Weed is bad... But Heroin is OK??...

[Jake]

How the F does this work??

BERN, Switzerland – A pioneering Swiss program to give addicts government-authorized heroin was overwhelmingly approved Sunday by voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081130/ap_ ... eroin_vote

[Steve James]

Actually, it's very practical. The Swiss see heroin addiction as a disease; they always have. In years past, there were always programs for heroin addicts; but, there were only a limited number of openings. So, you'd see heroin addicts (who were well dressed, btw) begging on the streets for money for their "stuff", until they got into a program. Now, they may still have programs; but they hope to eliminate the problems of the heroin trade. As for weed, there's not really a problem. People, afaik, don't get thrown into jail for possession or use. They're just fined. Anyway, that was years ago. There were only a few places in Europe where drug use was fairly open: The Netherlands and Platz Pitz in Zurich. But, they're closing down 1/4 of the "coffee shops" in Amsterdam; and I think they've cleaned up Platz Pitz.

I do agree, though, that heroin addiction is a bigger problem than weed smoking.

[Jake]

Interesting post Steve, thanks for explaining that.

On a different note, but still in the vein...

All I know is this... I've NEVER done the stupid shit I've done while drunk... When I was just stoned on weed.

Weed is infinatly better than alcohol and should be at least decrimed, if not just plain legalized.

Sadly, with the idiotic notions that some still hold about the subject, I doubt if that will ever be the case.

Cheers brutha!!! (with whatever you want to toast it with! )

[edededed]

Mmm - toad licking, then?

I do agree that it is idiotic that many people find smoking (tobacco) and drinking just a normal part of life, while marijuana is like some heinous crime... However, I think it would be better if everyone just laid off all this stuff.

[Chanchu]

legalize it at tax it - may get we Americans out of the deep black economic hole we are in. Of course if we legalize it there will be alot of stupid stuff going on for a few years until people get used to the idea of being able to get it.. It legallization is not doable then decrim it. No more jail for possesion.

I have been reading about the drug war in Mexico last few week ". "los zeta's""" and so on- it is totally unreal you can't make this stuff up, if we decrim drugs may stop the carnage and corruption south of the border- and in American border states its coming faST.

tHE GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA ARE COVERING IT UP. (Sorry) caps lock..Reporters are not covering it they may be killed if they do

Really a horrific story. Drug lords taken over Mexico and starting to do the same in American border states...

any ef people whats going on- bad as they reports say or BS???people in el paso or larado????

[cerebus]

Yeah, jeez, the fucked-up crazy shit I've done while drunk... I shudder to think of it. I'm constantly amazed that I survived my Army years... and the years that followed! But on pot? Damn, I recall being mellow and watching snowflakes fall in the light of the street lamps at night, and another time sitting on the enclosed porch of a house on the top of a mountain, looking out over the whole world with stars above and the lights of many cities waaaay down below, feeling like I was flying. It definitely should be legalized.... but heroin? Ooooooooo......

[Andy_S]

RE: Toad licking
What do the toads think about that?

And how do/did people find out?

[middleway]

i have to say ... the people i know that have done weed allot have got into worse trouble mentally than those that just smoked tobacco. Delusional and paranoid behavior are part and parcel of weed smoking after effects for allot of people. For most of them coming off weed and deciding to quit it was like a blanket of fog lifting. This is just their experience ... sure there are many positives for some people.

I think its important to realize that smoking tobacco is also a part of the process of smoking weed AFAIK. So you essentially are adding a layer of extra harm onto smoking just Tobacco ... or so i have read ....

there is a harm index somewhere based on the real harm to the human body that these various substances do ... Heroin is top .... but Weed is above Tobacco .... then again ... so is Alcohol!! Also bear in mind that class A drugs like ecstasy were in fact virtually at the bottom of the list with no real verifiable or long term effects and little immediate danger to life.... the entire drugs legalization and classification system is by no means straight forward. I looked quite seriously into the effects of various drugs when working the doors to be able to recognize symptoms etc.... there is some really nasty stuff out there!!!

I have never smoked, and would never smoke ... i just don't have the urge at all.

I do have the odd beer or 10 though every so often which is probably not doing me much good .... but i am no saint!

Cheers
Chris

[AllanF]

I'm in agreement with the booze is worse than weed crowd. Smoked heavily for a number of years after i quit playing rugby. Never had any problems. One day i said enough is enough as i am not 25 anymore. And i never had any problems stopping no side effects or withdrawls. Tobacco is only an issue if you add it. In actual fact even if you add 'baccy you will usually find most weed smokers smoke less than ciggy smokers. If you use a bong then, again, the problems of tobacco as greatly reduced.

