I personally prefer shooting heroin into the blood vessels near my eyeballs. It worked wonders for Jimi Hendrix. Talk about a "Purple Haze"!

Hipper wrote:This documentary was shown a few weeks ago:

https://www.itv.com/presscentre/ep1week ... ee-spencer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Clearly drugs do a lot of harm. They also do harm socially. Whether it's on the scale of alcohol I doubt. Alcohol is surely the most damaging drug socially, destroying marraiges etc..

Smoking, whilst damaging to health, has very limited social effects.

I think it's important to separate the harm drugs do, from the harm caused by the prohibition of drugs.

ontario claret wrote:I personally prefer shooting heroin into the blood vessels near my eyeballs. It worked wonders for Jimi Hendrix. Talk about a "Purple Haze"!

Reading your posts, I am not unconvinced this is not actually a joke!

AndrewJB wrote:I think it's important to separate the harm drugs do, from the harm caused by the prohibition of drugs.

You are right of course but my point didn't consider the prohibition of drugs, just there use, which is what this thread is about.

Hipper wrote:You are right of course but my point didn't consider the prohibition of drugs, just there use, which is what this thread is about.

The current state of prohibition is inextricably linked to how drugs are used and the harm they do. To die of a heroin overdose, for example, takes hours (you fall asleep and don't wake up), however many people found dead due to heroin still have the needle in their arms. They've died as a result of what was put into the heroin, and these additives are there because it's an unregulated black market.

Illegal drugs are actively marketed to the most vulnerable.

Illegal drugs are expensive because they're illegal. We can all agree that having an addiction is not a good thing, however it is still possible to manage an addiction, and live an otherwise full and meaningful life. When an addiction costs more than you can afford through having a regular job, then it's no longer possible to manage.

AndrewJB wrote:The current state of prohibition is inextricably linked to how drugs are used and the harm they do. To die of a heroin overdose, for example, takes hours (you fall asleep and don't wake up), however many people found dead due to heroin still have the needle in their arms. They've died as a result of what was put into the heroin, and these additives are there because it's an unregulated black market.

Illegal drugs are actively marketed to the most vulnerable.

Illegal drugs are expensive because they're illegal. We can all agree that having an addiction is not a good thing, however it is still possible to manage an addiction, and live an otherwise full and meaningful life. When an addiction costs more than you can afford through having a regular job, then it's no longer possible to manage.

Or... dont start taking heroin?

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Or... dont start taking heroin?

I don't think anyone takes up heroin as a lifestyle choice. If the drug were available on prescription to registered addicts, then there would be no market for it here. Several tonnes of heroin is imported into the UK every year, and simply by decriminalising it and giving it to addicts via the NHS we'd kill that trade off. And with no black market, the number of people trying it for the first time and becoming addicts would drop off markedly.

AndrewJB wrote:I don't think anyone takes up heroin as a lifestyle choice. If the drug were available on prescription to registered addicts, then there would be no market for it here. Several tonnes of heroin is imported into the UK every year, and simply by decriminalising it and giving it to addicts via the NHS we'd kill that trade off. And with no black market, the number of people trying it for the first time and becoming addicts would drop off markedly.

Sounds simple...

C'mon, cc. You and I usually get along quite well. Yes, it is a joke. But it was also reality for Jimi.

And how much can you tie in Jimi's musical brilliance to his drug use? Unfortunately, not uncommon among many artists.

AndrewJB wrote:I don't think anyone takes up heroin as a lifestyle choice. If the drug were available on prescription to registered addicts, then there would be no market for it here. Several tonnes of heroin is imported into the UK every year, and simply by decriminalising it and giving it to addicts via the NHS we'd kill that trade off. And with no black market, the number of people trying it for the first time and becoming addicts would drop off markedly.

I see sense in that idea & if it wasn’t available via the black market it’d be unlikely as a first time drug user experimenting with a drug so potent, we already do similar with methodone as a safer substitute but without decriminalising, I suspect the reluctance stems from the message that actually weaning the patient off & gradually becoming free from dependency via a rehabilitation sense is a preferred course, it’s a long way off we haven’t even legalised cannabis yet & you’re suggesting heroin.

Another young kid sadly a victim of drugs again!!!!

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/p ... spartanntp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And you’ll see from that tragic story that the police aren’t actually sure what she’s taken due to it being acquired from an unregulated black market.