I tend to believe that unless proven otherwise, substances should be legal. The burden of proof IMO is on the folks who want to restrain behavior.
[edit] I don't think that producing a study that shows a lack of harm is going to change anyone's mind. The prohibition is puritanical and ideological, no amount of evidence is going to change that. I think if this was based on a genuine fear, the study would have preceded the prohibition. This feels more like running ourselves in circles to collect evidence, Lucy and the football style.
We already know the LD-50 of mushrooms is 17kg of fresh mushroom for an average size human lol.
I agree but I’m talking tactically. Legalization requires convincing people that don’t think the same way, and the best method for doing that is by rigorous medical study.
The prohibition is puritanical and ideological, no amount of evidence is going to change that
Your insistence that this is the case is itself ideological.
> Your insistence that this is the case is itself ideological.
Haha, ok, well, in that case, on what basis were drugs banned? Specifically psychedelics.
> We’re talking about current attitudes, not the reasons why they were banned in the first place.
The current attitude is "drugs are bad" because of childhood education programs. Drugs are bad because they're illegal. You've seen the PSAs. It was never evidence based to begin with, then the "puritans" (DARE) switched to youth indoctrination. It's been so long now that there "must be a good reason."
It was never logical, or evidence based, and it remains illogical, and not evidence based. Bringing evidence to an illogical conversation IMO is like bringing an inflatable flamingo to a fancy dinner. People will look quizzically, and you won't change minds.
But hey, here's hoping I'm wrong.
After all when Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 all the negative health factors and societal factors associated with drug use fell off a cliff -- and usage did not increase. That's all the evidence I need to follow suit.
But if the current attitudes aren't based on evidence, what makes you think that more evidence will change those attitudes? That's what the GP is asking.
[edit] I don't think that producing a study that shows a lack of harm is going to change anyone's mind. The prohibition is puritanical and ideological, no amount of evidence is going to change that. I think if this was based on a genuine fear, the study would have preceded the prohibition. This feels more like running ourselves in circles to collect evidence, Lucy and the football style.
We already know the LD-50 of mushrooms is 17kg of fresh mushroom for an average size human lol.