Illicit Drugs

[Birds]

Small time dealers?

Yep, who probably make up .5% of the drug handling population

[Anfanee]

So apparently there is little to no statistics before 2001 in portugal.

Just did a little more reading, an example ill pull from Wikipedia... And ill highlight point 4, which honestly backs up the points i made earlier about bransons article being hugely misleading.

Observations[edit]

There is little reliable information about drug use, injecting behaviour or addiction treatment in Portugal before 2001, when general population surveys commenced. Before that, there were the indicators on lifetime prevalence amongst youth, collected as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), and some other (less reliable) data available through the EMCDDA.^[16]

Thorough studies on how the various efforts have been implemented were not conducted. Thus, a causal effect between strategy efforts and these developments cannot be firmly established.^[11] There are, however, statistical indicators that suggest the following correlations between the drug strategy and the following developments, from July 2001 up to 2007:

• Increased uptake of treatment.^[11]
• Reduction in new HIV diagnoses amongst drug users by 17%^[17]
• Reduction in drug related deaths, although this reduction has decreased in later years. The number of drug related deaths is now almost on the same level as before the Drug strategy was implemented.^[11][17] However, this may be accounted for by improvement in measurement practices, which includes a doubling of toxicological autopsies now being performed, meaning that more drugs related deaths are likely to be recorded.^[18]
• Reported lifetime use of "all illicit drugs" increased from 7.8% to 12%, lifetime use of cannabis increased from 7.6% to 11.7%, cocaine use more than doubled, from 0.9% to 1.9%, ecstasy nearly doubled from 0.7% to 1.3%, and heroin increased from 0.7% to 1.1%^[17] It has been proposed that this effect may have been related to the candor of interviewees, who may have been inclined to answer more truthfully due to a reduction in the stigma associated with drug use.^[18] However, during the same period, the use of heroin and cannabis also increased in Spain and Italy, where drugs for personal use was decriminalised many years earlier than in Portugal ^[18][19] while the use of Cannabis and heroin decreased in the rest of Western Europe.^[20][21]
• Drug use among adolescents (13-15 yrs) and "problematic" users declined.^[18]
• Drug-related criminal justice workloads decreased.^[18]
• Decreased street value of most illicit drugs, some significantly.^[18]

[Anfanee]

So yes drug use among adolescents dropped, but overall there was a massive increase.

[Anfanee]

So when you look at those use statistics, the users in rehab didn't increase nearly enough.

[Manuel Kasko]

Do people really think that making a drug legal is going to reduce people using it?

People really do, it's the most illogical thing I can think of. If you were logical then you would think that like alcohol, you would have kids just trying it because they are of legal age to try it. It would open the door to people who would have never otherwise tried it when it was illegal.

[Manuel Kasko]

So when you look at those use statistics, the users in rehab didn't increase nearly enough.

because why would you go to rehab for something that is legal and accepted among your society?

[Manuel Kasko]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-06/locally-grown-marijuana-to-be-legalised-in-victoria-medical/6830892

[Birds]

So yes drug use among adolescents dropped, but overall there was a massive increase.

Which supports my logic theory here

Not to mention it's completely illogical, unless your users are only doing it because it's illegal. Which would be way overcome by the statistic of people wanting to use/try now that it is legal.

Where some teens are only doing it to rebel and be edgy and dangerous committing an illegal or looked down on act, meanwhile the rest of the population who previously feared the law, reprimand and judgement...are giving it a go because, now they can, free of some inhibitions.

[Birds]

If I may quote Tupac here

"Instead of a war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me."

And really, is he not the voice of a generation?

[Anfanee]

[Anfanee]

Where did old mate portugal go?

[Wordsmith]

The point is, everyone that is on heroin started somewhere. Statistically speaking it's Pot, and slips from there.

I wouldn't be smoking weed today if I didn't smoke cigarettes first and the same goes for most of my stoner mates as well. I think nicotine is the real "gateway drug".

