The report’s findings track with similar studies by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which has found that roughly seven million Americans are abusing prescription drugs. If accurate, that would be an increase of 80 percent in six years and more than the total abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy and inhalants.In November, I relayed my personal experiences with the epidemic of "hillbilly heroin" as I grew up and went through high school, and the fact that I know a few people whose experiences with oxycodone would have to match up against any horse or crack addict in terms of desperation and degradation. This study gives yet another reason to decriminalize pot: if a huge state like Florida finds ZERO deaths caused by marijuana among 170,000 deaths, the arguments that smoking dope can lead to debilitated mental faculties which, in turn, can cause death are undermined. I strongly disagree with complete libertarians with respect to drug policy who think that controlling substances is unnecessary/illegal on the part of the government, especially in light of drugs like Oxycontin(TM). That said, the legalization of marijuana is necessary, even if it may cause a slowdown of brain processing speed. I don't even smoke it (honest, not since high school, 1999), but it is definitely far past the time to de-criminalize it for a plethora of reasons.
The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids — strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin — caused 2,328.
Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths. Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466 — fewer than cocaine (843) but more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0).
The study also found that while the number of people who died with heroin in their bodies increased 14 percent in 2007, to 110, deaths related to the opioid oxycodone increased 36 percent, to 1,253.
Not the least of which being that at least 15 million people in the US have used it in the past month...and those stats are probably under-reported because of the well-known sampling bias when it comes to admitting to illegal behavior.
Don't forget, soon enough, I'll bet the government will be prosecuting people for possession on the basis of their sewage.
I would invite those of you who disagree to present a solid argument as to why marijuana should be illegal while alcohol and tobacco should remain completely legal. In addition, even if you could do that without incoherence (contradicting lines of reasoning about alcohol and tobacco), I'll bet you couldn't go a step further and argue why it should remain criminally-punishable, if it remains illegal. Keep in mind how hard it is to gain productive employment and thus remain a productive citizen with a felony on your record. Go on, I double dog dare you...
