Reply #277: Hence the big tent! Thank you for a very thoughtful post. [View All]

Obviously, I don't believe the drug policies that we currently have in place are working (otherwise my family wouldn't have been impacted so negatively), but I can't believe that "let everyone, even the kids, alone" is a good answer. I think there needs to be some REASONABLE middle ground, which has to start with honest dialog instead of denial BY BOTH SIDES about the challenges faced with this problem.

Is it safe for everyone? No. Is it going to make your head explode, and the world end? Probably not. Is using it the best use of your time, energy, and resources? That depends on what you AREN'T doing, doesn't it? (SEE: Woman typing on DU instead of other things, for example! LOL! ) Are you mature enough to handle it? Do you have good judgment about "appropriate" versus "inappropriate" times to indulge? Is it putting someone else's safety and well being at risk?

Locally, as I've stated elsewhere, law enforcement folks here don't go around looking for the occasional home user, because they've pretty much got their hands full with the "truly troubled" people, and they want the parents to handle it. Parents don't know what to do, because they aren't sure how to handle it -- does "Just Say No" sound stupid? What if they do it themselves? And how are they going to handle it if someone gets mad, and turns them in (as in a nasty divorce situation, for example)?

As for discounting other DU'ers, that is a slightly tougher one. These are challenging issues, and its "safe" for some people to be less polite on a message board than they would be in person. For myself, I have publicly told folks who I thought were being stupid about illegal drug use that they were being stupid, so I'm not being someone I'm not normally. There are some people who I will probably always quirk an eyebrow at in the future (for example, giving your children cocaine???), and some whose less pleasant comments will be remembered for a while (I "deserve" my family tragedies???), but on the whole, I think many good points have been raised in these discussions, and I hope that when those DU'ers make interesting points in the future, I will still have the wisdom to listen, instead of just assuming that as a "useless druggie" :eyes: they don't have anything to say worth listening to! Hopefully we can get our country back, and start concentrating on solving these types of problems, instead of just worrying about the death of our soldiers, the Iraqi civilians, the theft of our taxpayer dollars by Republican corruption, etc.

Again, my thanks for a well written and well thought out post, with many interesting and valid points! :)