(05-05-2010, 08:15 AM)velvetfog Wrote: In terms of the amount of violence caused by the people under the influence of it, alcohol is the most dangerous drug around. next to methamphetamine (speed).the problem isn't violence vf
People who indulge in opiates are quite peaceful.
The last opium den in New York city was shut down in 1957.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_den
http://vichist.blogspot.com/2009/03/opiu...orian.html
and as for the spelling of heroin. i misspelled it and the spell checker took over (i was rushing for the work run.)
the problem is the addiction, the high tolerance the bad withdrawal and the dependence. which in all honesty the graph has arse about tit.
stop a smoker smoking for two days and they can handle it fairly easily if it enforced.
stop a heroin addicts supply for two and see the vast difference in their demeanor.
the violent crimes you speak of. no body mentioned as far as i know that they indulged in violent crimes.
what they do indulge in is soft crimes. selling everything in the house. stealing from family etc. shoplift. conning people. if heroin were widespread it would take hold much worse than alcoholism ever did. it would cause more devastation to the family unit than ever.
to compare heroin to cigarettes is ridiculous. if the same amount of people who smoked took heroine you'd see that visible difference. if you made heroin legal you would see the numbers steadily rise well above the number of smokers you now have.
the cost to the health service wold be dramatic and extremely costly in time and funding. more so that tobacco. wit tobacco a person usually needs treatment near the end of their life. with heroin a person usually needs some kind of treatment for most of their habitual taking life. all the same symptoms as the smoker but for longer and more often.
all the same illnesses as alcoholics but more often and for longer periods.
people who smoke aren't necessarily on welfare. people who take herion are. imagine the cost to the welfare system should it be made illegal.
people who smoke cause harm to the unborn fetus.
so do people who take heroin, only more so. the baby is born an addict and future use would strengthen any habit they get. the child has to do cold turkey and has all the withdrawal symptoms of an adult.
have you ever shared a house for a month with a withdrawing addict? it isn't pleasant. watch trainspotting (a film) and you'll get a little bit of an idea of what it's like. though it airs on the conservative side.
smoking isn't a hallucinogenic drug. heroin is. while alcohol and tobacco has a high tolerance heroin has a higher one and the more you take the worse the come down when you can't get it.
if there is one thing i learned in my misguided life it's this;
an addiction can be could if it doesn't control your life.
heroin controls not only the life of the person who takes it but of those around him. it's a dirty drug. to legalize it would be extremely foolish.
i almost forgot
i've never heard of anyone catching aids from a drink or a cigarette.
nor have i heard of anyone catching hepatitis or a number of other communicable diseases.
i've never heard of a police officer stabbing himself on a pack of winstons while doing a body search. on a needle,, yes.
ask a police officer whats his worst fear when he searches someone and he'll tell you getting stuck with a dirty needle is one of the high listed ones.