Drugs

[korny]

In certain areas of the United States it pretty much is as well. For the vast majority however, you will go to jail and you will more than likely either be forced to serve out a sentence or be put on probation which where i live, is a recipe for disaster and a vicious cycle for those who continue to try and get away with smoking while having to submit to random UA's. Obviously the whole point of being on probation is to learn from your mistakes, but the real mistake is having pot being illegal in the first place. Whaddaya gonna do?

[Cavernio]

For the record, I think pot should be legal. And there's probably other recreational drugs that, if I spent enough time to learn about them, would also think they should be legal.
It would be even better that if legalizing more drugs than just alcohol, nicotine and caffeine(s) would make it less likely for people to bother using other harder drugs that are far more likely to **** you up, simply because they'd have easy, cheap access to a larger variety of highs.
I am pretty naive when it comes to drugs.

[hashishin0420]

There really isn't anywhere on Earth that marijuana is 100% legal. However, in my area, it's treated like it is.. In fact, it's even more culturally accepted than alcohol, which is how it should be IMO. There's a few substances that are sort of worthwhile that are 100% legal that I'm going to choose not to mention, but practically everything except bud absolutely needs to be used in moderation.

[SocoNhydro420]

Originally Posted by devonin

The odds that anybody ever connects 'SocoNhydro420' with whatever his real name is are pretty slim, but it's still non zero. The name probably appears on his facebook somewhere.

Just FYI i dont have a Facebook/myspace/whatever... so im in the clear :>

Besides, law enforcement is more oriented in bringing down the suppliers rather than the users.

Either way dev thanks for pointing that out, if i DID have a fb it is certainly possible for my full name to get out to law enforcement.

[korny]

Originally Posted by hashishin0420

There really isn't anywhere on Earth that marijuana is 100% legal.

Peru. Nepal.

Originally Posted by SocoNhydro420

Just FYI i dont have a Facebook/myspace/whatever... so im in the clear :>

Besides, law enforcement is more oriented in bringing down the suppliers rather than the users.

Either way dev thanks for pointing that out, if i DID have a fb it is certainly possible for my full name to get out to law enforcement.

If law enforcement finds me on facebook and reads about me having talked about smoking bud, dropping acid, or shooting up heroin, nothing is going to happen. No one is going to go through all the trouble and resources of finding out whether or not i'm a recreational heroin user. Because talking about doing drugs online is only proof of me talking about doing drugs online, not actually doing them and doesn't suggest anything about the real issue which is supplying them.

[devonin]

The issue isn't law enforcement, the issue is HR departments and hiring managers. Seeing 'Korny the Bongmaster' is almost certainly going to be enough to make them pick someone else over you.

[korny]

Seeing as their is no correlation between my ffr username, and my personal info, I fail to see the point.

[fido123]

They still keep track of your IP in such ways such as buying information off of companies. When you sign up with them using that same information, and you're using the same IP addresses, some connctions may be made, and one might be enough to open a whole pandoras box. My friend went through the hiring process to become a cop, and he had to sign a paper saying they're allowed to query CSIS (Canadian CIA) which was able to find EVERY email address he's used in his entire life, including one me and him made together to troll some guy in our class we found out was some kind of otherkin vampire weirdo. I'm kinda scared cause I've done some pretty incredibly reduculously stupid shit on the internet.

[korny]

Ok. Let's say I get my degree in biochemistry, and work for a very reputable chemist company. Are you saying that my company among many others, might have the capability of seeing posts made by me on a site called flashflashrevolution.com under the username korny, and knowing that someone within the household had been making said posts thereby concluding that a conflict of interest might be threatening the integrity of the company due to the nature of some of the posts? I'm just wondering within a reasonable realm to what extent my ffr usage could and would be pursued to where a future career might be jeopardized. It just doesn't seem plausible.

[devonin]

Well, it's more like your own personal situation might not be the same as everyone else's, but it IS certainly in the realm of possiblity that say...

You have a facebook, under your real name. A prospective employer looks at your facebook. You have a list of various IM programs etc in your contact info, they're all variations on the theme 'korny'. You have a wall post referencing FFR. It's really not a stretch at all to consider they might go "ffr korny" into google and see your last bunch of posts.

Obviously these particular convergances aren't true in your particular case at this particular time, but it pays to be careful.

[Cavernio]

On to how this relates to the thread, it's retarded that employers care about your drug usage and that many employers have mandatory drug testing. That said, I wouldn't care to work for a company that would care about such things and not hire me based on something like that. But actually yes, it seems quite plausible to me that someone in the large biochem company would know that korny is the bongmaster and that that is you.

