Well, I guess if you lost a close friend or your child to a tainted substance you might consider it something which affects you more than you’d think.

@Damocles: The problem being that people like drugs and are going to take them regardless.

@Carl Nolan: Given the amount of publicity around about the dangers then only stupid people.

@Damocles:

Yeah, stupid people like:

Steve Jobs
Barack Obama
Carl Sagan
Bill Gates
Sigmund Freud
Thomas Edison
Francis Crick
Charles Dickens

@Carl Nolan: People can be intelligent and wonderful in many aspects of their lives. But if they put non prescribed drugs into their systems when they have little understanding of the ramifications then that is still stupid.

@Damocles:
Stupid act.
Stupid people.
Not the same thing

@Nick Beirne: Depends on whether you consider stupidity to be a permanent state. I’m happy to think that stupid people doing stupid things can be educated to be less stupid. Perhaps you disagree.

@Damocles: There are all sorts of dangers and health implications involved in drinking but I’m assuming you wouldn’t bat an eyelid about going out on the lash on the weekend? Particularly considering you’ve got a cartoon of you drinking beer as your profile picture…

@Carl Did any of those people on your list ever end up wasting hospital space after taking drugs, and turn it into someone else’s problem? Probably not.

@Carl Nolan: Yes, I do drink. In moderation. I’m aware of the dangers and ramifications of drinking and act accordingly. There’s a massive difference between having a few pints and ingesting an unknown drug with no knowledge of what it’s going to do to you.

@Damocles: Just like countless drug users do it in moderation every night of the week but you don’t hear about them in the news so you get a false sense of proportion regarding the amount of people ending up in hospital relative to the amount of people who use illegal drugs.

If you’re educated about your drug use then by far the biggest risk to your health is a contaminated supply, caused directly by the prohibition of drugs.

Look, I’m not a drug-loving hippie I just think think there’s such blatant hypocrisy in our legal system that needs to be addressed. We don’t legislate based on what will minimise harm, we legislate based on what will get a political party votes and unfortunately when the elecorate is misinformed we end up with bad laws that harm people.

The worst part is people who are foolish enough to think legal=ok, illegal=bad which ends up just fueling bad politics.

@Clever Jake – Possession of prohibited drugs is a crime. Legislation says so. That’s what makes them ‘p-r-o-h-i-b-i-t-e-d’, see? You mightn’t think it should be a crime, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t.

@Jake They’re illegal because they cause idiots to engage in behaviour which is dangerous to themselves and others. Tell you what. If you’re ever caught with prohibited drugs and charged, try giving that spiel to the judge. Tell him drug legislation doesn’t count because it’s corrupt, and that you’re not bound by it for that reason.

@Can’t Think of One: “They’re illegal because they cause idiots to engage in behaviour which is dangerous to themselves and others”

Sounds exactly like alcohol to me. In fact I’d rather bump into a group of stoned or high lads on a night out in Dublin than a group of drunk ones.

You’re the exact type of poorly informed person I’m talking about. You seem to get your notion of what’s right and wrong from the current law of the land when in fact it should be the opposite way round. Decide what’s right and wrong based on research and evidence rather than putting blind faith in an old and slow-to-change legal system.

Once you do some unbiased research I think you’ll come to the same conclusion as I have which is that our current drug laws are harmful, inconsistent and illogical.

And you make no allowances at all for youngsters who make silly decisions Damo. They are not adults, their brains don’t work the same as adults. Their are reports of kids as young as 12/13 getting hooked on various drugs. But you just say f*** em, right? Must be great being up there on your pedestal. Tw@

@ Clever Jake I don’t have any particular problem with cannabis. I don’t use it myself, but I don’t see much harm in it. However, in my view you’ve destroyed your credibility by saying that ‘ecstasy and other drugs (by which I’m presuming you mean cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, etc) have not harmful (sic) to anyone’. To come out with a statement like that is ludicrous, end of. You’re on about me having been taken in by propaganda…it seems like you’re basing all your theories on exactly that. But I’m not going to change your opinion, nor are you going to change mine, so we’ll agree to disagree. For now though, the law is the law, it’s there for a good reason and it won’t be changing anytime soon.

@Can’t Think of One: you’ve destroyed your credibility by saying that ‘ecstasy and other drugs (by which I’m presuming you mean cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, etc) have not harmful (sic) to anyone’

Clean ecstasy is considerably less toxic and dangerous than alcohol. You’re just exposing your ignorance in this subject. Honestly, where are you getting your information? Posters stuck up in secondary school?

You’re a toxic combination of wrong and loud.

@Can’t Think of One:

Correct, also anyone who takes an “ILLICIT” or “RECREATIONAL” drug without knowing it’s contents and possible side effects is an eejit! Would you give a new medication to a child or other family member without doing some research? Of course these same eejits have no personal responsibility as they will blame somebody else for what has happened to them and also expect somebody else to pay for their medical care!

@Cant think,
I didn’t know, but thanks for clarity.
Am I right in thinking then that, by the same logic, you would be in favour of legalising and regulating other “recreational” drugs?

@Jim ‘Can’t think’…ahaaaa that’s very clever, I see what you did there. Good one. No, you’re not right in thinking that, and I’m not sure what ‘logic’ you’re referring to. I’d be against it. I don’t see how you can legalise and regulate substances like ecstasy and cocaine. It’s just not the same as marijuana or alcohol.

Yeah because stigma is so high that nobody touchs drugs… Wake up. A new plan is needed, what is being done now clearly doesn’t work. Head in the sand approach never does.

@Guy Incognito:
Yeah sure Guy.
When drugs are legalized the criminal fraternity are suddenly going to develope a sense of morality, cease production and enter Buddhist monasteries en masse.
God bless your innocence.

@Daniel Fontaine:

So frustrated reading comments like yours Daniel.

If you actually read so much as the headline correctly you’d see that basic information about this drug is unknown, ie: no one is trying to legalise this.

It’s the very fact that well understood and researched drugs which medical professionals can deal with are illegal that people end up doing these far more dangerous ones.

@Carl Nolan: You can get yourself as educated as you like about drugs, but bottom line is you will never know what you are about to put into your body, unless you think people bring a chemistry set with them on a night out and test everything? ie. no amount of reading about drugs makes it safe.

@Scundered: You’re correct. When you’re buying drugs down some alleyway from a questionable character of course you don’t know what’s in them, which is exactly why prohibition causes so much harm.

If we want to minimise the negative effects of drugs we can either continue our dismally ineffective “war” on them and tell our kids “drugs are bad”, which puts money in criminals’ pockets, fuels gangland crime and has minimal effect on the supply and use. Or alternatively we make drug use safe, strip thugs of their incomes and educate our kids properly on drugs rather than providing silly soundbites that they ignore.

The best part is that we don’t have to be the guinea pigs. Look at Portugal where OD rates came down after decriminalisation or the Netherlands where cannabis use is LOWER than Ireland. All you have to do is look at the evidence and it’s clear as day that our current approach should be done away with.

@Carl Nolan: Why do you assume I drink?

@Wurps: Because the vast majority of Irish people do.

@Wurps: Clearly you’ve never experienced the joy of vomiting rainbows.