The philosopher's take on the criminalisation of drugs

[Administrator]

GETTING HIGH: THE PHILOSOPHER'S TAKE ON THE CRIMINALISATION OF DRUGS

If Moralisers Were Logicians, Coffee and Chocolate Would Be Outlawed Too

There are two rarely noticed facts about drugs. First, almost all human beings use them - alcohol and nicotine included. Secondly, drugs became illegal less than a century ago, first for soldiers in the First World War, who used them to combat the horrors of the trenches, and then as part of the "prohibition" lunacy, in which both drugs and alcohol were banned in the United States. As Prohibition proved, outlawing things is a godsend to criminals, who are energetic entrepreneurs and who will provide what people want at great profit to themselves and great cost to society.

Cannabis became more dangerous this week, not because of anything intrinsic to its chemistry but because the Home Secretary said so. It has been moved from Class C to B. At the same time moves are afoot to downgrade Ecstasy from A to B.

Since the dawn of history people have wanted to ingest substances that alter their states of consciousness, whether for relief, recreation, spiritual experience or bliss. Coffee and chocolate are also mood and mind changers. If moralisers were logicians these would be outlawed too. At the very least alcohol, as dangerous as some of the other commonly used drugs, would be banned. Or, more sensibly, every other drug would be controlled, as alcohol is, thus at a stroke liberating the police, the public purse and the populace, who would not become any more drug-crazed than they were before 1914.

Author: A.C. Grayling
Note: A.C. Grayling is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck University of London
http://www.acgrayling.com/

 

[GOD]

"drugs became illegal less than a century ago, first for soldiers in the First World War, who used them to combat the horrors of the trenches, and then as part of the "prohibition" lunacy, in which both drugs and alcohol were banned in the United States. "

That is utter crap and shows that the writer has absolutely no idea what he is talking about .

 

[restin]

yes. Read "Cannabis: A history" By Martin Brooth (Yes, this is an advert, GOD)

 

[Telico]

French Version : http://www.psychonaut.com/post-32985.html

 

[GOD]

Wow ! Good work Telico .

 

[Dantediv86]

GOD show me where the crap is! i think my eyes are too polluted by bullshit and i can't see the bullshit this guy is writing!!!

 

[GOD]

I quoted the guy . His quote is not true . I think you mean prove it ?

 

[restin]

drugs didn't become illegal in one day...there was social rejection already before it. Also, there were many restriction to opium because Chinese people brought them to Europe and the Europeans didn't like them, same with Weed and Mexicans in the USA. The drug war was partially initiated because of racism...

 

[Bastiaan]

Just my 2 cents!

The reason psychoactives are illegal and they are hammering on this so hard is because they are afraid they might have vast potential freeing minds and showing people what is really going on and that they're being controlled, abused and manipulated.
There's a lot of things that are being found out by the general people (as opposed to the select misunderstood and ridiculed few in the past and I am still among them) right now (such as this psychoactives are mindexpanding and not hazardous to the mental health when used properly at all thing that I feel very pleased about to be among insiders here) that have me convinced they will not be able to sustain power much longer. 2012? I don't know about that haha
But the generation emerging now has a much more freed mind then the one before. The ones in power know how powerfully mindexpanding and consciousness enbroadening some of these substances can be is my bet.
Of course as we all know some substances (that actually have nothing to do with another substance except for the fact that they both alter ones state of mind) and/or when subtances are not used in the proper responsible way are or can be in fact hazardous to our health. They very thankfully use the commonalities to make the theory that these substances are also dangerous seem as logically correct as possible and to put the mindfreeing substances in the same box being the heavily emotionally loaded term 'drugs' as the dangerous and potentially life-destroying ones. They make us (not us psychonauts but the bigger whole, the sheeple) connect it to fear and grief to keep it's potency hidden from the vast mass of sheeple so they remain so. It's a tough one and a long road but were doing very well I think. We have the advantage of being enlightened by our favourite substances that we have come to cherrish and love regularly, making us more powerful, walking the path to raising awareness with less deviations and boosting the process.

It IS a little bit on topic! lol :lol:
But hey, I'm just a paranoid conspiracy theorist :wink: :roll:

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

But the generation emerging now has a much more freed mind then the one before.

Definitely.

The ones in power know how powerfully mindexpanding and consciousness enbroadening some of these substances can be is my bet.

Sometimes I wonder if it's the psychedelics that expand your mind, or an expanded mind that makes one seek out and continue using psychedelics...

 

[misfit]

Maybe both?

(though, I've never ingested any classic psychedelic. Not in this life at least.)

 

[GOD]

The drug laws in the world were originaly made for comercial reasons . Remember the british took opium from india and forced the chinese to buy it , thats how big comercial interests are . I cant remember the dates but morphine became illegal after many british doctors got adicted in the kimia war because they couldnt stand the blood and gore they saw and took morphine that was ment for the wounded themselves . Cannabis became illegal because the british government stoped the greeks from growing cannabis and making hash and selling it to the lebanese and the egyptians . ( Yes the greeks were doing it on a mass scale before the turks , the marocans and the lebanese ) . The british wanted to get cannabis from their indian colony and sell it to the egyptians .

