Why Are Drugs Illegal?

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
Many people do not even know the history of drugs and how the laws that were put in place came about. Based on my research, before drugs became illegal they were not really a "problem". However, certain foreigners brought some drugs over and tended to be the ones who used them. We all know how much the Chinese, Mexicans and all those Europeans were hated back then. All the poorest people were these imigrants nad pretty much slaves to everyone back then. Those in the position to do so decided those foreigners were "bad" and the drugs they brought over were bad - even though the drugs did not cause any more crime. Drugs became illegal. There was no real research to find out if all those drugs were causing more crime. It was a social decision based on racists feelings towards minorities.

From my understanding, marijuana or hemp for example, was outlawed under the reasons stated above as it's production threatened many new industries including, but not limited to Oil and Paper. Henry Ford's Prototype Model T was made with components using hemp and could run on hemp oil.

There is actually more crime as a result of drugs being illegal - than there is crime as a result of people being on drugs. There is more and more money spent on the WOD each year - and NOTHING has changed. Fact that more money is spent on fighting this war than on getting treatment for those who are addicted.

If they end the "WOD" tomorrow, all that WOD money would stop flowing. All those people out of work. All the jails that would have to close. No more raids on the wrong house. No more checkpoints. No more stop and frisks. No more fun. Something to ponder.

Isn't there a country somewhere that decriminalized drugs and seen crime and abuse drop dramatically over the last 5 years or so?




[edit on 29-11-2009 by mantic]

[edit on 29-11-2009 by mantic]

reply to post by JohnnyR


I could do that. I havent received my grade on it yet, as the class JUST ended this past week. As soon as I get a grade, I can make it a .pdf.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Let us grade it for you I kid I kid but seriously that would be cool thanks.

I'm apologize. I'm old school. When I think of illegal drugs, I think of drugs as (coc aine, heroine, opium) -pain , (mushrooms, marijuana) -mind. All Plant based. However, today there are a whole myriad of illegal drugs. Interesting thing is that most of these new drugs are copycats of the ones I mention.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
mantic- Actually most pharmaceuticals are derived from plants and animals. Not drugs.

Drugs are illegal due to addiction and the criminal activity that results from having an addiction. Curse or thank the people who ruin everything for everyone else.

[edit on 29-11-2009 by gazerstar]

Two things come to mind. 'Hard drugs' because of the cost to the public because of treatment and possible criminal activity. 'Light drugs' because of the old fashioned views of politicians and their mislead thinking that all drugs are the same.

Such a huge industry reliant on illicit drugs staying that way. The economic and social ramifications of it are endless. The effects of legalizing all of these substances for medicinal, recreational, or spiritual use would have, arguably, unpredictable and perhaps even catostrophic effects on so many levels.
We see gradual changes in the social, legal, and scientific acceptance of marijuana for these purposes, but the industrial and agricultural application of it is still completely suppressed. Marijuana is the only one you're going to see much change about. Nobody where I live will be chewing fresh Coca leaf or drinking Ayahuaska anytime soon.
It is very unclear what the "legitimate" source of opium is that the pharmaceutical companies require for the whole gaggle of prescription drugs they manufacture. I'm sure when most people take a hydrocodone, they never think about who slaved or died for it.


[edit on 30-11-2009 by 2compelled]

A lot of drugs are illegal because they make you think differently.

And that's very dangerous to TPTB.

So when they say "drugs are dangerous", ironically, they're telling the truth.



[edit on 30/11/09 by NuclearPaul]

reply to post by mantic


Ah yes, it was portugal.

I wonder how many of you know that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.
I could go on and on, but clearly, things have been different in the past.
And I could argue that the past was for better.

Illegal drugs dumb down the masses, and are an excellent excuse to lock up certain individuals. No questions asked. Oh, it was DRUGS?!!!! Lock 'em up.

And they are a waste of money. I know people that pour tons of cash down the drug hole. Poor pets are no threat. Slaves they are.

to prevent common folk from having "consciousness-expanding" experiences

Definitely this one.

This is why Psychedelics (hallucinogens if you will) are very illegal and the most demonized and attacked by propaganda. They force new thought.

Very dangerous for TPTB!

