Should cannabis be legal

[Phanerothyme]

Originally posted by Tony

Surely that's a rather pretentious justification for other drugs that you simply enjoy Phan? I find that I am quite alert to nuances without ANY form of stimulant or depressant.

 

Entheogens are principally neither.

 

Quad erat demunstrandum.

 

Well, you asked :

 

Originally posted by Tony

I want to know - if you want to alter your state - what's wrong with alcohol?

 

and I answered:

Originally posted by me

Alcohol is a highly toxic central nervous system depressant, it alters it [conciousness] in the wrong direction - alcohol makes you slightly silly, a lot of it makes you stupid. A whole load of it makes you insensible and very possibly dead from respiratory failure...Alcohol is a pleasant enough drug in small doses but offers very little in terms of interesting perspectives on self and reality. Ultimately it is a losers drug, because it is primarily used to defeat feelings of boredom and futility in the mass populace as the state authorised fix for the worker.

 

To be truly pretentious Tony, you have to end a post with a Latin flourish, only to get it wrong. What's wrong with simply "Q.E.D" ?

 

If cultural acceptance of all drugs was a fact, the only time, in my opinion, that alcohol would be my drug of choice was if I wanted to go out and make a total arse of myself, beat my girlfriend, top myself, or stand around talking crap and eating peanuts.

 

We as a culture, have been in an alcoholic stupor for so long now, we have forgotten that there is a whole cornucopia of other naturally occuring drugs that actually do a lot more good than harm if used sensibly and with respect.

 

Use alcohol with caution and respect, and you will have a nice time at the party.

 

Use psilocybin with caution and respect and you will certainly develop a whole new perspective on some matters. Hard to say which, often it is yourself, sometimes it feels planetary or universal, but wherever you go but it certainly offers more than fuzzy contenment and sinking social inhibitions - the main low dose effects of alcohol.

 

Speaking of cornucopiae, I saw a gibbous harvest moon tonight, following me home from wales, and my mind turned to the upcoming harvest.

[Tony]

I enjoyed the Moon last night too Phan, but there's not a single thing above that would make me think that drugs make people more interesting. Or succinct.

[Phanerothyme]

Originally posted by Tony

I enjoyed the Moon last night too Phan, but there's not a single thing above that would make me think that drugs make people more interesting. Or succinct.

 

Not sure how you could say I was arguing that drugs make people more interesting. I never said that, nor would I, it's patently nonsense.

 

Just answering your question "what's wrong with alcohol"? I tried to keep it short, but there are so many things wrong with alcohol as the state drug of choice that sometimes it is hard to know where to begin.

 

The harvest moon observation, was of course, related to the fact that once again nature is providing us with a bounty both of food and entheogens, in the form of those phantastic little fungi Psilocybe Semilanceata aka the Northern European Magic Mushroom.

Q.E.D.

 

Decided which part of my original post is pretentious yet?

[Draggletail]

Had a low dose of psilocybin mushrooms Sunday afternoon. Just for the record, after a fit of the silly giggles, I became quite anxious, then uncomfortably anxious, at which point I took a dose of soluble vitamin C to get it out of my system. Not for me:(

[Hodge]

I was in no way suggesting that smoking cannabis made me, or anyone else who smokes it, a more interesting person, in the same way I wouldn't suggest that not smoking it makes a person any less interesting. It's just another activity I enjoy indulging in - like watching a film, climbing, or sitting in the pub with mates and a pint.

 

In all honesty, I don't particularly enjoy getting absolutely wasted on alcohol - I'm not forced to drink to oblivion and therefore, funnily enough, choose not to. The legal status of alcohol does not automatically compel me to get drunk, or even drink at all. Many people don't enjoy recreational substances such as Cannabis - fair enough, that's their choice, and I wouldn't dream of forcing it upon them. The important thing here is that we can choose whether or not we want to do something - I choose not to drink to excess, others choose not to smoke Cannabis. Some people choose not to drink at all, or to eat meat, or run, or fart in public. However, why should I have the choice of smoking Cannabis taken away from me (from a legal point of view)? The legalisation, or at least the decriminalisation of Cannabis, does not automatically compel everyone to start smoking, nor will it instantly produce a country of "stoners" as a result.

 

Although the current legal status of Cannabis does not prevent me from smoking it, I would rather have the choice of procuring it from a reputable establishment that doesn’t potentially fund the criminal underworld. I would also prefer not to be labelled a criminal for enjoying an activity that does not advertently harm anyone else. As I mentioned before, I have a respectable career, a degree, I pay my taxes, I’ll soon be involved in volunteer work in Nepal, I try to be a good person and treat others with respect, yet thanks to a ridiculous law, I’m automatically filed under “bad person: to be punished”, and I just think there’s something fundamentally FUBARed about that.

 

"Sometimes it's the law that's wrong, and not the activity"

[tosh13]

Originally posted by draggletail

Had a low dose of psilocybin mushrooms Sunday afternoon. Just for the record, after a fit of the silly giggles, I became quite anxious, then uncomfortably anxious, at which point I took a dose of soluble vitamin C to get it out of my system. Not for me:(

Hi D did you check for any symptons before you took the mushroom,word to the wise check at least before you try it.Be Well

[Maldonado]

no victim, no crime.

[Tony]

That's hardly true is it?

[Foxxx]

Originally posted by Hodge

I was in no way suggesting that smoking cannabis made me, or anyone else who smokes it, a more interesting person, in the same way I wouldn't suggest that not smoking it makes a person any less interesting. It's just another activity I enjoy indulging in - like watching a film, climbing, or sitting in the pub with mates and a pint.

 

In all honesty, I don't particularly enjoy getting absolutely wasted on alcohol - I'm not forced to drink to oblivion and therefore, funnily enough, choose not to. The legal status of alcohol does not automatically compel me to get drunk, or even drink at all. Many people don't enjoy recreational substances such as Cannabis - fair enough, that's their choice, and I wouldn't dream of forcing it upon them. The important thing here is that we can choose whether or not we want to do something - I choose not to drink to excess, others choose not to smoke Cannabis. Some people choose not to drink at all, or to eat meat, or run, or fart in public. However, why should I have the choice of smoking Cannabis taken away from me (from a legal point of view)? The legalisation, or at least the decriminalisation of Cannabis, does not automatically compel everyone to start smoking, nor will it instantly produce a country of "stoners" as a result.

 

Although the current legal status of Cannabis does not prevent me from smoking it, I would rather have the choice of procuring it from a reputable establishment that doesn’t potentially fund the criminal underworld. I would also prefer not to be labelled a criminal for enjoying an activity that does not advertently harm anyone else. As I mentioned before, I have a respectable career, a degree, I pay my taxes, I’ll soon be involved in volunteer work in Nepal, I try to be a good person and treat others with respect, yet thanks to a ridiculous law, I’m automatically filed under “bad person: to be punished”, and I just think there’s something fundamentally FUBARed about that.

 

"Sometimes it's the law that's wrong, and not the activity"

 

Nicely said Hodge

 

What is wrong with this world!

 

The results of this poll are still showing no-one would rush out and try it just because it was legal (apart from one late comer voter!).

We have a fair few results, of course I don't know what category all the voters would come under, but there is a good mixture of people on this forum. Perhaps it is time for the public to decide, a referendum maybe? Give us, the little people, the choice.

[Sidla]

If people wouldn't try cannabis even if it were legal, why would they vote to legalise it?

 

Similarly, if people don't smoke tobacco, would they vote to have it banned?