why the does anyone want to take drugs or get drunk, is life that bad for them
i know some nhs staff give them some back, wasting their time and having to put up with these
why the does anyone want to take drugs or get drunk, is life that bad for them
i know some nhs staff give them some back, wasting their time and having to put up with these
Again, I agree with you. But we aren't all the same. The reasons for some people ending up abusing drugs or abusing alcohol are wide and varied. For some it is indeed a form of escapism.
I first witnessed drug taking at university 30 + years ago. I don't think it is any different now, from what I gather.
"Universities told to consider dope tests as student use of 'smart drugs' soars
Cambridge scientist calls for ethical debate on drugs bought on internet that boost alertness and attention"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...s-universities
The whole issue is bigger than we think.....
"One in seven Cambridge students 'has sold drugs to help pay their way through university'"
"Cocaine was the most frequently used Class A drug, with a quarter of students saying that they had snorted it at some point."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz26ioEovz5
How many of our politicians are from Oxbridge?
Drugs policies are not working, believe 75% of MPs
"More than three-quarters of MPs believe the UK's drug policies are not working, according to a poll for a respected commission poised to deliver a landmark report assessing the evidence for continued prohibition.
The poll's publication comes ahead of the release of several major reports into the future of UK drug policy that will ensure the debate about reforming the country's laws becomes a key issue for MPs for the rest of the year.
The poll, conducted by ComRes for the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), found that 77% of MPs believed the UK's current policies were ineffective in tackling the problems caused by illegal drugs.
The poll of 150 MPs, weighted to reflect the composition of the Commons, found no significant difference between coalition and Labour MPs, with only 18% of MPs from coalition parties agreeing that current policies are working.
It also revealed that MPs had deep concerns about how drug policy is formulated. Two-thirds of those polled said a change in how policy was made was needed to tackle the UK's drug problems effectively. More than three-quarters of the MPs said that drug policy needed to draw much more on evidence and research".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...es-not-working
I like the comment from Blankreg
"My local LibDem MP buys from the same dealer as me and he is very anti-drugs indeed."
This is the reality in the UK now but I still think alcohol is the problem. You can see this on the streets every night.
I bet most of the trouble would vanish if there was a way of punishing drunks.
If we all are honest with ourselves, alcohol has made us all do things we'd rather not admit to others.
In my drinking days (a long time ago) I used to regularly see people walking home laughing with a joint as drunks beat each other up senseless outside taxi ranks, takeaways and pubs/clubs
Well! I must have lived a very sheltered life, cos I've never seen or knowingly known anyone who has taken drugs, and nobody has ever approached me to try and sell me any drugs. Probably its all done in pubs and that's possibly why I've never come across drugs. I don't drink.
Michael. You and me both. I really had no idea. But I know different now. I was quite stunned when I realised what I now know. I hadn't got a scoobee, except witnessing it at university.
Don't forget, these people don't want to be seen as if they are then they risk being nabbed. So they are quite covert about it all. Thats why the police find it difficult to stop.
Do drug dealers provide any benefits to society ?
Other than their wives and offspring probably having to turn to state benefits are there any other downsides to the law abiding population/the taxpayer if these vermin were put to death ?
Employing dozens of executioners and having mass executions say by firing squad would make their stay on death row fairly brief.
I wonder if Dave will be brave....
"Sir Richard Branson said politicians should ignore newspapers like the Daily Mail, and reform the UK drug laws.
The Virgin group boss said David Cameron had appeared to agree with him 10 years ago - while a backbench MP - and now had to be "brave as prime minister and has to do what is right for the country".
He had appeared before the Commons home affairs committee to say a different approach to drug use in other countries had led to a fall in use."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16702930
My thread on cannabis in January was in the Health Issues section ( http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php/35540-Cannabis ) because there are many adverse health consequences of illicit drug use – meaning any drug for which non-medical use has been prohibited.