HOWEVER...the ones that are dangerous to the PEOPLE?

Booze..legal
Cigarettes..legal
Speed and Meth...legal...in the form of pharma meds of course

Really it's pretty blatant when you lay it out and step back for a look.

reply to post by ravenshadow13

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
mantic- Actually most pharmaceuticals are derived from plants and animals. Not drugs.

Actually

Most Pharmaceuticals and Drugs are derived from plants. Sometimes purely extracted and othertimes used for further synthesis.

Sorry...I know you were trying to distance the bad drugs from the other stuff. Doesn't work though.

One example:

Heroin, Codeine and Morphine all come from raw Opium.

*Heroin is synthesized, morphine and codeine is straight up present in opium.

[edit on 30-11-2009 by silver tongue devil]

becuz the world is run by sadistic assholes who dont want you to have too good a time.

but mainly becuz they open your mind to new realities and they're dangerous to tptb becuz new realities endanger this crap arse reality that they are trying to maintain on this planet. (i.e. greed and money and ego as the basis for life).

if it really was to protect your welfare like they say on tv, they wudnt let you drink alcohol either. or smoke. but they do, dont they?
alcohol's okay - it wont open your mind much at all..

Drugs are illegal for a myriad of reasons including racism, protection rackets for corporate profits, propaganda, ignorant, corrupt, and incompetent legislators, fear, and career advancement opportunities.

However, I believe that some drugs deserve their taboo status. Meth/Pseudo-Meth, Crack, Heroin all come to mind.

Heroin can be used for extreme pain relief scenarios, but I wouldn't want to cross that line unless I was stranded on a wacky island with serious bodily injury and only a virgin mary statue filled with heroin...

Hemp, the no THC (drugless) variety of the cannabis genus, has been extremely beneficial to us for many thousands of years, but it has become the forgotten resource due to it's similar appearance to its THC laden cousin. Because of the fact that anyone with minimal training can tell the difference between industrial hemp and the THC containing varieties, several modern countries have reintroduced the production of industrial hemp.

Hemp is extremely useful because it is an efficient source of extremely strong fiber, and the name cannabis comes from the dutch word 'canvas' because all ship sails were produced from the plant's extreme hardiness and it's tendencies towards saltwater resistance. Cotton/Flax sails were not possible, because sea spray will rot any sail made of this material within three weeks. Of course, in modern times we make our sails and coordage out of NYLON, but this DuPont invention is a recent innovation.

The reason some drugs are highly illegal while other (often more dangerous) drugs are legal, is because they want as many people as possible using mind-numbing drugs like Prozac and alcohol and as few people as possible using transcendent drugs like '___' or MDMA. It's easier to keep us obedient and ignorant that way.

There's 2 very different sides to this particular coin.

But here's a little story. Its complete fiction, but is based on a few facts and real events that I have witnessed.

I know this guy. Lets call him Simon
Simon was a good kid. Straight-A student, top of the class in high school. Popular guy, did lots of stuff, was well organised - basically, he had everything. Didn't drink, smoke, do anything 'bad'. But in his last couple of years of high school (UK - lets say he was 15 at this point), he started hanging with different people. One day, someone passed Simon a marijuana joint. He took his first toke and felt a massive weight lift of his shoulders - he thought it was the best thing ever.

Now, fast forward 2 years. Simon is 17, studying his A levels. He took one ecstasy tablet in the summer after he left school, but left it in the past.
He had lots of new friends now - some of them much older, in their 20s and 30s. Smoking pot more, going the pub lots. One night after the pub, Simon goes with some of his 20something friends back to a house, and gets offered a line of coc aine.
Then Simon's 18th birthday came, and he went on a right bender - pot, pills, coke. Lots.
After this, he got himself a part time job. He was approaching his college exams. However, with all this new found money, Simon got wasted every night. Bottle of cider, or maybe cans of lager, and a bag of weed. He started skipping class, stopped handing in work. Suddenly, the main thing on his mind was 'how much weed i got left?' 'How can i get money for more weed?'
Simon stopped studying and spent all day every day getting high. He got high for all his exams, and just about scraped a pass in each. (Big difference from a straight A student in school, eh?)

