- 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.
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.