Those wanting legalisation tend to live at a distance from the reality of the drugs problem they’re commenting upon. While a criminal justice approach may not reduce the level of drugs used, would a marked increase in drug usage NOT occur from legalisation or decriminalisation ? New chemicals regularly emerge which provide “ legal highs “ until they’re banned. Declaring them “ illegal “ doesn’t work – new ones keep appearing. In any case young drug users especially may not have any idea what the substance is they have paid to take. Most drugs are “ cut “ by adding adulterants to increase their volume.
I gave an account of cannabis so recently that there’s little to add, except that starting smoking it in adolescence does seem to be more serious, with an irreversible decline in IQ.
In the UK the Misuse of Drugs Act places drugs into Classes A – C, according to harmfulness attributable when misused. Misuse of Drugs Regulations defines who can supply and possess controlled drugs professionally ( Schedules 1 – 5 ).
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency attempts to enforce the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act against the dual challenge of corruption and lack of government resources.
The most commonly used and studied illicit drugs are – in addition to cannabis – amphetamine-type synthetics/stimulants including MDMA ( Ecstasy ) and methamphetamine crystals ( Shabu in the Philippines ) ; cocaine ( an alkaloid from the coca plant ), mostly from South America ; and opioids including derivatives from the poppy such as morphine and heroin, mostly from Afghanistan.
Smoking and alcohol abuse cause more ill health and greater social / economic cost than illicit drugs only because they are more common – but such drugs do affect health in addition to serious crime, disorder, family breakdown and community decay.
Obviously health risks of illicit drug use increase with frequency and quantity of use. Risks of cannabis use are less because it doesn’t produce fatal overdoses and can’t easily be injected. Illicit opioid use is a major cause of mortality from fatal overdose and dependence. HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and B infections from unsafe injection practices are serious consequences in people injecting drugs, whether opioids, cocaine, or amphetamines. Mental disorders, suicides, violence and road traffic accidents seem to be increased in these users, but to what extent these associations are causal is unclear.
An unintended consequence of criminalisation of drug usage is the inability to collect accurate data for patterns of use and harms. But we do know that cannabis and “ Class A “ drugs ( heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, and ecstasy ) are widely available in the UK. That includes “ holiday resorts “ such as Scarborough where I observed an increasing problem in recent years, including fatalities ( but never due to cannabis ). The drug problem in the Philippines has similarly increased.
I don’t judge “ lifestyle choices “, whether they be smoking, alcohol abuse, overeating or illicit drug use. There seems no argument that drug dealers should be punished, and more effectively. No matter how drug users are dealt with, there is also no argument that health consequences are serious and need far more resources than currently available. Those include supply of clean needles; drug rehabilitation programmes; opiate substitution treatment ; school, family, and community prevention programmes preventing young people from ever starting illicit drug use.
David Camerons Policy on Alcohol and Drugs
Bang on Doc Alan. Resources are what is required. Resources that the taxpayer isn't prepared to shell out. Except, that in the long run, such an injection of resources would prove to be a canny investment, given the financial consequences to the country of drug and alcohol abuse as things stand.
Until the taxpayer is prepared to pay for more policing:
"POLICE are seizing just ONE PER CENT of the heroin flooding Scotland’s streets — and cops now admit they’re fighting a losing battle.
Britain spends a whopping £1.5 BILLION a year trying to tackle the evil trade.
But experts claim officers are failing in every attempt to stamp out the scourge of society."
"Detective Chief Constable Gordon Meldrum, of the Scottish Crime & Drug Enforcement Agency, says: “My honest view is that we will not get anywhere close to that. You know we will never have enough law enforcement within the UK to actually stop anywhere near the amount of drugs that actually come into the country.”"
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz26knPKW8r
Michael. I used to think this song was about coffee.
I bought it many years ago as part of a coffee promotion ( cant recall if it was Maxwell House or not....)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Brown
alcohol is a legal drug and thats why so many people abuse it
drug related admissions in hospitals are a fraction of what the drunks provide
I do have a problem with being told its ok to take that but your not allowed to take this
I personally think that alcohol has given society many more problems than drugs
Yes you do get the heroin addicts breaking into places to steal items to sell so they can buy their next fix but these really are a small percentage of the overall drug taking population
Until we take the criminal element out of the supply of drugs then things are never going to change
Time to think outside the box but i dont see any politicians with the guts to change the present drug policy
I have only one thing to say, "Skunk" allegedly soft drug cannabis, now god knows how many more times stronger than the rubbish smoked by politicians and others in the 60's and 70's.
