[talk.politics.misc] legalizing some drugs

colonel@sunybcs.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (10/03/86)

> My solution: legalize heroin or at least provide free sources to addicts, no
> questions asked,  legalize one or two of the designer drugs which are (relat-
> ively) harmless such as marijuana and cocaine, and keep the real Jeckyl/Hyde
> formulas such as lsd and pcp banned.  And have autos de fe for anyone caught
> selling drugs of any sort to minors.

I have doubts about this classification.  First, "designer" drugs aren't
the same as fashionable drugs.  They are drugs manufactured by making
insignificant modifications to illegal drugs, so that they are legal but
have the same effect as illegal drugs.  (I also doubt whether cocaine is
relatively harmless--can any long-time users confirm Ted's description?)

Second, if I remember right, LSD is classified as a hallucinogen.  From
users' descriptions, I believe it merely suppresses the mind's higher-
level perceptions, which could even be beneficial.  In any case, I
wouldn't call LSD a Jeckyl-and-Hyde drug.  If any drug is famous for
inducing personality changes, it's alcohol!


	"Lonnie swept the playroom
	 And he gathered up all he found;
	   It was forty-eight hours till Lonnie came around."

				--Steely Dan, "The Boston Rag"
-- 
Col. G. L. Sicherman
UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
CS: colonel@buffalo-cs
BI: colonel@sunybcs, csdsiche@sunyabvc