I'm glad that people have been able to open up and discuss their views on
drugs, the war in Vietnam, and the general disillusionment we have of the establishment. I agree with Arlo that there is a two-faced hypocrisy in our North American culture. Arlo was charged for being a litter bug, while U.S. soldiers were bombing innocent women and children in Vietnam. The establishment made a big deal over Arlo littering, yet they were doing a lot worse things overseas.
There's no easy answer to the problem of drugs in our society, whether they be illegal or legal prescription drugs. Either way, drugs are an enslaving substance, draining people of their money and victimizing the drug-user, as well as other people living in the nearby community who are victimized through being targets of property crimes. Arlo was right when he said more crimes are committed because of drugs than anything else. Drug users have to commit crimes to support their expensive drug habits. Society in general, erodes in standards of living and morale.
There are alternatives to drug-taking which are productive, such as transcendental meditation, yoga, exercises which can relieve stress, herbal teas such as camomile which are naturally relaxing and calming, and the use of imagery and visualization in relaxation techniques.
The mind is a powerful thing. The philosopher Descartes said: I think, there I am.

Welcome back ADG! Whhile you're in DC this summer maybe you can stop by & give Dubya a visit. Now that would make news.

Altho I don't advocate drug use, I do think it's silly that someone who took a toke can rot away for yrs in prison while murderers & rapists get set free. Wrong priorities, lawmakers. ..

Yeah I agree adg, people should be responsible for themselves! We have seatbelt laws here as well as helmet, riding in the back of utes (pickups) and plenty more!

And here also I see many, many more people damaged by alcohol than the "evil weed". I saw an ad for a show coming up on one of our TV stations all about 'new evidence of what MJ does to you brain' This is all a farce when we consider what alcohol and perscription drugs do to your brain. But of course we can't have too much scare mongering about that 'cos it might cut into someones revenue!!

It's winter here now, as you know ,so if you get too overheated your welcome any time especially in August '06!

Be careful if you do. Whatever the stuff is that they are using there, it seems kinda obvious that it's mind damaging and not mind expanding stuff. Ya know what I'm sayin'?

I mean even college can damage your brain! Case in point: Bush went to Yale!

Haha, the recent posts regarding Washington make me think of the multi-colored rainbow roach affair.

Yeah, well....I live in the DC area...the newspapers are full of political crap and special interest group shenanigans, and you can just about see all the taxpayer's money that's being pounded down their many rat-holes. Locally in No. VA the powers that be want to micromanage our lives, and God forbid that anyone be insulted in any way...the political correctness stuff has gotten waaaay overboard, to the point where teachers in elementary schools can't mention Halloween or Christmas because some people might be insulted, or the kids might be corrupted if a pagan holiday is mentioned.
And in the meantime...I know of a couple places a block from Herndon's City Hall where they've got very interesting plants the size of Christmas trees growing in the yard. It's not being grown in basements here...cuz Big Brother is flying overhead in helicopters, looking for the heat signatures of plant grow-lights. It makes you that much more appreciative when mighty fine brownies show up at a pickin' party.

Marijuana, being one of the softer drugs, is often depicted as being almost harmless. I heard on the radio that it contains more tartar than cigarettes, which contribute to cancer.
You also can not drive while under the influence of marijuana. Marijuana alters perception and could cause a slowing down of the reflexes, which is what you need when you're driving. You need to be fully alert and vigilant when you're at the wheel of a car.
If you want to smoke pot at home, etc., fine, but I see pot as being on par with alcohol when it comes to driving a car.
When I was in university, I took a course called altered states of consciousness, and it was about how drugs affected the mind. Drugs give a person a false sense of well-being...this high lasts only temporarily and then there is the coming down...or the crash, so to speak. In order to maintain this high, more and more drugs need to be ingested because the body habituates itself to this altered state.

OK so here is the thing as I see it. The lawyers make the laws so the lawyers have something to do. Most of the laws have nothing to do with law they have to do with shifting the blame. So the kids growing up don't see it as their responsibility to be responsible. If you do something stupid it's your fault for being stupid. Doesn't matter if you are loaded, stoned or just dumb. If you don't teach your kids to stay off other folks property and they don't it's not the property owners fault if they get hurt. So in my mind it doesn't matter how high the lawyers say my fence has to be when the kid is found floating in my pool it's not my fault. OK so the same thing goes for the SUV moms that can't keep those large things on their own side of the road. Doesn't matter to me if she is smoking a joint, talking on the cel, changing the CD or cleaning the chin of the kid in the back seat (the lawyers said the kid can't sit in the front) of the moving projectile. My side of the line is supposed to be for me. As for the drug laws all they have done is to make the price of the drugs go up, our taxes go up, our prison population go up, our politicians bigger liers and our courts too busy to actually go after them.

I look at it this way it is easier for a teenager to get an illegal substance than a legal substance. Prohibition is not an answer it is avoiding the question and it is costly. I don't worry about the people doing drugs - I worry about the small % who are addicted and abusing drugs. As adults we should be able to decide for ourselves if we want to use drugs (be it alcohol or currently illegal substances) and we should live with the consequences of the decision to use drugs or not to use drugs.

man I can't believe I didn't find this thread!

no comment/rlb

If Uncle Sam spent the money he spends on jailing these outlaw dregs of society, he could have a fine treatment center in every corner! Meanwhile we go ahead with our invasion of Mexico, (makes as much sense as Iraq!) we can all enjoy cheap labor, while we collect our unemployment checks from their taxes!


Well, the whole concept is only in the planning stages, give it time....

I do not know how I missed this site all this time. Go adg....Got to get some of your new work man.

Interesting discussion. What amazes me is how "government" is of, by, and for the people...until a "politicial" gets elected...then wow, do they become "individualists"...and suddenly with "wisdom" beyond all others. And they know more about whats best for me than I myself know whats best for me. If I voted for one and put the sucker there in the first place, what suddenly changed that I can no longer make any more rational decisions on my own???? Oh...until the next election...then for one brief moment I might be "self-responsible" again.

When was the last time anyone received a survey from their Congressmen, about what YOU think on issues coming up for consideration...and then you saw the tally (results of the survey)...and then you saw him/her vote with the majority of his/her constituency???? Wasn't that the main idea?...that they were to 'represent' the thinking of the folks that sent them there..and pays their salaries???

I do think one of the genious's of our time is Thomas Sowell, who recently said: "Those of us who believe in the two-party system regard voting for a third party as throwing away your vote. However, we could use two new parties to replace the Democrats and Republicans."

Make that...."politician"...Geez....got me too wound up for a moment....LOL!!!!!!

How about Thoreau?? "The best government is that government that governs the least." ??? Civil diobediance. (with quotations)