That's says more about your personal culture/mindset than a statement about those activities. How sensible is it to defend unhealthy activities?

Not 'everyone' needs escapism to the extent that they require mind altering drugs. There are far less extreme ways of going about it.

Those that do take class A drugs or promote the use of non medical cannabis deserve all the criticism they get from responsible people, in my view......Most definitely if they allow it to affect or enter the world of young people around them.

They should be promoting healthy options in life to them.......Not showing that they rather pathetically don't wish to accept reality.

Edited by Stirlingsays (30 Jul 2015 3.22pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I enjoy lots of unhealthy activities including getting take-out and watching TV to name a few. So does everyone. I don't know where being sensible comes into it, i thought it was a matter of personal freedom.

No, not 'everyone' needs escapism to the extent that they take drugs, and neither have i said different. Try not to build strawman arguments.

You have lumped together two different topics by confusing the taking of class A drugs with the promotion of recreational cannabis. Taking 'class A' drugs is not a good idea as it leads to a dependency that will invade all sectors of your life. Recreational cannabis use will do less damage to you than drinking and won't turn you into a junkie so i fail to see what the problem is. Many police forces in this country already turn a blind-eye to it and given another 20 years it will be legal.

Yes, parents should try and promote a healthy lifestyle for their kids. No-one has argued otherwise. And again, an indulgence in escapism does not neccessarily mean that you don't wish to accept reality, it just means that you are human and sometimes need a break. I find the movies of Rob Zombie an engaging way to relax but certainly sitting on my sofa does not promote a healthy lifestyle.

You seem to have come all tooled up for an argument that no-one is having.

Just saying.

I'd say it was affected more by her parents than the drugs. Its such a act of convenience to blame the substance, rather than the person, even though the evidence from all studies of addiction place the actuality of the problem in the individual.

The reality is that even if no one tried recreational drugs, drug addiction would still occur, thanks to the fact that numerous habits are formed from prescription drugs, which has its own black market, and of course the really big problem drug in society Alcohol.

The truth is, that the problem drugs in which we see regular addiction are sedative and painkillers such as morphine, opiates etc, most of the those addicts, would almost certainly have ended up alcoholics (in fact the biggest problem of recovering drug addicts is alcoholism).

Prescription drug addiction actually is the UK real growing dependency problem (mirroring the US). Heroin is being squeezed out by other opioids, downers and tranqs.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

It someone is taking prescription drugs......Which have a purpose to improve your health in some way and they abuse them.....Then they also come under the 'junkie' banner.

Addiction does deserve national treatment in my view.....But the lifestyle choice will always deserve criticism also.

Tough love should be the approach not only from families who care about these individuals (though I recognise that many of these problems arise from the lack of it in the first place)....But tough love is also required from the state and wider society.

If the state decided to allow all drugs and tax them....I could live with that if it lowered overall harmful drug's use (though I've yet to be convinced upon that).

But what I don't think is a good idea is the tacit acceptence that drugs are 'ok'.

They are poor lifestyle choices compared to ones you could take.....That's all really.....I think that message should always be pushed, with no apologies for it.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I don't really think any society should be saying hey its good to take drugs, get drunk, sleep around, eat s**ty food, engage in rigorous sports or activities that could result in problems. Sure I could die from taking MDMA(about 6 people do so each year), but you can also become a paraplygic from playing rugby, or you can drop dead running a marathon.

The difference is in the later, its your choice, and every possible opportunity to avoid harm, injury or death is available. For 'us' its completely the opposite, you're largely on your own, you can't even buy drug testing chemicals to test that the substance is what you think it is, and how strong it is.

Sell the stuff through the NHS and Pharamcies, with a restriction on the amounts you can purchase each day and tax the lot. Meanwhile the police could save themselves a massive headache by actually investigating crimes.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

Is having a glass of wine in the evening really more harmful to your health than smoking cannabis?