The "F*CK YOU" Finale of "Weed Wars"...

[RainDog]

40. something that is processed would qualify as a drug, imo

aspirin is a drug.

willow tree bark, which is the basis for chemicals synthesized as aspirin, is not a drug - tho it was used for the same reasons that we now use aspirin. it's also not illegal.

don't all plants that we consume have effects on the mind?

psychoactive is defined, simply, as: affecting the mind or mood or other mental processes.

nutmeg is also a drug - except it's not. same with willow, St. John's Wort, chamomile, bananas... and on and on.

my view of what constitutes a "drug," is a substance that is processed to isolate certain chemical components of a natural substance or to create a synthetic version of those components.

that's why I say Marinol is a drug while cannabis is not. this is just my view of how things are divided - but since cannabis is the only plant (oops, sorry, that's wrong... other natural plants are included... but their effects are far more substantial in terms of altering perception. I do wonder why other plants that also have psychoactive effects do not fall under the arbitrary scheduling designations. Nutmeg is a hallucinogen too.

but overall, I think a harm reduction approach is better than a law enforcement approach. I see addiction as a medical problem. In terms of cost/benefit to an individual and a society, I think legalization and regulation of all illegal substances commonly referred to as drugs in our society makes more sense.

I think education and respect for things like peyote or p. mushrooms makes more sense than making them illegal. I think all of these substances should be regulated and limited to adults.

This view comes about after looking at the ways that Portugal has been able to reduce the number of hard drug users and reduce the associated health problems from their use - like HIV and Hep C, etc.

In addition, such approaches are more cost effective.

And, most of all, I think such an approach is more humane.

I think that we use substance abuse as a way to ignore larger problems - the problems of people from horrible conditions due to economic need or abusive family systems or systemic prejudices. By singling out a few that are caught doing something illegal, we let ourselves, as a society, off the hook from looking at the bigger problems.

Even so, I recognize that some people have physiological issues with abuse, no matter what.

But I would rather try to minimize the harm they can do to themselves and others - and put taxpayer dollars toward that end, rather than a system of incarceration and the problems that "answer" creates.