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maybe those who don't fully internalise the risk go use it..because now _it's legal_ and why would the government let anything be sold in a normal retail settin

maybe those who don't fully internalise the risk go use it..because now _it's legal_ and why would the government let anything be sold in a normal retail setting if it wasn't ok to use? so, you & I are ok but the next generation..maybe it starts becoming a _much_ better bang for buck than alcohol. and soon we have a load more with a serious life-devastating drug addiction. short sighted at best to legalise it which (make no mistake) absolutely will normalise it.. criminally insane otherwise.

ianai 8y ago
That’s not really how addiction works. Criminalization of the drug makes users criminals - and isolates them from society. Isolation makes people use the drug more. It’s a feedback loop. To stop the loop requires terminating the isolating criminalization. Something being legal takes a lot of the desire to do something away (except violence, of course).
- shady-lady 8y ago
  I think it goes without saying that you have to get & use a product before becoming addicted. If a product is more widely available & readily sold, then there are going to be more people addicted. Criminalization has nothing to do with the process of somebody becoming addicted to something. Heroin(& friends) are addictive to people who try them because they give immense pleasure. When the pleasure becomes less, people don't stop the drug, they take larger doses of it. And then if they're stuck for cash, go for something cheaper that still has pleasure. Isolation may play a part but it is a small part. from https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/how-addiction-hijacks-the-brain https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/how-addict...: "Addictive drugs provide a shortcut to the brain's reward system by flooding the nucleus accumbens with dopamine. The hippocampus lays down memories of this rapid sense of satisfaction, and the amygdala creates a conditioned response to certain stimuli." > Something being legal takes a lot of the desire to do something away That is just not true. What is that statement based on? People want to experiment with things(either purely for a new experience or to conform with their peers). If product x gives you a high, you will want to try it again..and again..and again. This isn't theoretical, we see this issue with heroin, opioids, crack cocaine.
  - codyb 8y ago
    That if a thing is more readily available more people will do is just flat out wrong. Case in point, less people in the Netherlands smoke weed frequently than in the USA.
    - shady-lady 8y ago
      > That if a thing is more readily available more people will do is just flat out wrong. for real?

ianai 8y ago

That’s not really how addiction works. Criminalization of the drug makes users criminals - and isolates them from society. Isolation makes people use the drug more. It’s a feedback loop. To stop the loop requires terminating the isolating criminalization. Something being legal takes a lot of the desire to do something away (except violence, of course).

shady-lady 8y ago
I think it goes without saying that you have to get & use a product before becoming addicted. If a product is more widely available & readily sold, then there are going to be more people addicted. Criminalization has nothing to do with the process of somebody becoming addicted to something. Heroin(& friends) are addictive to people who try them because they give immense pleasure. When the pleasure becomes less, people don't stop the drug, they take larger doses of it. And then if they're stuck for cash, go for something cheaper that still has pleasure. Isolation may play a part but it is a small part. from https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/how-addiction-hijacks-the-brain https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/how-addict...: "Addictive drugs provide a shortcut to the brain's reward system by flooding the nucleus accumbens with dopamine. The hippocampus lays down memories of this rapid sense of satisfaction, and the amygdala creates a conditioned response to certain stimuli." > Something being legal takes a lot of the desire to do something away That is just not true. What is that statement based on? People want to experiment with things(either purely for a new experience or to conform with their peers). If product x gives you a high, you will want to try it again..and again..and again. This isn't theoretical, we see this issue with heroin, opioids, crack cocaine.
- codyb 8y ago
  That if a thing is more readily available more people will do is just flat out wrong. Case in point, less people in the Netherlands smoke weed frequently than in the USA.
  - shady-lady 8y ago
    > That if a thing is more readily available more people will do is just flat out wrong. for real?