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Discussion => Philosophy, Economics and Justice => Topic started by: joywind on June 21, 2013, 07:06 am

Title: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: joywind on June 21, 2013, 07:06 am
Marijuana Legalization: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized For Further Research



Scientists released a paper on Wednesday condemning the current drug policy in Britain and most other countries, saying that the illegal status of cannabis, MDMA (ecstasy), and psychedelics has severely restricted research into their potential benefits. According to a press release, the authors, two of whom are former advisers to the British government, argue that the "outlawing of psychoactive drugs amounts to the worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church banned the works of Copernicus and Galileo." The paper was published to coincide with an upcoming conference on scientific research with psychedelics at Imperial College London.

While it is unclear exactly what benefits psychoactive drugs would yield, restricting their use in research for fear of their perceived dangers represents a blinkered approach to drug policy, especially given that some studies have argued that the harm caused by drugs such as cannabis, MDMA, and LSD is less than that caused by alcohol and tobacco.

The paper, published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, is authored by Professor David Nutt, Edmond J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and former drugs adviser to the British government, Leslie A. King, also a former government drugs adviser, and Professor David Nichols of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In their abstract, they argue that:

"The possession of cannabis, 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA; also known as ecstasy) and psychedelics is stringently regulated. An important and unfortunate outcome of the controls placed on these and other psychoactive drugs is that they make research into their mechanisms of action and potential therapeutic uses — for example, in depression and post-traumatic stress disorder — difficult and in many cases almost impossible."

Nott was previously dismissed from his position as the head of the Home Office Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which King also worked for, in 2009 after writing a paper in which he argued that the harm caused by many illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and cannabis is often exaggerated when compared to the harm caused by alcohol and tobacco. In his paper he said "alcohol ranks as the fifth most harmful drug after heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and methadone. Tobacco is ranked ninth. Cannabis, LSD and ecstasy, while harmful, are ranked lower at 11, 14 and 18 respectively." At the time Nott also criticized politicians for "distorting" and "devaluing" scientific research into drugs. A 2010 paper authored by Nott, King, and Lawrence D Phillips, also made the same argument, adding that "the findings correlate poorly with present UK drug classification, which is not based simply on considerations of harm."

Following the publication of the latest paper on Wednesday, Nott reiterated that the current drugs policy in Britain is being driven by "politics, not science." He added that the decision to ban drugs such as cannabis, MDMA, and psychedelics was based on their "perceived dangers" rather than the actual harm they cause which is "overstated." Despite this, he continued, drug laws have never been updated to reflect "scientific advances and growing evidence that many of these drugs are relatively safe."

The paper claims that current drug regulations, based on UN conventions on drugs in the 1960s and 1970s, have not only compounded the harm caused by drugs, but have also severely restricted important research. Nott says that:

"The laws scare off funders and most scientists are scared because they think if they break the law, they might get arrested. I’m sure at some point someone’s going to arrest me. There is a sense of repression to the point that most people won’t do it."

The researchers are not calling for psychoactive drugs to be legalized across the board, but rather for the use of such drugs in research to be exempted from the severe restrictions that it currently faces.

Given the British government's reaction to Nott's previous work and advice, it is unlikely to be changing anything soon. However, it is one thing to make drug policy based on evidence, but it is another to severely hamper further research into the potentially beneficial properties of drugs based on their image and perceived danger. It is hard to say exactly what the potential benefits of psychoactive drugs might be, but then that is precisely why further research would be helpful.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/48301/marijuana-legalization-scientists-say-pot-mdma-and-lsd-should-be-legalized-for-further-research
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: Rastaman Vibration on June 21, 2013, 08:04 am
I agree with the scientists ;D
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: Raoul Duke on June 21, 2013, 08:26 am
yeah i read that the day it came out. the government had David Nutt sacked last time he told them they had the drug policy all wrong so i doubt the idiots will listen to this argument.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: jameslink2 on June 21, 2013, 11:57 am
yeah i read that the day it came out. the government had David Nutt sacked last time he told them they had the drug policy all wrong so i doubt the idiots will listen to this argument.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.  -- attributed to George Washington but not confirmed he said it.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: Lucius Luv on June 21, 2013, 01:27 pm
Quote
The researchers are not calling for psychoactive drugs to be legalized across the board, but rather for the use of such drugs in research to be exempted from the severe restrictions that it currently faces.

