NationStates Jolt Archive

I urge all UN delegates to go and vote for the proposal The Drug Ban Act, this is a problem within all nations!

I urge all UN delegates to go and vote for the proposal The Drug Ban Act this is a problem within all drugs!
No.

Drug use is not a problem in Krioval. I must wonder where other nations get their faulty information about my homeland.

~ 高原由 (Yoshi Takahara)

In the Sultanate of Puggot will never abide "Recreational Drug Use!"

Drug use, in Puggot, is a DUTY, not a passtime!

In LAE people consume "Soma";), they tend to prefer it to alcohol, tabaco or cocaine,; side effects of soma are notoriuosly lower than alcohol, tabaco or cocaine ones

i don't go for proposals like this since most of the time they involve a blanket ban on substances without taking the nation involved into account.

let nations tailor their own drug laws. they know better than anyone what works in their country and what dosen't.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/nihongaz/chechnya.jpg

It is all very well to rail against drugs, but we must weigh up certain considerations before banning them:

Firstly, we must think of the inherent right of the individual to control his or her health. If we start to erode at that right, we could start forcing people to have operations, for instance, if it is perceived to be "in their best interests". Equally, if we start micro-managing the lives of all of our citizens with regards to their health, there is a strong possibility that drug use might rise, due to a) Its perceived glamour as an illicit activity and b). its possibility for protest use, agains what might be viewed as exceesive zeal with regards to guaranteeing health.

Of course, where drug use adversely affects the well-being of those around the user (i.e. second hand smoke) and where it can be shown that use of the drug has such a serious effect on the individuals health that it would be negligent not to intervene, because it could harm the health of others as a result.

Secondly, we must consider that some drugs have health benefits for certain people who suffer from illness (i.e. marijauna and multiple sclerosis). If we ban all drugs, we simply remove a form of theraputic medicine for these individuals,which would be pointless and cruel.

Thirdly, it is difficult to judge the danger of a drug, so to try and ban them all might catch some extremely dangerous ones, yet leave relatively harmless ones off the market too. If people know that they're going to gaol regardless of what drug they take, then they'll probably start taking the most risque, most highly-charged drugs. If you are going to get caught, you might as well be doing it taking something 'good' and not something 'lame' (or perceived as such).

Fourthly, this will hand over control of the drugs markets to criminals and the black trades. This will have a negative effect on quality, leading to increased risk of users dying or becoming seriously ill, as well as the possibilty for greater illness transmission through poorly cleaned or maintained equipment.

For these reasons, we think it would be detrimental to human health and liberty to vote for this proposed ban.

May the blessings of our otters be upon you.

Leonard Otterby
Ambassador for the Republic of Compadria to the U.N.

It's usually appreciated if you post your proposal in the thread. I'll do it for you now:

The Drug Outlaw Act
A resolution to ban, legalize, or encourage recreational drugs.


Category: Recreational Drug Use
Decision: Outlaw
Proposed by: Googtoria

Description: WHERAS drugs are a big problem within all nations

RECONIZING the fact that the UN has no set resolution to outlaw recreational drugs

I purpose that we outlaw ALL recreational drugs to stop this problem

Approvals: 4 (Googtoria, Governor JEB, Alexandrian Ptolemais, Reddyice)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 125 more approvals)

Voting Ends: Mon Nov 28 2005

No way. This is a gross assault on the safety and freedoms of our citizens, which would force our police forces to waste time pursuing people for their personal choices instead of catching those who commit real crimes such as rape, murder and theft.

WHERAS drugs are a big problem within all nations

This simply isn't true. While they do cause some damage in our society, this is well under control in comparison to countries with comparable resources who choose to prohibit drug use.

I purpose that we outlaw ALL recreational drugs to stop this problem

You offer no definition of recreational drugs. Bye-bye tobacco and alcohol! Quite apart from this, you fail miserably to give any reason to believe that this constitutes a solution to the problem. Prohibition puts the drugs trade into the hands of unscrupulous criminals, who compete for customers and turf with violence, vastly inflate prices driving addicts to crime and prostitution, and cut their goods with things which are very often far more dangerous than the drugs themselves. It treats addiction as a criminal, rather than medical, issue, and ostracizes addicts rather than giving them help. It wastes massive amounts of resources on catching, trying and punishing people for choosing to hurt themselves, and makes it difficult for users to take drugs responsibly (it's much harder to get help if you need it, and you can hardly regulate your intake if you don't know the strength of what you're using).

And all this on top of the affront to freedom that is governments telling their citizens how to treat their own bodies.

You offer no definition of recreational drugs. Bye-bye tobacco and alcohol!

As an amusing side effect, I wonder if coffee, tea, and various soft drinks, all of which contain caffeine, would also be banned by this resolution.

This is the worst serious proposal ever.

It is the choice of a country how to handle drug laws
It is open to interpretation (caffeine, tobacco, alcohol)
It is an attack on civil rights and sovereignity rights
Imagine what would happen if the RL UN did this - there'd be an uproar from Holland among others

Simply put, NO. There is no way (if I was delegate, which I could probably do in some random region) I would endorse this. Ever.

As an amusing side effect, I wonder if coffee, tea, and various soft drinks, all of which contain caffeine, would also be banned by this resolution.

Definitely. Chocolate and Red Bull too.

And one could classify viagra as a recreational drug, also!

