Think the Drugs Laws are Stupid? Have YOUR Say...

[celia23]

There is a debate happening now about the A, B, C classification of drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Some psychiatrists and other 'experts' have recently suggested a new classification scheme and there have been reports just published by the Home Office and charities. However, no one has asked people who use drugs/alcohol what they think. This survey is to find out people's views on the harms and benefits of different drugs, including alcohol & tobacco.

Please click on the link below to take part and let us know your views and please email to your friends!

http://www.nationaldrugsurvey.org

The National Drug Survey is being carried by a research team in Clinical Psychology at UCL, it has been ethically approved and all responses are totally confidential.

[General Lighting]

Celia, we're happy to support this survey (and our users have completed similar surveys in the past but please keep posts about it to the Drugs section)

Welcome to partyvibe btw..

Could you please also tell us how we would be able to view the overall
results/report when the survey is complete?

[MisterDuck]

Nice one

[Leebond]

I like BEER!

[globalloon]

stats so far

Statistics

You are the 214th person to enter your details

UK's favourite drugs so far (you chose Alcohol):
Alcohol 52.5%
Caffeine 11.9%
Cannabis 10.7%
Cocaine 4.5%
Ecstasy 7.3%
Heroin 0.6%
Ketamine 0.6%
LSD 3.4%
no drug 3.4%
Speed 1.1%
Tobacco 4%


UK's second choice drug (you chose Ecstasy):

Alcohol 18.1%
Caffeine 17.5%
Cannabis 14.7%
Cocaine 6.2%
Ecstasy 14.7%
Ketamine 1.7%
LSD 3.4%
no drug 8.5%
Speed 1.1%
Tobacco 13%
Benzodiazepines i.e. valium 1.1%

no one owning up to steroids yet, although their abuse is massive

[MisterDuck]

Would alcohol be the favourite if it wasn't legal and regulated d'ya reckon?

[starlaugh]

Originally posted by boothy

Would alcohol be the favourite if it wasn't legal and regulated d'ya reckon?

Doubt it!

[rach]

Originally posted by globalloon

no one owning up to steroids yet, although their abuse is massive

could be that although large abuse, no one classes them as their favourite... glad to see ecstasy is higher up than coke though

[luckystar]

Originally posted by rach

could be that although large abuse, no one classes them as their favourite... glad to see ecstasy is higher up than coke though

Hear hear. Maybe the results will have an impact on the legislations in the future

[MisterDuck]

it can't be long till they finally drop ecstasy to class B/C... they tried to in the late 90's didn't they? i vaguely remember summat about it

[funkydan]

i think ecstacy and lsd should be moved out of class A, and have stuff like ketamine and alchahole moved up.

also i think they should be less harsh on the takers of the drug and instead focus more on the dealers.

but seeing as drugs will never stop being used as its been in the human stream sinse caveman times, the government should take it into there own hands so they produce pure products without it being cut ith aload of harmfull shit.

would never happen but is my opinion =]

[celia23]

The full results will be on the website when the survey is completed. And we are hoping to get some press for it, as well as publishing it in the medical journals. The other survey (of psychiatrists) brought up alcohol as third most harmful drug after heroin and coke. so it is a good point someone made whether it would it be people's favourite if it wasn't legal...

Thanks so much for your support on this one, i think we do need a major overhaul of these laws that are based on scaremongering and history rather than actual evidence...

Please forward it on to as many people as possible.
Ta!

[noname]

Originally posted by funkydan

i think ecstacy and lsd should be moved out of class A, and have stuff like ketamine and alchahole moved up.

also i think they should be less harsh on the takers of the drug and instead focus more on the dealers.

but seeing as drugs will never stop being used as its been in the human stream sinse caveman times, the government should take it into there own hands so they produce pure products without it being cut ith aload of harmfull shit.

would never happen but is my opinion =]

Should legalise the whole lot IMO - make it legal for doctors to prescribe the more dangerous and addictive ones... Take the rebellion factor out of the equation, and stop dangerous substances being supplied by equally dangerous people (always seemed a bit mad to me - leaving the supply of supposedly dangerous chemicals to criminal organisations who have no interest other than profit, and no one to answer to that they take any notice of).... I would like to think the reason is one of hopeless naivety (only the hopelessly naive would think people are going to stop wanting mind altering chemicals), but the cynical side of me can't help noticing the money being made on both sides, and the raging hypocrisy that has alcohol and tobacco legal, and all the others illegal (if safety is the principal concern then why have nicotine (a lethally dangerous poison in anything but minute quantities) legal? And as for alcohol - hands up anyone here who has never met a long term alcoholic.... Bet there aren't many for that one...)


Legalise all of it, tax some of it to mitigate the cost to the NHS, and allow docs to prescribe the really addictive ones (and therefore give them a chance to heal addicts if they can).... And that includes alcohol on the list of prescribable addictive drugs - there are plenty of wino's about, and few of them ever even see a doctor before they croak - more would if they could get drink from a doc....

[Grandmasterflash]

Taking any drug should be a personal decision like smoking or becoming or binge drinking, if it was legal and u could afford to do it, then it would be easier 4 people around u to provide help if required. somebody once said "There was never a drugs problem, before they became Illegal". At one point in time you could got coke from harrods as pain medication! All drugs being illegal does is take the profit in too criminals etc pockets, instead of big businesses and the government. The opening scene in the film Layercake says it all when theres shelves full of coke etc all labeled up by FCUK

[TheCat77]

The current classification of many drugs is absolutely barmy. A case in point is magic mushrooms. What on earth are they now doing in class A?

I can understand (though not neccessarily agree) that certain substances are put in Class A owing to the potential harm they can present to individual users and wider society. Heroin for instance can be a real threat when abused not to mention worldwide trafikking financing terrorist activities etc.

