[Jamietwo]

Originally Posted by Zippy

Well laws are there to set guidelines and send out a message as to what society finds acceptable. Remove them and you are opening the floodgates. Which may not be pretty. And no form of drug taking should be encouraged at this point. Drugs are addictive and drug addicts are pathetic and useless to society; harsh but true.

If we were starting from scratch I think there is a case to be made that they are equal. But cigs and alcohol have been an acceptable part of our culture for centuries. Industries have been built on them. They are an integral part of society. It's just not realistic to now class them as first class drugs and make them illegal. But that doesnt mean we should now make more hardcore drugs as available and acceptable. Thats backwards logic.

actually humanity has a long long history of drugs use in various forms and for long periods drugs now considered bad have been acceptable in some cultures and still are.

I find your comments about addicts being pathetic and useless to society a bit hurtful. actually many addicts hold responsible jobs and also have contributed a great deal to society, including many great philosophers artists, politicians etc.

although i respect your right to have an opinion I'd like to gently encourage you to consider that addicts are individuals who all have different stories. I'll give you an example. A close friend of mine who was generally considered to be one of the most thoughtful kind and considerate people and loved by many was an addict, he fought hard against his problems and managed to achieve considerable lengths of time clean but had various issues , which i wont go into out of respect for his privacy . sadly he relapsed and died, but the world was a better place because of his life, addict or not.

addicts can include all kinds of people from sweet old ladies to children who all have their own stories and reasons for the situation they end up in. The stereotype of dangerous young criminals is just a part of the story.

I wouldn't normally respond so emphatically to someone elses opinion which after all is not really any of my business, but i just wanted to ask you to be a little more open minded.