Legal Highs 'More Lethal Than Heroin' Warning

[Dis86]

False equivalence. Just because alcohol misuse makes people act like spackers, doesn't mean other drugs do.

Every death from a 'legal high' should weigh heavily on the mind of people who are against reform of our drug policies.

Cameron and Osbourne are known cokefiends, why the pious act now?

How's it a false equivalence? Look at what people on crystal meth can do for example. My step dad, a former police officer, had to attend to a man who decided to rid himself of the demons within by cutting open his stomach and start removing his own small intestine. He did this in the middle of the afternoon in a public park.
Aye, let's have more of that please.
The fact is some narcotics can cause serious detachment from reality. Hence why people use them in the first place.

 

[xs2man]

The sooner they legalise ecstasy, and have them made in pharmaceutical grade form, properly controlled and taxed, then the safer it will be to party, and that'll be the end of these dangerous "legal highs".

Ecstasy in itself isn't hugely dangerous. The cr@p it's cut with to increase profits though, or the lack of education surrounding their use. A simple warning on a packet, a little education, and properly controlled ingredients, and it could be much safer than alcohol and the like.

 

[cheesyboy]

Because of the effects people on narcotics can have upon themselves and others? Just look at the statistics for crimes related to alcohol.

And since people do them anyway, what good does making sure they are controlled by drug gangs rather than legitimate business actually do?

 

[Orionaut]

I have always felt there is a certain degree of Karmic irony in the fact that many of these "Legal Highs" are actually produced in China and exported to the west! (Check out Opium wars )

 

[Squid]

Go read up the forums on erowid, personally ban all until-proven safe and jail shops selling stupid legal high's...

All legal highs have done is ruin and push price up of the good drugs as they been cut with this crap.

At least with the older drugs LSD, MDMA etc the side effects are well documented and the tolerance levels are known, the effects of mixing with alcohol are known, the hospitals know how to deal with it, and for the amount of users - deaths have been allot lower over last 10 years than last few with all this new crap.

Teens are going to experiment with drugs & alcohol, expanding the mind away from all this religious rubbish is write of passage for them.

As one security guard at festival said: I rather deal with few guys smoking a spiff and some ecstasy pills than bunch of drunk people...

I'll doubt were ever get taxed weed/mdma in nice safe pure doses and a bit tax income, that also has the effect to get rid of all petty crime with playground dealers...

oh and in before the conspiracies theorys with new world order not wanting legalise drugs as their mafia traffic routes make to much cash for them.

 

[RedvGreen]

I wouldn't call Alcohol a flat-out legal high - it is one of the best known mood-depressants. People hit it when they're down, and all it does is dull the senses for a short while, lowers inhibitions, and then the average Joe is hit by a wave of depression/melancholy.

But yes, legal products can be ridiculous - alcohol, nicotene-based products, junk food, confectionery etc.

These new things hitting the market, whether happy pills or stimulant drink cocktails all need careful scrutiny, which comes over time - one thing that it seems very few are willing to invest in.

 

[CREATIVE!11]

It's really not a difficult one to work out - people DO know how bad alcohol is for them yet they still drink it, it hasn't hugely impacted on demand.

The problem with alcohol is that the horse has bolted long ago - it's an ingrained part of culture, the economy, everything. You can't just ban all alcohol, it's only as simple as that on an internet forum. All the government can do is attempt to control peoples intake - they do this through various measures including duty on alcohol and licensing it's sale. It's the best that can be done.

Whereas 'legal highs' are not yet ingrained as part of our culture and society therefore it isn't too late to do something about them.

Nobody is 'ignoring' the problems alcohol cause to society.

Nail, meet head.

This is exactly it. I think if alcohol just became a new thing right now there would be tight regulations slapped on it.

And rightfully so, I go out sober a LOT and by 2am hits I feel like i'm in the resident evil film surrounded by zombies.

Who said conspiracy?

In a world where people take drugs regardless of them being illegal, what good does it do to deny those hedonists access to safe and controlled narcotics?

This is a vast discussion and has SOOOOOO many different facets to it.

