wanna talk about drugs?

[pie]

Something to break up the war talk.

Do you use them? Or not? Should they be legal? Which ones?

Let's talk about drugs. Oh and if you do use them, why, and are you worried about your kids being taken from you, and how will you explain it to them if they find out, etc.

[Arduinna]

sure, ya got any??? HAHAHAHA

My current drug of choice, 800 mg ibuprofin.

seriously, I don't do them (assuming we are talking illegal) since:

1 I moved out of state and have no local connection

2 Quit even beofre moving out of state so I guess # 1 doesn't really count.

I think pot should be legal and you should be able to grow at least a few plants for personal use.

The main reason I don't use is because I'm afraid of either going to jail or losing my child.

[kama'aina mama]

Sure! I'd love to talk drugs. Thanks for asking.
Drugs I have enjoyed: Pot, cocaine, mushrooms,
Drugs I have used but don't care for: Acid, crystal meth

If it were legal I doubt I would do drugs just now since Bonnie is still nursing. Maybe I would toke a little when I knew I wouldn't see her for a bit or that she otherwise wouldn't nurse for a bit. But I don't want to get her altered without her understanding and agreeing. Doesn't seem fair. I do have a bit of wine most evenings with dinner though.

It is ridiculous that I can't grow a couple plants for my own use. I can't while it's illegal in part because of worries about Bonnie's fate should i get busted and because my husbands livelyhood depends on a security clearance and that might screw it up.

[oncewerewise]

I haven't done drugs in almost 3 years. But, that's because I don't have time! Seriously though, if I was going to do them again, I need to be able to be away from my children while using and long enough after to be rested up (since doing them usually involves late nights, partying). I have tried quite a few and wouldn't do most of them again anyway because I didn't enjoy them.

Having said all that, I think drug use should be a personal choice. I do not think it should be mandated by governments. I feel few things should be up to the government. I am happy that my country (Canada) is moving toward decriminalization and the possible legalization of marijuana. I feel tax dollars are better spent on something else than prosecuting or jailing someone who likes to smoke a little pot.

Also, I feel the same way about harvestors/sellers, that I do about other industries. I think they should be monitored for fair trade practices to put an end to the violence and poor treatment of those involved in the process. (Similar to fair trade coffee and chocolate.)

My two cents.

Peace.

[Arduinna]

slightly OT but think of all the trees we can save from being able to grow hemp again!!

[steph]

well, i think pot should be legal, no question...

in terms of doing drugs, i don't currently - mainly since it just doesn't feel like the right thing to do when i have a toddler that i want to stay focused on... actually, for probably the past 10 years or so, i've only smoked pot, and then, not often and not to get "high", but to reach a different space of conciousness that allows me to connect with myself on a deeper level... i think of smoking pot, for me, as a form of sacred ritual - i use it as a tool to focus inward rather than escape - i'll leave that to alcohol!

[sunbaby]

i have lost the connections that could have provided access to the types of drugs i would be hard pressed to resist. i would like to think i would be able to resist partaking anyway, since they toally unbalance me in my ability to parent well. i smoke pot from time to time and used to like being as stoned as possible, but now i am prone to 'bad trips' : . i know. bad trips on pot? dont ask. needless to say, i'm not the avid LSDer i used to be. i still dream daily that i will someday come across the drug that will make me who i want to be without withdrawls or temper tantrums.
and yes, i think drugs should be legal. i dont think jail does anything to cure an addictive personality. and my limited understanding suggests that less people would die in the drug trade if things coul be more open- uh, i have to take exception here to meth, the labs are sooo toxic. maybe that should be illegal.
my main reason for abstaining is for parenting reasons, guess that also saves me having to figure out how i'd address the issue with dd. my dad used in front of me, and i am angry about it. i thought it was just a normal thing that some adults sniff white powder offa mirrors, about as significant as smoking a cigarette. as for having my kid taken away, i never even thought of that- yikes. no way. i'd claw through cement before i'd let it come to that.
and yes again, i do worry that dd will have my tendencies. i cringe inside every time she cryes for milk when she is upset. some part of me wonders if this is an early sign of addictive personality, to always look to a bottle when she is sad. (and maybe she will talk as much as i do, too. )

[pie]

I avoid like the plague, myself, most man made drugs. I don't consider alcohol when I say that, of course.

