Colombia’s president: Legalize cocaine, it’s no worse than whiskey

[snotflickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone]

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.

[homebrewhedonist@lemmy.ca]

I think the only reason why it’s illegal is because it obit grows in 1 place and you can’t synthesize it. So there’s no money in it for our oligarchs.

[melodiousfunk@slrpnk.net]

hopeful Boeing noises

[p00ptart@lemmy.world]

That's the problem. For-profit prisons exist.

[corkyskog@sh.itjust.works]

I don't know if most people would even know considering its usually stepped on a half dozen times and cut with caffeine and even nastier stuff... And those are the good cutting agents, not the poisons.

Average purity in the US is like 35-60% depending on the market. That's atrocious.

[oneser@lemm.ee]

Cocaine has also ruined many lives. Both are horrible and some people cannot control their consumption.

[deconceptualist@lemm.ee]

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.

[krelvar@lemmy.world]

If you haven't already read it, check out Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari.

[shaggysnacks@lemmy.myserv.one]

Let's not forget that slavery is allowed to exist as a form of punishment in the US.

[timewarp@lemmy.world]

Much less lives than alcohol though.

[gold_e_lox@lemmy.world]

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.

[dasus@lemmy.world]

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.