Am I the only person who has never used an illegal drug

[BigFatCoward]

56 minutes ago, DMC said:

 

No, what's stupid is thinking crack itself is the causal factor that leads crack users to commit crimes.  Not only is it stupid, but that type of thinking leads to much more societal harm that any drug ever could.

I'm all for giving all drug addicts their drugs for free, be cheaper in the long run.  Been saying it for years. 

However I'm not sure you can say with a straight face that being a crack head doesn't come with some associated costs. Which are, in the main, met by commiting high volume, high impact crimes.

Why you become a crack head is clearly a whole different conversation. 

[Spockydog]

16 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Does anyone still think coke is mainly a Wall Street kinda thing?

Nope. Growing up, it was a readily available favourite amongst me and my predominately working class mates from the estates. Builders, scaffolders, sparkys, etc. We all enjoyed the gak, but as far as I'm aware, nobody was robbing anyone to fund their habits.

 

[Fez]

Drug-related crime is absolutely a thing. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has regularly done surveys of US federal and state prisoners, and they regularly find that 15-20% of them report that they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs. 

I have not seen any crime breakdown by primary drug though, so I am doubtful of any claims about crack vs cocaine or anything else of that nature.

[MercenaryChef]

yeah. it isn't bret easton ellis' depiction of 1980s yuppie capitalism excess generously dusted with cocaine.

coke has long been a very ordinary aspect of the hospitality/restaurant industry. 

coke came into vogue and then was cooked down into crack totally fucking things for mainly minority people with the cia's hands all over it.

for me it is hard to try to paint coke as this innocent party drug paid for by regular people while crack is tearing apart society.

[Spockydog]

I blame the ancient Egyptians.

[Conflicting Thought]

Cocain addicts absolutley do comit crimes to fund their addiction, they steal money,  they sell things that arent theirs to get more, etc. 

[BigFatCoward]

32 minutes ago, Conflicting Thought said:

Cocain addicts absolutley do comit crimes to fund their addiction, they steal money,  they sell things that arent theirs to get more, etc. 

Nobody said they don't. But they are generally less likely to.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

16 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Nobody said they don't. But they are generally less likely to.  In fact by the time you hit that point you have normally moved onto rocks anyway. 

I'd argue white collar vs. blue collar though. Most coke addicts on Wall St. are probably also engaged in a hell of a lot of other illegal activities. 

[BigFatCoward]

9 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'd argue white collar vs. blue collar though. Most coke addicts on Wall St. are probably also engaged in a hell of a lot of other illegal activities. 

My only point is that the difference in sentencing can partially be explained by the fact that the vast majority of crack addicts pay for their drugs with the proceeds of criminality. Which inevitably wil affect sentencing. Because if you are sentencing someone for possession of a gram of crack and review their antecedents they will in all likelihood have a far greater criminal history than the person with a gram of cocaine.  

Not always obviously, but in the majority of cases. This point does not in any way discount the fact that there is 'also' the potential to be a racial element to sentencing. 

[Martell Spy]

44 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

My only point is that the difference in sentencing can partially be explained by the fact that the vast majority of crack addicts pay for their drugs with the proceeds of criminality. Which inevitably wil affect sentencing. Because if you are sentencing someone for possession of a gram of crack and review their antecedents they will in all likelihood have a far greater criminal history than the person with a gram of cocaine.  

Not always obviously, but in the majority of cases. This point does not in any way discount the fact that there is 'also' the potential to be a racial element to sentencing. 

We long had mandatory minimum sentences here in the United States, however.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

My only point is that the difference in sentencing can partially be explained by the fact that the vast majority of crack addicts pay for their drugs with the proceeds of criminality. Which inevitably wil affect sentencing. Because if you are sentencing someone for possession of a gram of crack and review their antecedents they will in all likelihood have a far greater criminal history than the person with a gram of cocaine.  

Not always obviously, but in the majority of cases. This point does not in any way discount the fact that there is 'also' the potential to be a racial element to sentencing. 

But this again gets to my previous point about how we view different drugs. Caffeine is 100% a drug, and yet most people use it every day without a thought about it. 

Now, to the bolded, who is to say it's any different than coke users? If you're using coke, there's a good chance you are breaking other laws as well, given you're a fair bit removed from stealing candy at the grocery store. Reasonable chance that other nefarious activities are playing a role in supporting an expensive coke habit?

[Kalbear]

10 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Well that's one reason. But the other, as already mentioned is that crack users tend to commit crime to pay for their habit and cocaine users don't. If someone wants to buy their own drugs they can get on with it as far as I'm concerned. 

Again, the main reason that this is the case is because the crack users are being prosecuted more. If y'all started throwing cocaine users and dealers in jail more I guarantee you you'd see more crime committed to fuel their habits. 

[Kalbear]

3 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Nobody said they don't. But they are generally less likely to.  

No, you're just less likely to go after them.

[DMC]

4 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Why you become a crack head is clearly a whole different conversation.

