medical issue rather than a criminal one.
Nope, I strongly believe that if we were to legalise all drugs then abuse should be very strongly punished. Unfortunately personal responsibility doesnt exist in this day and age.
I first started smoking cannabis 9 years ago. From smoking it I never once thought right I need to get a better buzz I must try harder stuff. I have also taken Ecstacy I first tried it this year. I normally smoke cannabis if Im round a mates and we want to chill out whereas I would take ecstacy if I was going clubbing in London. The two give me a totally different buzz.
Anyway what Im trying to say is smoking cannabis did not in anyway make me want to go try other drugs. I think what it boils down to is what the individual wants. They have their own limits. From all the people I know that take drugs none of them went on to harder stuff because of Cannabis some dont even smoke the stuff but do E's etc how do they explain that one? When I first started smoking cannabis I was also offerd Ecstacy but had no interest in taking it. Now that I'm older and go clubbing I want to take it. If I didn't smoke cannabis I would still take it. The only link between the two are that they are both illegal substances.
Sorry! I think I've just been warbling bollocks there but I saw that article and it made me angry. <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/mad.gif">
[This message has been edited by Miss P (edited 25-10-2001).]
Hopefully this is the start of all drug laws in the UK being revised and updated.
On another point, isn't it weird that the news about cannabis was released quite quietly and conveniently while the news is full the Taliban situation?
About the french guy, I thought in order to OD on canabis you had to consume more than your boddy weight?
Legalise the lot but very severe penalties for abuse and crime committed involving/for drugs.
my 2 pence worth.
peaceplonker
Legalising in my opinion means better control of the drug and pricing, contents and possibly even advice.
But i agree with whats been mentioned above abuse and drug related crime should be treated very severely.
its not illegal til u get caught <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/mica/monkbum.gif">
"Ecstasy is another dug which should come down a Class. At present it has a Class A clasification along with drugs such as heroin. In just over 10 years something like 60-70 people have died from using the drug irresponsibly (Dehaydarating, overheating and drinking too much water)."
Come on Skive that's a bit harsh isn't it. Firstly I agree that ecstasy should be lowered to class B. There's no way that is deserves to be ranked with smack and crack. But you can't say that those who have died using E have done so because they have been irresponsible in controlling the effect the drug had on them. I use ecstasy and I know I am taking a risk every time I take a pill. That's where the irresponsible factor comes into play. The simple fact is there's no safe way of popping pills.
In better words what I meant was...
To say that a person died from Ecstasy is never the full story any more than saying that someone died of drink: like alcohol, Ecstasy can be used without any harmful effect. In both cases, death is due to the indirect effects which can be avoided if you are aware of the dangers and look after yourself. The difference is that the dangers of being drunk are well known and recognised, while the dangers resulting from Ecstasy use are far less known. Far from saving young people from harm, much of the so-called drugs education has confused users by trying to scare them, rather than explain the dangers and how to avoid them.
- Nicholas Saunders
What I wrote sounded harsh but it still makes sense.
Rest of this excellent article can be found right here, www.ecstasy.org/info/dangers.html
The media needs to sort out it's views on drugs even more than the government in my opinion!
Mary Jane in my brain, eases my pain! <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/nogood.gif">
Aggreed to a certain extent - but explain that in relation to the number of over 16 who are smokers (possibility of addictions b4 16yo aggreed) or more in relation the the excessive consumption of alcohol - I go out every weekend and get v. durnk, its perfectly leagal but not sfe to do so.
--
concentirc_circles
Sex is the only liquid center at the great Newberry Fruit of friendship. - Jilly Cooper 1937 -
Any drug addict that overdoses is no loss to society.
"Let's roll......" Todd Beamer, American Hero
I have a couple of issues with drugs generally and you've touched on one there Balddog. Any drug addict who overdoses is a loss. These people have aprents and children too - a drug addict isn;t just a bummed out loser with nothing going for them, at least not until they become addicted. And here is the crux of the problem, how do you stop people becoming addicted? These are SERIOUSLY addictive substances - more so than alcohol and nicotine - and we should control their availability. Don't forget that the Brit introduced opium as a means of controlling a populous...
I do think that we should re-evaluate the classification of drugs - but I wouldn't advocate wholesale legalisation.
Besides, don't you think that by legalising drugs you will make their use much more widespread?
"Perhaps my best years are gone, but I wouldn't want them back. Not with the fire in me now." - Samuel Beckett
<IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/mica/parental.gif">
Sure the addicts death will be a loss to that persons family but personally I couldnt care less and their death is no loss to society in general. I can only dream of what life is like without drug related crime.