The drug trade in the world is the biggest market and the safest investment . Its bigger than steel , bigger than oil or anything else . The investment is safe because as you see it doesnt mater how draconian the laws are in any country people still take drugs .

I cant be bothered to look it up at the moment but if i feel OK tomorow i will try to find more information .

 

[Forkbender]

Also, there were many restriction to opium because Chinese people brought them to Europe and the Europeans didn't like them

Ehm, the British actually fought two wars to keep exporting Opium from India INTO China, while China didn't want it because it made the people lazy and useless. The Dutch kept pushing Opium to the population of Indonesia for three centuries from 1600-1912 and basically had a state monopoly for most of that time.

The Shanghai conference in 1909, initiated by the American temparance movement (Christian women who wanted to outlaw all drugs including alcohol) basically prohibited the selling of Opium by anyone. In 1912, a treaty was signed in The Hague by a lot of different nations who wanted to prohibit Opium. Opium was never a big problem in Europe and the amount of people who used opiates has risen and fallen under prohibition.

 

[spice]

Sometimes I wonder if it's the psychedelics that expand your mind, or an expanded mind that makes one seek out and continue using psychedelics...

Ah, yes.


I agree, in a sense. The mind must be somewhat adventurous in that to decide to do these things in the first place requires a bit of daring, but to continue to do them suggests a desire to expand the boundaries of the consciousness.

Why would this be desired unless one has that doubt, that nagging feeling, that this (sweeps hand at physical reality) isn't all there is?

It's very much like that glimmer of understanding that came to Neo in the first Matrix movie.....


You must be disenchanted with mundane, normal reality for psychedelics to communicate with you. Otherwise it's just a joyride.

I have observed this phenomenae too many times to believe otherwise.

 

[restin]

"When, with the 1849 Californian gold rush, large numbers of Chinese coolies arrived in America, they brought with them their opium habit. Over the next two decates, tens of thousands more followed in their footsteps to work as indentured labourers on the railways. They, too, smoked opium, [...]. Adhorred, abused and resented as a degenerate race, they were considered the 'yellow peril',pent on destroying white American society. Opium perceived to be their insidious weapon of social destruction, was the subject of much vilification but the truth was different. Most Americans who could afford to buy a bottle of painkilling medicine had taken opium in one form or another for it was the most common analgesic available. The real cause of the hatred was racial.
Laws were passed against opium use and possession, first in San Francisco in 1875 then across the nation, state by state."

 

[Malaeus]

"drugs became illegal less than a century ago, first for soldiers in the First World War, who used them to combat the horrors of the trenches, and then as part of the "prohibition" lunacy, in which both drugs and alcohol were banned in the United States. "

That is utter crap and shows that the writer has absolutely no idea what he is talking about .

do your research god...

 

[Dantediv86]

i think the author wrote it meaning the prohibition loonacy started a century ago on a vast world governmental scale...

 

[GOD]

"do your research god...."

If you have something to say , some evidence , some facts please say what they are and dont write comments that seem to mean i am wrong and you know better . What have i said that isnt right ? What is right ?

 

[Forkbender]

"When, with the 1849 Californian gold rush, large numbers of Chinese coolies arrived in America, they brought with them their opium habit. Over the next two decates, tens of thousands more followed in their footsteps to work as indentured labourers on the railways. They, too, smoked opium, [...]. Adhorred, abused and resented as a degenerate race, they were considered the 'yellow peril',pent on destroying white American society. Opium perceived to be their insidious weapon of social destruction, was the subject of much vilification but the truth was different. Most Americans who could afford to buy a bottle of painkilling medicine had taken opium in one form or another for it was the most common analgesic available. The real cause of the hatred was racial.
Laws were passed against opium use and possession, first in San Francisco in 1875 then across the nation, state by state."

Where did you get that from, please?

What was really interesting that it was "Okay" as long as there was work for the Chinese building railroads and digging mines, but as soon as that was finished it suddenly turned into a problem. As long as they could be exploited there was no problem.

There is evidence that the Opium law was only there to prevent the Chinese immigrants from using it. It was still available as laudanum and in painkillers.

Cocaine was prohibited because people were scared of african americans who supposedly turned into 'drug crazed negroes' after use.

Cannabis was prohibited because it supposedly made the Mexican immigrants lazy and aggressive.

The facts got distorted early on in the prohibition movement. Seems for them that lying and distorting the truth was less bad than allowing people to use drugs. :roll:

 

[restin]

"Cannabis" - Martin Brooth. He also wrote a book about opium but I didn't read that one. I by the way don't disagree with your post about the Shanghai convention but what I want to say is that it started earlier...say, it was a continuous process. Yes, you are right about cocaine and weed, that's what I also read.