5 ms·

It also makes you prone to believe in absurd conspiracies, it appears.

CPLX 9y ago
I mean I don't buy into the whole other mystical world spiritual plane nonsense myself, but can you think of a more compelling explanation for why psychedelic drugs are illegal?
- dqpb 9y ago
  Because they impair your ability to function and can lead to long term psychological problems?
  - tcbawo 9y ago
    To play devil's advocate, they clearly have potential for therapeutic use in a medical setting. It's a shame there are so many hurdles in the way.
  - StavrosK 9y ago
    Boy, I sure am glad alcohol is illegal.
    - ams6110 9y ago
      The rejoinder to that argument is "two wrongs don't make a right" or generally that you can't justify allowing some bad thing because some other similar bad thing is allowed. It's a form of whataboutism. Sure, it may make no sense that alcohol and tobacco are legal but weed and mushrooms aren't. They're all natural substances, they are all mood altering, they are all capable of being enjoyed in moderation and also can cause harm if used in excess. But though alcohol and tobacco are legal, for whatever good or not good reasons, that isn't a logical argument for making more intoxicants legal.
      - StavrosK 9y ago
        > that isn't a logical argument for making more intoxicants legal. "Alcohol is legal, therefore anything less harmful than that should also be legal" isn't a logical argument?
        jonreem 9y ago
        Not if you believe that alcohol being legal is already wrong but are pragmatic about its pre-existing hold on society making it impossible to change. To be clear I don’t buy this argument since I disagree with the premise, but if you agree with the premise then it does make sense.
        xhedley 9y ago
        Pre-existing hold plus the ingredients required to create ethanol (sugar, water, airborne or fruit or baking yeast, warmth) are legal and ubiquitous.
        StavrosK 9y ago
        There isn't really a clear line that goes "you need to be less than THIS risky to be legal". We're comparing things with each other and kind of classifying them based on that. Alcohol and guns being legal definitely should move that line down, because it shows that, as a society, we're okay with some more risky things because <reasons>.
        tptacek 9y ago
        It ignores the historical context behind controlled substance regulation, and also substitutes first-principles message board reasoning for empiricism. So, that's not quite the rhetorical kill-shot you're hoping for.
        StavrosK 9y ago
        I wasn't hoping for a kill shot, but that's beside the point. How would you argue for or against the legalization of something without comparing it to other things?
    - dqpb 9y ago
      I enjoy wine, cocktails, and beer occasionally, but alcohol has completely destroyed the lives of several people close to me. I would give up my right to it if that reduced the number of people in the future who would otherwise suffer a similar fate.
      - StavrosK 9y ago
        I wonder why drugs like this aren't more popular: http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1913016,00.html http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1913016,0...
    - astura 9y ago
      It's been grandfathered. If alcohol was discovered today it would be illegal.
  - CPLX 9y ago
    That is not a unique attribute however.
- trentnix 9y ago
  I buy into the spiritual plane stuff easier than the “kept illegal by people who profit from war and consumerism” stuff. If it were the magic the OP implied, those folks would profit off of it too, were they so ingenious. But they aren’t. It’s illegal because it has been illegal and because it’s reasonable to discourage embracing hallucination in civil society.
  - rootw0rm 9y ago
    Why is it reasonable to control (with force) what peaceful, consenting adults experience at home with no detriment to others?

CPLX 9y ago

I mean I don't buy into the whole other mystical world spiritual plane nonsense myself, but can you think of a more compelling explanation for why psychedelic drugs are illegal?

dqpb 9y ago
Because they impair your ability to function and can lead to long term psychological problems?
- tcbawo 9y ago
  To play devil's advocate, they clearly have potential for therapeutic use in a medical setting. It's a shame there are so many hurdles in the way.
- StavrosK 9y ago
  Boy, I sure am glad alcohol is illegal.
  - ams6110 9y ago
    The rejoinder to that argument is "two wrongs don't make a right" or generally that you can't justify allowing some bad thing because some other similar bad thing is allowed. It's a form of whataboutism. Sure, it may make no sense that alcohol and tobacco are legal but weed and mushrooms aren't. They're all natural substances, they are all mood altering, they are all capable of being enjoyed in moderation and also can cause harm if used in excess. But though alcohol and tobacco are legal, for whatever good or not good reasons, that isn't a logical argument for making more intoxicants legal.
    - StavrosK 9y ago
      > that isn't a logical argument for making more intoxicants legal. "Alcohol is legal, therefore anything less harmful than that should also be legal" isn't a logical argument?
      - jonreem 9y ago
        Not if you believe that alcohol being legal is already wrong but are pragmatic about its pre-existing hold on society making it impossible to change. To be clear I don’t buy this argument since I disagree with the premise, but if you agree with the premise then it does make sense.
        xhedley 9y ago
        Pre-existing hold plus the ingredients required to create ethanol (sugar, water, airborne or fruit or baking yeast, warmth) are legal and ubiquitous.
        StavrosK 9y ago
        There isn't really a clear line that goes "you need to be less than THIS risky to be legal". We're comparing things with each other and kind of classifying them based on that. Alcohol and guns being legal definitely should move that line down, because it shows that, as a society, we're okay with some more risky things because <reasons>.
      - tptacek 9y ago
        It ignores the historical context behind controlled substance regulation, and also substitutes first-principles message board reasoning for empiricism. So, that's not quite the rhetorical kill-shot you're hoping for.
        StavrosK 9y ago
        I wasn't hoping for a kill shot, but that's beside the point. How would you argue for or against the legalization of something without comparing it to other things?
  - dqpb 9y ago
    I enjoy wine, cocktails, and beer occasionally, but alcohol has completely destroyed the lives of several people close to me. I would give up my right to it if that reduced the number of people in the future who would otherwise suffer a similar fate.
    - StavrosK 9y ago
      I wonder why drugs like this aren't more popular: http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1913016,00.html http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1913016,0...
  - astura 9y ago
    It's been grandfathered. If alcohol was discovered today it would be illegal.
- CPLX 9y ago
  That is not a unique attribute however.
trentnix 9y ago
I buy into the spiritual plane stuff easier than the “kept illegal by people who profit from war and consumerism” stuff. If it were the magic the OP implied, those folks would profit off of it too, were they so ingenious. But they aren’t. It’s illegal because it has been illegal and because it’s reasonable to discourage embracing hallucination in civil society.
- rootw0rm 9y ago
  Why is it reasonable to control (with force) what peaceful, consenting adults experience at home with no detriment to others?