From: berger@atropa (Mike Berger)
Subject: Re: A distinction between Soft and Hard drugs
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 18:13:42 GMT

tmiller@camms2.caos.kun.nl (Todd M. Miller) writes:
>I have no quarrel with individuals who feel the way you do, but we must
>examine the facts.  I don't know how much you realize it but there is 
>a possibility that if LSD were legal someone could put some in your
>drink without you knowing it.  In fact this has happened to me twice in
>my lifetime that I'm aware of (after the fact of course) while it has been
>illegal.  True, someone can poison you too, but LSD has quite a different
*----
So what's your point?  It can happen whether the substance is legal or
not, as you observed yourself.  The argument isn't relevant at all.

>result.  You must see that the controlled substances acts are there to 
>protect you from other people, and not necessarily to protect you from
>yourself.  And not only that alone, they are also there to protect other
*----
There are plenty of other laws that protect me from others.  Knives
are perfectly legal.  Stab me, and you don't have to be charged with
possession of a knife.  There are laws against harming other people.


>At the same time I agree with you your opinion in that we as human
>beings have natural rights, not bestowed on us by the government, to
>the wonders of nature.  But in a practical sense aren't the current laws
>the best way leave that decision in the hands of each individual by
>requiring a substantial body of knowledge be accumulated in order to
>acquire these substances?  Why should anyone be able to purchase all
*----
You assume that the current laws are somehow rational.  But the same
laws classify LSD and marijuana with heroin and crack cocaine.  That
doesn't make any sense at all!

>the drugs they want without going through a reasonable amount of study
>concerning the substance in question?  Do you deny that "hard" drugs
>do require some sort of preparation before injestion or do you suggest
>that someone just drop those tabs of acid and see what happens?
*----
How much study and preparation does alcohol require?  Now THERE'S a
hard drug for you.  And it's a gateway drug too!  Virtually everybody
that abuses drugs started with alcohol.

>I'm all for legalizing things but I would like to see the plan and the
>expected behavior patterns explained first.  Perhaps if you had just come
>off of a three day acid trip which you never expected to take you would feel 
>differently.  It is hardly the same as smelling marijuana in the air, thus
>the distinction between Hard and Soft drugs.
*----
Your ignorance is apparent.  A three-day acid trip is a virtual
impossibility for most of us (acid simply has no effect after a
couple of days until you lay off it for a day or so).  And if your
whole objection hinges upon some unscrupulous person slipping
me drugs surreptitiously, then it's not a question of legality
at all.  That could just as easily happen with darvon, valium,
or any legally obtainable substance.
--
	Mike Berger
	Department of Statistics, University of Illinois
	AT&TNET     217-244-6067
	Internet    berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu