Comprehensive Drug Reform Bill (Law'd)

[Associate Justice PiT]

     We could seek to legalize all of the yellow drugs, or maybe those & the orange ones seeing as how tobacco & alcohol are both orange.

[Purple State]

On first glance I would only have a problem with ecstasy, but I would have to look into the rest once you introduced a bill.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Also, that chart is nowhere near complete. There are lots of drugs that are not on there, & I do not recognize the names of some that are on there.

[Bacon King]

Ebowed had some sort of comprehensive legalization bill a while back that never got passed; I'll go looking for that.

[HappyWarrior]

I don't really understand why drug legalization is something so many people on here push for.  I only support Marijuana legalization because it has a perfectly good legitimate medical purpose.  To my knowledge these other drugs do not.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I found the bill that Ebowed proposed:

Comprehensive Drug Reform Bill of 2007

Section 1: Findings
1. Current Atlasian policy has led to the incarceration of millions of nonviolent drug users, as well as the devastation of several South American economies and environments, and an overall increase in violent crime associated with drug dealing and untreated addiction.
2. Current Atlasian policy treats drug addiction first and foremost as a criminal problem rather than a medical one.
3. Current Atlasian policy is inherently contradictory in that one of the most intoxicating and addictive substances known to man, alcohol, is legal while possession of softer drugs remains a criminal activity.
4. Current Atlasian policy places harsh sentencing and punishment ahead of harm minimization, effective drug education, and addiction treatment.

Section 2: Decriminalized Substances
1. All federal laws, as well as District of Columbia and federal territory laws, prohibiting the private possession, consumption, or profitless distribution of the following substances are repealed: all Schedule III oral and intravenous anabolic steroids, all prohormones listed in U.S. 118 Stat. 1661 (including, but not limited to, 4-androstenedione, 4-androstenediol, 19-norandrostenedione, 19-norandrostenediol, and 1-androstenediol), human growth hormone (hGH), 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA), mescaline, Peyote, psilocin, psilocybin, d-lysergic acid amide (LSA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), salvia divinorum, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ephedrine, opium, cocaine (including freebase cocaine), gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), ibogaine, heroin, 5-methoxy-n,n-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT), 2C-T-7, 2C-B, cathinone (khat), alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT), 5-OH-DMT, amphetamines, dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, morphine, phencyclidine (PCP), benzylpiperazine, codeine, synthetic cannabinoids, marinol, and ketamine.
2. This section shall not be interpreted to legalize the sale or underage use of the listed substances.
3. All federal laws, including District of Columbia and federal territory laws, prohibiting certain forms of tobacco (including homegrown tobacco, smokeless tobacco, clove cigarettes, or N. rustica), alcohol (including absinthe, and all related ingredients), or associated paraphanelia (including rolling papers, rolling filter tips, matches, and water pipes) are repealed.

Section 3: Safe Injection Sites
1. The federal government will invest $10 million FY 2009 in the construction of a Safe Injection Site in the District of Columbia.
2. No person using illicit drugs inside of a Safe Injection Site may face prosecution of any kind in relation to the possession or consumption of the drug.
3. All persons entering the Safe Injection Site will be provided with clean needle syringes and any medical care necessary free of charge.
4. A donation of a dollar will be requested upon entrance to the Site. This donation is not required. Donations of any size will be accepted, assuming it is a legal donation.

Section 4: Good Samaritan Provision
1. In all areas under federal jurisdiction, persons calling for medical help for a person who is suffering immediate health problems due to drug use may not face arrest charges for possession or consumption of illicit substances.

     Now we need to decide if there are any changes we wish to make to this. If it proves satisfactory, we could amend the bill to replace the current text with something that can pass.

[Bacon King]

Well, I guess the question is, to the Senate, which of the above substances do you feel actually deserves being illegal?

[Franzl]

to be perfectly honest: I don't know enough about most of these drugs to comment. I would need the opinion of someone who knows something about it

Anybody volunteer?

[Associate Justice PiT]

4-androstenedione
4-androstenediol
19-norandrostenedione
19-norandrostenediol
1-androstenediol human growth hormone (hGH)
3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA)
mescaline
Peyote
psilocin
psilocybin
d-lysergic acid amide (LSA)
lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
salvia divinorum
dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
ephedrine
opium
cocaine (including freebase cocaine)
gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
ibogaine
heroin
5-methoxy-n,n-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT)
2C-T-7
2C-B
cathinone (khat)
alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT)
5-OH-DMT
amphetamines
dextroamphetamine
methamphetamine
oxycodone
morphine
phencyclidine (PCP)
benzylpiperazine
codeine
synthetic cannabinoids
marinol
ketamine

     This is the preliminary list of drugs. I struck out heroin since it's already clear that not enough people are willing to legalize it. The rest are open to debate though.

[afleitch]

Strike out PCP.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Strike out PCP.

     Normally I would request the input of others, but PCP is probably the only thing on there more dangerous than heroin, so I will go ahead & strike it since other people wouldn't support legalizing it anyway.

     To avoid dealing with it on a completely drug-by-drug basis, should I just include any drug that was yellow on that chart?

[Bacon King]

I'd also prefer we strike out methamphetamine, for starters, and I'd prefer to look up some of the ones I'm unfamiliar with before proposing anything official.

edit- yeah, PiT, I think it's okay to go ahead and assume all the "yellow" drugs will be included in the amendment

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Apparently the first four are just prohormones of anabolic steroids. Basically they're the steroids, but much weaker. Unless there is substantial objection.