[shinohigurashi]

Why does anyone use drugs? If there's a universal reason, it's that each person is trying to get at something. Less stress? free from axiety/fear? prolonged life? Because it's great fun?
Doesn't every reason eventually lead back to your own happiness. What are you when your free from stress, fear and anxiety? Happy. (or happier). For someone who wants more life, prolonging it makes them happier. By some definition of fun, you're already happy, it's more of a matter of realizing it.

There is no doubt that if you do what you want, you get what you deserve. But even if that's your death, how is it a bad thing if you only did it for good reasons? You'd just as soon blame the drugs for death if you're afraid of it (as you would also make addictions and permanent changes to your body or mind as bad), but if you get what you want, and that's happiness, then death ain't but a thing. and so long as you're doing what it is you want to do most in life, in this case drugs, you shouldn't be anything but happy.

My opinion is that if you aren't enjoying yourself, then that's not good and you shouldn't do it.

If it's too much to believe that addictions and changes of mind or body are in any way good, then here's my opinion.

You can't make someone behave morally right through law. If someone is going to murder, then they are going to murder. When you outlaw drugs, you aren't going to stop anyone who is already going to do them. If someone wants to do something, they'll do it. What happens instead? For starters, there's an increase in paranoia among many drug users for the obvious reason that they may get caught. Then there's this drug war, per say, of cops versus all users in which a massive amount of money, time, energy and resources are wasted trying to bust all illegal users who, in your (governments) opinion, are "bad" because they use "bad things." (or maybe it's because the goverment likes the indirect inflow of money from illegal drugs, who knows) And let's not forget that crime rates rise once you make something illegal that a mass of people like because you rose the price in the same way, and now they can't pay to support their habit. That and more murders between those who supply drugs.

Wouldn't it work better to offer help to users instead of throwing them in jail? Because if drugs are bad, it's not because they make you go around shooting people up, it's because you're addicted to a point where you hurt others by stealing and such, as well as deprive yourself of what your life could be. If not all, make certain drugs legal, take those resources spent making them illegal, offer the help drug addicts need in drug therapy and rehab centers, and then you have much more money, time and especially manpower to direct at improving other areas of crime and public service that are more importantly in need of improvement. Drug related crimes should fall naturally.

[shinohigurashi]

Oh, I guess in conclusion, drugs aren't bad, legal or illegal, they can be extremely good. It's the rules enforced upon people because drugs are viewed negatively that are not so great.

[Cavernio]

Although making drugs illegal isn't going to stop someone who is already using them stop using them, it definitely prevents people from ever starting them in the first place. Which is good if the drug in question is highly addictive or easily causes other serious physical damage. I'm sure that if I could go to the store and get cocaine I would, more than once. I'm personally glad I have no idea where to get cocaine.

[shinohigurashi]

I agree with certain drugs being illegal, such as cocaine, but MJ being legal has already shown how that in itself is enough for MANY people to not move on to harder drugs. In countries where it's legal that is. Just as someone who is already going to do them will do them, they will also find them sooner or later no matter what you do. So making them illegal may prevent for some time, but not completely.

[SocoNhydro420]

I was watching a documentary on Amsterdam and their policies on drugs. They split drugs into two categories, "hard", and "soft". They make the soft drugs legal under certain restrictions so that users can obtain them in a coffee shop or whatnot. Doing it this way keeps the casual soft drug users from being exposed to hard and more dangerous drugs that they might encounter if they bought through a street dealer. As a result, hard drug usage such as heroin is drastically lower while its near epidemic proportions in the US.

Not to mention if the US made MJ legal they could tax the shit out of it and help fix that retarded debt.

[devonin]

If it were legal, and they tried to tax the shit out of it, people would just grow their own (like they already are) and not pay taxes in the store.

[fido123]

Originally Posted by devonin

If it were legal, and they tried to tax the shit out of it, people would just grow their own (like they already are) and not pay taxes in the store.

I'm pretty sure corperate organizations could produce better pot than anybody else, and therefore have a selling point.

[devonin]

Yes and No.

The thing about Pot is that unlike tobacco there -aren't- a miles long list of ridiculous chemical additives that are what people actually become addicted to/crave.

Tobacco plants grown in your yard bear basically no resemblance to the cigarettes you buy at the store. Pot grown in your yard would.

[fido123]

Although anybody can grow pot, not everybody would be able to grow pot of the same quality as a corperation. I know a lot of people including myself who'd shell out the extra money to get extreamly high quality marajuana, as oppossed to somebodies backyard varaity stuff. Companies would have the resources to produce marajuana with a higher THC and cannabanoid percentage which is what users seek.

EDIT: Also legitimate marajuana cigarettes instead of hand rolled joints. I can't roll for the life of me. Cigarette styled marajuana smokes pre-made I would buy in an instant. There are many ways to make money in this industry IMO.