OT - why are certain drugs illegal?

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jackal head

jackal head

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Let's take DMT for example, the most illegal substance in the world but why is it illegal?

I've yet to find a single reason.

There's many illegal drugs that are much less harmful than legal drugs.

Some people suggest it's because they haven't found a way to profit from it yet, I can't say if that's the case but it is a valid explanation.

Here's some more info, now I know it's youtube but it's not a bad place to start. Don't know how to embedd on this forum :/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grcqs9cDuN8&feature=related
Joe Rogan talking about his experience w/ DMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhEj314cmLw&feature=related
Some guy talking about why it's illegal (note his argument is a bit silly but the information is good)
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Why is DMT a Schedule I?

Well, it certainly produces psychedelic effects similar to LSD and has a large potential for abuse. Check. While on DMT, people experience a lot of "extra-terrestrial contact' and such. Hallucinations are common.

It has no recognized medical use in the United States. Check. Although this could fall into "Big Pharma hasn't found out how to profit from it yet..."

And there is a lack of accepted safety of the drug under medical supervision, and this is probably due to a dearth of research regarding DMT as anything useful. It seems similar to peyote in the "tribal" or "shamanistic" uses of it. IN other words, certain societies, especially those in Brazil I believe it was, use DMT to bring about "spiritual cognition."

I think there was a supreme court case about DMT a few years ago where someone was trying to use DMT in a decoction of tea.

As to the larger question, why are certain drugs illegal? Hell, I don't know. Looking at it with a broad lens, one would think Marijuana is much safer and healthier than Tobacco/Nicotine (in the form of cigarettes).

I doubt it's true, but I remember my pharmacology instructor told us a story about how, in the 1920s/1930s, marijuana was poised to be "the big cigarette" and ruin some of the larger tobacco companies. A politician, who was of course, in the pocket of the tobacco companies, quickly moved to make marijuana "bad" - Not so much in legal sense, but in the "it's the drug of satan" kind of way. Similar to alcohol in the prohibition (Around the same time, 1919-1931).

IDK... Some things you just have to accept.
 
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jackal head said:
Let's take DMT for example, the most illegal substance in the world but why is it illegal?

I've yet to find a single reason.

There's many illegal drugs that are much less harmful than legal drugs.

Some people suggest it's because they haven't found a way to profit from it yet, I can't say if that's the case but it is a valid explanation.
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I think you are looking at scheduled drugs in a wrong way. The reason why certain drugs are illegal or scheduled is not solely based on how "harmful" or "strong" the drug is, but mainly the on drug's potential to become habituating to the user and its ability to bring about dependency. In the end, all drugs are harmful whenever you administer a dose outside of the drug's therapeutic range. But with controlled substances, it is the problem of habituation that is the main concern. Hope this helps.
 
whitedc5 said:
I think you are looking at scheduled drugs in a wrong way. The reason why certain drugs are illegal or scheduled is not solely based on how "harmful" or "strong" the drug is, but mainly the on drug's potential to become habituating to the user and its ability to bring about dependency. In the end, all drugs are harmful whenever you administer a dose outside of the drug's therapeutic range. But with controlled substances, it is the problem of habituation that is the main concern. Hope this helps.
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DMT is not any more addictive than alcohol or some other legal drugs.

Many people would argue it's not addictive at all. The experience is extremely intense and your brain dosen't build a tolerance to it, thus the potential for abuse is slim.
 
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Passion4Sci said:
Why is DMT a Schedule I?

Well, it certainly produces psychedelic effects similar to LSD and has a large potential for abuse. Check.

*answered this

It has no recognized medical use in the United States. Check. Although this could fall into "Big Pharma hasn't found out how to profit from it yet..."

*it has helped many people as a therapeutic drug, it makes you look at life in a completley different way by altering your perception of reality, many people have found it to be a life changing experience, those that had a negative experience were usually not prepared

plus, in the end, you have NOTHING to lose by taking it

And there is a lack of accepted safety of the drug under medical supervision, and this is probably due to a dearth of research regarding DMT as anything useful. It seems similar to peyote in the "tribal" or "shamanistic" uses of it. IN other words, certain societies, especially those in Brazil I believe it was, use DMT to bring about "spiritual cognition."

*again, the drug (by itself) can't harm you, it's naturally produced in your brain by the pineal gland every night when you sleep

which is why it's so strong and also why it's so safe, the effects of the drug don't last long (around 10 mins) becaue your body breaks it down, thus no tolerance

IDK... Some things you just have to accept.
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skimming through your reply I thought we were in agreement lol, I've addressed everything in the quote
 
I was studying for the ptcb , and I was shocked to see Cocaine as Schedule 2 and Marijuana as a Schedule 1.

whitedc5 said:
I think you are looking at scheduled drugs in a wrong way. The reason why certain drugs are illegal or scheduled is not solely based on how "harmful" or "strong" the drug is, but mainly the on drug's potential to become habituating to the user and its ability to bring about dependency. In the end, all drugs are harmful whenever you administer a dose outside of the drug's therapeutic range. But with controlled substances, it is the problem of habituation that is the main concern. Hope this helps.
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I'm sure cocaine falls into having a very high "potential to become habituating to the user and its ability to bring about dependency"..

I read online that at least the government is finally waking up and going to start to decrease the anti-marijuana advertisements and divert the funds to more useful and actually dangerous addiction / non-prescribed use of prescription drugs.
 
koercive said:
I was studying for the ptcb , and I was shocked to see Cocaine as Schedule 2 and Marijuana as a Schedule 1.