thats selfish of the scientist, they should be legalized across the board.   they only suggest it should be legalized to do their research, fuckers.  They shouldn't be criminalized because prison is slavery, this is a human rights issue -but they don't say that because they are soft pussy.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: marcellus_wallace on June 21, 2013, 05:09 pm
Thanks for the share! I love articles like these, i think drugs should be legalized for all uses.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: shocky on June 21, 2013, 08:28 pm
Lucious, I know the scientists are smart, because saying something so bold in an official situation would not go down well. I know they're smarter than YOU because if they can legalize it for research, then they can PROVE with EVIDENCE that these drugs aren't so bad, thus giving empirical evidence that a lawmaker can make laws with.
If scientists prove that psychedelics are safe and they publish that in a peer reviewed article, then there will no longer be any reason to have them illegal.

Science is the truth, and if the truth is on our side, then science will be too. Let the scientists do their work, and SUPPORT THEM.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: PerPETualMOtion on June 22, 2013, 03:40 am
Scientists are also impotent human beings. Drugs shouldn't be legalized. It would destroy the profit margins for small business owners.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: paxpax on June 22, 2013, 03:55 am
Lucious, I know the scientists are smart, because saying something so bold in an official situation would not go down well. I know they're smarter than YOU because if they can legalize it for research, then they can PROVE with EVIDENCE that these drugs aren't so bad, thus giving empirical evidence that a lawmaker can make laws with.
If scientists prove that psychedelics are safe and they publish that in a peer reviewed article, then there will no longer be any reason to have them illegal.

Science is the truth, and if the truth is on our side, then science will be too. Let the scientists do their work, and SUPPORT THEM.

Drug safety has nothing to do with it... Many illegal substances are known to be safe and are outlawed anyway. It is an issue of control over a population rather than keeping the population healthy.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: oldtoby on June 22, 2013, 04:39 am
That's why the people in charge of my country get rid of scientists at every opportunity. They say such inconvenient things.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: jackofspades on June 22, 2013, 06:52 am
Can we outlaw teachingsagainst what the church says again? Clearly if something is law then it is not wrong and questioning the law is not ok.

Try some fucking LSD lawmakers...one tab, one time and the rest of your life will be better and brighter...
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: kavakava on June 22, 2013, 08:04 am
yeah i read that the day it came out. the government had David Nutt sacked last time he told them they had the drug policy all wrong so i doubt the idiots will listen to this argument.


Yeah, they call this Soviet science. You decide beforehand what is true, and force the scientists to prove it is.

And Britain does it.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: DrWalterB on June 22, 2013, 09:37 am
I agree with the scientists ;D

I agree with you 8)

good post, legalized or not won't change nethin for me. But I think it could be awesome to go to my doctor and get a prescription for 5 blotters ;)
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: oldtoby on June 24, 2013, 05:37 am
I think it could be awesome to go to my doctor and get a prescription for 5 blotters ;)

That's today's moment of zen.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: ejammings on June 24, 2013, 07:02 pm
I think MDMA is harmful in a few ways.. It led one of my friends to suicide because he couldn't "get that feeling" again. That's what his note said anyways, who knows though it probably was coming without MDMA anyways. Plus the extreme dehydration and bruxism is pretty harsh.

LSD + Pot however, definitely should be studied deeply for approval.
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: valakki on June 24, 2013, 07:09 pm
what kinda scientists?

is this about use for medical reasons or recreational use?
Title: Re: Scientists Say Pot, MDMA, and LSD Should Be Legalized
Post by: valakki on June 24, 2013, 07:11 pm
I think MDMA is harmful in a few ways.. It led one of my friends to suicide because he couldn't "get that feeling" again. That's what his note said anyways, who knows though it probably was coming without MDMA anyways. Plus the extreme dehydration and bruxism is pretty harsh.

LSD + Pot however, definitely should be studied deeply for approval.

mdma can cause intense depression. he probably abused it.  when i took it 3 times in a week.. instead of making me roll it just made me cry.
he was probably suicidal before the drug abuse tho. that could be a the reason why he used drugs in teh firstplace.