People are the problem because they CANNOT self regulate. Why are so many people obese? they can't even control their food intake let along a drug that makes you feel like Jesus just touched you in your special place with all his holiness and you've blasted off into outer space playing tag with the moon (my experience of the one time I did ecstasy). Everyone asks me what I thought of it because I'm a logical guy I researched it and decided I wanted to try it. I say yeah it was amazing and they always say why haven't you done it again?

Self control and I'm hyper aware of the risks.

 

[Sin_Chase]

I have a very conflicted view of the decriminalisation of drugs and regulated sale/use of substances.

On one hand you could potentially help more people, cut out more criminals and have a better day-to-day result.

On the other some laws really do need to protect those too stupid to protect themselves. NPS have become fashionable, their prevalence is now widespread. The biggest issue with them is their "legality" status. Some are actually prohibited substances by law contrary to some peoples beliefs. Some are not. This makes no odds though. Young people find the prospect VERY attractive. They are being sold drugs which are marketed as being same as the 'real drugs' that are not only legal (or at least called "legals"), but cheap and widely available. Mainly by people who are exploiting this for a quick profit.

I think many young people would run a mile if offered Meth, Heroin or another hard drug. But they are not running a mile at Benzofury, MCAT or whatever the current fashion NPS is. If law was passed that was WELL publicised that, in short, stated "Every substance imported/created/sold/offered as a 'drug' in mixed or component parts for said ultimate use is illegal"

That's a very very broad definition but it sort of needs to be. Have you seen the current law that tries to prohibit NPS?

Here is an example of a Class B drug

any compound structurally derived from 3-(1-naphthoyl)indole, 3-(2-naphthoyl) indole, 1H-indol-3-yl-(1-naphthyl)methane or 1H-indol-3-yl-(2-naphthyl)methane by substitution at the nitrogen atom of the indole ring by alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, cyanoalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, cycloalkylmethyl, cycloalkylethyl, (N-methylpiperidin-2-yl)methyl or 2-(4-morpholinyl)ethyl, whether or not further substituted in the indole ring to any extent and whether or not substituted in the naphthyl ring to any extent;

Simple......right? You need EXPERT scientists and analysts to break these substances down and advise on very specific wording of law to prohibit them.

 

[DoneADougalOnSofa]

The sooner they legalise ecstasy, and have them made in pharmaceutical grade form, properly controlled and taxed, then the safer it will be to party, and that'll be the end of these dangerous "legal highs".

Ecstasy in itself isn't hugely dangerous. The cr@p it's cut with to increase profits though, or the lack of education surrounding their use. A simple warning on a packet, a little education, and properly controlled ingredients, and it could be much safer than alcohol and the like.

Ahem.... I'd just like to say, +1.

 

[ubern00b]

The problem with drugs is that they are uncontrolled. Who knows what is in them?

Exactly why anyone who chooses to do drugs should invest in test kits (there are enough of them out there). The law and general perception isn't going to change any time soon so if you choose to do anything ensure you are being as safe as you can.

 

[MeEsH BaKkA]

The sooner they legalise ecstasy, and have them made in pharmaceutical grade form, properly controlled and taxed, then the safer it will be to party, and that'll be the end of these dangerous "legal highs".

Ecstasy in itself isn't hugely dangerous. The cr@p it's cut with to increase profits though, or the lack of education surrounding their use. A simple warning on a packet, a little education, and properly controlled ingredients, and it could be much safer than alcohol and the like.

It will never happen, but I agree with you.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Although I've only ever touched alcohol, I'm all for legalising drugs. Like others said, make it controlled and regulated so that the party goers know what they're taking. Think about the amount of reduced paperwork of under-staffed police, which will allow them time to tackle more serious/violent crimes.

 

[Stretch]

The government have missed the boat on having a sensible drugs policy. Legal highs are a pandoras box that never need be opened, but we're now stuck with.

The establishment attitude to drugs is idiotic denialism.

The thing is alcohol in moderation is good for you, so there's a tough balancing act to maintain between necessary restrictions to control the likes of binge drinking and other alcohol abuses and the positive affects of responsible use.

I'm pretty sure there nothing good for you about alcohol, apart from its recreational qualities.

