Party Vibe

What is far more fucked up is that essentially the people sacked him – at least in Northern Europe, it is peoples own voting patterns which shape what the governments do.

Most centre left / and green politicians in these countries have supported decriminalisation since the 1980s and very limited decrimininalisation was even tried out in the UK during better economic times. if that had not all gone to shit (and binge use did not help) perhaps half the EU (the half with the real power and influence) could have even gone that way.

Professor Nutt is not even a “pro-drugs activist” as he is made out to be, he is simply honest and realistic about harm reduction. His views are mainstream in many countries across the North Sea..

@DaftFader 517602 wrote:

^^ This

I’ve seen a fair bit of what prof nutt has to say, and it’s merely harm reduction and pro possibilities of some recreational drugs hyaving good medical effects.

People who jump on the nutt waggon, imo, are no different then the mindless pro cannabis people who blindly ignore facts just to make it seam like they have a stronger point.

There is a British saying for this (it seems to be something we are good at unfortunately) – “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory”.

@MC G-Tek 517634 wrote:

To be fair, whenever any freedom is extended anywhere in the world, there will always be an upturn in binging on that freedom (a ‘kid in a sweetshop’ effect, you could say). Evidence of this can be seen when Saddam Hussein got deposed from power in Iraq and suddenly Iraqis were doing whatever they wanted because they hadn’t been able to for so long. Same thing when the Soviet Union collapsed. If drugs are to be decriminalised, there will be a spike in use for anything up to 5, maybe even 10 years before it levels out a bit because people have the freedom to do these things where previously they hadn’t. It’s human nature to push the boundaries in these circumstances.

true, but it would have been far better for British society to have caught up with the rest of North Europe during the better economic times, when there was more optimism and goodwill in our society. Also folk would need to be more like North Europe with regard to self discipline.

For example, Professor Nutt argues quite correctly and from a position of knowledge that the risk of mental health problems from cannabis use is less than its made out to be, and that the problems which do present are at the lower end of the scale. He does not claim the drug is completely harmless, and from this common sense suggests that the moment a user starts getting bad effects from it (even if they are just minor things like forgetfulness and lack of motivation) they should use it less or discontinue it. Similarly with MDMA, amfetamine or any party drug, the risks are less than even alcohol but they do exist.

But too many people ignore the second bit, and keep using to the point they end up doing something completely out of character perhaps to the point of breaking other criminal laws (than just doing drugs) and end up in trouble, and then wonder why they are judged as being “mad”…