On 16 Jun 2011 at 10:05am Clifford wrote:
After the ill-informed hysteria of some posters on here the other day about drugs, you may be interested in this:
'Brighton Pavilion Green MP Caroline Lucas is due to call for an end to the war on drugs in a speech to health professionals this evening.
'She believes that decriminalising personal drug use would be the best way to tackle Brightonâ??s reputation as the drug death capital of Britain...
'And she said that the senior Sussex Police officer in Brighton and Hove, Chief Superintendent Graham Bartlett, supported her demand for the decriminalisation of personal drug use.'
xxx.brightonandhovenews.org/2011/06/brighton-mp-calls-for-drug-use-to-be-decriminalised/
On 16 Jun 2011 at 11:04am MC wrote:
She is brave. I imagine she'll get a lot of flack for that. No doubt the tabloids will use it as an excuse to peddle their popular dumb-inducing self-righteousness.
It took 4 attempts before this posted successfully.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 11:45am Clifford wrote:
I'm sure you're right MC - but what I thought was a positive step was Chief Superintendent Bartlett supporting her.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 12:21pm Mr Forks wrote:
So the taking of Heroin would be fine then?! Dont you just love the Green Party?!!!
On 16 Jun 2011 at 12:49pm Voice of Reason wrote:
I'm sure all these pro drug people would be more than happy using the services of everyone from plumbers to doctors knowing they had a smack habit.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 1:06pm Taff wrote:
Does this really have anything to do with drugs really or is it all about Brightons reputation? 2 different agendas I think.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 1:24pm MC wrote:
People who support the legalisation of drugs are not pro-drugs. If you think this you understand nothing about the issue. You should at least attempt to understand it before diving in with fatuous and uniformed comments.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 1:28pm Mr Forks wrote:
I think Brightons reputation is sinking fast!
On 16 Jun 2011 at 2:50pm Hedley Lamarr wrote:
Has Brighton ever had a good reputation - for anything? It has been a synonym for baseness for a couple of hundred years. I don't agree that you should legalise any hard drug. And please don't compare drugs with alcohol. 99% of alcohol users aren't addicts and they could all stop drinking if they wanted to (and I know it has its own social problems before you start). Most hard drug users are addicts - and that's the problem. Anyone who advocates legalising drugs should ask themselves - "would I be happy for my son/daughter to be addicted to hard drugs even if they are legal". If your answer is yes then you have my condolences.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 4:11pm Teachers Pet wrote:
Perhaps all this liberalisation is the beginning of Armageddon?
The world started with nudists (Adam & Eve), perhaps it will end with everyone drugged up to their eyeballs. 
On 16 Jun 2011 at 4:20pm bastian wrote:
it isn't about legalising use,it is about decriminalising small amounts in order to crack down on dealers with large quantities.Part of me agrees and part of me doesn't based on the sensible stuff that we talked about on the original thread.If people who are, for whatever reason,on smack had a safe place to go to take it and clean needles then their use could be monotered and their mental health assessed at the same time which would give them a chance to kick it when they felt supported enough to go for a clean life.I's easy to run off the rails but it's like climbing a mountain to get back on,it cannot be done without help from people around them,not that this government is interested in that kind of thing,so decriminalising it will just make it easier for people to use stuff,it should cut crime but it won't because it will still be illegal to supply
On 16 Jun 2011 at 4:49pm Clifford wrote:
Bastian - Chief Superintendent Graham Bartlett obviously shares your view. I think I respect his experience over that of some of the posters on here.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 5:42pm T.H.A.D wrote:
well I'm all for it rather than wasting more millions on The War Against Drugs which is doing about as much as a junkie smacked up on a fresh spoonful
On 16 Jun 2011 at 8:43pm Deelite wrote:
Hedley Lammar said:
"Anyone who advocates legalising drugs should ask themselves - "would I be happy for my son/daughter to be addicted to hard drugs even if they are legal".
Pardon? I don't want my son or daughter to be addicted to hard drugs. Does anyone? What a bizarre thing to say.
Many of the reasons for the decriminalization of (some) drugs is that it will reduce their usage. Experience in Holland has shown that drug usage did not increase... and that drug associated problems were drastically reduced.
A much more damaging problem that drugs could ever be is that many people in this country now exhibit a total lack of any imagination. Mix this with inbuilt and overbearing reactionary tendencies, bigotry and lack of a decent education leading to an inability to critically analyse a fly and increasingly we have your typical UK citizen. The Sun and Daily Mail reader who trot out their self importantly held beliefs derived from nothing more than a trash newspaper and a night at the pub. So much worse than drugs could ever be.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 9:23pm A worried person wrote:
Why DOES anyone want to invade their bodies with toxins?Is it those with low self esteem,the uneducated,tell me because I do not understand it. I lived through the sixties,and can honestly say I was never curious, or interested. Is it the lack of a loving,caring,background? Tell me, I really am interested to know what makes someone want to indulge.
