“Prohibition…goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”
– Abraham Lincoln, December, 1840

Drugs, for the purpose of the present discussion, are chemical substances which when ingested produce subjective effects that a human finds highly enjoyable or beneficial, depending on the drug, the dose, the personality and neurological stability of the user, the setting, the user’s history of drug use, and his psychological state at the time of ingestion.It is well known that moderate use of alcohol is relatively harmless but that excessive use can cause multiple problems from automobile accidents to loss of job and alienation of friends and family. Probably just about all of the drugs in the list can be used safely in moderation but can cause serious problems if used to excess. The issue of drugs and their legality poses fascinating questions about individual freedom and responsibility. Should a human being be allowed to determine what goes into his body?

Perhaps if marijuana had enjoyed popularity among the wealthy, who make the laws, rather than the lower classes, it would be legal today, much like alcohol and tobacco.

Sadly, the government’s attempts at drug education end with abstinence, and no one is ever taught the true nature of the substances in question.

Moderation in drugs, as in all else, is key. Many widely-used and perfectly legal substances, thought safe by most people, are deadly if consumed at a high concentration.

The government has chosen to overlook these horrible substances for the time being. Maybe in the future, salt, water and air will become illegal, and only distributed by the government on an as-needed basis in monitored amounts and at a high cost. haha

The medicinal benefits of marijuana have made the news now in many states voters are wrangling with the issue of whether those with terminal illnesses should be allowed to use marijuana or not. Such a question is ridiculous because there is no reason for marijuana to be illegal in the first place, and denying it to the terminally ill merely represents the most egregious injustice.

Opium has been much maligned as well, when it is the single best cure for pain known to man, and has spawned numerous medicines that have enriched pharmaceutical companies to the tune of many, many billions of dollars.(codeine,hydrocodone,mophine,heroin and many other opiates are legal and some are WORSE than the natural form).

There are uses to which substances can be put, some better than others; there are benefits and dangers inherent to substances. These attributes should be studied rationally, without hysteria and without exaggeration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The public schools are awash in anti-drug hysteria.
Keeping children from drugs is not a good justification for lying to them.

Sending in dogs to sniff lockers, strip-searching students, expelling any student caught with a little bit of marijuana, making the school resemble a prison, and trashing civil liberties, all while genuine education goes into the toilet!!!

Conservatives forget, but of course alcohol is a drug, both more potent and dangerous than marijuana, and has been wildly popular for thousands of years.

Thomas Jefferson grew marijuana on his plantation and smoked it. In colonial Virginia, not growing marijuana was a crime, because the plant was used to make an essential product, rope.

The first American flags were woven from hemp (marijuana)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But there are the drug conservatives who want to police drug use and forbid and control. In the 1990s, the war on drugs was a big item in political campaigns. The drug conservatives have used various methods to discourage drug use. In one of these, the brain on drugs is compared to eggs frying in an over-heated skillet.

My position on drugs is that neither the drug advocates nor the drug conservatives are entirely right about drugs. Drugs probably do not produce enlightenment, although an LSD trip may give a person a bit of insight into how his own thought processes work.

The War on Drugs has created numerous difficulties–especially the law that mandates very long prison sentences with no chance of parole for what amounts to simple possession by a user who does not deal drugs, only consumes them!

IS IT REALLY REASONABLE
TO LET HORRIBLE CRIMINALS OUT OF JAIL BUT THE HARMLESS POT SMOKERS HAVE TO
SERVE 20 YEAR SENTENCES FOR DOING SOMETHING SAFER THAN ALCOHOL.

IF ALCOHOL GETS YOU HIGH WHY DONT YOU GO TO JAIL FOR IT?
ILL TELL YOU WHY.

BECAUSE AMERICA IS UNREASONABLE,UNJUST AND UNFAIR.
AND NO ONE SEEMS TO REALIZE HOW FUKED UP IT IS