why do we, as a culture, condemn the use of some drugs- then condone the use of others that are just as bad?

Question

example- mushrooms...BAD
ritalin for all the children...GOOD
marijuana...BAD
alcohol...GOOD
LSD...BAD
ambien...GOOD
mescaline...BAD
muscle relaxers and pain meds for everyone with a sore ankle...GOOD
i could do that all day, but i will spare you, since have have a benevolent demeanor. (also, i don't mean to suggest any specific connection between mushrooms and ritalin, mescaline, marijuana and alcohol, or LSD and ambien)

keep in mind- I'M NOT NECESSARILY CONDONING THE USE OF MUSHROOMS, LSD, OR MARIJUANA- simply pondering the apparent hipocrisy.


sources- i used work for a pharmecutical company, and i've done a few drugs myself. deoxy.org; Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley; Cosmic Trigger, Robert Anton Wilson Dr. Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of consiousness; etc.

Answer 1

It's staggerring to me that anyone would ask this question in any sincerity. Look at the drugs you list and the answer to your question is obvious. The FDA will no less corruptable than any body of humans isn't forcing ritilin down your gullet while they puff on a phat blunt. Drugs are legalzised or illegalized based on their benifit to society weighed agianst their danger. Alcohol is a deadly poison that is legal because it's effects a mearusable and it can be produced with scientific accuracy. Mescaline is an illeagal drug because there can be no standardized dosage and it cannot be produced in a way that refulates it's potency. Ritilin is a legal drug because when it was released it was the best solution to a problem thought to be serious. Nobody should beleive that legal drugs are good for you or even less dangerous.But legalizing drugs that could be more harmful than you udnerstand is silly.

Answer 2

Most of the drugs you mention like LSD, mescaline, mushrooms, marijuana, are all leisure drugs or street drugs and they are banned and not approved by FDA. Drugs,like ritalin, ambien are therapeutic drugs or necessary evil and approved by the FDA. for ,
public consumption.In this category belong the various muscle relaxants, and pain relievers. Altho' there's controversy re marijuana being therapeutic for cancer patients amd Aides patient.;to date it's still illegal . Alcohol consumption is regulated. Liquor stores can not sell to minors. Too much alcohol will lead to addiction. But it's tolerated. not condone and that's a big difference.

Answer 3

A wild guess. The people making the rules are all lawyers,
75 yrs. old or older.
I don't get it. Scientists have published books on the harmlessness of marijuana, but with this pres.,
science seems to have no merit.

As for experience, that also seems to count for nothing.

Did you know that the gov. is going around arresting doctors
for giving pain meds to cancer patients?
I think our gov. has lost it's way. It's sad.

Answer 4

Fetal alcohol syndrome is the leading cause of mental retardation in the western world.
17000 people KILLED by drunk drivers. 41% of all motor vehicle fatalities in the US.
Stats are endless.
I can see the point of not wantin to legalize more types of drugs, but the cost to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate marijuana offenders versus the damage it would do as a decriminalized (fineable misdemeanor) offence?
Or legalize it as a revenue generator, it can't be as dangerous as alcohol.

Answer 5

Read Terence McKenna's book: "Food of the Gods" for an interesting investigation into this question.

Answer 6

So true. I use snow sometimes and my boyfriend calls me all kinds of names. He smokes, and thinks that this is okay. I told him that no drug is better than the next, and he told me that this was just a way of me trying to deny my own addiction. I think that it was his way to justify his!!!

Answer 7

Common sense doesn't make policy in America, money does.

Answer 8

The answer (or answers) is hidden within the labyrinth of our pollitical & socioeconomic system.