But liberty caps? Jeeesus, here you have a plant indiginous to this country, no global trade, no criminal supply chain, no significant health threat to the individual user and I certainly can't think of any communities that have been ravaged by tripping mushroom eaters.

The only reason they're in Class A is because whichever government happens to be in power at the time want total control. They do this under a veil of protecting people from themselves (in itself pointless and futile) but the fact is they want to be able to control, quantify and measure every aspect of people's lives.

Bonkers.

[General Lighting]

Originally posted by TheCat77

The only reason they're in Class A is because whichever government happens to be in power at the time want total control. They do this under a veil of protecting people from themselves (in itself pointless and futile) but the fact is they want to be able to control, quantify and measure every aspect of people's lives.

in the case of drugs its worse than that, its global control via the United Nations (and with the Yanks on the top). Its not just local laws but a UN decree that make drugs illegal..

Even govts of countries that don't agree with each other on politics / dominant religion seem to agree that recreational drugs use should be controlled, and its this mindset which needs to change as much as activism at a local level.

That said, Britain's classifications are flawed. Ketamine is now causing as many hospital admissions and more long term health problems than most of the other drugs, yet it remains class C.

[Raj]

Found this while reading and thought it was an eloquent statement

Mr Gillespie, whose 33-year-old son Scott died of a heroin overdose two years ago, said that drugs had to be taken out of the hands of criminals.

"I can assure you there are very few things in life that concentrate the mind more than losing a child. So I had to think about this very, very thoroughly," he said.
"Until my son became involved in drugs, I have to confess I was one of those people who said 'build more prisons, get more police and if they want to kill themselves, fine, chuck away the key'.

"But I have had to think about it really hard. I eventually came to the conclusion that the only way that I could see would be to legalise all drugs. I'm convinced that he is dead because of the law."
Mr Gillespie said his son had been "stupid" to start using heroin in the first place and revealed that he had spent five weeks in prison because he had stolen to buy drugs.
On his release from prison, his body could not take the normal dose of heroin and the fix he had taken was toxic.

"I believe my son would be alive today if all drugs were legalised and controlled because he would have had no need to steal and would not have been in prison, the heroin would have been controlled and therefore not impure. Proper treatment would also have been available," he said.

its a fairly old story btw found here

full article

[mudstomper]

I'm in favour of the legalise/regulate route, not too happy about the fact the government would use it to raise taxes that have nothing to do with the treatment or supervisation of the issue and that Bayer & Bayer etc would be happily creaming of their profit but it's bloody obvious the current model isn't working in any country. But, a big issue is is this subject to be judged by common sense, or mashed up morality? I don't know if anyone remembers the group of blokes years ago that got done for mutual S&M on private premises? Not my scene, but I don't consider it to be my business when consenting adults to get up to what they want with a few veg and a packet of Stanley blades in their own homes as long as they aren't causing me or mine any problems.

If we went down that route, the legalise not kinky veg one, what do people think to whether there ought to be controls over what drugs could be done where? I'd go for each event/place to select its own rules same as should have happened with smoking....

[Hazza88]

Originally posted by boothy

Would alcohol be the favourite if it wasn't legal and regulated d'ya reckon?

I think it would definetly, if it went illegal so many people would still but it illegaly they would be forced to change the law back within a few months.

edit. Not that its ever gonna happen :)

[Motamba]

The drug laws where past and are enforced so that the powers that be can maintain the monopoly of making money through the pharmacutical companies'

Up until they wher passed you could seek self healing and enlightenment from of whatever your knowledge of plants and chemistry/biology aloud.

If this was aloud to continue the pharmacutical companies that wher making all the anti-depressants/stimulants/sedatives and suplying the masses with them would have eventually crumbled because people have to pay extorsionate amounts for these substances wher they could be found cheeper in their natural forms'

Also psychatric use of certain substances became prohibited because of the self same reason "Money"

Parts of alternative medicine is ilegal in some countries because, simply put, it works.

It puts doctors and intitutions out of business'

You go to your doctor he treats you of how he was taught to do so'

Psychologically we are all individuals'

Pharmacutical companies see us as the same piece of meat that they can manipulate and turn into "Dollar"

If you had the "Cure" for modern mans ills you wouldn't be aloud to give it to the world as it would break monopoly'

Simple slavery folks'

Blessings'

Motamba' nangona'

[globalloon]

Originally posted by Hazza88

I think it would definetly, if it went illegal so many people would still but it illegaly they would be forced to change the law back within a few months.

edit. Not that its ever gonna happen :)

making your own beer and cider is so easy

[starlaugh]

Originally posted by globalloon

making your own beer and cider is so easy

Good fun getting pissed on booze you have made your self, can be a little potent sometimes though

[lillou]

Originally posted by globalloon

stats so far



no one owning up to steroids yet, although their abuse is massive

ecstacy is higher than coke now in 2nd fav
dat cud be down to me tho
n i cant beleive how far at da bottom speed is in 1st fav sumat like 1.4% of 565

[MisterDuck]

There's nothing about Magic Mushrooms on there.

And North Eest is spelt wrong. Like that.

Otherwise, cool survey.

[tarifa]

interesting survey

aim of drug laws is to stop drug dealing, use and repercussions?

classifying A, B, C and associated punishments doesn't seem to have stopped the supply or demand

arguments for legalisation include rasing taxes, awareness, de-stigmatisation, less harmfull additives and taking the nasty drug barons out of the loop

and putting it into the hands of the governments and pharmacutical companies?

pure-ness of product and less bloody hypocrisy and demonisation i'm all for but are the drug barons really any worse than the powers that be?