Booze on the other hand is the monkey on my back.

[wiesiek]

i

there is a harm index somewhere based on the real harm to the human body that these various substances do ... Heroin is top .... but Weed is above Tobacco .... then again ... so is Alcohol!! Also bear in mind that class A drugs like ecstasy were in fact virtually at the bottom of the list with no real verifiable or long term effects and little immediate danger to life....

Cheers
Chris

interesting'
i know another study were alcohol is on the top of the list

ecstasy is similar to amphethamine and make serious damage to brain and nervous system of long trerm user

pot is harmles for mature peoples
/if they don`t have hiden psychological problems/

and lets face it:
drugs are present in human race from beggining
so
prohibiton is absolutly No WAY,
look what prohibiton of alc. in US stymulated.: -

-Amount of tod lickers go sky high

[middleway]

interesting'
i know another study were alcohol is on the top of the list

Yeh that was probably amount of people expiring from related illness. For sure Alcohol kills more people than most other things .... but then there are alot more heavy drinkers out there than heroin addicts so thats why i like this index of harm study, which is based on harm to the individual not total deaths etc. But it does take into account the percentage of total estimated users of each drug that die have illness as a result of use.

ecstasy is similar to amphethamine and make serious damage to brain and nervous system of long trerm user

Unfortunately there is no evidence to support this at all. and i mean NONE ... this is the problem. Due to its status here in the UK this drug has not been officially testing in any way on a scientific level.

The ranking within the index was based on research by the examining team on Users and hospital records. The research showed that even users of many many years, virtually every weekend had very little noticeable defects with their brain and nervous system. Contrary to the popular assumptions the scientific community previously had made. The facts refute the assumptions unfortunately. But as i say, due to its classification no 'clinical trails' have been made, to prove the harm or not either way.

The research on Weed, cocaine, meth etc was all pretty interesting. I will see if i can find the paper on it .... i remember it took a bit of finding ....

but there are some news articles from the UK around the time it came out ....

March 26, 2007: Hard drinkers beware. A new study has revealed that alcohol is much more harmful than the drug ecstasy. The revelations are part of a controversial new classification system proposed by a team of leading scientists.

According to a report, The Lancet Medical Journal has published the findings drawn up by a team of experts. The findings also have proposed that drugs need to be classified by the amount of harm that they do. Till now, it has been believed that the risks of ecstasy, which kills around ten people annually of the half a million people who use it every weekend, was on a high. The risks of alcohol have been underestimated, said the report.

The findings have also given a call to overhaul the UK drug classification system, which will be examined by the forthcoming UK Drug Policy Commission, and is likely to receive popular public support, according to research into attitudes to drugs by the Academy of Medical Sciences’ Drugs Futures project, the report added. The research report said that the most striking observation is that there is no statistical correlation between this ranking of harm of drugs and the ABC classification.

According to the new system legal drugs, such as alcohol and nicotine, are ranked alongside illegal drugs. It further said that the new ranking places alcohol and tobacco in the upper half of the league table. These socially accepted drugs were judged more harmful than cannabis, and substantially more dangerous than the Class A drugs LSD, 4-methylthioamphetamine and ecstasy. Meanwhile, alcohol is close to dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.

interesting stuff ....

but i will still have the odd beer now and then ... lol!

Cheers
Chris

[Bär]

[Darth Rock&Roll]

actually, that poster is eerie seeing as it was hopped up usaf guys on 'go' pills that killed 4 of our guys in country in afghanistan a couple of years back.

[Bär]

Yikes! I can't say I'm very surprised, though.

[wiesiek]

Chris
i don`t need scientific proof about "speeds"
thru my life i had lot of close contacts with long term users / different substances/
and
speed lovers / meta amphetamine , coke etc/ gets the worst fedback from their habbits / together with alc./

just imagine:
nervues system works , let`s say on 0,1 mV current
you take speed
and its working on 10V now
WoW!
great in schort term ,
but
you burn out very quickly, and impulses travell 10 times slower w/o the speed...
in time you losing abilyty to regeneration
and became vege

anyway
i think that now "legal drugs" market is the biggest problem of the new generation
but
unrecognized by society yet

best
Wiesiek

ps /edit/
in Poland UK distrybutor of legal psyhoactiv substances /www.dopalacze.com/ opened lot of stores
and
lot of young peoples stays in lines before they open the doors!, everyday!