4 ms·

It's not just kids rebelling. It has all to do with communities breaking down and social relations deteriorating. Teenagers in say, Japan, wouldn't so much reb

by hasenj 10y ago

It's not just kids rebelling. It has all to do with communities breaking down and social relations deteriorating. Teenagers in say, Japan, wouldn't so much rebel by using drugs. There are tons of less dangerous ways for teenagers to rebel. If kids in your community are rebelling by using dangerous drugs, you have a much more deeper problem.

Tiksi 10y ago
Either I misunderstood you or you misunderstood me, my points were: 1) By making something illegal, it makes it more attractive to people looking to rebel because it makes it an "edgy" forbidden fruit. For example, teenagers are stereotypically rebellious and making a drug illegal may encourage drug use instead of discouraging it. 2) The people that wouldn't use drugs due to them being illegal likely wouldn't have issues with drug abuse even if they were legal, though they may occasionally use them.
dwaltrip 10y ago
You do realize not all illegal drugs are dangerous when used properly? Some can actually be quite beneficial, have no proven long term negative effects, and can improve quality of life. The best example of this is psilocybin. There is some great research lately on guided therapy sessions that make use of it.
brokenmachine 10y ago
I'm not sure what you're saying. Are you implying that teenagers in Japan don't do drugs, or just that they don't rebel by using drugs? Because teenagers in Japan most certainly do do drugs, both legal and illegal, dangerous or not. It's interesting that you use the phrase "dangerous drugs", I assume you meant to write "illegal drugs". I would argue that making any drug illegal immediately makes it 1000x more dangerous than it is inherently. You seem to be ignoring the fact that many legal drugs are very very dangerous, and the statistics certainly agree with that. Alcohol? Cigarettes? Society definitely tolerates a certain level of danger in their legal drugs. It seems almost totally arbitrary which drugs are legal and which are not, certainly not correlated with a level of "danger".
- hasenj 10y ago
  I'm under the impression that something like heroin is dangerous while marijuana is not. > Because teenagers in Japan most certainly do do drugs, both legal and illegal, dangerous or not. I'd bet you a lot of money that the problem there is much much smaller than in the US. They have their own problems though. No society is without problems.
  - brokenmachine 10y ago
    > It has all to do with communities breaking down and social relations deteriorating. > I'd bet you a lot of money that the problem there is much much smaller than in the US. They have their own problems though. No society is without problems. So what is your point? You're saying community in the US is breaking down, and that's causing drug problems? How do you suggest the US deals with its larger drug problems than Japan that are caused by communities breaking down and social relations deteriorating, if not by dealing with its drug laws?

by hasenj 10y ago

Tiksi 10y ago

Either I misunderstood you or you misunderstood me, my points were: 1) By making something illegal, it makes it more attractive to people looking to rebel because it makes it an "edgy" forbidden fruit. For example, teenagers are stereotypically rebellious and making a drug illegal may encourage drug use instead of discouraging it. 2) The people that wouldn't use drugs due to them being illegal likely wouldn't have issues with drug abuse even if they were legal, though they may occasionally use them.

dwaltrip 10y ago

You do realize not all illegal drugs are dangerous when used properly? Some can actually be quite beneficial, have no proven long term negative effects, and can improve quality of life. The best example of this is psilocybin. There is some great research lately on guided therapy sessions that make use of it.

brokenmachine 10y ago

I'm not sure what you're saying. Are you implying that teenagers in Japan don't do drugs, or just that they don't rebel by using drugs? Because teenagers in Japan most certainly do do drugs, both legal and illegal, dangerous or not. It's interesting that you use the phrase "dangerous drugs", I assume you meant to write "illegal drugs". I would argue that making any drug illegal immediately makes it 1000x more dangerous than it is inherently. You seem to be ignoring the fact that many legal drugs are very very dangerous, and the statistics certainly agree with that. Alcohol? Cigarettes? Society definitely tolerates a certain level of danger in their legal drugs. It seems almost totally arbitrary which drugs are legal and which are not, certainly not correlated with a level of "danger".

hasenj 10y ago
I'm under the impression that something like heroin is dangerous while marijuana is not. > Because teenagers in Japan most certainly do do drugs, both legal and illegal, dangerous or not. I'd bet you a lot of money that the problem there is much much smaller than in the US. They have their own problems though. No society is without problems.
- brokenmachine 10y ago
  > It has all to do with communities breaking down and social relations deteriorating. > I'd bet you a lot of money that the problem there is much much smaller than in the US. They have their own problems though. No society is without problems. So what is your point? You're saying community in the US is breaking down, and that's causing drug problems? How do you suggest the US deals with its larger drug problems than Japan that are caused by communities breaking down and social relations deteriorating, if not by dealing with its drug laws?