- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmit.online
- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmit.online
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said during a government meeting that cocaine is “not worse than whiskey” and that it’s only illegal because it comes from Latin America.
Colombia, the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocaine, has spent decades fighting drug trafficking, but the country’s left-wing president claimed the drug was being scapegoated by American politicians, who have waged the war on drugs for decades.
“Cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whiskey,” Petro said during a six-hour-long government meeting.
“Scientists have analyzed this: cocaine is not worse than whiskey,” he added, suggesting that the global cocaine industry could be “easily dismantled” if the drug was legalized worldwide.
The thing is, he’s absolutely right. There was a suppressed 1995 study by the World Health Organization on cocaine and its effects. 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.
https://www.brucekalexander.com/articles-speeches/cocaine/181-who-cocaine-study
https://web.archive.org/web/20090618160146/www.tdpf.org.uk/WHOleaked.pdf
From the conclusions section:
A continuum can be identified for cocaine use, which includes:
- experimental use
- occasional use
- situation-specific use
- intensive use
- compulsive/dysfunctional use
Experimental and occasional use are by far the most common types of use, and compulsive/dysfunctional is far less common. Compulsive or dysfunctional users often have serious relationship, work, legal and health problems.
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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.
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.
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
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.
Cocaine, like, regular chemical cocaine, is also used as a vasopressor (think Epinephrine) in Europe.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Whoa whoa whoa. Cocaine is way better than whiskey.
Found Sterling Archer’s fediverse account
Eh hard disagree…
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.
Fuck it. Might as well at this point.
Don Jr. has entered the chat
Don Jr. has booked a flight
hopeful Boeing noises
*noses
*nosedives(?)
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.
You can grow coca plants in other nations. It grows in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela.
