Testing for nicotine: what are you going to do with the results? many employers already ban it.
Some think nicotine deserves schedule I status, whereas others think it should be legal.
I think both are true, which isn't merely me being weird, but why the issue is complicated - our system is wacky.
Worse, our system is wacky because some of the fundamental concepts are wrong or inappropriately loaded emotionally.
Example 1: the word "drugs" - what does it mean to you? do you assume it means the same to others? Illegal drugs is MUCH more specific but ignores everything but one narrow aspect, "addictive", "harmful" and such are subjective, and at any rate, all kinds of self-harm is allowed - people choose quality over quantity of life all the time. It's not AUTOMATIC that a particular harmful behavior SHOULD be banned, it is a political evaluation of costs and benefits to various populations.
wikipedia sez the DEA does this (bold added by me):
Placing a drug or other substance in a certain Schedule or removing it from a certain Schedule is primarily based on 21 U.S.C. §§ 801, 801a, 802, 811, 812, 813 and 814. Every schedule otherwise requires finding and specifying the "potential for abuse" before a substance can be placed in that schedule. The specific classification of any given drug or other substance is usually a source of controversy, as is the purpose and effectiveness of the entire regulatory scheme.
"The term 'controlled substance' means a drug or other substance, or immediate precursor, included in schedule I, II, III, IV, or V of part B of this subchapter. The term does not include distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, or tobacco, as those terms are defined or used in subtitle E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986." 21 U.S.C. § 802(6) Some have argued that this is an important exemption, since alcohol and tobacco are the two most widely used drugs in the United States. More significantly the exclusion of alcohol includes wine which is sacramentally used by many major religious denominations in the United States.
"require food stamp recipients to engage in “personal growth” activities"
Like perhaps
MDMA therapy for rape-induced PTSD? (pdf from maps.org)
See, I told you it wasn't simple.
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