h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hell yes!

Crecent covered a great deal in the conversation titled Cannibis but missed out on one major point: the taxed generated from the sales of cannibis would put many institutions back in the black. At this point in the US, the taxes on cigarettes are keeping many schools open and helping to pave our roads, clean our towns and keep our garbage collectors paid. The sales tax from this "drug" would be enormous.

Also, when Prohibition (of booze) hit the US in the 1920's, the rate of crime increased by more than 75%. This was due to the fact that people simply ignored an unpopular and stupid law. I belive that if we legalized all drugs, we would see a similar drop in the crime rate.

I think cannabis should be legalized, for many reasons. But the "drop in crime" reason is not a good one. By the same argument you can make the crime rate drop to zero just by legalizing everything! The question is: would legalizing everything end murder, rape, asault, robbery and so on? I don't think drugs that really do kill people ought to be legalized. If cannabis is legalized it ought to be because it is not more harmful than drugs that are already legal such as alcohol, tobacco and so on.

"I don't think drugs that really do kill people ought to be legalized."

Why not? The government is not a baby-sitter. Or... well... it is, but it shouldn't be. People's bodies and lives are their own business, unless they start mucking around in other people's lives.



"If cannabis is legalized it ought to be because it is not more harmful than drugs that are already legal such as alcohol, tobacco and so on."

It should be legalized because what people choose to inhale is their own business, and not the government's. It's quite simple, really.

So you are part libertarian. I trespass as a hobby because not enough people in America cross the invisible lines.

Reminds me of an old commercial. There's a kid in school coloring a picture of a cow. The teacher goes "stay within the lines" ... and the kid takes a (purple, IIRC) crayon an draws a nice hard line over the book's outline of the cow. (I think it was a cow, anyway.)

Then the go to a shot of a woman in the jeep-type thing they're trying to sell, who just decides to go off road, into mud or something.

Hmmm... this is a pointless tangent, ain't it? Sorry!



But, yeah... thinking within the lines is something many people need to quit doin'. It causes problems... like the disgustingly expensive and invasive War on Drugs.

I think the point was that legalising cannabis would cause to a drop in the rate of *other* crimes. Perhaps because everyone would be too mellow to rob anyone?
On a related note, legalising ecstacy would reduce the strain on the health service, because most of the ecstacy related deaths are from stuff mixed in with it, rather than ecstacy itself.

I hope they have a strict 'don't do drugs and drive' policy if they do legalise it, though.

Okay, you've convinced me. I personally don't see the point of doing drugs because I am ecstatically happy all of the time. But if other people want to use drugs, I can't prevent them and I guess it's not really what any government ought to do either. Coke, heroin etc. may be harmful to your health, but so is prison. Why punish people for punishing themselves? But still, I think many people try to make themselves happy by using drugs and end up making themselves miserable. And in the process they make other people miserable as well. Even though I am always happy, that is a deep-down happiness; more superficially I feel sad when I see people being miserable. So if you do drugs, stay away from the deadly stuff. I include alcohol among the deadly stuff, because it DOES kill people and sometimes quite rapidly. So try to be happy from your own inner source of happiness. If you "have" to use something, be careful, and if it's illegal, try to make sure you don't get caught. Cause then you sure ain't gonna be happy.

Some people never have that inner sense of happiness - It maybe something you're born with... or without...

Recent study by the UK govt showed that driving under the influence of cannabis actually made you safer. Tho' reduced reaction times this was more than compensated for in the first half hour by increased caution (ie in the fist half hour someone under the influence of cannabis is safer than a sober person) after half an hour safety drops until it is just below a sober persons. Alcohol just destroys any saftey at all.....
BCNU - Crescent

Doesn't that just mean that the annoying people doing 55 in a 60 zone right in front of you areall stoned? It may be safer, but over-cautious drivers make others angry, and makes *them* unsafe. That's bad.

Yes, but that is hardly the safe drivers fault......
BCNU - Crescent

Let's not go around dishing out blame - the important thing is that the roads would be less safe if people could legally take cannabis and drive. Not that it'll be relevant until cannabis gets legalised, anyway...

In any case, roads are meant for transporting things from A to B - and people who are under the influence of cannabis, while they may be safe, aren't going to be performing that function quite as well. Then again - I suppose that same argument could be made against old people, but you can't help getting old, but you can help taking drugs before stepping behind the wheel...

The argument you seem to be using here is that cannabis use would make the roads less safe because people who hadn't touched, or used, or had anything to do with cannabis would drive more dangerously. Bizarre. Cannabis shouldn't really be used if driving as eventually it does make you less safe. Then again driving when tired is much more dangerous, almost as dangerous as alcohol, but what can you do......
BCNU - Crescent

Well, 4x4s with bull bars make the road less safe for people who haven't touched, or used, or had anything to do with 4x4s. Or bulls.

C'mon - it's hardly bizzare. Wonderbra ads make the roads less safe because they distract male drivers (it's true!), and slow drivers, or drivers compensating for slow reactions, make the roads less safe because because they annoy drivers. *shrug* makes perfect sense to me...

In lorries, at least, you can put in taxographs(sp?) to stop people driving for too long without a rest... I think there might be some resistance if they did the same in cars, though.....

Just to this extasy stuff. if canabis and all that stuff would be legalized, the goverment could put up a control system, like evry alcoholic beverage bottle has to have the alcohol content on it. so you could buy stuff in "official" stores and you dont have to worry that there is some bad stuff in it, because the government controls what s going on somehow and doesnt allow bad stuff to get onto the free market.