Is the largest causation of mental health issues in society today. An explosion of metal ill health has been caused to youngsters who would otherwise lead reasonable lives.
PS I was a psych nurse for thirty years, this stuff was the cause of an explosion of mental ill health amongst young people in the late 80's 90's and the present day. It literally stalled the process of community care to the revolving door standstill it is at to this day.
The UK illegal drug market is thought to be worth between £4 billion and £6.6 billion
- Class A drug use creates around £15.4 billion in crime and health costs each year
- 99 per cent of that is caused by problematic drug use, usually involving heroin or crack cocaine
- Between a third and a half of robberies, burglaries and other thefts relate to drug use
Valium abuse....
"Valium, the sleeping pill that gained notoriety 40 years ago as 'mother's little helper', is damaging a fresh generation of women who use it to relax and go to sleep after taking cocaine or amphetamines.
Doctors warned this weekend that they are seeing a huge increase among teenagers and women in their twenties who are unaware that the little blue pills are potentially fatal when taken with alcohol, as well as being highly addictive. Patients who try to come off the tablets suffer withdrawal effects for weeks, including hallucinations and anxiety attacks, which can be worse than the symptoms that accompany withdrawal from cocaine or ecstasy.
Valium, widely prescribed in the Sixties to women with anxiety or depression, is the brand name for diazepam, one of a class of tranquillisers and sleeping pills known as benzodiazepines. The pills have gained new popularity as they can be bought cheaply over the internet.
According to Dr Mike McPhillips, who runs the addiction centre at the Priory Hospital in Roehampton, west London, several patients bought them while travelling around south-east Asia on a gap year. 'We are seeing a lot of young women coming in with a Valium addiction, up to one in 10 patients,' he said. 'There's a culture of younger and younger women taking cocaine and if you take half a gram it is hard to sleep, so the dealer who generously sold you that drug will sell you the Valium.'"
A nasty substance and often taken as a cocktail with other drugs and or alcohol.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/ma...cohol.jorevill
the only time you see coppers in speeding in a car is when a football match is on
We don’t have good information about prevalence of use and harmful effects of many illicit drugs, including MDMA ( ecstasy ), hallucinogenic drugs, inhalants, or non-medical use of benzodiazepines such as “ Valium “ and anabolic steroids, so it’s hard to make judgements about their contribution to disease burden. It does seem that “ recreational use “ of prescription drugs is increasing. What is already beyond doubt, however, are the dangers – to health and society – especially of “ Class A “ ( UK ) drugs. Also, as pointed out out by our forum member waytogo297, who has years of experience as a psychiatric nurse, cannabis use does appear to be the biggest single cause of serious mental disorders in the UK.
We can only estimate social and economic costs of illegal drug markets – possibly now approaching 18 billion GBP annually in the UK. Smoking, alcohol excess, and obesity may EACH cost similar amounts ; at least the first two are significantly offset by tax revenues – but none are net contributors to the economy, and illegal drugs contribute nothing.
There is enormous variation in how countries apply laws against drug users, and to which substances. Drug users’ risk of arrest and consequences of arrest vary markedly – the death penalty has been abolished in the Philippines. Some countries have reputations for toughness ( successfully applied in Singapore but not Mexico ); others such as Portugal and Switzerland effectively treat drug taking as a health problem.
Globally, many fewer people use illicit drugs than those who eat and drink to excess, or smoke. The effectiveness of EITHER harsh punishment OR treatment as a health problem varies in different parts of the world. The costs of all four “ lifestyle choices “ are unsustainable.
The UK Government seems not to accept decriminalisation / legalisation any time soon. Professor David Nutt – former expert drugs advisor – was sacked in 2009 ( by former Health Secretary – and postman – Alan Johnson ) for his reforming views. Our Department of Health AND Home Office should oversee illicit drugs. As with the Philippines, sensible use of resources is vital – corruption not being such a problem in UK.
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