[Wordsmith]

Someone in my family, complete drop kick who you can't even hold a conversation with anymore.

Now they have issues with anger and mental health.

All thanks to weed, which many people will preach that it's not addictive or harmful.

Try telling that to them, they wake up before work and smokes 10 bongs and then another few at work and then as many as they can before bed.

I still remember the day they told me "everything is alright in moderation"

Sorry to hear that.

Weed is a psychoactive drug and so its effects depend on the individual psyche and are different for everyone. Some people like your family member unfortunately go off the rails. Others can fully function as normal and productive members of society while smoking some weed to relax and unwind. So yes, it can be harmless and non-addictive. It can also be harmful and addictive. It depends on the person. It's not an inherent quality of the drug which will affect everyone the same way. Only the physical effects (like the munchies for example) are consistent for every user of the drug. The psychological ones vary from person to person.

When people say weed isn't addictive they tend to compare it with cigarettes which are addictive. You don't get the same sort of cravings for weed as you would for tobacco or heroin or crack so its a lot easier to go a few days or weeks without smoking. The problem I get when I don't smoke weed for about a week is that I have trouble going to sleep. That's a withdrawal symptom, not addiction. I'm addicted to cigarettes on the other hand, I can't stop smoking them for even 24 hours.

You have to be responsible with how you use weed. For a drug like that which is not crazy addictive (unlike tobacco etc), you just have to man up and take responsibility for your own faults instead of blaming the drug. If you get hooked on it to the point where you need 10 bong rips just to get out of bed, it's your own fault for not being able to control yourself not the weed's.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Wordsmith

[Ben C34]

Smoke weed every day.

[Wordsmith]

Earlier this year my parents went overseas for a month and so I had the house to myself. Every night my mates would come past and we would hit the bong for hours and hours. I knew I had a problem when I started missing days at uni because I smoked too much the night before and didn't wake up in the morning. I knew I had a problem when I started skipping training and smoked weed instead. I rationalised it thinking it's alright because I was pretty much on vacation for the month and I would get back to normal immediately after the holiday ended

So I just went cold t.urkey and detoxed for a week when my parents got back home and got back in control of my life. It wasn't difficult at all. Now I never touch bongs and I only smoke one joint every couple of days at most, late at night after I've finished all my work for the day and just want to unwind and go to bed. I find it really rewarding to do that, it feels satisfying to know I've done all the work and now it's time for play. So I use weed as a motivational tool to get shit done.

I don't socialise with my stoner mates more than once or twice a week because I know what we're going to do when we chill and I don't want it 7 days a week.

That's what being responsible is, knowing your limits and sticking to them. It's like being a 17 year old p-plater and having a 500 watt R33 GTR. Sure you can do 280 in a 60 zone if you wanted. But its your own fault for doing that, for being an irresponsible driver. It isn't Nissan's fault for building such an epic car. In the same way it isn't nature's fault for evolving such an epic plant, it's the human's fault if they abuse it.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Wordsmith

[Ben C34]

Only fry your brain a little bit.

That's knowing your limits.

[Wordsmith]

Only fry your brain a little bit.

That's knowing your limits.

Exactly. Fry it just a little, enough to get some pleasure, but not so much that it can't recover after a day off. Any worse and you've got a real problem on your hands.

God forbid we should want to have a little bit of pleasure in life! Some people get off being strangled while having sex. Others like to do 280 in 60 zones, or do a burnout in the middle of a three lane motorway during peak our traffic in their Ferrari F40. There's all sorts of potentially self-destructive behaviours that humans get up to for pleasure. Smoking weed responsibly is among the least harmful of them.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Wordsmith

[Birds]

Where did old mate portugal go?

Got caught carrying a small amount of drugs for someone else who uses them

[JAS-25T]

Here it is in black and white.

SSRN-id1464837.pdf

[Anfanee]

Yeah this paper just recaps the other stuff i have read.....