I'm sure cocaine falls into having a very high "potential to become habituating to the user and its ability to bring about dependency"..

I read online that at least the government is finally waking up and going to start to decrease the anti-marijuana advertisements and divert the funds to more useful and actually dangerous addiction / non-prescribed use of prescription drugs.
Click to expand...

The only cocaine prep I know is an opthamlic solution though.
 
The difference between schedule I and II is schedule I drugs have been deemed to have no medical use by the FDA and US government.

As for marijuana being illegal, I don't know about what was stated earlier, but Mr. Hearst of Hearst publishing didn't like the idea of lazy Mexicans being all high on weed and getting lazier (I'm not saying Mexicans are lazy, only what his stance was). So, he lobbied to his politician buddies and printed stories about it in his publications to get the laws changed and weed made illegal.

Most schedule I drugs that were known earlier than 1900 were put there because of racism and as a way to control the non-white populations. Opium with the Chinese, heroin with African Americans, marijuana with Mexicans. As new things come up that people like to have fun with and the US can't find a way to tax (LSD, ecstasy), as well as no use medically, they get put on the schedule I list. I am still very surprised, however, that marijuana is still there considering there are quite a few cannaboid medications produced right now such as Marinol.
 
It all really comes down to money. Since when do big corporations care about peoples' health? Corps will get away with whatever they can, until they get caught.
The legalization of drugs is tough, but I think it's pretty clear we are doing more harm than good with the drug war. Legalization of drugs would eliminate nearly all of the crime associated with them. Lets face it; the majority of hard drug users will find a way to get them regardless if they are legal or not. While I think we should lookout for our fellow humans, some people are a lost cause. We should not be regulating what people put into their own bodies (if they are adults) unless it affects other people. I understand that this would affect the number of DUIs and drug related deaths, but there are some things we can't control.
 
IrishRxMan said:
As for marijuana being illegal, I don't know about what was stated earlier, but Mr. Hearst of Hearst publishing didn't like the idea of lazy Mexicans being all high on weed and getting lazier (I'm not saying Mexicans are lazy, only what his stance was). So, he lobbied to his politician buddies and printed stories about it in his publications to get the laws changed and weed made illegal.
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Lazy Mexicans and Hearst can't be given all the credit for this one. You forget:

1. The Mormons: in the early 1900s mormons went in hoards to Mexico to convert "the heathens" (their words not mine) to mormonism. With them they brought back pot. The mormon church flipped out and in the mid 1910's outlawed marijuana in Utah.

2. Harry Aslinger: czar of prohibition and master of misinformation (rivaled only by Rupert Murdoch), this guy has such classic quotes as: "...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races" and "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."

and yes..
3. Hearst: a) basically had a monopoly on timber, wanted to stamp out hemp as a paper competition. b) lost hundreds of thousands of acres to mexican Pancho Villa, hated mexicans. c) stories about crazy mexicans sold newspapers. d) had connections with Dupont, who just patented nylon and was afraid hemp would compete with their product.
 
koercive said:
I read online that at least the government is finally waking up and going to start to decrease the anti-marijuana advertisements and divert the funds to more useful and actually dangerous addiction / non-prescribed use of prescription drugs.
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Probably because the government is going to want as many people as possible to be high when they roll out their new health care reform. "Hey, check it out, Obama finally, like, changed healthcare! Awesome, bro! Let's go get a Stouffer's family size TV dinner and share it! I love you, man!"
 
IrishHammer said:
Probably because the government is going to want as many people as possible to be high when they roll out their new health care reform. "Hey, check it out, Obama finally, like, changed healthcare! Awesome, bro! Let's go get a Stouffer's family size TV dinner and share it! I love you, man!"
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Maybe we should be investing in Nabisco and Frito Lays stock. Once pot gets legalized I'm smelling record breaking profits all around.
 
ret09 said:
Maybe we should be investing in Nabisco and Frito Lays stock. Once pot gets legalized I'm smelling record breaking profits all around.
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It's gonna be like in the Family Guy episode.

"Man, this is better than the time that...no, wait. This is worse than...better...uh...I don't know, here's a list of celebrities I don't like."
 
There's probably an element of discontinuity involved. Each drug is evaluated individually when it is first developed, and its legal status is established then. They don't usually review these, and they almost never ask themselves the question you just posed ("Why is X legal and Y isn't?" or "Why is X C-II and Y C-I?"). It's a lot harder to change things than it is to establish them. It's a flawed system.

And do you know how badly the tobacco and alcohol industries would suffer if they legalized it? Personally, I think big tobacco should wake up and realize that they are in prime position to benefit from the legalization of marijuana, having firmly established production, packaging, and distribution infrastructure in place... just convert the crop land and you're good to go, right? When taxes get so high and people finally stop smoking in high enough numbers, I think they'll be the ones backing the new legislation.
 
koercive said:
I was studying for the ptcb , and I was shocked to see Cocaine as Schedule 2 and Marijuana as a Schedule 1.



I'm sure cocaine falls into having a very high "potential to become habituating to the user and its ability to bring about dependency"..

I read online that at least the government is finally waking up and going to start to decrease the anti-marijuana advertisements and divert the funds to more useful and actually dangerous addiction / non-prescribed use of prescription drugs.
Click to expand...

Cocaine is used on burn victims, so it has medicinal usage therefore it is a schedule II drug.
 
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