The beneficial component of red wine isn't the alcohol.

The whole alcohol argument is a red herring anyway. Most recreation drugs are bad for you. The problem is the government can't do much to stop people taking them, and anything they try tends to make the problem worse not better.

 

[Phantom Shadow]

I'm pretty sure there nothing good for you about alcohol, apart from its recreational qualities.

There seem to be plenty of studies out there showing benefits of alcohol, not just specifically red wine.

 

[Happy_Camper]

The problem with legalisation is that no Government is going to want to be the one who legalises drugs, as it will affect their popularity and probably, their chances of being re-elected. All because of an ignorant majority who believe all the rubbish the Government and newspapers have been feeding them for the last 30+ years, that drugs are bad and will kill you if take them, that they are the reason for societies ills and problems (which might be partly true). They believe with legalisation drugs will be available from street corners and kids will be doing them at lunch time etc. which is just crazy talk.

With proper control, education and safer drugs i.e. drugs manufactured in controlled laboratories, there would be no need for the so called “legal highs” as your typical recreational user would much rather take something they know is not going to kill them but more importantly, they know the strength of the drugs they are taking. I personally think a health check should be performed on anyone wanting to take drugs (at their own expense) as a lot of deaths are caused by underlying medical issues like defective livers, week hearts etc

The fact the Government treat drug users as criminals instead of people who need help with addiction really shows how backwards the current ideas are to dealing with this. It's just one big cat and mouse game that will go on forever. As soon as they acknowledge the current system is not working, and then they can go about changing it by legalising drugs, put users on rehabilitation register and regain control of the people who are abusing it and help them with their addictions. Organised crime as we know it would be gone.

 

[Energize]

Legal highs are retarded though, a lot of them are research chemicals which have no prior history of use, so people have no idea about the damage they are doing to themselves. But then again i'm a firm supporter of Darwinism.

Some are some aren't, etizolam for example is a pharmaceutical used widely in other countries.

 

[dunker]

did someone say red wine? cheers!

 

[pitchfork]

Looking at the figures the latest for 2012 deaths from legal highs 97, alcohol related deaths 8,367 yet rarely does alcohol related deaths have the same condemnation that these legal highs seem to warrant.

How many people who drink do you know, compare it to how many drug takers/ users of legal highs.

Anyway, I tried some of those legal highs. MDPV was good when that was legal but it was like speed and MDMA mixed, with twice the comedown. I later learned it was super easy to overdose on, if I'd been educated about the dangers by buying from a chemist it would have made me think twice.

They need better drug policy in this country to be honest, everything is currently geared against people who enjoy drinking and recreational drug use. It's just not cool man.

Make it safer to do so, everything in moderation including drugs and alcohol - that's my motto.

 

[Devrij]

The sooner they legalise ecstasy, and have them made in pharmaceutical grade form, properly controlled and taxed, then the safer it will be to party, and that'll be the end of these dangerous "legal highs".

Ecstasy in itself isn't hugely dangerous. The cr@p it's cut with to increase profits though, or the lack of education surrounding their use. A simple warning on a packet, a little education, and properly controlled ingredients, and it could be much safer than alcohol and the like.

Aside from the effects it has on your serotonin production levels. Similar to crystal meth and dopamine, preventing the reuptake of these can frazzle your natural reward system a bit.

 

[Captain Fizz]

Someone who is not me... Tested Legal Highs extensively with friends.

But - Always researching fully beforehand, checking interactions with other things, taking 'allergic test' amounts, then little bits, working up to 'medicinal dose' over the course of a few weeks.

Noting down what it was for X, then for Y... Over about 6 months.

Basically being sensible - Knew that an antagonist and suppressant shouldn't be mixed... Never doing "too much".

Legal highs are just the same as any other recreational drug - Just less documentation / no real testing on humans / nothing to work back on.
But - What you are getting is what it says on the tin - What you get from Bob in the pub can be anything.

Too often nowadays - Getting E or similar - It's just a legal high repackaged and sold on!

I even heard of a friend of a neighbours son, bought stuff online - Repackaged it into small doses - Sold it at a festival pretending it was E.
That can kill people.