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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead today
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-03-2014 04:51 PM
The pro-legalization crowd often spin their point of view on the notion that drug users are mature grown-ups who have absolute, full control over their habits. They can quit at any time. Naturally, that's bullshit. Rational human will is only so strong in the face of a serious addiction to hard drugs.
In one interview Philip Seymour Hoffman said, bluntly, he would have been dead if he had the same access to money and drugs afforded to some of the better looking, better paid popular young actors.
The idea that legalizing hard drugs will reduce the danger is pure fantasy. Here's one fact: most overdose deaths occur via prescription drug abuse -controlled yet legal drugs.
Marijuana is the only drug I could go along with on legalizing. On its own Marijuana is not physically addictive. With that being said, I'll throw in my observation that every pot user I've known has used all kinds of other harder drugs. Pot alone simply isn't enough for most drug users.
Legalizing pot won't get rid of the illegal street drug trade. The only way to remove the criminal element from the drug business is by having no controls at all on any kind of drugs, including prescription drugs. As I said before, the crime problem surrounding drug use is very minor in comparison to a far larger substance abuse problem our media continues to hide at any opportunity. Legalizing many hard drugs and removing controls on prescription drugs would make an already enormous problem a whole lot worse.
And then there's no guarantee the crime would stop. Even if many drugs were legalized a lot of businesses would refuse to hire drug users. My workplace has a company-wide random drug screening policy. That won't go away if Oklahoma legalizes recreational pot use. We have different types of liability insurance policies to consider, not to mention regulations from DOT that mandate screenings for our crane truck drivers. In the end, an already large group of unemployable people will grow and strain our social services sector. They will resort to all kinds of crime to support their habits since they can't hold real jobs, be it robbery, burglary, prostitution, etc.
Health care costs are already bad enough in the United States as it is. Drug legalization will increase health care demand and make prices rise even higher. Insurance premiums for all kinds of things would be sure to rise too with a greater share of the population indulging in high risk activities like drug abuse.
We need to be attacking this problem head on rather than simply giving up, which is what broad legalization would do. I'm not for warehousing millions of non-violent drug offenders. That is a huge waste of money. But a better effort must be made to help drug users quit and lead healthier, less costly life styles.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 02-03-2014 06:30 PM
Once again, I'm with Bobby.
Choosing the right legal response to a given drug basically means one of four choices.
1 - totally illegal with active enforcement, e.g. heroin, crystal meth, alcohol in some Islamic theocracies and cannabis in some Asian countries with a big production/smuggling problem.
2 - totally illegal but without serious attempts at enforcement, e.g. cannabis in most countries, and absinthe and stevia in some.
3 - legal but regulated (e.g. by age restriction, taxation and/or a professional gatekeeper), e.g. alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs.
4 - legal and unregulated, e.g. caffeine and non-prescription medicines.
As a general rule, a given substance hasn't ended up in the category it has by default: an active decision has been made by lawmakers in any given society. I guess the trick is to calibrate the tipping point at which the harm or cost of regulatory intervention starts to outweigh its benefits, and design your laws accordingly.
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Mark Ogden
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 943
From: Little Falls, N.J.
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 02-03-2014 07:34 PM
quote:
I am all for legalizing most drugs,
I see. So then Hoffman would still have died from his hot shot, but it would have been a legal hot shot. Great.
Even though I once had a drug era myself, I am against legalization. I constantly hear that "drugs are no worse than alcohol", but look at the toll drinking takes on our society in illness, loss of productivity, disease, death. Everyone on this board knows an alcoholic. Does that kind of lifestyle look appealing to you? I've seen alcoholism up close, and believe me, there are NO cute, lovable "Arthur" types among those living in a bottle.
The last thing the United States or any country needs to do is legislate into acceptability another great national tragedy. I know the war against narcotics is costly, but a nation of crackheads and heroin freaks will be costlier still. And from what I have noticed from among my acquaintances that fell along the way: dope is a gateway drug.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-04-2014 09:23 AM
That's just it. A drug user doesn't enter his downward spiral alone. Drug users also use people and will drag anyone within reach down as far as they'll let him. It really pisses me off when kids are involved.
I have two cousins who have wasted much of their adult lives indulging in drugs and alcohol. Incidentally, both have been living in Colorado for the past few years to take advantage of that state's Marijuana laws. One has been in prison numerous times for things like DUI and drug possession. The other hadn't been in jail nearly as much, but he came close to strangling his teen-aged son during some hallucinogenic stupor. My parents wound up being legal guardians for his kids for a couple years, which cost them a bunch of money.
I have close friends and coworkers who have been through similar hell dealing with spouses, kids or other family members caught up in drug abuse. When you see enough of this selfish, insidious shit close up enough it's very easy to develop a hard, intolerant attitude toward drugs. I can understand pretty easily why our criminal justice system is handling this problem in such an unforgiving manner. When you see drug users pulling some of the crap they do it just makes you want to beat the shit of them with a tire iron.
One of the biggest problems is our popular culture. The movie industry, music industry, fashion industry and art world all romanticize drug use and risky behavior in general. Wanna be one of the cool kids? Try this!
The next thing the impressionable kid knows is he's a young adult with a felony conviction and a whole lot of life ahead of him, but with no opportunities thanks to some stupid choices. So then be becomes a full time piece of shit as an adult.
Drugs aren't the only addiction ruining the lives of Americans. Here in Oklahoma we have so many casinos if you closed your eyes and threw a rock you would hit one. Gambling addiction will make normally good people do some very crazy shit. I'd never imagine an old grandmother knocking over a bank at gunpoint or a model employee getting caught embezzling $500,000. But that's what gambling addiction will do to people.
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Dave Bird
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 777
From: Perth, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 02-04-2014 11:05 AM
My mother died at 46, a true tragedy, to the evil that is cancer. She was a "creative intellectual" too. But for her, what was most precious was just a few more minutes, just a little more time of coherent conversation in the company of family, friends, those she loved. So for her, pressing that little button that delivered the morphine was the LAST thing to do, only when the pain was unbearable, plus a minute or two more. Any of those minutes could be the last.
Losers like this who die in the gutter chasing a buzz? No tragedy there (other than to his wife and kids who he selfishly ignored). Rest in peace? None of these losers can be, so just keep it down, you're disturbing the angels.
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Justin Hamaker
Film God
Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 02-04-2014 02:42 PM
Bobby, I don't think the media is actively hiding the issue of drug abuse and the destruction it causes, I just think that it's not a news worthy issue in most case because it's an issue that really comes down to statistics. However, the violence and other crime that goes along with the drug trade does make news.
As an example, we had an incident in my community on Christmas Day, where a home owner shot and killed someone "invading" their home. Normally an open and shut case of self defense. However, it turns out the home own was a felon in possession of firearms, and illegal ammunition (so called cop killer rounds). Further investigation found nearly 1000 pounds of processed marijuana between his home, his business, and a third location. Plus his home where the shooting happened was a grow site.
This story is far more "news worthy" than that of some no-name junkie found dead of an overdose in an abandon building. The issue isn't really any different than why the media will spend so much time covering Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian, rather than any of a million more important topics.
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