Are 'Legal Drugs' as Dangerous as Illegal?

by SodaHead News Posted 2012/06/14 20:00:00

Related Topics: benzo fury, Drugs, k2, Marijuana, Cigarettes, Music, Pot, Military, Teens, Smoke, Market, Teen

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	Yes	1,138 votes	87%
	No	164 votes	13%

Just because a substance is legal, that doesn't mean it's safe. With new substances hitting the market on a regular basis, it's impossible for authorities and experts to keep track of them, meaning there's very little reliable information available. A while back, a handful of teens were hospitalized after taking synthetic marijuana -- cause enough for concern. But this weekend a 20-year-old man died after taking a substance called Benzo Fury at a Scotland music festival.

David Liddell, director of Scottish Drugs Forum, said in a statement, "Benzo Fury is a so-called legal high -- or New Psychoactive Drug -- which appears to have a similar effect to Ecstasy. It's one of the new legal highs developed to get around the banning of similar compounds ... As it's not been around for long there is little information on long-term effects and as with all these drugs, there's no knowing what's actually in them. The names are just to market them and may bear no relation to what's in them." Do you think these "legal drugs" are just as dangerous as the illegal ones?

+50

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Magnus ☮ RP ☮ 2012 ☮ 2012/06/14 23:39:01 (edited)

Yes

+17
Legal drugs kill more people than all of the illegal ones combined - apart from, of course, Cannabis that in and of itself has never killed anyone, and yet which is illegal... makes sense.

EDIT... PROOF: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/0...

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VICTORIA to HAlex1972 2012/06/15 04:59:04

+1
Prescription drugs, as well as OTC- are both legal.
Are you entirely sure that you understand the question?

I must admit I;'ve never heard anyone ever make the argument that opiates have "minor" side effects- compared to Motrin.

"Most people would probably be able to handle taking opiates"

Which opiates in particular, do you think people could "handle"?

Heroin? Oxycontin? what?

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HAlex1972 to VICTORIA 2012/06/16 17:30:30

I did understand the question. However, I was pointing out that "legal" drugs can be just as dangerous as "illegal" drugs. The side effects of OTC pain relievers, for example, are particularly risky when used long-term, more so than mild opiate pain relievers.

The opiates that I think people could handle, if taken as directed, are codeine or hydrocodone.

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VICTORIA to HAlex1972 2012/06/21 03:14:31

Oh, I see. I'm not trying to be funny. It's not a matter of being "right " on the internet.
Your reasoning is sound, in theory- if one is only looking at side effects on a chart.
In real life- the element that is missing is that no human being on the planet has the ability to use "mild" opiates for very long. All opiates are powerfully addicting-
Long term opiate use- is addiction. No one, you, nor I, nor grandma- takes opiates "as directed" long term.
And it doesn't take long for the dosage to become ineffective- and over medication occurs-

And, prescription drugs, are also legal.

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L1 to HAlex1972 2012/06/15 05:19:14

Baloney. Taking them in excess is what causes problems. Opiates if abused cause respiratory depression and if not fixed immediately lead to respiratory arrest. Survive that, you might be a vegetable. Some people die.

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HAlex1972 to L1 2012/06/16 17:30:52

As I said, "when taken as directed"...

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L1 to HAlex1972 2012/06/17 04:08:21

You also put codeine and hydrocodone, when there are other drugs that can be handled just fine when taken as directed.

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Rhiarna Banana 2012/06/15 04:33:21

No

idk

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Lord Emperor of Dune 2012/06/15 04:29:50

Yes

As dangerous? Yes. The world is full of retards who abuse everything from heroin to glue. Maybe we should sanction substances less, and sterilize people who can't control themselves...

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martin28 2012/06/15 04:27:45

Yes

Yeah because they can be taken in excess and that creates the problem.

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aneed2know 2012/06/15 04:16:11 (edited)

Yes

+1
If not more dangerous, i cant tell you guys how many times i am at wok and one of the ladies in my office complains of cramps or a headache and some one will say here i have this prescription.

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Marshall Maxwell 2012/06/15 04:07:03

Yes

+2
They are more dangerous. The Doctors don't know half the side effects of the medicine they prescribe, The have more dangerous side effects the the ailments that the medicine is supposed to help, and the FDA approve these drugs with any knowledge of the dangers from side effects. They get paid off to approve these dangerous medicines.

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L1 to Marshal... 2012/06/15 05:23:27

They can be if abused. Some Mds are incompetent, but that doesn't mean that can't be held legally liable for a prescription that harms a patient. Hello malpractice!
As for the FDA, they don't give out approvals willy-nilly. A company must submit to various multistage clinical before even being considered for sale, and that's if they pass criteria. Those that do pass, must have ongoing trials for even common meds today.

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Grammar... to L1 2012/06/15 10:35:08

Who does that testing you're referring to, huh?

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L1 to Grammar... 2012/06/15 16:34:35

Clinical trials that go on in phases and can take years. All drugs that are to be sold, have to have submit their product to rigourous testing. That testing.
Even those approved, must still continue to prove that their product is safe for the general public, so we still have clinical trials for acetaminophen even after all these decades.