How do you stop people getting addicted? You cant is the short answer but heavily punishing addicts is one way that may work in some small way. If people are stupid enough to get addicted to a drug that may well kill them then its their fault. I dont know of a single drug that will get you addicted after one use and if used with suffiecent time gap then all drugs can be used rather than abused.
This confuses me sometimes. I dont see whats wrong with more people using cannabis if they want to. Probably 90% of the adult population drinks alcohol today, I wouldnt have a problem with the same percentage smoking cannabis. If fully legalised and the sale sorted out then it would become as alcohol and not dealt out in small bags in seedy back alleys by some crack dealing twat.
Blunketts latest proposal is crap though, it just leave everything in limbo. Its legalish to use but illegal to buy it. This means its still going to be the same criminal dealers who sell the stuff..He needs to go the whole hog and fully legalise the trade in cannabis.
"Let's roll......" Todd Beamer, American Hero
I guess the issue is whether we think drug use is bad, or just drug abuse. I can see parallels with the gun debate.
I can see the argument for allowing people to make up their own minds; that a "free" society must allow its citizens to mke their own mistakes. I can't see how to squre that with "support," though. A "safety net" seems to me to be a renaming of "drconian restriction."
Are we to operate under the assumption that people, are, by and large, too stupid to make a responsible choice for themselves? It's the founding assumption of almost every policial system that has worked (i.e. survived for any length of time) in human history, after all.
Personlly, I don't do drugs, and don't want to. I simply don't like the idea of ceding part of my life to a pill, cigarette or injection. If you want to call caffiene a drug, I'm an occasional tea and cola user, but... <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/wink.gif">
You're damn right we need a rational code of morality and ethics. But not much progress can be made in that direction while we've still got a majority ranting about gods, devils, souls, and absolute morality, and using an ancient book written by ignorant nomads as a guide.
In 1979 there were about 2000 registered heroin addicts in Holland.
Holland then liberalised the drugs laws, there are now 25000 registered heroin addicts.
Would there be that many if the laws had not been changed ?
peacechild
There's not many drugs more addictive than nicotine. In fact if I remeber from a article in the paper a short time ago it's about 25's the addictiveness of heroin. Don't ask me how they calculated that!
The thing is you're not ever gonna stop people from taking addictive substances and getting hooked but not all drugs are like that. Many drugs are classed together when in realality there are large differences between them and different dangers.
There's a lot of drug's that don't need to be looked on so badly and other drugs that should carry harder laws. For instance although I welcome this new about cannabis I also think that ecstasy as a drug does far less damage to society. but in terms of the damage caused to the user ecstasy is worse.
What I mean is that by popping a few pills every now and then I'm classed by a druggie as some and imediatley treated in the same way as a heroin user when we are totally different.
I think that most people on this board have agreed that total legalisation is a bad idea, but serious changes need to be made. Our dug laws need to be revised to bring them into line with the general attidude the public has of narcotics today!
when you pop a few pills do you drive ?
I don't drink and drive and years ago when I had a reefer (that dates me <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/smile.gif"> ) I wouldn't drive either.
I've done all three in the short time I've been driving. I'll stay well away from driving pissed or pilled now but I will still drive if mildly stoned.
There was an experiment done recently where some drivers were tested on their abilities and then tested on a number of different substances. The only drug that didn't hinder the driving skills of any of them was cocaine which actually improved the ability. Caution was given though cos it gives you too much confidence.
Why did you ask?
When heroin was prescribed to addicts in Britain there were something like 9000 registered addicts, now it is illegal there are tens of thousands more - would this have been different if they hadn't changed the law?
[This message has been edited by al (edited 29-10-2001).]
"There was an experiment done recently where some drivers were tested on their abilities and then tested on a number of different substances. The only drug that didn't hinder the driving skills of any of them was cocaine which actually improved the ability."
It's all lies, damn lies and statistics Skive!
so yes, we do put a lot of emphasis on stats, because they are the best thing we have.
as i see it, basing ur opinions on ur beliefs is how this world got so fucked up in the first place, cos u get ignorant wankers walking around saying "i believe the world revolves around the sun, because that's what my holy book says", whether it be the bible or the koran or what have u.
i would rather listen and interpret biased and evaluable (word?) statistics that have been scientifically collected than listen to a piece of shit book written by hallucinating freaks 2000 years ago. sounds like a recipie for disaster - oh wait, we've proof of that.
sorry lovedup, i somewhat disagree with ur statement.
If there's anything more important than my ego around here, i want it caught and shot now
Education is all we have.