This has been my point the entire time - that intervening factors explain the difference, not the drug itself.  Emphasizing this is important because, when you don't, you gin up fears that lead to things like mandatory minimums resulting in the vast disparity in nonviolent offenders being incarcerated, disproportionate focus on crime in low-income communities, etc. - which in turn make the aggregate statistics self-perpetuating.

[DMC]

5 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Does anyone still think coke is mainly a Wall Street kinda thing? I’m always amazed at how widespread it is.

It was tongue-in-cheek stereotyping to make a point.  Of course coke has always been more widespread than Wall Street fucks (or Hollywood, or...), even in the 80s.

[Lizard Queen]

I've never tried weed and didn't try alcohol until after I was 21 (then didn't try it again until I was 29). I think I've drank maybe 4-5 times in total over my life now. I was possibly drunk the time I drank at 21, and probably tipsy on another occasion I drank (neither state had been sought or expected by me, but I didn't really try to avoid them either). But I've never felt curious/interested in weed (or anything harder) and have just not had much interest in alcohol either. I'd say it's mostly wanting my mind to be clear, but also one of my parents was a substance abuser and I think that just left me feeling uncomfortable with "substances" to an extent since.

The time I was tipsy was fun, but I felt no desire to get tipsy (or go anywhere further) again. I was once high off a prescription med unintentionally (side effect) too. It also was pleasurable and interesting as it happened, but like with the tipsiness I felt no desire to re-experience such a state. I didn't have strong feelings about either experiences when I reflected, but I mostly didn't like the compromised judgment and altered behaviors I'd had (or could have had), and felt negatively about the states I'd been in on the whole. I don't feel any different now and I will probably just continue in my lack of recreational substance use as I have been. I don't look down on those who differ, I'm just not interested.

[Fury Resurrected]

4 hours ago, Lizard Queen said:

I've never tried weed and didn't try alcohol until after I was 21 (then didn't try it again until I was 29). I think I've drank maybe 4-5 times in total over my life now. I was possibly drunk the time I drank at 21, and probably tipsy on another occasion I drank (neither state had been sought or expected by me, but I didn't really try to avoid them either). But I've never felt curious/interested in weed (or anything harder) and have just not had much interest in alcohol either. I'd say it's mostly wanting my mind to be clear, but also one of my parents was a substance abuser and I think that just left me feeling uncomfortable with "substances" to an extent since.

The time I was tipsy was fun, but I felt no desire to get tipsy (or go anywhere further) again. I was once high off a prescription med unintentionally (side effect) too. It also was pleasurable and interesting as it happened, but like with the tipsiness I felt no desire to re-experience such a state. I didn't have strong feelings about either experiences when I reflected, but I mostly didn't like the compromised judgment and altered behaviors I'd had (or could have had), and felt negatively about the states I'd been in on the whole. I don't feel any different now and I will probably just continue in my lack of recreational substance use as I have been. I don't look down on those who differ, I'm just not interested.

It sounds like the straightedge may be right for you, can I interest you in some early hardcore and 2000s pop punk albums?

[Larry of the Lawn]

I was a ska kid then but all my straight edge buddies were always pushing me to listen to Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits, 10 Yard Fight, and Bane.  Straight edge crew was awesome, always had a safe ride home and sober people to watch your back.  

[The Anti-Targ]

On 3/12/2021 at 5:10 AM, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

So, my siblings and I had a zoom discussion about my mom.  She 74 and lives alone.  None of us (I’m the oldest of 4 it’s me, my sister, and two brothers behind us) are closer than an hour and a half drive from her.  During that discussion they started making jokes about smoking pot.

I’ve never done that.  I’ve never eaten pot brownies.  I’ve never consumed any “illegal” drugs beyond alcohol before I reached legal age.  They were very casual about it and all had tried it at some point.  It felt really awkward.

I don’t smoke and have no desire to ever “smoke” anything.  I don’t particularly like being drunk but I enjoy the flavor of beer, scotch, and bourbon.  

I feel like the only person on the planet who has never used anything other than alcohol and has no desire to use anything other than alcohol.  Is there anyone else, here, in that catagory? 
 

Please understand I’m not condemning anyone who does use substances that are currently illegal, I just wonder if anyone else is in my position.

I've never used anything including alcohol.

[Jaxom 1974]

I sampled weed a couple times in college and got nothing out of it, as I didn't feel any different than if I'd simply been drinking. So I've stuck with alcohol.  

I generally keep my personal thoughts about drugs in general, as I have come to realize I'm very much overly judgemental about something I have no right be be judgemental about. Simple to say I dislike drugs, illegal or otherwise. But that's just me.

In recent years though, I have come to the conclusion that Marijuana and some other drugs would be better legalized and subsequently regulated much like alcohol is.  I have zero use for weed, but then again, I also don't drink much tequila or scotch, but I don't call for those items to be removed from the shelves.  Regulate it. Tax it. 

Having the realization that the illegality of drugs also has contributed to so many issues within the criminal justice system also has altered my thinking on it as well

Again, I got no use, but have at it, if it's your thing.  I very much will do my level best to not give any side eyes.  Not my place.