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Grammar... to Marshal... 2012/06/15 21:13:52

This L1 person is a real winner. She likes to post arrogant crap, then block anyone who might have an opinion or other information.
Yeah, she's one of them.

She doesn't even know how to actually answer a question. She just blocks.
People like her are so exhausting.
...& they wonder why the rest of us roll our eyes so much.

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Marshal... to Grammar... 2012/06/16 03:08:01

+1
I didn't want to waste my time with that person, that's why I didn't reply.

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Joey 2012/06/15 03:54:51

Yes

+2
It is really shocking the effects of many legal drugs . However it is kind of funny that they would throw some one in jail for selling weed when the thing that Big Pharma sell are so much more harmful . I guess since the powers that me can not corner the market of weed . They have to stop it .

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L1 to Joey 2012/06/15 05:25:59

Baloney. If it wasn't for "Big Pharma" I'd be dead today. The meds I take for blood pressure saved my life. As for MJ, since it is considered a Schedule I, it can't really be tested by scientists to see what it can really do or not. Change the classification so that real testing can begin and we'll see what it can or can't do.

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Joey to L1 2012/06/15 05:34:32

+1
The fact that is a Schedule I should cause alarm bells to ring. While there are many people who need medication.. there are many people who don't need it. I work with people who have depression and in many cases people can be helped by natural means better than with medication, sans the deadly side effects .

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L1 to Joey 2012/06/15 05:38:14

The trouble is that because of the classification, the scientists can't really test. Cocaine is a Schedule II, and is deemed as more dangerous. As for natural, I beg to differ. In the US, many herbal companies get around the costs of clinical trials by having them classified as vitamins and supplements, which means it gets out to market faster for sale, but is not required for the same clinical trials. It's because of that we had the fiasco with ma Huang and Kava Kava a few years back.

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Joey to L1 2012/06/15 06:01:47

Natural does not mean just Herbal treatments. Herbs are very drug like in the nature of how they work.. However things like Exercise , the food we eat , our expose to light can all have an effect on our mood.

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L1 to Joey 2012/06/15 06:13:55

True, I know, but I use that term to refer to what many think of as natural in reference to health uses by meds. I know herbs are drug like, and it's why I support real testing on them by reclassifying them as drugs, and not hearsay by people that want results to reflect what's convenient for them.

Other things that affect mood are hormones as well as genetics, and simply having a bad day.

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Grammar... to L1 2012/06/15 10:38:23

"people that want results to reflect what's convenient for them."
Isn't that precisely what pharma does?

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L1 to Grammar... 2012/06/15 16:38:04

No, it doesn't, and they don't. The BS term of "Pharma" has pulled drugs that were proven unsafe. It's rare to see Demerol used anymore because of liver toxicity.

Thanks to "Pharma", my life was saved. I got my life saving medication.
Got it? Good!

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Grammar... to Joey 2012/06/15 21:17:37

I wouldn't bother trying to respond to little Miss L1. She can't take conversation. She just posts, then blocks. She wants to be heard, but not to hear.
It's typically called "monologuing" & she's got a professional blocking finger to ensure that it stays that way.
Good luck.

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us 2012/06/15 03:51:53

Yes

+2
Legal drugs could have side affects, but the key is don't abuse the drugs and
use as directed.

It is sad someone okay synthetic marijuana, just to make money.

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L1 to us 2012/06/15 05:26:24

Agreed! Thanks!

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ConLibFraud 2012/06/15 03:39:13

Yes

+2
Do bears live in the woods?

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tommyg - POTL- PWCM-JLA 2012/06/15 03:20:53

Yes

+1
Indeed.

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Nancy Peters 2012/06/15 03:08:56

Yes

+1
And so are prescription drugs, mind you.

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Medulla Oblongata 2012/06/15 03:08:41

Yes

+2
If misused and in excess, anything can be dangerous.

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L1 to Medulla... 2012/06/15 05:26:33

+1
Yep!

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James 2012/06/15 02:57:32

Yes

+1
There are people I know who had to be taken off prescribed medication because it made them hallucinate.

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JesusIsMyGod 2012/06/15 02:56:15

Yes

+1
Sometimes even more so.

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Iefan Muineachán 2012/06/15 02:54:02

Yes

+1
They're usually worse.

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L1 to Iefan M... 2012/06/15 05:27:51

Depends on what they take and how many drugs they already plus other lifestyle habits. Otherwise, they aren't any worse.

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FAWKES' NOOSE ~ ΔTX 2012/06/15 02:52:14

Yes

LSD was legal during my lifetime.

Got your answer yet?

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Julian to FAWKES'... 2012/06/15 05:23:11

Isn't LSD essentially harmless?

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Grammar... to Julian 2012/06/15 10:43:31

Wow.
No.
Did you know that a person who's taken trips can relive them, have panic attacks, go into hysterics, etc., years & years afterward?
A good, strenuous yoga session can spur on a flashback.
Yes, physically, one cannot exactly overdose from LSD. However, the psychological affects are often intense & permanent.
Harmless is not a word I would use to describe LSD.

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Julian to Grammar... 2012/06/15 17:31:20

I know people who have dropped over a hundred times with no side effects.

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