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I came of age in a trailer park during the 80's where drug use was rampant, and that's pretty much my experience as well. Seems like crack and meth induce psychosis in a higher percentage of users. I've seen people just as whacked-out and violent on booze, but the percentage is definitely lower. With alcohol it's just isolated individuals - but the chance that someone will use and go off the deep end still there. With crack and meth, it seems like the percentage is much higher of people who turn into Mr Hyde when they use.

You cannot believe your lying eyes, according to JustSayNoToNannies. You must, instead, believe a (clearly flawed) government report.

Believe what you want - but no one person's, or two people's, personal experiences are either randomized or controlled for confounding factors like pre-existing psychiatric conditions.

"Believe what you want - but no one person's, or two people's, personal experiences are either randomized or controlled for confounding factors like pre-existing psychiatric conditions."

You do realize I'm actually on your side of the legalization debate?

Anyone who would smoke meth or crack already has a screw loose. I'll give you that much. As to the rest, go hang out at a few dozen parties where someone is smoking meth or crack, and get back with us - that is if one of them doesn't whack you over the head with a tire iron before you complete your research.

If I had no choice, and had to pick between being in a room with:

A)10 people drinking beer
B)10 people smoking pot
c)10 people smoking meth
D)10 people snorting coke
E)10 people smoking crack
I'd go B,A,D,C,E.

I've seen maybe two people get slightly manic on weed, but never violent. I have no problem with responsible beer drinking even around the kids. Coke - some people can handle it, some can't. I'd never knowingly hang out with someone under the influence of cocaine - if somebody's crazy enough to mess around with coke dealers, no telling what else they're into. Meth makes people psychotic and violent on occasion - meth induced psychosis is a well documented phenomenon. I doubt you'll run across too many meth smokers who've never undergone psychosis under the influence. Crack doesn't make them as violent, but the addiction seems to be stronger and crackheads will do some pretty cutthroat stuff to feed an addiction. Start hanging out with crackheads, and you may wake up in a bathtub full of ice missing a kidney.

Certainly not a scientific assessment. I didn't need Nancy telling me to Just Say No to drugs. I've seen up close and personal what hard drugs do to people. If you're trying to put something like crack cocaine on par with a few beers, I don't think you'd find many believers among people who've seen the effects for themselves.