Should I be jailed for breaking the law?

[Saffy]

My Doctor prescribed me Oxycodone for pain .. I missed just one dose and started withdrawal symptoms ! That frightened me so much that I decided to stop .. the only thing the Doctor could offer me for the withdrawal symptoms was methadone. (I obviously stuck the withdrawal out without it!)

 

This was a legally prescribed drug, that did more damage to my system and nerves than a spliff every now and again for pain, ever could.

[Chris_Sleeps]

Not everybody, but nobody would be fool enough to deny that some people have a craving to try stronger drugs. Some is too many.

Even if we accept the gateway theory, you give an argument for the banning of all drugs. If cannabis was taken away then the first step 'to moral failure' would be replaced with something else, and then you'd take that away and the first step would be something else.

 

If some people have a craving to try stronger drugs then they are going to try stronger drugs whether step 1 in that process is legal, illegal, or highly concentrated cough syrup.

[Conrod]

Even if we accept the gateway theory, you give an argument for the banning of all drugs. If cannabis was taken away then the first step 'to moral failure' would be replaced with something else, and then you'd take that away and the first step would be something else.

 

If some people have a craving to try stronger drugs then they are going to try stronger drugs whether step 1 in that process is legal, illegal, or highly concentrated cough syrup.

Is that really the case, or is the 'moral failure' not the first sniff of cough medicine, but the step across the line into the criminal use of drugs?

 

I really doubt that people taking aspirin, caffeine or even alcohol do so to fit in with a subversive crowd who thrive on the illegal drug sub-culture of our inner cities. But those who take cannabis are more likely to be exposed to the temptations of stronger drugs through the undesirables they mix with.

[Cyclone]

If it wasn't criminal then using cannabis wouldn't be the first step across the line into criminal use of drugs would it!

Legalise it and it's no longer subversive, cool or anti establishment. Like you say, nobody drinks just to prove they're a rebel (well, maybe 14 year olds do, but adults don't).

 

Make it legal, sell it in a shop, then the people buying it won't be exposed to 'undesirables', in fact they'll be ID checked and what they're buying will be of a guaranteed strength and quality. They'll be safer all round as will society in general.

[Conrod]

If it wasn't criminal then using cannabis wouldn't be the first step across the line into criminal use of drugs would it!

Legalise it and it's no longer subversive, cool or anti establishment. Like you say, nobody drinks just to prove they're a rebel (well, maybe 14 year olds do, but adults don't).

 

Make it legal, sell it in a shop, then the people buying it won't be exposed to 'undesirables', in fact they'll be ID checked and what they're buying will be of a guaranteed strength and quality. They'll be safer all round as will society in general.

There's a lot of sense in that.

 

But, if we've legalised and endorsed the use of cannabis, how do we control its use by people who are going to be driving/operating machinery/issuing medication? I'm not sure I'd want my taxi driver or gas fitter to be doped up.

[Chris_Sleeps]

Is that really the case, or is the 'moral failure' not the first sniff of cough medicine, but the step across the line into the criminal use of drugs?

I'd consider alcohol abuse just as much of a moral failure as any other abuse of drugs. I use the word abuse to cover people getting overtly drunk and binge drinking, rather than alcoholism and addiction which is a seperate issue.

 

I don't see why the quiet night in with a joint is worse than the loud night out with alcohol.

[onewheeldave]

Is that really the case, or is the 'moral failure' not the first sniff of cough medicine, but the step across the line into the criminal use of drugs?

 

I really doubt that people taking aspirin, caffeine or even alcohol do so to fit in with a subversive crowd who thrive on the illegal drug sub-culture of our inner cities. But those who take cannabis are more likely to be exposed to the temptations of stronger drugs through the undesirables they mix with.

 

I guess that expalins why, in countries where sanity has prevailed, and who have legalised cannabis, there tends to be a corresponding drop in it's usage?

[Conrod]

I'd consider alcohol abuse just as much of a moral failure as any other abuse of drugs. I use the word abuse to cover people getting overtly drunk and binge drinking, rather than alcoholism and addiction which is a seperate issue.

 

I don't see why the quiet night in with a joint is worse than the loud night out with alcohol.

That is probably because you just can't get it into your head that one is legal, and one is not.

 

There are many things that we cannot do because of the law, and many laws with which we don't all agree, but the nature of our society is that we have to accept laws and conditions which have been decided by the majority.

 

The moral failure is the decision to commit a criminal act.

[Conrod]

I guess that expalins why, in countries where sanity has prevailed, and who have legalised cannabis, there tends to be a corresponding drop in it's usage?

That's all well and good (do you have figures?).

If cannabis were legal here, then the situation would be different I'm sure, and nobody would be saying the OP should be jailed for breaking the law. I've not said it shouldn't be legalised - my view is unclear as to whether drugs should be legalised and to what extent if so - but whilever it is illegal, people who take illegal drugs are criminals and should expect to be treated as such.

[Murphy Jnr]

There's a lot of sense in that.

 

But, if we've legalised and endorsed the use of cannabis, how do we control its use by people who are going to be driving/operating machinery/issuing medication? I'm not sure I'd want my taxi driver or gas fitter to be doped up.

 

If it's readily available would it be presumtious to assume that, that fact alone would curb it's use to free time/personal time only. If the penalties were high for using the drug in positions of responsibility it may deter it's use.