I was really into Guiness a few weeks ago. :drunk :yuck



Most of you appear to think it should be legal to grow some plants, for personal use. What does that mean though? If it is only legal for you to grow it for personal use, would that make it illegal to share it? And with whom?

What is your take on tobacco? I think all but grow your own should be illegal.

[Cloverlove]

Sure, I'd love to talk about drugs. What a great way to introduce myself here in activism!

I smoke pot to help me be a mellow mama and deal with painful cramps.

I do limit my smoking to evenings, when I know dd won't be nursing for awhile. It also makes me too tired if I smoke during the day. My kids don't see me partake, mainly due to 2nd hand smoke than because I feel the need to hide it. And I guess I just never worried that my occassional nightly puffs would have the feds busting down my door. But who can be so sure these days?

It is a gift from our Mother to provide us with clothing, food, fuel and medicine. We should be working for fields of hemp rather than fighting for fields of oil.

[pie]

We should be working for fields of hemp rather than fighting for fields of oil.

So true. :shiver

[Cloverlove]

Most of you appear to think it should be legal to grow some plants, for personal use.

Like I said, I would love to see a sea of green. I think decriminization is word for politicians. If we really want to see some change, how about a hemp and hydrogen based economy?

As for tobacco being illegal- I am generally not in favor of loosing even more rights. But, I don't think people should be allowed to smoke in public places.

[pie]

I agree with you that private smoking only is crucial. For social smokers, parties and clubs, I suppose.

[merpk]

Aaah, some giggles in Activism ... :LOL

Used to say I never met a drug I didn't like. Never had a bad experience (lucky for me, I know).

Used to regularly enjoy hallucinagenics. Very regularly. Didn't think of them as destroying my brain cells. On the contrary, kind of felt rather mind-expanded throughout. Sure, sometimes just liked watching the wallpaper melt & dance, but more often liked to consider the mystical & metaphysical ...

Anyway, haven't touched 'em in over a decade.

BTW, did Ecstasy before it was criminalized. Yes, I'm old.

Would still smoke if it was available to me & if I wasn't nursing & if I could not expose my kids to it, since it is, after all, illegal. (Hard to teach your kids to follow rules when you're not, you know?)

But I do miss it, really. Marijuana, that is. The other stuff I'm just fine without. Actually feel like it would be damaging to me and a huge mistake at this stage in life, so have no interest in the other stuff. That's the recklessness of youth, acidshroomsmesc, etc. But I do miss the occasional smoke.

Think it should be legal. Sold in the supermarket. Marijuana, that is. No, I'm not kidding.

[simonee]

Pretty much what amy said

Heroin was the only drug I didn't want to get too close to. LOVED xtc, never viewed pot as a drug b/c growing up in Holland. I am not very strong around hallucinogenics and cocaine, so I like to avoid those.

I think all drugs should be decriminalized, but not all need to be cheap. I'm all for organically grown pot at Trader Joe's. I also think that tobacco and alcohol should be on the "expensive and not too easily available" list that xtc, acid and mushrooms would be on "if I were queen." And that meth, coke and opiates should be treated like hard liquor: more expensive, and you'd get "booted" from social places if too affected.

Decriminalization will save a lot of violence, esp in countries where drugs are produced. It would also open up the justice system for other crimes, such as sexual violence. And it would eliminate a big source of racism and classism in this country.

People that really want to do drugs, will do it anyway. Might as well let them do it in peace.

This is cool! Even proBushers can agree on this one ~ there's never beena drug that GWB did'nt like

[pie]

This is cool! Even proBushers can agree on this one ~ there's never beena drug that GWB did'nt like

tsk tsk the man isn't here to defend himself Or is he? : paranoid

There is hardly a drug I, unfortunately, have not tried. That is to say, the fact that I tried them, some repeatedly, was not exlusive to my liking them.

