Suicide Is Against The Law!

[a-guy-with-no-life]

In some areas attempted suicide can be a CRIME...
That is a strange idea... In other areas it's OK, but...
Can somebody please clarify why we do this?

In my opinion suicide, drugs(for personal use), and all other things THAT ONLY HURT the person wanting to do this should be legal in all areas.
Wanna cut your wrists, no problem as long as you don't cut somebody else's.
I am OK with self harm activites as long as all groups, are ok with it.
The thing is drugs are illegal, because they are harmful, but the people who take them don't care, why should we?

[Elamdri]

It goes against the idea of paternalism that the government uses. Yes, you have freedom, but your wrong if you think that killing yourself only harms you.

Killing yourself harms your friends, family, and loved ones.

Killing yourself harms the government becaue you are prematurely deceased, which means not only are they going to end up paying money, but you are no longer there to collect taxes from.

And, killing yourself harms me and the rest of society because since the government had to pay for you and doesn't get taxes from you, then the rest of society has to pick up your slack.

[BlackMetal-BadAss]

it should be considered phycological problem that they need help with.

[a-guy-with-no-life]

Oh I understand the emotional harm, of course, but I talk of physical harm. If you really want to leave your family greiving that's YOUR CHOICE

[RacistBassist]

cant really convict em if theyre succesful

[SEXY-FETUS]

The whole point of making it illegal is just to help people. If you try to kill yourself you are obviously not in the most stable mindsets. So you get sentenced to psychological evaluations etc...

[Der-Ubermensch]

This just goes to show: If you're going to try and kill yourself, do it right the first time.

[BlackMetal-BadAss]

At 2/23/06 01:05 PM, SEXY_FETUS wrote: The whole point of making it illegal is just to help people. If you try to kill yourself you are obviously not in the most stable mindsets. So you get sentenced to psychological evaluations etc...

thing are diffrent if your considered a criminal. first off, it goes on your record and not only can you get fired from your current job, but even when you are back to normal, many jobs dont want someone with a criminal record, even if the crime was atempted suicide.

[HeartbreakHoldout]

Drugs don't just harm the person who takes them though. They cost alot, so people might do anything to get them, or get money for them, if they run out. People might kill, steal, and break any number of laws to get their hands on drugs.
Plus, the trafficing and shady dealers etc.

[Shoyrush]

Well.. I don't believe they should make it unlegal in a "Crime" way.
Though I give my full support on the law that takes them in their hands and prevents them from doing harm to themselves and getting them into treatment.

So no.. Suicide shouldn't be considered unlegal, but it should have the penalty of forced treatment.

[Altarus]

Society has to condemn suicide. Period. I do not want it to become an acceptable means of escape from undesirable circumstances. Plus, some people actually have concern about a person desperate enough to take his or her own life, unlike the author of this thread, apparently.

[TehreTard]

If anyone wants to kill themselves, its their choice. usually a person kills him or herself because of emotional or mental problems or where they cant handle the problems of life. If we arrest someone trying to kill themselves and send them to jail, there's a good chance that they could get raped, another traumatizing event that might increase the urge to kill themselves. we should just stick to bring that individual into therapy so they can recover from any emotional problems because frankly, sending someone to prison barely helps at all

[Elamdri]

At 2/23/06 12:56 PM, a_guy_with_no_life wrote: Oh I understand the emotional harm, of course, but I talk of physical harm. If you really want to leave your family greiving that's YOUR CHOICE

The harm principle doesn't really care about whether or not the harm you inflict is physical or mental, rather, if you are inflicting harm. PERIOD.

and, its not really your choice. Paternalism really doesn't care about what you want, rather, it cares about whats good for you, or in your best interest.

You see, theres a theory that you should only have complete liberty over yourself if your in a rational state of mind and make rational decisions. Suicidal people do NOT have a rational state of mind and they do NOT make rational decisions. Ergo, the government has a right to step in and say, "You cannot kill yourself."

[fli]

Only reason why suicide is illegal...
It's rather inconveniant to retrieve a body that jumped over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I mean,
what could law officials do to the ex-person? It's not like they're giving a ticket.

We would like to think the reason why suicide is against law because it's morally reprehensible, or that we should help them out, or whatever...

Not true.
It's only illegal because it's just plain ol messy.

And who pays the people to clean the job?
The city...

Now that's being pratical.

[lapis]

At 2/23/06 01:34 PM, HeartbreakHoldout wrote: Drugs don't just harm the person who takes them though. They cost alot, so people might do anything to get them, or get money for them, if they run out. People might kill, steal, and break any number of laws to get their hands on drugs.
Plus, the trafficing and shady dealers etc.

They might do anything to get them, they might kill, they might steal, etc. It's all speculative. A person who drinks alcohol might step into his car and he might kill someone in a car crash. That, however, is solely the fault of the drinker rather than the alcohol itself.

