This can't be good

[BigSqwert]

Possibly not directly at all, but that doesn't mean I want it legally available and accessible to anyone who wants it. Wood you want your kids to be able to walk down to the local store whenever they pleased and be able to buy an 8-ball, for example?

Kids don't have legal access to vodka either.

[NorthSideSox72]

I see no difference in cocaine or alcohol in terms of impact to society or tendency to become an addiction. One was selected arbitrarily to be legal while the other is demonized.

 

And no, I am not a user.

Completely disagree. Alcohol is not nearly as addictive as cocaine, not the same universe. The great majority of people can have an occasional drink and not be addicted - if the great majority of people did cocaine a few times, we'd have 10's of millions of addicts.

 

And while alcohol does represent danger to society, mostly due to DUI problems, a person with a few drinks in them is not nearly as likely to be violent as someone on cocaine.

 

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I see no difference in cocaine or alcohol in terms of impact to society or tendency to become an addiction. One was selected arbitrarily to be legal while the other is demonized.

 

And no, I am not a user.

 

Cocaine can also kill you pretty much instantaneously and without warning, while alcohol doesnt have that direct capability.

 

I don't think cocaine is any more addictive than alcohol, but it is leaps and bounds more dangerous.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Kids don't have legal access to vodka either.

 

So once they turn 18 (21) you won't care anymore?

[BigSqwert]

Completely disagree. Alcohol is not nearly as addictive as cocaine, not the same universe. The great majority of people can have an occasional drink and not be addicted - if the great majority of people did cocaine a few times, we'd have 10's of millions of addicts.

 

And while alcohol does represent danger to society, mostly due to DUI problems, a person with a few drinks in them is not nearly as likely to be violent as someone on cocaine.

 

Wow. Where do you get your info from? The 700 Club? (I kid because I care)

 

But seriously....violence? I've known quite a few people in my life time that dabbled in cocaine and I'd categorize a whole 0% of them as violent, even when they were high.

 

It only takes 2 stiff drinks to kill someone's family driving home from church.

[NorthSideSox72]

Cocaine can also kill you pretty much instantaneously and without warning, while alcohol doesnt have that direct capability.

 

I don't think cocaine is any more addictive than alcohol, but it is leaps and bounds more dangerous.

Not sure how you think that's possible. 75% of this country drinks at least occasionally - what % are alcoholics? 1% maybe? Cocaine, after 2-3 uses, is something like 30% addictive. They are on different levels for addiction.

 

[BigSqwert]

So once they turn 18 (21) you won't care anymore?

 

I'm not sure I have a definitive answer to that. I dunno, maybe 25?

 

It's a fact of life....there are a large number of people in the world that want to alter their minds and will no matter what laws are in place.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Completely disagree. Alcohol is not nearly as addictive as cocaine, not the same universe. The great majority of people can have an occasional drink and not be addicted - if the great majority of people did cocaine a few times, we'd have 10's of millions of addicts.

 

And while alcohol does represent danger to society, mostly due to DUI problems, a person with a few drinks in them is not nearly as likely to be violent as someone on cocaine.

 

I'm not very sure where you're getting the violence thing from. I don't actually think that's true. The real danger is when you mix the two. Cocaine has a false sobering quality to a drunk person that can create a dangerous situation.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Not sure how you think that's possible. 75% of this country drinks at least occasionally - what % are alcoholics? 1% maybe? Cocaine, after 2-3 uses, is something like 30% addictive. They are on different levels for addiction.

 

I'm mostly on your side of the debate, but I know for a fact there is no way that is even close to true and we'll just leave it at that.

[BigSqwert]

Portugal became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

 

At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal's drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment — so why not give drug addicts health services instead? Under Portugal's new regime, people found guilty of possessing small amounts of drugs are sent to a panel consisting of a psychologist, social worker and legal adviser for appropriate treatment (which may be refused without criminal punishment), instead of jail.

 

The question is, does the new policy work? At the time, critics in the poor, socially conservative and largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to "drug tourists" and exacerbate Portugal's drug problem; the country had some of the highest levels of hard-drug use in Europe. But the recently released results of a report commissioned by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, suggest otherwise.

 

The paper, published by Cato in April, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.

 

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,...l#ixzz0jh2iOWKi

 

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm mostly on your side of the debate, but I know for a fact there is no way that is even close to true and we'll just leave it at that.

I'll see if I can find the numbers, I've seen that one before. And the violence thing is quite real, I've seen it. Yes, mixing drugs or alcohol and drugs is of course even worse.

 

[Balta1701]

while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.

Couldn't that mean more people were using?

[iamshack]

Not sure how you think that's possible. 75% of this country drinks at least occasionally - what % are alcoholics? 1% maybe? Cocaine, after 2-3 uses, is something like 30% addictive. They are on different levels for addiction.

1%?

Maybe officially (which I still doubt), but you're not counting the massive number of undiagnosed alcoholics there are walking amongst us.

[NorthSideSox72]

1%?

Maybe officially (which I still doubt), but you're not counting the massive number of undiagnosed alcoholics there are walking amongst us.

Massive number? You think more than 1 in 100 of random people are alcoholics? I honestly don't know the exact number on that piece, but I'd be surprised if it was higher than 1%.

 

[iamshack]

Massive number? You think more than 1 in 100 of random people are alcoholics? I honestly don't know the exact number on that piece, but I'd be surprised if it was higher than 1%.

Have you ever looked at what the actual symptoms are of being an alcoholic? If you go by those symptoms and warning signs, there is a MUCH larger percentage of drinkers that can be classified as an alcoholic.

Alcohol quiz

 

According to the Office of Health Care Programs, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, developers of this screening quiz, if you answered as few as 3 of these questions with a Yes it is a definite sign that your drinking patterns are harmful and considered alcohol dependent or alcoholic.

Edited March 30, 2010 by iamshack

[Balta1701]

I could use a drink.

[BigSqwert]

Interesting op-ed from Sting of all people.