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fucktoyprincess -> RE: Republicans and Legal Pot (3/17/2014 9:25:25 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Zonie63
quote:
ORIGINAL: fucktoyprincess
Just because someone is using legal drugs/substances does NOT make it any easier PHYSICALLY to break the chemical dependency.
Are you talking about access to services?? I am not aware of any rehab institution/doctor/other services that will NOT treat you if you are dependent on illegal drugs?? People who use cocaine, heroin, etc. are still welcome to pursue rehab. Who prohibits them based not the legality of the drug they are addicted to?
I can see TheHeretic's point here. I think it's the stigma of being a "criminal" and outside the law, consorting with drug dealers, low-lifes - as opposed to just buying one's drug of choice from the corner store and consuming it legally. The damage to one's reputation in the community is greater merely because of its illegality. The whole idea of "illegal drugs" has existed on the periphery of society, anti-establishment and underground, whereas alcoholism is seen as semi "normal" from a societal point of view. It's a blatant double-standard which society has embraced for quite some time, and it also explains why alcohol is legal while these other substances are not.
My late father had been in AA for several decades, and he told me that there were some AA groups which were very resistant to anyone coming in identifying as an "addict." Some saw their mission as dealing strictly with alcoholism and only alcoholism, not with any other kind of addiction. I think that's since changed in recent years, as they're more tolerant of addicts now. In some smaller areas, treatment and support systems were mainly geared towards alcoholics, although that seems to be changing now, too (depending on the funding, which is another matter).
I don't think the legality or illegality of a substance has anything to do with the physiological effects of addiction, although not all addictions are the same either. But the legality of something might influence society's overall view of the substance and its users, as well as availability of services for those who are in need of help with their addiction. Legalization may or may not make it any easier for people to ask for and get the help they need, but it would keep the problem in the medical realm where it can be dealt with on that level.
It doesn't change the physical effects of the addiction, but it might decrease the overall damage to society from the problem at hand. I don't think sending them to prison does anything, unless they're being sent to intensive drug treatment centers. Eradicating the substance itself is impossible, but even if society could eliminate all heroin, cocaine, etc., people will just find some other way of altering/numbing their perceptions.
My previous comments were all directed specifically at the physiological effects (so we are in agreement on that). For some reason other posters seem to think I am speaking of other things but I am not.
In cities like New York, LA, people who quit cocaine regularly attend AA meetings. Many have attended private rehab centers where again, the legality of the drugs is not at issue. So my perspective is based on what I see in the larger cities. I can't vouch for what it is like in other places. So in a city like New York, my personal observation is that there is ZERO connection between legality and how easy it is to overcome the physiological effects of addiction. There is only the issue of overcoming one's personal demons. And the legality of the drug has very little to do with that. [sm=2cents.gif]
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