[Tigerchild]

Yeesh, I guess I'm the only square!

No illegal drug use here, ever.

Never used nicotine, and didn't drink until 21.


I don't have a problem with the mellow drugs, but the ones that tend to induce violence...ack. I really don't understand why tobacco is legal and pot isn't to tell you the truth, since tobacco is very costly to grow and a pain in the butt besides. From what I have heard, hemp is easy and much more environmentally friendly, and theoretically has less overhead!

In Kitty's Perfect World, the drinking age would be lowered to 16 or 18, and the DRIVING age to 18. Doesn't make much sense to me that teens are mature enough to have a dangerous and much more deadly object put into their hands, but yet are too fickle to manage themselves with a six-pack?

I also believe that drug use itself should be decriminalized. But on the same token, it shouldn't be used as an excuse for criminal behavior under the influence...any criminal actions done while under the influence should be prosecuted. That should take care of all the things that concern me with heavy drug use.

[applejuice]

No one ever believes me, but I have NEVER done any drugs. Not even alcohol. I am a child of the sixties, but a very serious child.

That said, I think all drugs should be legal. They were at one time, and I see no reason why they can't be again. The active ingredient in Coca-cola was originally cocaine; Cole Porter wrote about it in a 1928 song. The black market just makes it more enticing and more dangerous and more expen$ive. We should have learned that from the 18th Amendment, the noble experiment, Prohibition.

Color me libertarian.

[kama'aina mama]

Pie, when distinguishing "natural" drugs from man made I put beer and wine in the first catagory and distilled alcohol in the second. Wine will happen totally unintentionally. Likewise beer and even champagne. Distillation requires a medium level of technology and I believe acts a very different way in the body. Very man made.

[Marlena]

I often have a glass of wine or a bottle of beer with dinner, and see nothing wrong with either in moderation.

Like many other posters, I'd legalize pot. I don't see what folks get out of it (it never did anything particularly enjoyable for me!), but it's certainly no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol, even when done to excess (eg, daily - a couple friends smoke up every day, and while it has adversely affected them, they're probably better off than if they were alcoholics, and their health is likely better than if they'd smoked a pack of cigarettes every day for the same period).

I'd also not ban tobacco, even though it's highly addictive, bad for one's health, and bad for the health of those around one. (I'm a former smoker, by the way.) We don't need another Prohibition, and the so-called drug wars have hardly been successful. Rather, smoking should simply be banned in public places, and should also be highly taxed. At the same time, controls should be put on internet sales to ensure that taxes can't be avoided that way. I'd also like to see an ad ban, but it's not going to happen under the present state of the law.

[Els' 3 Ones]

Recovered addict here Anything, anywhere, anytime.............there were a few I did not encounter and I had not "yet" put a needle in my arm.

All drugs should be legal and controlled by age limit and taxation.

Most of the serious health problems of a junkie come from the impure substance used to "cut" the drug, as opposed to the drug. As well as dirty needles.

Much, much more education on addiction is needed. To ALL substances - even those that are currently legal.

Much more treatment needs to be available. I know many who have had enough and would clean up. Often need a hand up to do it tho.

My mother, may she rest in peace, could not function as a member of society when she used alcohol. She ended up on lower Michigan Ave in Chicago housed in a box...................
She got sober after a few years, started smoking pot, bought a house and held down 2 jobs for the last 15 yrs of her life. Unfortunately, emphysema killed her (aggravated by pot smoking in addition to a lifetime cig habit) at age 64.

Many can, and do, use in moderation. I think it is a great escape, which is sorely needed at times. I do not think society should be held hostage because "some" of us can't do anything in moderation....................

FWIW, I have long thought that the head members of the "black market" have done the most "lobbying" against legalization of pot and/or other drugs. It would not be good for their industry, kwim?


El