Pot in America

[kandrathe]

...in my opinion, chemically altered and refined drugs should be monitored for potential backlash in society because of the danger they pose to others in regards to the potency and addictive quality they cause, and that people who abuse substances (any) continually to the determent of society or those around them should be cited, like a speeding ticket, and if enough of these build up, drug counseling and if that does not work, then prison time.

Ok, what does detriment to society mean? Is it a sluggard who doesn't work and smokes hash in mom's basement?

I'd say if you get high, or drunk and break stuff they you are liable for breaking stuff if that stuff doesn't belong to you. If you become intoxicated with whatever your drug of choice is and become a hazard or a nuisance, then you will get arrested for becoming a nuisance or a hazard. The drugs are probably the root cause, however, legal or illegal, addiction still happens and stupidity still happens. You won't legislate it away.

Here is how I look at it. Wood alcohol (HEET for example) is not a controlled substance, and a 10 year old can walk into a store and legally buy it. If they drink it they will get drunk, and then probably go blind, and maybe die. This is what psychoactive drugs in general do to people, and the euphoria they feel is usually their brains in some level of trauma. Next time you walk through the grocery store look at all the items on the shelves that have the potential to kill you, and ask yourself why you don't consume them.

Anyone with the motivation is able to make crystal meth with simple ingredients you can mostly still find in grocery and hardware stores. Around here, they've started putting Sudafed behind the counter so that people don't go buy industrial quantities off the shelf. But, that said, many plants and fungi are also psychoactive, so anyone who is motivated can cultivate their own drug gardens. What about huffing, and airplane glue or paint fumes?

Is risky behavior with chemicals any different than risky behavior with extreme sports, or riding a motorcycle without a helmet? I don't know, but maybe these risks are natures way of cleansing stupidity from the gene pool. It is sad when people die by their own stupidity, but again, I'm not sure you can legislate it away.