Is it though? I think it is still worse than alcohol, but I do think decriminalizing can be better for treating and caring for the addicts. Addicts aren't criminals, they are sick and need help.
this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2025
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99% of my drug problems are law related.
I am against drugs. I think no one should be using drugs. I think drugs like Alcohol, Meth and Cocaine are a making of the devil. Ideally drugs would only be used as medicine.
None of the problems related to drug use are solved by criminalization. None of the societal and personal problems leading to drug use are solved by criminalization. Instead they are made worse. The most reliable way to reduce drug use in society is by removing economic hardship and lack of opportunities from people and providing better support to people in difficult emotional situations. The most reliable way to help existing drug users to stop using, is by reducing harms associated with drug use, while working on improving their life situation.
Really ? the devil ? We agree on the fact that legalization would go a long way in encouraging safe use. However you seem to be under the impression that drugs are solely used as a getaway from hardships of life. Let me know if I got that wrong. In any case, plenty of users find drugs to be entertaining, eye-opening, tranquilizing, or otherwise interesting or helpful in a variety of other ways. I think it's important to remember that many drugs are just part of nature; plants, mushrooms. They're god's creation.
Just wanted to point out, of the three you mentioned, cocaine is still used in medicine, especially in dentistry. You may in fact even have used an analog yourself that's pretty common: Lidocaine
Cocaine, like, regular chemical cocaine, is also used as a vasopressor (think Epinephrine) in Europe.
Alcohol - meaning Ethanol - is also used in medicine due its antimicrobial properties though. I believe the medical-grade mouthwash I used after my wisdom teeth were removed contained some ethanol, though I'm unsure because I didn't memorize the ingredients.
Using Cocaine as a local anesthetic is very different from use aimed at psychoactive stimulation. E.g. having a small dosage injected in your gums vs. snorthing/smoking/IV use. I wonder though, how often it has to be used instead of lidocaine in practice.
We have the same issue with opiates, where the medical use is crucial, but the problems of abuse are also very strong. However while the physical addiction is extremely strong with opiates, it seems that many of the associated problems are particularly strong due to criminalization. E.g. people with chronic pains who receive opiates permanently can life a somewhat normal life, despite a physical dependence having developed. Programs that provide clean heroin to addicts have been very successful in mitigating a lot of the harm.
People who are high on Cocaine, Meth or Alcohol constantly will cause problems to themselves and others. The Ego-boost and inhibition reduction destroy peoples character. You also have regular reports from heroine users, that their local drug scene got much more problematic, when there was a wave of crack coming in.
Possibly true, but also a lot of the reports for issues caused by cocaine use lump cocaine with all of its derivatives, including things like crack cocaine. Rarely is pure cocaine affordably sold in the black market.
It would be as fair as combining statistics for oxycodone and tramadol.
I don't think cocaine is as dangerous as it's usually thought of from what I've read. Still dangerous enough to be age restricted and regulated for sure, but also in the right doses about as harmful as cigarettes (except cigarettes also harm those nearby)
Crack isn't a derivative of Cocaine. powdered Cocaine is typically the HCl salt. Crack is the free base, which makes it soluble for IV injection or smokeable. Because of the "direct" connection to the bloodstream it works much quicker and harder with a shorter duration. But it is the same active chemical compound.
As for recreational Cocaine use, i have witnessed many people falling into addiction w.o. realizing it. Typically it would go like this: Only at Festivals -> only in the club -> yeah birthday home party -> We are all very drunk at the bar, what if we call a dealer to extend the evening? -> i brought some to the bar already, so we don't have to find a dealer this time -> i'm bored at home...
Cocaine is especially dangerous in this regards because it is "smoother", the effects don't last as long as for other stimulants and in lower dosages it can go below the radar of people unfamiliar with drug use, whereas people on amphetamine are more easy to spot already from their physical appearance under the influence.
Trump Monkey Paw USA: Bans Whiskey again
With the legalization of drugs, you can also tax it to finance addiction care and prevention, and by offering legal ways for dealers and producers to go legal, you can probably reduce violence. I see it as a double win.
I read some time ago that drug producers often don't want it to be legal. They make a lot more money when it's illegal.
But yes, I believe it would help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4L20t8Dvlg
"Prison Song"
They're tryna' build a prison
They're tryna' build a prison
Oh
Following the rights movements, you clamped down with your iron fists
Drugs became conveniently available for all the kids
Following the rights movements, you clamped down with your iron fists
Drugs became conveniently available for all the kids
I buy my crack, I smack my bitch
Right here in Hollywood
Nearly two million Americans are incarcerated
In the prison system, prison system of the U.S.
They're tryna' build a prison
They're tryna' build a prison
They're tryna' build a prison
They're tryna' build a prison
For you and me to live in
Another prison system
Another prison system
Another prison system
For you and me
Minor drug offenders fill your prisons, you don't even flinch
All our taxes paying for your wars against the new non-rich
Minor drug offenders fill your prisons, you don't even flinch
All our taxes paying for your wars against the new non-rich
[Chorus]
Oh, oh
All research and successful drug policy
Shows that treatment should be increased
Oh
And law enforcement decreased
While abolishing mandatory minimum sentences
Oh
All research and successful drug policy
Shows that treatment should be increased
Oh
And law enforcement decreased
While abolishing mandatory minimum sentences
Utilizing drugs to pay for secret wars around the world
Drugs are now your global policy, now you police the globe
...
