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

consider yourself yikesed im no moron

Err, she didn't call you a moron. Re-read it.

Yeh, I didn't say you were a moron. I might say that now however...

Wow. Now even *I* have a troll following. I feel special...

Who'd have thought such a real, though-provoking discussion could come of my caffeinated ramblings at 2am?!

NYC - I only rarely drink it, mostly because the taste almost isn't worth the caffeine. But alas, sometimes it's necessary. But that would be a heck of a thing to be addicted to

I tend to agree with BB. I don't think alcohol should be legal, mostly because there's no guarantee people aren't going to drink and drive. And for every responsible drinker that comes with a designated driver, there are probably five who don't. As for smoking, I think that should be illegal as well. It *doesn't* just harm you. Secondhand smoke is much worse than the stuff you inhale. What's happening to your family and friends? And as for illegal drugs, they're in the same boat as alcohol, in my opinion. If everyone damaged their brains in the privacy of their own homes and didn't ever expose others to it, I wouldn't care. But drugs get sold. They are slipped in people's drinks. What if you've got ecstacy in your pocket, and there's a hole in it? What if that pill gets dropped on a playground? Jesus. The possibilities are terrifying. That stuff can kill you the first time you take it.

In my opinion, most people can't even be trusted not to kill themselves with food. Why allow them things that can kill other people too?

Well first of all, how are you going to make illegal things that happen in nature? Take some sugar producing plant and put it in a bucket with water. Chances are you will have something alcoholic in a little while. Pot is a weed in a lot of places. So is nutmeg which is a mild halucinagen, btw. Magic mushrooms grow wild in the little valley I grew up in. Datura, Morning Glory, Peyote, tobacco. All wild, growing things. You might as well ban air. We have to deal with why people take them if we have a problem with their affects. Personally I have no problem with that free will, only with what it might cause society.

Daily drug testing with stiff repercussions. When I'm dictator, I'll FORCE everyone to be happy and healthy! BWAHAHAHA!

Ooops. Not *cause* but *cost*.

Gottago....

Err, while I'm all for deregulating controlled substances, I have to point out that the ratio of potency in cocaine care of the cocoa leaf is a great deal higher than you think. Same with heroin and the poppy seed, and your everyday carbonated beverage and sugar cane. We're not talking Mother Nature here; we're talking chemical-bleepin'-labs.

Wow. I managed not to curse. Damn!

True enough, but the baggage carriers of Peru chew the leaf itself and that's not something they are willing to give up. In China and places I've hung out there are people who smoke the actual dried sap from the poppy buds and that's not something they want to give up. I know that a very dry wine is generally preferred to a *wet* one. And pot, I live in a place where BC bud is a hundred times more potent then when I was a teenager, and believe me, no one wants to go back and smoke the old stuff. Everything is relative, nature included.

ahhhhh bog off
yikes it if u wish

I'm not for making any of those substances illegal, and in fact would legalize many that are illegal. But what I would do at the same time, is make the users pay for any problems they create. Penalties for drunk driving should be much more severe - liscence suspended for a year on a first offence, for life on a second. Smoking would be prohibitted in all public places and in the presence of any non-smokers - with hefty fines for breaking the rules. If smokers or drinkers become ill with anything related to those activities (i.e. lung, throat, mouth cancers; liver diseases), they will not be eligible for compensation for their medical bills. Basically, if anyone chooses to indulge themselves personally, they will be held personally accountable.

The advantage of legalizing the substances is that you remove the criminal element from their distribution. They would be freely available, but man, the consequences of using them would be steep.

you are completely right

True - Anarchy - responsibility for self.

But how many people responsible for themselves out there are they?

i am flamestrike are you?

Use a quote quoted to me by someone who was in a rush
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" their was a ? raised after,
A year ban ,grouping % consumed versis Effect of.

Very rarely read NewScientist but picked up copy in local laudrette,it is on web www.newscientist.com ,any way the jan iss had a very interesting article (several actualy) p40 about not only are we all individually different but colour taste effects ect are unique
So it is perfectly feaseable to Police such a change in the law re
driveing under the influence.

Mind you the change in the law is one i approve of,cynical me notices
no smokeing ban ,comeing into effect,shame wonder if to stop cannibis cafes Houses back in fashion opperateing,this being responsible for more choice,colli* ***** very good cough medicine,Also available from chemists until early 1900, readyrolled,
So thats what the Boer war was about ,Durban has some nice farming country.

as drinking (usually 1 a day) and smoking (never given amount) as there reasons for being long-lived.Coz thats all they can remember "where me fags " normaly on the bar or in the pub

Last three posts - didn't make sense.

Not in the least. At least, not without drugs. =p

ltp's kind of like that. BB, on the other hand... I'll translate for us Yanks: F*** off.

Who he was talking to, I have no clue. True mark of a troll; tells everyone in the thread to F off because he can't be bothered to specify who he's replying to. *rolls eyes*

GL, I'd be in favor of that approach. Use it if you like, but accept the consequences thereof.

whoops. confused my posts there. I think BB was saying he was accountable for himself, in reference to flamestrike's post. However, I'm inclined to respectfully disagree.