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Thoughts on a Burgeoning Drug Culture

  
 
The Unrepentant Nightmares of Guy Debord
11:47 / 20.04.03
It strikes me that, while social etiquette has given way to a predominantly devolved laissez-faire monoculture, in which a certain minimal level of social restraint is predicated upon the need - or rather the capacity - to imitate the 'designer' lifestyle propagated by the mainstream media, in actual fact, drug use appears to be on the increase in underground circles. Surely we should make it legal, so that it can at least be regulated.

Your comments?
 
 
cusm
18:51 / 20.04.03
Certainly a sensible idea that many, myself included, support. The main obstical however, being the hardliners currently still in office that are against it on a religious level. As they pass from power, the followng generations appear to be increasingly supportive of what you suggest, little by little.

As an example, Nevada (or was it New Mexico?) recently attempted to decriminalize pot in a referendum, which failed but still showed something like 40% support. I've even seen a report on prime time tv about how much of a failure the War On Drugs is and how successful Amsterdam is in avoiding problems caused by legalized pot.

It won't be long, I suspect. Maybe another decade or two, at the latest.
 
 
illmatic
22:05 / 20.04.03
Don't know if you (US, I'm assuming) guys are aware, but canabis now has semi legal status in the UK. Decriminalised, I think, though I'm not sure of the exact facts. One thing I did read about a while ago that I thought was fantastic, was trials being run in the 'States for theraputic use of MDMA. I think this is on of the best uses for this drug, as it puts you in a place where you're wide open emotionally without the fear we normally block tender feelings with (there's a book about this called "Gateways of the Heart", can't recall author). I hope something comes of this (slight threarot - there was a lot of very amusing media stories around in the old "Acid House" days, about former footie hoolignas getting "loved up" and hugging their old rivals on the dancefloor).

I'm not sure how I feel about the legalisation issues around coke and opiates though. Actually, there was a time (late 70's) when it was anticapted coke would be legal, lots of paraphenelia etc available - I picked up from glancing through a load of old hippy mags (High Times, was it?). I'd wouldn't be happy about this, have horrilbe visions of it being marketed etc.
 
 
Jub
00:59 / 21.04.03
Illmatic, it's not semi legal man.... they're going to reclassify it from class B to class C but it's still against the law. And if they wanted to, they could still fuck you over pretty hard man....
 
 
Jub
01:00 / 21.04.03
Illmatic, it's not semi legal man.... they're going to reclassify it from class B to class C but it's still against the law. And if they wanted to, they could still fuck you over pretty hard ...
 
 
Baz Auckland
10:12 / 21.04.03
The Canadian government announced last week that they're going to go ahead with decriminalization no matter what the USA thinks... which would be great if they're serious. Posession would get you a ticket.

The government believes a strong argument can be made that a ticketing regime that imposes a penalty "would do more to discourage the use of marijuana than the current law."

John Walters, the White House director of U.S. drug control policy, has repeatedly warned Canada against liberalizing its drug laws, blaming much of the high-strength marijuana on U.S. streets on Canadian pot growers and smugglers.

But the Canadian government has been emboldened by justice department opinion polls showing the percentage of public support for decriminalization "in the high 70s."

To be fair, the government's sort of been forced into this by a number of judges who have refused to prosecute people for posession, due to the unfairness of the law.
 
 
Nematode
20:45 / 21.04.03
Legal drugs. Now who'd be responsible for developing advertising and marketing those do you think? Perhaps a load of devolved enthusiasts who've spent years covertly synthesising/growing top quality products who will then take the market place by storm. Does that sound very likely? How about huge trans national drug companies and cigarette manufacturers who'd be very pleased to see a new smokable comodity, which is incidentally even more carcinogenic. Doesn't look so good that one. Especially with these companies potentially having quite an interest in things like social stability and a compliant workforce or pool of willing unemployed. OK so buying drugs off your local mafia representative with zero quality control and involvement of the intrusive state is'nt particularly great either.....
Actually the whole thing fucking sucks. I hate the way the drugs scene had burgeoned as society gets meaner and progressively more impossible in turn further neutralising hope beyond unwinding on some chemicals with a bunch of your mates at the weekend. I have this continuing worry that ecstacy or what passes for ecstacy on the scene is actually very bad for you at a very deep level of the personality and that it tends to leave a percentage of people depressed and fucked up in ways that are very hard to notice but very personally and socially damaging. I think it manifests in the perpetuation of a 'caner' mentality needing regular extreme pleasure hits to lift you out of the trough you habtually inhabit, and a potentially big problems with memory motivation and drive.
My feeling is that drugs have probably done those with dreams of a better future far more harm than good and that certainly the scene in this country would be a in a far better way if everyone had not gone to that party and then settled down and had that spliff first thing in the morning when there was shit to be done, but that's me a bitter ex user and you know never to take them too seriously, right?
Another thing: you think we got drugs now? Well in the future we got DRUGS. The SSRIs [prozac cipromil etc] Will in the future be progressively more genetically specific, meaning far fewer of the unwanted side effects [such as suicide.] Which leads us to an interesting world where we will be able to BUY a permanently sunny disposition. No frowns. Ever. Now how would that be? Empty? You'd never perceive it as that. Unfulfilling? What do you mean? I think this is a very very scary prospect. Please discuss.
Oh and we're not too far away from electronic drugs which directly stimulate areas of the brain, by passing all that liver upset and blood/brain barrier shit. Now that might give Grand Theft Auto a bit of kick. An electronic orgasm when you complete a screen, a litle jolt of pleasure when you blow someones head of. These should appear in about fifteen years.
 
 
The Unrepentant Nightmares of Guy Debord
21:59 / 21.04.03
it is a filthy habit ot be sure, and the sight of a million people at it everywhere you look is enough to make you wonder if humanity had not turned inward on itself completely.
 
 
Leap
08:40 / 24.04.03
SOMAny problems, so few solutions.
 
 
Ganesh
08:49 / 24.04.03
SO Y'LENT 'GREEN Party Manifesto 2003' to the Drug Czars?

Hm. No, that doesn't work. Sorry.
 
 
C.Elseware
13:18 / 24.04.03
Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and ...it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but... Well son, pot makes yuu feel fine with being bored and... It's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or... being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything. [southpark season 6, "My Future Self an I"]
 
 
Nematode
20:14 / 24.04.03
And have you ever noticed that thing that happens to the faces of people who've smoked pot for years and they've wrinkled in such a wasy that they look stoned all the time whether they've smoked or not?
 
  
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