@taoeffect I agree with the sentiment that the gov't shouldn't be prosecuting a "war on drugs," and shouldn't be making it a criminal issue. However, we shouldn't over simplify it either. Some percentage of people that use drugs recreationally, lose control and end up with their brains fried and living on the streets. This reduces the quality of life for everybody else and by the time they reach that stage, they are certainly unable to care for themselves. One solution is to tax the drugs 1/2
@Phil @taoeffect@mstdn.io
> Some percentage of people that use drugs recreationally, lose control and end up with their brains fried and living on the streets.
As a pro freedom dude I do understand if people think this isn't a legitimate reason to have a war on drugs though
I don't have a firm stance, but that lifestyle ends up depressing housing values, makes areas unappealing places to live, and drags down overall quality of life for the citizens, so I generally support banning drugs that usually have this type of endgame in worst-case scenarios.
@midway @taoeffect @realcaseyrollins alcohol doesn't usually end up with this outcome. The vast majority of us that consume it don't end up with fried brains living in the streets. It does illustrate the inevitable complexity of banning substances as a solution. In some places drinking is perfectly legal but public drunkenness is not. So its the behavior not the stuff being addressed, maybe there is something to that?
Alcohol is just my test for folks who want to ban a drug. Most of the reasons people give can be applied to alcohol. We tried banning that and..it didn’t go so well.
I am open to arguments of why X is worse off enough from alcohol that it deserves worse treatment. But it’s a fair test.
@midway @taoeffect @realcaseyrollins yes. I am not really in favor of bans, they have proven to be an ineffective solution. And the enforcement is expensive and still leaves the social problems hanging out there. Seems the money would be better spent addressing those. Some argue that they will grow if all drugs are legal but I'm skeptical that such growth would be that significant.
@midway @taoeffect @realcaseyrollins Yeah, weed isn't a big deal. I also don't think the studies that it leads to mental illness are convincing. There's a coloration but that isn't causation. It's probably more likely that people struggling with mental illness are more likely to use it as an escape. Then it would be natural for weed users to show a higher percentage, than the population at large, as struggling with mental problems. of course, like booze, some lose themselves in it.
@realcaseyrollins @midway @taoeffect No, but it was a post related to weed that started the subject, I think.
@Phil @midway @taoeffect@mstdn.io Ohhhhhh I see. Yeah I think I gently agree with the OP actually. I'm not a fan of weed personally, I have a more favorable view of alcohol in moderation, but weed seems to be the least dangerous drug from what I've seen.
There was an actually interesting video I saw of weed reversing #Parkinsons side effects too. I have no idea if it was legit or not, but it was certainly interesting.