General Chat

I think it should be made
not only illegal to sell them

but also to take them :-D :-D

Possession alone is usually a crime.

Make it illegal to use would only work if

a) there are detoxic programmes available
b) the addict wants to get 'clean'
c) they have the strength of character not to go back on to them.

sadly mental health is at the bottom of the pile when it comes to treatment - always has been and always will until the government takes a firmer hand to deal with it - there are too few rehab centres for drug addicts

mind why would the government do anything

when even David Cameron
admitted to smoking cannabis at Uni :-( :-(

the government that does something to improve mental health treatment would certainly earn a lot of Brownie points - care in the community doesn't work

I can see the sense of drugs by prescription IF it is a means of reducing dependency alongside counselling etc...but if you can just pop along and get a prescription and pay a fiver or nothing, what happens when you need more and don't have the money and presumably there will be a limit set on the amount you can get in a prescription? you will do whatever you did before to get it so you are back at square one.

There needs to be a real effort (and money) put in to mental health services, education ( education and education!) and, though it is not quantifiable, ASPIRATION... and I mean by that having ideas and goals, and desires to see something new, do something new, move up or out lol, see education and a job as not just something you HAVE to do but something you WANT to do to get from where you are to where you want to be... for instance I was at a self employment workshop recently and one of the speakers was young, 20s, and had started his own business and said he was always thinking about the "next thing" he wanted to do... he was inspired and inspiring actually, he was working harder than he would do in a 'normal' job....but he was really enjoying it, I think that is what will help with the drug situation... to believe and know that you can have something in your sights that is better than a brief high.

Sorry rambled off track there a bit, but I don't think you can separate the drug problem from the environment of the user, they are inter related. I live in a fairly poor area of town, ....it is not poor just in the sense of no money but poor in the sense of not giving the young a good break, too easy for them to think that 'this is all there is' in life, and it's not worth trying for better, 'lets get high or drunk and the **** will all go away for a while'.

Two of the most dangerous drugs that people take today are legal - alcohol and nicotine.

Long term alcohol use is every bit as bad, if not worse, than long term cannabis use.

Governments have ignored many reports on possible legalisation of commonly used illegal drugs and their relative harmfulness because the people don't like the idea of relaxing the legislation. Gut feelings are no substitute for proper research.

It would take a very brave government to take a serious look at legal and illegal drug misuse and legislate responsibly.

PS to my last post, I've sounded a bit harsh there on the area I live in, I have every reason to believe that the local education establishments, and the council etc are doing their very best to encourage young people and provide services to the community as a whole. But cuts in funding don't help.

Interesting article here

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/america-tonight-blog/2014/2/21/netherlands-cannabislessonscolorado.html

I agree alcohol can be just as bad
so I am glad I don't drink

mind I did have half a shandy in the night club on Strays birthday

you can only drink so much diet coke

As Dizzi mentioned certain drugs do have a beneficial effect on neurological disease and eases symptoms, cannabis and ecstasy being the two most widely publicised.

I spoke with my GP about this some years ago and she said that if she was suffering she would certainly try them to gauge the benefits.

Don't be so quick to condemn all drug use, some sufferers do achieve good medical results but are still risking criminal records until the authorities recognise that some legalisation is needed to give people a better quality of life.

My nephew has MS and regularly takes cannabis to ease the symptoms.
I would like to add that he has a responsible job, and without the cannabis would be unable to do the job!!!

if cannabis is able to provide relief for those in pain, that's fine - I'm talking about those who take it for "recreational" purposes

As for alcohol, abuse of alcohol costs this country millions and impacts on overworked A & E Departments - I feel people being treated for the results of imbibing too much alcohol should pay for their treatment

The whole problem with UK law relating to drugs inc alchohol and tobacco is that they derive from the concept that they are immoral in the eyes of people who suppose themselves to be in authority over the morals of everybody else. It is a very poor basis for law making.

A better basis is to start with some objectives and then ensure that the means are there to achieve the objectives eg the public health, control crime or whatever.

As it is flaky premises largely resting on flaky disputed moral arguments are poorly supported by practical means.

The inevitable result has been an explosion of crime including fake and smuggled alcohol and tobacco.

In a logical world the moralistic arguments would be dumped in favor of something practical of which the most obvious is the public health.

Taking the most dangerous drugs first, alcohol and tobacco. It is of little use taxing them beyond the point of public assent as over taxation has created a massive criminal industry. Cutting police and border force by over 20% simply suggests that HMG are not serious about control. Either control resources need to be beefed up or taxation reduced. Again health propaganda helping people to quite smoking has had its resources shredded.

Cannabis has been smoked in England for centuries - it used to be known as hemp. It is not especially harmful unless over consumed. A US state which I know well (Colorado) haas legalised cannabis without any undue downside. It has definitely killed off a major source of criminal revenue. fwiw the skunk sold today is a lot stronger than the weed of the 1060s and 70s. Heaven only knows how much police time and money is devoted to picking up piddling dealers of skunk.

Cocaine is not addictive. Some people can handle it some cannot. For those who can't serious damage to their bank balance, nose and liver is a certainty. Crack cocaine is very addictive and dangerous to health in the short term.

The major difference between heroin ( morphine, snow, horse etc ) and cocaine is that the high lasts longer. The downside is that addiction builds up and it damages the body. Given clean drug and clean kit a heroin user can go on for many years. Otherwise he is on a road to hell.

Then there are the pills such speed derivatives such as ecstasy and "designer" drugs beloved of clubbers. These have such dangerous effects on driving that life on the roads after 1am has become a lottery.

The core reasons why illegal drugs have become a problem is that prohibition has created a false market which criminals are not only happy to meet but actively promote. The govt. is not prepared to provide the resources needed to control the criminality which just rolls on. The police and customs win a skirmish here and there but they are losing the war.

Before Thatcher criminalised drugs addicts simply got their fix with a prescription at the pharmacist.

"I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"
I said to him "

Big time drug crime was rare in the 1960s. Once the status quo was upset a US style drug market soon developed bring us to the predicament we are in today. Thatcher was warned of the prob. consequences notably by the Metropolitan Police.

Can we go back to drugs by prescription? Way unlikely the practical and financial barriers are too high.

One policy which might help is to reduce the self harm of drug users by ensuring easy access and disposal of kit, regular medical check ups and so on. Sure we already have this but the policy is very under resourced.

It would be realistic to legalise and tax cannabis. That does not signify approval of it.

That still leaves the police and border force a massive challenge which they have insufficient means to meet even half way. The result is that they are giving up.

>>>Cocaine is a bitter, addictive pain blocker<<<< that is extracted from the leaves of Erythroxylon coca, also known as the coca scrub, a plant that comes from the Andean highlands in South America.

:-).

I was under the impression that cocaine is addictive

after once getting water up my nose in my bath
I cant think of anything worse than

putting something up there BORK :-D :-D

My nephew isn't prescribed cannabis for his MS. He has to get it from a dealer.
If they legalised drugs, the country would get a lot of tax!!

Maggie, the cannabis trials were over subscribed (there's a shock).

Daughter who has MS too hasn't resorted to it, she doesn't smoke anyway, but as GP said there are other methods of administering and nobody should withhold medicine (that's what it is) because it carries a conviction for supply and use by recreational users.

All drugs which are classed as illegal and could benefit sufferers of major health problems should be able to get the drug they need on prescription.