As much as 60% of the cocaine seized in Britain has been found to have traces of a once-banned, cancer-causing painkiller.
Phenacetin was used by UK dentists until fears arose about its safety several decades ago. But drug traffickers have realised its potential and have started mixing it with cocaine to “bulk out” their product. As well as appearing similar in colour and consistency to cocaine, phenacetin also provides users with a “hit”, albeit a brief one.
It retails for around £3,000 for a kilo and when mixed with the same amount of cocaine – which sells for about £28,000 – it means the dealers can virtually double their profits.
Double your profits, double your fun – double your risk.
My heart bleeds for all of the drug addled yuppies out there … not.
Yes, just another reason to legalize it, so that it can be made safer.
Scott did miss one issue on the earlier post===when drugs are made legal, the harm done by drugs will be much more limited to those choosing to use drugs.
Today, MANY innocent people are harmed by the drug laws–every victim of crime done to support the habit, every victim of crime to move the product, would have been saved had the drugs been legal. This isn’t talked about AT ALL, but from an existential point of view, its most relevant and determinative.
Whats wrong with FREEDOM?- – – other people fucking up their lives in ways you would never do. Let them, and live free.
More an indictment of the black market than of cocaine per se…
http://vip.mikrobitti.fi/~tapiob/whitelines.gif
2. bobbo. I was just saying the same thing about drive-by shootings the other day.
RBG
Ah, RBG. Those pesky cocaine users still driving by, blowing cocaine up your nose, are they?
4—RBG==I’m trying to make sense of your post, and I dont get it. If drive by shootings were legalized, innocent people would get shot?
Now I suppose you are arguing that other people, wives and children for instance, are hurt when the guy does drugs?
If that is your point, you are truly STOOOPID. Prove me wrong.
#6 – No, just taxing our healthcare system, committing crimes to fuel their habit, and not contributing to society.
Granted, things a good lib like yourself feels can be corrected with more (and more) oversight, but I digress…
8–James, explain your thought. What your post is either neutral or positive reasons why drugs should be legalized.
#9 – I’m not terribly against drugs: They drive a good portion of our economy. I’m against piss poor arguments.
The argument that illegal drug use only impacts the user doesn’t add up. For starters, if most of these losers that get arrested could keep their use confined to the home (like the rest of us), they wouldn’t be out in public… getting arrested… in the first place.
5. What do you think would be the CAUSE of drive by shootings?
#2 every victim of crime done to support the habit, every victim of crime to move the product, would have been saved had the drugs been legal.
“…every victim of crime to move the product,…” ??
I don’t understand what you mean by “to move the product”.
Mules getting caught with drug-filled condoms in their stomach? People arrested for possession? Victims of gang turf-wars?
“…every victim of crime done to support the habit,…”
I strongly disagree with that.
It is probably just a nit-pick with regards to your use of “every”, but I still disagree.
It assumes everyone who becomes addicted to one of the addictive drugs will be able to afford a steady supply of that drug, while still maintaining a source of income – which would be required to allow continued purchase of the drug.
While I agree that there seem to be a tremendous amount of people who stay functional despite being addicted to something which is currently illegal, even at current street prices, I seriously doubt everyone who is – or becomes – addicted to a drug will be able to maintain a source of income to support their habit.
I believe that legalization would reduce the amount of crime perpetrated by addicts, but would not eliminate it.
10–James, of course a drug addict impacts those around him==whether the drugs are legal or not? So, whats your point? I’m saying someone using drugs in a society that makes them illegal is MORE harmful. Do you want daddy in jail for 5-10 years on the tax payers ticket, or still going to work in a court supervised rehab program for much less tax dollars–all funded by the tax on drugs. Seems simple to me.
12–Mike, yes, I did stumble there. I’m think of gangs fighting over distribution rights and smuggling the drugs in and the cash out, that sort of movement. As to a quibble about “every”–well, every person who is the victim of a burglary from some doper looking for something to pawn will not have that injustice visited upon them when drugs are legal. When is the last time someone broke into a house to get a beer? ((Yes it does happen, so you are so very astute to point out that “every” should have been “most” as in every=100% and most =99,9999%==good catch.))
Street price would crumble when drugs are legal. Thats one of the main points to legalization, plus, many drugs can be grown at home.
Not all crime will stop, True, and the sun will still rise.
7. bobbo. Well, mostly an extreme example for fun. But let me take a crack, I mean, an attempt at defending it anyway. Since goofier things have already been proposed.
The under-lying principle is harm reduction. Imagine if drive-by shootings and other assassinations were legalized. Or if not overtly legalized, we invoke an informal exception to the murder law in the same way Vancouver’s “Insite” safe injection program has police looking the other way with regards to safely injecting illegal drugs.
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/fourpillars/fs_harmreduction.htm
Likewise, my Safe Assassination program, “Hitsite” would turn a blind, non-moralizing eye to drive-bys. The objective: making killing a lot safer for everyone than it presently is.
The crux of the program would be to teach safer targeting and killing skill-set techniques to ensure innocent bystanders, such as school children, are not inadvertently killed in the drive-by process. (Google: children killed by stray bullets drive-by shooting, for a pile of real examples.)
I think this program could also go a long way in ensuring the intended victims do not needlessly suffer.
It’s a win-win situation for all. If the killings are going to happen anyway – let’s just make them safer. Of course there will be the usual bleeding-hearts who will object. (Pun intended.) But I say, if we can just psychologically get past the old caveman attitudes and ways of offing people, there would be a clear net savings in lives. And that’s all that matters here.