On 16 Jun 2011 at 9:38pm the old mayor wrote:
Isnt this what happened to alcohol in the 19thc. All the illegal gin houses etc. The populate were all completely pissed (life was so bad) The Government ended up legalising it and then taxing it and creating huge distilleries like Booths, Tanquerays and Gordons etc. Creating new wealth and again control again.
And as our Government is now demonising alcohol,(having almost seen off smoking) the goalposts are being moved again. So in the end it really is up to the indiivdual to choose their OWN poision !!
On 17 Jun 2011 at 8:07am Clifford wrote:
'A worried person': have you ever tasted alcohol? If you have, you know the answer. Nothing to do with low self esteem, lack of education, lack of parental love or any of the other usual psychobabble put-downs. If you haven't, then you're so unusual it would be impossible to explain to you.
On 17 Jun 2011 at 10:36am A worried person wrote:
Clifford hallo.My apologies. I did not mean my comments to come across as put downs. I really am curious. Yes, I drink alcohol and know what is does to me and how I have to suffer if I over indulge. So,knowing this I make the choice of NOT over doing it. Same could be said for those taking drugs.We all know the dangers,there is enough shown to us. I suppose what I am saying is,with this knowledge WHY does someone do it in the first place?
On 17 Jun 2011 at 11:28am Deelite wrote:
You cannot believe how supremely wonderful music sounds when you've smoked a bit of (normal) dope. And no hangover, no aggression, no addiction, no real downside for casual use.
E. Dancing all night to the most amazing sounding music with people you love, no fear, no neurosis, no anger... just pure ecstasy. Downside for casual use: legs hurt from too much dancing, tiredness due to being up all night, realisation that people could feel a bit like that all the time if they were not so afraid of each other.
Anti-addictive as affects reduce to nothing if taken regularly.
Acid. Where do you start. Doors of perception. All is one/interconnected, Taking the lid off the way things are (why are they like this?). Spring clean for the mind.
Again anti-addictive as fails to work if taken regularly.
Downside: people can have bad trips which are extremely frightening. Can lead to madness for less than stable people.
There's three for you. I can't recommend any of the others I've tried. I can't recommend alcohol or cigarettes either. Both harmful and addictive. If you don't think they are try attending an Alcohol Anonymous meeting, visiting a night shelter for the homeless or a cancer hospital ward or talking to a patient with emphysema.
Open your mind. :-)
On 17 Jun 2011 at 12:12pm Clifford wrote:
Deelite - well put.
On 17 Jun 2011 at 1:08pm captain sensible wrote:
I too enjoyed all of these drugs, and more, in my long lost youth. However looking back now I can count rather too many casualities. Often - it's true - from overdoses and maybe this problem would be lessened with a less hysterical approach to policing drugs. Anyway - of my old crowd:
One death at 22 - general overuse of everything.
Two deaths of under 25 year old - overdoses of heroin
One severely mentally and physically disabled young man of around 25 - not sure of exact culprit - but he took anything going.
Girl with hepititis C at 20
Others who just disappeared. 'Acid casualties' we used to call them.
And more recently - Friend's son with cannabis psychosis at 16
I know that there were more and I'm sorry for forgetting them - but my memory is not good...
Alchohol is just about as bad though - however you have more chance of knowing what you are getting and it tends to take a bit longer.
However people will always want to get off their heads - can't stop it so better to regulate it - I think.
It's naive to say that drugs are all lovely though - they can be but...
On 17 Jun 2011 at 6:16pm Mercian wrote:
Indeed, but drug use should be treated as a health problem (and addiction an 'illness') rather than a crime. (Dealing should still be a crime though!)
On 17 Jun 2011 at 10:56pm AYATOLLAH HOGMANNY wrote:
Drug addiction is not an illness, you cannot catch it like a virus, you dont inherit it, its a lifestyle choice!!!!!
On 18 Jun 2011 at 12:12am Pardon wrote:
Just like taking up smoking, eating obesity inducing food, not taking exercise and becoming an alcoholic.
On 18 Jun 2011 at 9:15pm Pivot wrote:
What's this post about? I've got short-term memory loss.
What's this post about? I've got short term memory loss
On 19 Jun 2011 at 9:27am One who knows wrote:
Long term drug abuse (including alcohol) destroys any type of memory, long term, mid-term and short term. Abusers can even forget most childhood memories and memories don't return when/if abuse ceases.