It may be hard to keep a heroin or crack addiction under control, but a lot of other drugs (weed, acid, ecstasy) can be used responsibly. If someone violates a non-drug related law when he's under of the influence of a drug he should get punished for that particular law - extra harsh maybe due to the circumstances. But the use of the drug is not harmful to society per se, so I see no reason keep it illegalised. Warn against it's possibly harmful effects in goverment-funded advertisement campaigns, sure. When people turn into addicts it's harmful to society. But let every man decide for himself whether or not he's strong enough to keep his habit within certain boundaries, and punish him only if he loses the fight.

[IllustriousPotentate]

At 2/23/06 03:48 PM, fli wrote: Not true.
It's only illegal because it's just plain ol messy.

I don't think so. The main reason it is a crime is so that people that attempt suicide can be "sentenced" to get help. I don't know of any cases right off hand where anyone has been put into prison for attempting to commit suicide.

[darkfiretime1]

If some dumbass wants to commit suicide, if that person is really that pathetic and wants to escape from problems, let them. Dont give me this crap about "taxes" or "emotional". Let the idiot jump off a bridge, or blow there brains out. I dont care, and i wont intervene.

[HeartbreakHoldout]

At 2/23/06 03:56 PM, lapis wrote: They might do anything to get them, they might kill, they might steal, etc. It's all speculative. A person who drinks alcohol might step into his car and he might kill someone in a car crash. That, however, is solely the fault of the drinker rather than the alcohol itself.

This is where I'd say that I think alcohol should be illegalised. The damage caused is most likely caused becuse of the intoxicant the person has taken

It may be hard to keep a heroin or crack addiction under control, but a lot of other drugs (weed, acid, ecstasy) can be used responsibly. If someone violates a non-drug related law when he's under of the influence of a drug he should get punished for that particular law - extra harsh maybe due to the circumstances.

Again, would the crime have happened if the person was under the influence of the drug? Yes, maybe the lighter drugs should be legalised, if they have low mortality rates, few negative reactions, etc, especially if they are apparently less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes.

But the use of the drug is not harmful to society per se, so I see no reason keep it illegalised.

Even if it affects the standard life of someone? If they can't function properly, they can't neccesarily contribute to society to the full extent. Why should people who don't take drugs have to suffer and work harder for those who don't pull their weight?

Warn against it's possibly harmful effects in goverment-funded advertisement campaigns, sure.

Do they work? You can't honesly say that most people who choose to take drugs don't honestly know of their dangers. Even if they don't know of the concequences, why would they take heed of the advice? I can't see it scaring many people into stopping, it just seems like a way of making it look like a problem has been dealt with, when it hasn't.

When people turn into addicts it's harmful to society. But let every man decide for himself whether or not he's strong enough to keep his habit within certain boundaries, and punish him only if he loses the fight.

Punish someone for losing a fight that he authorities knowingly let them enter into? Thats like giving a bully a weedy kid to play with, then punishing them for bullying.

[SpankyX2]

your ideas make sense. But in todays hostile world, with out regulation or control, the world would be full of burnouts, the suicide rate would be larger than J-Lo's ass, and the economy would crumble. But a pleseant thought.

[Cuppa-LettuceNog]

So what? All it does is force the attempter into theopy, even if it's agains his wishes.

[Shagge]

The fact that suicide is illegal is fucking stupid. If you do it correctly, there's no penalty by the government and there's really nothing they can do to prevent suicidal people from doing it. Are they going to jail suicidals now? No. Besides, it doesn't directly affect anyone. Sure, the family will be depressed. Sure, the government is losing a citizen to collect taxes from. But it's not like you're physically hurting anyone else in this process.

[a-guy-with-no-life]

At 2/23/06 05:20 PM, HeartbreakHoldout wrote:

At 2/23/06 03:56 PM, lapis wrote: They might do anything to get them, they might kill, they might steal, etc. It's all speculative. A person who drinks alcohol might step into his car and he might kill someone in a car crash. That, however, is solely the fault of the drinker rather than the alcohol itself.

This is where I'd say that I think alcohol should be illegalised. The damage caused is most likely caused becuse of the intoxicant the person has taken

Well that may be true, but that is why DUI is a crime, so they don't kill/die in a car crash.... These damages DO happen. Ok, the law does prevent more from taking drugs, but they also make the violence we have a bit harsher. Since the drug dealer is running a shady buisness here he has a much higher chance of violent activities. So we might have similar numbers here.

It may be hard to keep a heroin or crack addiction under control, but a lot of other drugs (weed, acid, ecstasy) can be used responsibly. If someone violates a non-drug related law when he's under of the influence of a drug he should get punished for that particular law - extra harsh maybe due to the circumstances.