I say if people are seriously considering dropping the current drug status-quo for an experimental legalization of all drugs, then we can also do the same for “Hitsite” and just see how that goes too.
RBG
11. mark. Illegal activity. Why? is that going away any time soon?
RBG
15. Drug wars. The case for leagaliztion is to remove the sale of drugs from the criminals, and they will be greatly affected.
13. bobbo. And when the drug dealers are then forced to up the anty and deal an exclusive drug that gives absolutely no better high but hooks you until you die, all with one first snort – you’d make that legal too? (Of course with the usual educational programs.)
RBG
14–RBG, yes I agree “if” those drive-bys” were to happen anyway, and “if” the number of innocent bystanders killed would be reduced, then we would again be stoopid not to make that the law. Problem is you have innocent people directly killed by your legalization, and if it were legal, the incidence certainly would go up. Not so with drug laws. Actually, I think if drugs were legalized, there would be an initial increase in use with it eventually leveling out to some unknown level. Point being, regardless of number of users, making it legal creates less personal and societal harm.
And so, reducing harm is a very laudible goal==especially compared to maximizing harm? And there are other factors like “Freedom” and allowing harm to fall on those more directly participting.
13 ((Yes it does happen, so you are so very astute to point out that “every” should have been “most” as in every=100% and most =99,9999%==good catch.))
And so magnanimous of you to concede that you were only off by 0.0001%.
13 When is the last time someone broke into a house to get a beer?
When is the last time someone broke into a house to get a drug?
I always assumed they were breaking-in to steal something they could sell/pawn.
That’s what they did on the one time I’ve had someone break-into my place of residence – stole a CD-player, CDs, VCR, Camera & lenses, etc.
I have no idea what they actually needed the money for… baby formula, mortgage payment, a tank of gas so they can drive to work?
13 Not all crime will stop, True, and the sun will still rise.
Good to know.
18. Sometimes, bobbo, you’re no fun at all.
RBG
Umm. We can’t legalize. Why? Because it sucks… Does anyone actually think that legislation will end all of society’s drug-related problems? Look at gun violence, legislation does not keeps them out of the hands of criminals. Capital punishment for drug dealers!
I’m suprised at the number of idiots wanting to legalize drugs like Cocaine. I’m not even going to attempt to convince you why this is a bad idea, because you are already too stupid to understand
Iv told a person I know…
1. KNOW what you are smoking, toking, injecting, snorting.
2. The closer it is to NATURAL, the less chance your body will renig on you.
3. you best friends are your best Critics, IF they start to see you doing WRONG/to much , they SHOULD/WILL tell you…LISTEN.
4. 90% of the HIGH is from the first use. Clean out your system between uses, and you get a MUCH better buzz/high/ding dong/tweek…. ANd it reduces dependency
If it were legalized,
At LEAST those with the problem could be treated BEFORE, it became life threatening.
22–Jim, I’d feel chastised and taken aback if you could provide a hint at what the advantages of keeping drugs illegal are AND since I agree we all need more edumaction, do you have any authority for the views you hold–ie, websites and such?
#13 – I don’t disagree with your point of view… I disagree with the point of view of the person I was responding to. That wasn’t you.
Is it just me or does that picture look like a Cingular ad?
#26
That explains their shitty commercials.
On the other hand, that’s one photo with its sarcasm thwarted thanks to bad spelling..
Booze became illegal because of the suffering and death it caused.
Suffering and death increased due to the trade in illegal booze.
Juries started refusing to convict for violations of the Prohibition. Eventually, the laws were repealed. Suffering decreased.
We still have suffering and death due to booze, but less than we did when it was illegal.
The drug laws are the same thing. A lot of the suffering and death is due to the illegality of drugs.
Users? Let them die. No one can live someone else’s life for them.
#28, Phillep,
The suffering you mention is true, it does happen. What you missed with both points about drugs and alcohol prohibition is that they are still available. They were made illegal, but it wasn’t hard to find booze back then or drugs today. Because they are available and certain people will do whatever it takes to obtain them they will continue to be abused. Ever seen an alcoholic heat shoe polish to drink it for the buzz?
I’m sure that some drugs, such as pot, will not be a problem if decriminalized. Its medical benefits are well known. I’m all in favor of permitting heroin to be used for terminally ill patients in extreme pain. But at least a use may be found for it. But seriously, what benefit does cocaine, ectasy, LSD, or meth, for example, have in medicine? Just to get high? To become addicted? To drive, kill someone, and not remember anything?
Unprecedented, I agree with #2bobbo with no reservations.
The downside to legalized drugs of course will be a reduction in prison populations. Corrections Corp. and Wackenhut stocks might take a hit. How will America draw on a pool of cheap labor (excluding illegals) if we don’t incarcerate our young men?
Policing would suffer similarly to the prison industry. How will law enforcement agencies fund themselves without lucrative forfeitures? What excuses would they need to invent to use those cool black ops tactical uniforms and weapons?
#14 RBG “But let me take a crack”
At first glance it might seem as you already have. However I can’t discount your idea as it seems to have been employed already. Legalized assassination is used by Israel against Palestinians regularly. It’s like a pilot project for “Hitsite”. Conversely the US couldn’t quite manage to hit Castro so it might not work as well in the Americas.