And one could classify viagra as a recreational drug, also!
:D

and also nationstates.net:p

I'd actually look on this a different way. Where no definition is given, I see it as the responsibility of governments to provide that definition. So Red Bull, viagra and NS would only be banned if your government declared them a recreational drug. Equally, if your government declared heroin to be a legitimate medicinal substance, it would be under no obligation to ban it. That's just my interpretation, anyway.

Once again a proposal that tries to uniform the land. Recreational drugs is a very bland and vague term. If you mean illegal recreational drugs then go ahead and do it in your own country. I only think destructive drugs like Cryst Meth Death and other drugs should be banned. Cryst Meth Death is the way to corruption. And once we become corrupted, the UN goes a little more crazy. I'm against it. Not that recreational drugs are legal in my own country, but thatif my citizens want to get drugged up on marijuana, I'll let them go next door and snort their nose out.
Optischer

I'd actually look on this a different way. Where no definition is given, I see it as the responsibility of governments to provide that definition. So Red Bull, viagra and NS would only be banned if your government declared them a recreational drug. Equally, if your government declared heroin to be a legitimate medicinal substance, it would be under no obligation to ban it. That's just my interpretation, anyway.

There is a standard and fairly consensual meaning to the word drug, something like "A chemical substance that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior and often addiction." (RL source) I guess the "recreational" part might create some problems, but I still see the whole concept as unambiguous, and encompassing any drug not used for medical purposes.

Otherwise, non-compliance would be tremendously easy, as resolutions do not define every single term, and there doesn't seem to be an official NSUN dictionary.

Sincerely,
The Wise Ruler of The Most Serene Republic of Fonzoland

statistically, the drug catagory has been the least successful, mainly because of the response you have seen here. also, the proposal seems way to simplistic. the days of the one or two line proposal went out ages ago, and most people tend to overlook those nowdays...

either let the author define what he means, or stuff this proposal.

We in the Most Serene Republic of Balsack have no problem with drugs; recreational or otherwise. We have found that treatment is the way to deal with any drug problems, and we do not allow drugs to either come into or go out of our nation. So we have a solid handle on the whole issue.
Since our mass transit system is second to none, people rarely drive while intoxicated. We do not allow drugs which increase violence, so there is no real problem with that.
Marijuana is the most widely used drug, and stores often give away free twinkies to the stoned.
So, in our country, we would not ban all drugs. We're doing just fine, thank you.
By the way, it also cuts down on prison overcrowding, and the tax revenue is greatly appreciated.

Do whatcha want in our own nation, but leave the UN out of it, please.

:cool:

Recreational:

rec·re·a·tion·al Audio pronunciation of "recreational" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rkr-sh-nl)
adj.

1. Of or relating to recreation: recreational swimming.
2. Of or relating to the occasional use, asserted not to be addictive, of narcotics: “You can't accept recreational drug use and expect to control the drug problem” (Lacy Thornburg).

2 provides some rather interesting loopholes (you can use them if you're addicted but otherwise, you can't use them), but I think we intend 1 so I'll go into detail on that one.

Ok, so let's say we're separating medicinal vs recreational purpose for the drugs. I could easily provide a definition where the following arguments could be made:

1) "It's not recreational use: I needed to change my state of mind and this helped me accomplish that task"
2) "It's not recreational use: I was feeling segregated from society and this quelled that feeling"
3) "It's not recreational use: I did it to feel better/happier/etc"
4) "It's not recreational use: I needed to find out whether my nose was working so I used this to create smoke"

Ok, so let's say we're separating medicinal vs recreational purpose for the drugs. I could easily provide a definition where the following arguments could be made:

1) "It's not recreational use: I needed to change my state of mind and this helped me accomplish that task"
2) "It's not recreational use: I was feeling segregated from society and this quelled that feeling"
3) "It's not recreational use: I did it to feel better/happier/etc"
4) "It's not recreational use: I needed to find out whether my nose was working so I used this to create smoke"

Fair point. (Don't we all love the loophole game? ;)) It would not be hard to create a decent definition, but I think the whole proposal is idiotic anyway. For once I agree with Optischer:

either let the author define what he means, or stuff this proposal.

The NS UN is indeed a curious Beast. A megalomaniacal ecological capitalist socialist democratic Neocon prostitute loving, National soverigntist federal abortion having, Homosexual darwinist religious tollerant, confusion.

statistically, the drug catagory has been the least successful, mainly because of the response you have seen here.Actually I believe that the gambling category is tied with recreational drug use for that "honor."

Bob Flibble
UN Representative

Actually I believe that the gambling category is tied with recreational drug use for that "honor."

Bob Flibble
UN Representative
I still don't understand why either of those categories exist.

The NS UN is indeed a curious Beast. A megalomaniacal ecological capitalist socialist democratic Neocon prostitute loving, National soverigntist federal abortion having, Homosexual darwinist religious tollerant, confusion.

And proud of it damnit! :D :p

May the blessings of our otters be upon you.

Leonard Otterby
Ambassador for the Republic of Compadria to the U.N.

Actually I believe that the gambling category is tied with recreational drug use for that "honor."

Bob Flibble
UN Representative
i forgot all about gambling....

Definitely. Chocolate and Red Bull too.

No Red Bull? Hirota opposes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/JimRad-Mac/ns/bowel.jpg