Even Milton "Shock Doctrine" Friedman was against the drug war.
Friedman: I see America with half the number of prisons, half the number of prisoners, ten thousand fewer homicides a year, inner cities in which there’s a chance for these poor people to live without being afraid for their lives, citizens who might be respectable who are now addicts not being subject to becoming criminals in order to get their drug, being able to get drugs for which they’re sure of the quality. You know, the same thing happened under prohibition of alcohol as is happening now.
Under prohibition of alcohol, deaths from alcohol poisoning, from poisoning by things that were mixed in with the bootleg alcohol, went up sharply. Similarly, under drug prohibition, deaths from overdose, from adulterations, from adulterated substances have gone up.
That's the problem. For-profit prisons exist.
Let's not forget that slavery is allowed to exist as a form of punishment in the US.
The US threatened to pull out of the WHO at the time since the findings didn’t match US drug policy. Instead of losing the US, the WHO quietly shelved the study.
Time to release it then.
If you haven't already read it, check out Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari.
This book is brilliant, but the last 10% accounted for 90% of my time with the book.
The whole thing is so engaging and interesting and the last bit is a slog
Whoa whoa whoa. Cocaine is way better than whiskey.
Found Sterling Archer’s fediverse account
Okay, but the combination of coke and alcohol dramatically increases your risk for a heart attack, so having both really available is potentially an even worse health crisis.
If drugs are legal, education on such stuff could be done in schools, just like sexual education.
It also allows people to be honest about their usage in case of heart problems. For example, I live in a country where you can simply tell your doctor or hospital about drugs in your system and they will not call the police for it. It's much safer.
just like sexual education.
Not off to a great start there for ~~a major part of the~~ soon to be the entire USA 😉
USA only has 4.2% of the world population. And the article is about the Columbian president and his stance.
It's also about how the US threatened to pull out of the WHO over the report.
Edit: Sorry, the summary had someones opinion on that matter, not the actual article.
And the risk of alcohol and cars dramatically increases your risk of death and yet...
I know, it's such a shame there's never been a campaign to inform people about the risks of drunk driving... /s
If both were legal you could educate people about them way better. Give your fellow men some more credit.
If someone who has been informed about the dangers of a drug decides to take it its neither your business nor mine. If someone wants to go free climbing or drove a motorcycle we don't say anything against that either.
I think ethically, legal status should not be a barrier to education about drugs. Sadly, in reality it often is (this includes research as well).
I'm not advocating for intrusive policing, if that's what you think. The system we have now in many places is horribly broken and abusive. Instead I'm saying we should decriminalize but keep policies that are essential to public health (e.g. don't give hard drugs to children), provide better resources for doctors and other healthcare workers, and deliver robust (and scientifically accurate) informational campaigns.
And so doesn't having prescription medication and booze, yet those are completely commonplace with people. We trust them to use them responsibly. Some do abuse them yes, but if they're caught, we try to fix the issue. Not throw them in jail.
Well more the risk with pills and booze is actually the autonomic nervous system getting sedated and you just not breathing after falling asleep. But the amounts for ods are actually kinda high tbh. Not that anyone should do that, we exaggerate risks a tiny bit for a proper purpose; you shouldn't go seeking for your personal limits on something like that.
But like having a half of a mild sedative before a few classes of wine really isn't drug abuse in anything but the technical sense. If you do that every night you've prolly got a problem though.
Anyway the point is most people can be responsible and the government should stop treating us as children just because a minority can't handle their shit.
Edit also I don't use coke never really saw the point as I'm an overconfident and energetic asshole even without it so idk why the fuck id pay so much for something I already have. Have tried several times but just not my thing. And it was good face numbing shit. But I do advocate for legalising it. I'd so like to have a coke with the original recipe.
Prescription meds generally aren't party drugs. At least not the ones I know about. So that's not quite the same.
ok but having a [INSERT THING HERE] dramatically increases your risk for [FUTURE HEALTH ISSUE].
fuck punishing someone for ingesting a substance, im an adult and in control of my own body, silly shit.
actually youre right, i am not in control of my body. Institutions of control will always be forcing their will upon me.
Oh, I 100% believe that drugs should be decriminalized and treated as a health issue instead. Meaning both individual health and public health. Like how Portugal does it, IIRC.
Booze and cocaine are both party drugs and people already use them together, but I think there's a larger public health concern if they were both readily available because that population would spike. People should have a little more knowledge of the risks. Plenty of folks out there think uppers + downers just cancel out 🙄 We don't need more 20-somethings in the morgue.
Alcohol is one of the worst substances to get addicted to. All the people I've known who did cocaine on occasion were incredibly productive & successful. But the alcohol, it ruined so many marriages & lives.
You are making a false equivalence when you compare alcoholics to casual cocaine users. You should compare alcoholics and cocaine addicts.
Cocaine has also ruined many lives. Both are horrible and some people cannot control their consumption.
Both can be horrible.
Much less lives than alcohol though.
How much of that is just due to how massively available alcohol is though?
Fuck it. Might as well at this point.
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