[Bacon King]

If you're going to use the list above still, just bold the ones we deem acceptable and keep striking out unacceptable ones.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Okay. It will likely be slow going though, as a lot of the names on this list are unfamiliar & we don't have any biochemists or such in the Senate.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I've been trying to find information about these drugs, but it's hard. From what I've found, psilocin & mescaline are both pretty harmless. I think legalizing them would be fine.

     If anyone has an expert opinion to offer in regards to some other drugs on the list, it would be nice.

[Lief 🗽]

Psilocin and psilocybin are both fine. They're just hallucinogens that make you see and hear and feel things for a few hours; impossible to overdose on, no adverse after effects. They're found in "psychedelic mushrooms."

Mescaline is just the active drug in peyote, which is again pretty much harmless.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I figured that LSA & Salvia are also pretty harmless. What about DMT/AMT/5-OH-DMT?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Ugh, I don't have the energy to handle all of the details of researching these drugs by myself. I offer as an amendment to replace the current text of the bill with:

Comprehensive Drug Reform Bill

Section 1: Findings
1. Current Atlasian policy has led to the incarceration of millions of nonviolent drug users, as well as the devastation of several South American economies and environments, and an overall increase in violent crime associated with drug dealing and untreated addiction.
2. Current Atlasian policy treats drug addiction first and foremost as a criminal problem rather than a medical one.
3. Current Atlasian policy is inherently contradictory in that one of the most intoxicating and addictive substances known to man, alcohol, is legal while possession of softer drugs remains a criminal activity.
4. Current Atlasian policy places harsh sentencing and punishment ahead of harm minimization, effective drug education, and addiction treatment.

Section 2: Decriminalized Substances
1. All federal laws, as well as District of Columbia and federal territory laws, prohibiting the private possession, consumption, or profitless distribution of the following substances are repealed: all Schedule III oral and intravenous anabolic steroids, all prohormones listed in U.S. 118 Stat. 1661 (including, but not limited to, 4-androstenedione, 4-androstenediol, 19-norandrostenedione, 19-norandrostenediol, and 1-androstenediol), human growth hormone (hGH), 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA), mescaline, Peyote, psilocin, psilocybin, d-lysergic acid amide (LSA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), salvia divinorum, gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), and cathinone (khat).
2. This section shall not be interpreted to legalize the sale or underage use of the listed substances.
3. All federal laws, including District of Columbia and federal territory laws, prohibiting certain forms of tobacco (including homegrown tobacco, smokeless tobacco, clove cigarettes, or N. rustica), alcohol (including absinthe, and all related ingredients), or associated paraphanelia (including rolling papers, rolling filter tips, matches, and water pipes) are repealed.

Section 3: Safe Injection Sites
1. The federal government will invest $10 million FY 2011 in the construction of a Safe Injection Site in the District of Columbia.
2. No person using illicit drugs inside of a Safe Injection Site may face prosecution of any kind in relation to the possession or consumption of the drug.
3. All persons entering the Safe Injection Site will be provided with clean needle syringes and any medical care necessary free of charge.
4. A donation of a dollar will be requested upon entrance to the Site. This donation is not required. Donations of any size will be accepted, assuming it is a legal donation.

Section 4: Good Samaritan Provision
1. In all areas under federal jurisdiction, persons calling for medical help for a person who is suffering immediate health problems due to drug use may not face arrest charges for possession or consumption of illicit substances.

[Franzl]

This seems like a sensible proposal.

Despite the free medical care offered, a scenario in which that treatment would cost more than putting drug users in prison seems unlikely to me.

[Bacon King]

Good, and offering a friendly amendment to add the following substances:

DMT (harmless hallucinogen)
ephedrine (made from a natural herb, energy stimulant, legal in USA)
opium
Ibogaine (hallucinogen; believed to help fight addictions)
5-MeO-DiPT (harmless psychedelic)
2C-T-7 (psychedelic; a few reported deaths but only at very high dosages) (note= legality equals proper labelling!)
2C-B (harmless psychedelic)
AMT (hallucinogen; legal in UK)
5-OH-DMT (possibly hallucinogenic? No reason for it to be banned, at any rate)
Amphetamine (stimulant; mostly harmless)
dextroamphetamine (basically an analogue to amphetamine)
benzylpiperazine (legal in many places; generally nonaddictive)
codeine (like a weaker oxycodone but not nearly as addictive)
synthetic cannabinoids (if marijuana is legal no reason these shouldn't be)
marinol (tradename for THC. see above)

[Associate Justice PiT]

     You mean an amendment to the amendment? I also offer my amendment as friendly. Hopefully they can both be accepted quickly to get things moving.

[Franzl]

This seems like a sensible proposal.

Despite the free medical care offered, a scenario in which that treatment would cost more than putting drug users in prison seems unlikely to me.

I'm sorry folks, lol, when I made this comment, I had forgotten that this bill was sponsored by myself....guess it didn't feel like my bill Sorry.

I accept both amendments as friendly.

[MasterJedi]

Unless anyone says otherwise I'll open up a final vote on this new bill between 9-10pm CST since this has been on the floor for a long time.

[Purple State]

I have to object to the inclusion of opium in BK's list.