Should K2 be illegal?

[Aurielius]

never heard of K2.

Addictive personalities will always latch onto a crutch... drugs, cults, alcohol etc,

3d modelling, drawing, dancing. internet, sex... basically all the good poo.

 

if you are not that way inclined why create a dependency?

Because I like doing those things. It just happens I have had problems with the modelling, internet and dancing addictions overrunning my life at times. I don't always get the sex as much as I like. When it rains, it pours.

Well everyone has the right to go their own way.....

[brokenergy]

As an ethical scientist in training I can honestly tell you that this is a poor man's attempt by some company to get a few dollars. There is no conclusive evidence that the list of ingredients is real (I really suspect that it is all made up in lab) and there is no real study made on it's effects (I would assume that the effects would be same as real cannabis or worse). This drug should be banned and the makers should be out of business for harming the public but f people want to have this drug let them, it's there choice to throw their lives away. Even with all the studies that scientists do to prove it's effects are bad, there is no way you can stop them (like smoking), they will come for more. With that said I think more regulation must be put in place to insure that nothing like this could happen.

[zprospero]

(I am making a conceit here that marijuana is almost identical to K2, but since I do not know the chemical composition, I can not be sure of that. But still some of the points hold up, I believe.)

 

From a purely technical standpoint, there are quite a few problems to making something like this illegal.

 

The first and foremost is that when you make something like this illegal you end up pushing people into the hands of drug dealers, who know that their other products are far more addictive and that marijuana is not going to make them as much money as much worse drugs. Then you get poisoned or 'laced' drugs. When a drug is made illegal people are forced to go to less and less reputable people to obtain it.

 

So, what would need to be done if it was made legal?

 

First, what must be established is the recommended safe dosage. Is there one at all? Since marijuana is recommended to patients with glaucoma, I can only assume that actual reputable doctors are not poisoning their patients. So, there is clearly a safe dosage and doctor's know it.

 

The sale of the drug must be regulated, similar to how certain cold medicines (such as sudafedrin which is a major component in methamphetamine) are. A certain amount can only be purchased in a week. A tax, like for cigarettes, would be applied. A large tax on the growing of the plant is applied, and a set of rigorous guidelines for it's production, packaging and distribution established.

 

Very few people who chose to use this drug would go to the drug dealers, because why take a risk when you can have a pharmacist there to tell you exactly what is safe and unsafe?

 

I don't really have an opinion here. I never have, and never will do any type of drug. But the technical ramifications of making a drug illegal or legal must be realized and weighed in the decision of whether or not to make a substance illegal, and I believe very few people are truly willing do that.

[MonsterHunterMaster]

Why using drugs/drink alcohol when we can have games?

 

Stop that and start playing Call of Duty ;D

 

No, seriously, I think if that's a drug like pot or whatever it should be illegal :P

Just like that....

[zprospero]

That's sort of the problem.

 

Making it illegal without actually examining the consequences of doing or not doing so is likely to have bad results.

 

And few are willing to actually take those considerations into account.

 

How many less people would be addicted to cocaine or meth if they hadn't gone to a crooked drug dealer?

 

The idea that politicians seem to embrace is "we'll make it illegal and it will go away". That is an incredibly stupid supposition.

 

It will remain, and people will still have access to it.

 

The main change will be in the TYPE of people who have access to it. Drug dealers being the main ones, they already operate outside of the law and therefore it just means they have a new product to push.

 

Making it legal, but heavily taxing and regulating it would stop people from going to these drug dealers, who are already criminals and whose sincerity and trustworthiness is already in question.

 

Bottom line (tldr):

 

Would there be fewer people addicted to worse drugs such as cocaine and meth, and therefore drug related deaths, if the less dangerous drugs like marijuana were doled out by pharmacists who safely regulate the dosage and don't lace the substance with more addicting and life destroying types of drugs?

 

Will a politician even take a second to actually consider the above question? Probably not.

 

K2 will be made illegal in most countries, I can guarantee you that. Will it be a good thing?

I don't know, and the people who decide to make it illegal probably won't either.

[Balagor]

@zprospero

I agree with you all the way, except perhaps, that "the crooked dealer" example. In DK we do have places where dealing with soft drugs like cannabis is more or less overlooked, just like in NL. In such places young people will not be tempted by other drugs. Theese dealers have there own justice, I.E. if some heavy drug dealer tries to sell something "not accepted", they will take his dope, put it all in his mouth, and call an ambulance for him, thus telling that hard drugs are NOT accepted.

Yet I don´t like the idea of K2, being made in a lab, when we have the real thing. With K2 we will only end up with one more thing for consumption, that we can add to the already long list. What else than the active substance will it contain? Will it be more cancer provoking to eat K2, than smoke pot?

[zprospero]

Firstly, those people should be jailed for their behavior. They should report the dealer to the police and let the proper justice system handle it. I really do not care at all about the circumstances. It is my strongest conviction that taking 'justice' into one's own hands is one of the most immoral and evil things that a person can do because it warps the sense of guilt. But I don't want to start another debate and derail the topic so...

 

Back on topic:

 

You assume that the government or drug companies would take up the growing of the product and be the primary supplier?

It would could happen, but not necessarily. A farmer could apply for a license to grow quantities of the substance (under strict regulation).

 

Then a company or perhaps a local with an approved license and proper credentials (similar to a liquor license) could distribute it in the recommended dosages. One of the regulations could be that it's sold pure, with no pharmaceutical remixing at all.

 

The growing licenses could be made variable. You can apply to grow so much within one year for yourself to consume, on the condition you don't distribute it. Then, as long as you apply for the license and act within the guidelines of that license, you are allowed to grow it in it's pure form and not have to concern yourself with pharmaceutical remixing.

 

A grower could apply for a distribution license and sell it pure from his farm.

 

This would make it difficult for a minor to purchase it (similar to being carded for liquor). You wouldn't have such ready access, because the growers and distributors don't want to lose their licenses and a minor would not be allowed to purchase such a license.

 

Overall, what I mean is that there are other ways of dealing with this drug than making it illegal. And they should be considered before making a decision. The problem is that people often don't fully consider all the options before making the decision. They react emotionally, and perhaps miss what could be a more viable option.

[Balagor]

@zprospero

If minors are left out of legal purchasing of be it K2 or pot, won´t they go to they "nasty" dealers then?

What minors want, minors will get. :thumbsup:

[zprospero]

True. I said it would 'make it more difficult'. I fully realize that minors will get at it. But how many dealers out there are dealing Sudafed or cough syrup? If it can be purchased legally, dealers are less likely to see it as a viable product.

 

I could go on for several paragraphs and think up a solution, but I can't do the entire government job's for them. :tongue:

 

My real point is all options should be considered before rendering a decision on whether or not a substance like K2 should be illegal. And that there are other options which have some reasonable arguments for them.

[evilneko]

@zprospero

If minors are left out of legal purchasing of be it K2 or pot, won´t they go to they "nasty" dealers then?

What minors want, minors will get. :thumbsup:

 

They'll probably do much the same as they do with cigarettes and alcohol, eg, have someone else buy them, use fake IDs, etc.