Simon then had a rough summer where he didn't know where his head was at. He moved out and started a university course, and again, had lots more money. He was working more, had student funding, he even got some inheritance money.
He wasn't touching the pills or coke anymore, but was easily spending £20 every day on pot, and was always high as a kite. Bought himself a car, spent every day driving round with his pals getting high, started selling the odd bit of weed to help pay for his habit.

6 months later. Simon has flunked his course and is only still registered for the free money. Then he loses his driving license, leaving him devastated. Back on the coke to make it all better. But oh no - he then loses his job later that week, and ends up living back with his parents, unemployed. This summer Simon starts hammering the coke and pills, and keeping up with the weed. Nothing else matters except having a good time to Simon now. He even starts taking amphetamines as a cheap coke replacement
He couldn't even eat his Christmas dinner because he'd had a couple pills the night before, and he jaw was outta control, he just couldn't eat.
He was getting into debt he couldn't get out of, every day was a mission to get high and nothing else - and he knows it.

Seeing himself like this, Simon started to remember what his life used to be like before all the drugs. Starts sorting his head out, lays off the coke and pills and phet (still on the weed but much less.) Simon gets a job again - but loses it within a week, because he went into work high one day, and the boss clocked him straight away.
Determined to make something of himself, Simon goes back to university. Straight away he finds a guy who does the best deals on weed he's ever seen, back to the old £20 a day. Might have a couple pills on a weekend, nothing much compared to his past.
Simon thinks he's in control - but if he's not high he's not happy. But he's keeping up with the course, he's enjoying it and doing the work, not skipping class at all.

But then one day, Simon suffers a massive setback - a friend dies. Simon decided to stay home a couple days, sort his head out, have a smoke. Then, 2 days later, Simon's house gets burgled. He can't believe it, he hadn't felt this down in the dumps since the week he lost his car and job.
Simon started smoking lots and lots of weed again, and the amphetamines crept back in.
Simon has 4 weeks out of uni, he misses his assignment deadlines, he misses a couple of in-class assessments.
Simon thought it was all going wrong again - he'd blown all his money, was so far behind in his course he was actually scared of going in - which is pretty damn pathetic for a 20 year old, he thinks.
5 years ago Simon smoked a joint. Everything seemed to have gone wrong since that.

I'm going to leave it there - but I think that is a good way of explaining the illegality of drugs.

selfisolated.

(P.S. if anybody would like to know which parts of that are true, u2u me and I'll explain the fact behind the fiction in private.)

They stop us taking drugs to stop us opening up our minds.

Drugs have been used in cultures all over the world to open our minds and spirits to other worlds, other energies, other possibilities and other concepts.

If they control this then they control our minds.

If we have fun and we explore our consciousness then we are more difficult to control.

It is really sad to hear ppl say it needs be illegal.....why?

"Because I have a personal friend thats addicted"


Should the ppl with self control and moderation be punished for the ppl that have no self control?
Thats just wrong, why does anyone want their gov't's holding their hands, telling them this is bad, or its illegal.

Its really nothing more than early prohabition, if anyone wants any of the said "drugs" they can go get them, illegal or not its still here, and always will be.

reply to post by ItsTheQuestion


Same reason anything else is illegal, pretty much. Because it's a form of power, which isn't controlled and meted out by TPTB.

I think they're illiegal because a majority of them are deadly, that's IMO, but I say that they make it legal, and let stupid people be stupid, a natural selection eugenics, if you will...and BTW Marijauna is illegal, only because it is better for the environment and produces more paper than trees do, and would put a lot of people out of business and drive down the cost of paper, it's also very good for clothing, which would drive the cost of clothing down, putting a lot of companies out of business, at least I have read that let me find the source on that...also I would let in some more info, it's about one of the few drugs that is NOT deadly. Drinking is more deadly: fact!

The Marijuana Conspiracy

Not the same article but close enough!


edited to add:

MEDICINES SHOULD BE MADE FROM HEMP. We should go back to the days when the AMA supported cannabis cures. 'Medical Marijuana' is given out legally to only a handful of people while the rest of us are forced into a system that relies on chemicals. Pot is only healthy for the human body.

[edit on 30-11-2009 by ldyserenity]

[edit on 30-11-2009 by ldyserenity]