Again, would the crime have happened if the person was under the influence of the drug? Yes, maybe the lighter drugs should be legalised, if they have low mortality rates, few negative reactions, etc, especially if they are apparently less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes.

I understand your point... HOWEVER it could still work if the drug was legal. So yeah if you are on a drug and do something the punishment should go up. That still means these can be legal. If you are drunk, your judgement is cloudy like the street drugs. So legalize drugs and punish crimes based on it as you would crimes based on alcohol influence.

But the use of the drug is not harmful to society per se, so I see no reason keep it illegalised.

Even if it affects the standard life of someone? If they can't function properly, they can't neccesarily contribute to society to the full extent. Why should people who don't take drugs have to suffer and work harder for those who don't pull their weight?

Well people who take these drugs do not function, but this also applies for alcohol.... It still has an effect...

Warn against it's possibly harmful effects in goverment-funded advertisement campaigns, sure.

Do they work? You can't honesly say that most people who choose to take drugs don't honestly know of their dangers. Even if they don't know of the concequences, why would they take heed of the advice? I can't see it scaring many people into stopping, it just seems like a way of making it look like a problem has been dealt with, when it hasn't.

Actually more than half the people who smoke, know of it's danger to health. Now the other half should blame themselves as it is printed on every pack of cigerettes(may be spelt wrong)

When people turn into addicts it's harmful to society. But let every man decide for himself whether or not he's strong enough to keep his habit within certain boundaries, and punish him only if he loses the fight.

Punish someone for losing a fight that he authorities knowingly let them enter into? Thats like giving a bully a weedy kid to play with, then punishing them for bullying.

Ok there I agree with you... this is not really a good point. People who drink/smoke know "the limit" and pass it anyway. These people also say they can quit at anytime. The thing is this can be taught in infomercials, and that may work. Just an idea, but yeah this last point SUCKED

[JerkClock]

This has been known for some time now. It's one of the many many dumb laws we have. I don't understand how locking someone up in jail is supposed to make them less likely to want to kill themselves, but hey, maybe it'll speed up population decline?

[Jose]

At 2/23/06 09:46 PM, JerkClock wrote: This has been known for some time now. It's one of the many many dumb laws we have. I don't understand how locking someone up in jail is supposed to make them less likely to want to kill themselves, but hey, maybe it'll speed up population decline?

They don't get sentenced for jail, they get sentenced to therapy. It is the only way they can force them to get help, since most sucidal people are not level headed.

[a-guy-with-no-life]

At 2/23/06 09:46 PM, JerkClock wrote: This has been known for some time now. It's one of the many many dumb laws we have. I don't understand how locking someone up in jail is supposed to make them less likely to want to kill themselves, but hey, maybe it'll speed up population decline?

Population is another issue solved by MY IDEA!!!
Man deppression rates WILL GO DOWN YAY!

[Gunter45]

At 2/23/06 03:48 PM, fli wrote: Now that's being pratical.

Well, that and the fact that dead people don't pay taxes or contribute to society. It is in the State's best interest to keep you alive so you can help society out by doing your part.

[fahrenheit]

They mainly have the law in state so other people cant help you commit suicide or do it for you. I forget the names or exact dates but in the late 18 hundreds there was a man who killed people for themselves. They gave him money, signed a document, and he poisoned them.

One day he got convicted, but he pleaded that they wanted him to kill them and he showed the documents.

He was released, but things like that might have put up some reason for this law.

[a-guy-with-no-life]

At 2/23/06 10:01 PM, Velocitom wrote: They mainly have the law in state so other people cant help you commit suicide or do it for you. I forget the names or exact dates but in the late 18 hundreds there was a man who killed people for themselves. They gave him money, signed a document, and he poisoned them.

One day he got convicted, but he pleaded that they wanted him to kill them and he showed the documents.

He was released, but things like that might have put up some reason for this law.

I did not know this story, sounds really intresting... If anyone can post a link I'd appreciate it. The concept makes sense, I LIKE IT....
Yes, but this still is A CHOICE THEY MADE! So what's wrong? Now I think that it would be stupid to tell someone to kill you, but I can understand some don't have the power to actually do it themselves.

[Proteas]

At 2/23/06 12:03 PM, a_guy_with_no_life wrote: In some areas attempted suicide can be a CRIME...

In some areas it's legal to shoot people on sight for having an IQ less than their shoe size. But since I'm not going to back it up with hard evidence (like a external link), I guess you'll have to take my word for it, won't you?

[Elamdri]

whoever said that suicide doesn't have any physical affect on others is wrong. Depression is a physical disease and compels others to do things that they may not otherwise do naturally. If you kill yourself for example, and that puts lets say your little brother/sister into a severe depression, and lets say for example, they start failing at school, get even more depressed, and thus kill themselves, are you going to tell me that your selfish act had no direct physical effect?

ACHOO

excuse me, I'm allergic to BS.