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

[email protected]

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. People should have a little more knowledge of the risks. Plenty of folks out there think uppers + downers just cancel out

[email protected]

Prescription meds generally aren't party drugs. At least not the ones I know about. So that's not quite the same.

[email protected]

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.

[email protected]

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

[email protected]

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

...

[email protected]

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.

[email protected]

How much of that is just due to how massively available alcohol is though?

[email protected]

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

[email protected]

And the risk of alcohol and cars dramatically increases your risk of death and yet...

[email protected]

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.

[email protected]

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)

[email protected]

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.

[email protected]

I know, it's such a shame there's never been a campaign to inform people about the risks of drunk driving... /s

[email protected]

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.

[email protected]

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 have policies for what's essential to public health (e.g. don't give hard drugs to children), better resources for doctors and other healthcare workers, and robust (and scientifically accurate) informational campaigns.

[email protected]

You are making a false equivalence when you compare alcoholics to casual cocaine users. You should compare alcoholics and cocaine addicts.

[email protected]

You can grow coca plants in other nations. It grows in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela.

[email protected]

Cocaine, like, regular chemical cocaine, is also used as a vasopressor (think Epinephrine) in Europe.

[email protected]

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.

[email protected]

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.

agnos.is Forums

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