I reckon the unsaid reason for the illegality of most drugs is that they render the user unuseful and at risk of death. For that reason I think they should be legalized for people already in those categories.
I for one will probably never press the self-distruct button on my life by trying out recreational drugs. But I am fully behind the notion that when I am on my deathbed I will be wanting to see what all the fuss was about. “Hell I’m dead soon anyway” I don’t want to die having not experienced those highs that made it seem worth it for the youngsters to throw their lives away"
Sure, let the terminally ill have their fun, but what’s all this about self-destruct buttons and throwing one’s life away? A little pot or, for that matter, alcohol (as much a recreational drug as anything else), isn’t, for most people, the first step on the primrose path to hell.
I think this is wrong. I think that the reason for many drugs being illegal is that they render the user more interesting, and more interestED in rethinking their role in society.
I got my mother high - at her request - and it was probably the most surreal experience of my life.
My little bitty tiny dignified mother, sitting on the floor giggling swearing she didn’t feel a thing.
snicker
She later that evening put away an entire ham steak, most of a t-bone, a hefty pile of mashed potatoes and an entire can of LeSeur peas. She usually didn’t eat that much in a week.
She told me later she “sure wished that was legal - that was the best sleep she’d had in years”.
No fucking kidding you’ve never tried recreational drugs. People do a LOT of creative and useful things using recreational drugs. For the most part, keep out from behind the wheel, don’t operate heavy equipment, and you’ll be fine.
Recreational drugs are basically blue laws. The government takes a paternal role in controlling individual behavior well beyond what is necessary to protect the population. The primary sin of drugs is that they reduce conformity and stimulate alternative ideas. These are not considered societal benefits.
My Grandfather in law was dying of cancer. He was going through chemo and had lost his appetite. They prescribed Marinol, synthetic marijuana to stimulate his appetite. They cost $70 a pill and he had to take two a day. He stopped taking them because of the expense.
I never in my life wanted to load someone up with a batch of brownies in my life. It broke my heart that for the cost of ONE pill, he could have enough pot to keep him in the munchies for a good couple of weeks.
I even called and asked my Grandmother what she would think about it and she said that her generation weren’t so crazy about pot since when she was a kid it grew on the sides of the roads. It was the younger set that was nutzo.
Unfortunately, he lived with an ultra-religious nutcase and I never dared.
But yeah, I felt like he should have been able to have anything he wanted.
Not to pile on again, but DAMN! This is straight out of 1951, or Nancy Reagan circa 1983. Pot is not coke, coke is not meth, meth is not heroin, heroin is not etc… Tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine are recreational drugs as well, you know…
I have a family member who used to be a psychiatrist at a hospital that treated a lot of cancer patients. She said that people in their last 6 or so months of life were generally prescribed opiates if they wanted them without a lot of concern for whether the patient would develop an addiction.
I imagine that the DEA has informally given doctors the green light to give these sorts of controlled substances to the terminally ill without the usual level of scrutiny.
Also, in many parts of the country, I doubt that any terminally ill person would be prosecuted for possessing or using a small quantity of marijuana.
So as a practical matter, it’s de facto legal in many areas for terminally ill people to use/abuse drugs.