9 ms·
The cartels, of course, are adapting to the new reality. Seizure data appears to indicate that with marijuana profits tumbling, they're switching over to heroin
by pcl 11y ago
The cartels, of course, are adapting to the new reality. Seizure data appears to indicate that with marijuana profits tumbling, they're switching over to heroin and meth.
This is a really interesting development. There's always been this "gateway drug" argument around pot: once people start with marijuana, they'll move onto the harder stuff. I can imagine that there might be a correlation, but I expect that the causality is the other way around: once you break the law a bit for pot, and discover that it's really not a big deal, you assume that the other illegal drugs are probably fine too.
As marijuana becomes more and more legal in the US, it'll be interesting to see which way the causal link goes.
- notthegov 11y agoCannabis being illegal actually influences people to use prescription drugs and meth. If someone has a job that drug tests them or are on probation, then people will choose harder drugs (or alcohol). The only drug aside from PCP that stays in your system over 3 days is cannabis.
- random_upvoter 11y agoInterestingly, in Colorado it's legal for a company to fire an employee who has (legally) smoked marijuana. So even with legalization drug tests may remain a thing.
- jamesfe 11y agoIt's interesting, but taken through some lenses, maybe that's still OK? I've never smoked, but I wonder if I'd like my doctor to be high when he operates on me, or for an armorer to reassemble my rifle while high. Does marijuana influence attention to detail? Is there a way to ensure that people don't get high while at work, that they stay sober on the job? Anecdotally, from watching high people while I was in university, I don't think I'd trust their giggling selves with my life.
- jalk 11y agoThere are plenty of legal substances that you don't want you doctor to be on, before he operates on you.
- JupiterMoon 11y agoDo you also refuse to trust people that drank a glass of wine with their dinner several weeks ago?
- drdeca 11y agoThat would be absurd for someone to do, but, if someone wants to, well, freedom of association? Note: I am not strongly committed to this idea I am expressing at the time of this writing. I'm not even sure I am at all committed to it. I do think its a relevant position that seems worth considering, if nothing else.
- JupiterMoon 11y ago> freedom of association? Two freedoms seem to be conflicting here. Person A's freedom to do legal things in their free time and person B's freedom to not like the other person's choices. I can't stop person B from being prejudiced. However, I argue that person B should not have the right to control person A's legal activities.
- MichaelBurge 11y agoIn this case, doctor A could drink the glass of wine and decline patient B as his client. Patient B would pay a higher price on average to express his preference, and doctor A would receive less business to express his preference. I imagine a pothead doctor could even use the fact that he's a pothead to market to other potheads.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- chefkoch 11y ago
- koenigdavidmj 11y agoThere isn't any protection for consumption of other legal substances either (except when they are prescribed for a health condition); cannabis isn't an exception. Alaska Airlines, for instance, prohibits their employees from using tobacco products even on their own time, and tests to that effect.
- eli 11y agoKeep in mind that the default is that anyone can be fired for any reason. A company is free to fire an employee who has legally smoked cigarettes too (if they wish).
- eru 11y agoI thought you could fire in America for `no reason', but not for `any reason'. Ie you can't fire people for being white or female?
- mkching 11y agoThere are certain things such as race and gender which are protected classes. It is illegal to discriminate against someone based on these attributes in various ways including employment. [1] Beyond this, most employment in the US is "at-will", meaning that you can be fired for any reason or no reason. [2] Some things not explicitly listed as a protected class might still pose problems if its determined that the way in which is it enforced is discriminatory. [3] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment [3] http://navbat.com/can-you-fire-someone-for-being-too-ugly/ http://navbat.com/can-you-fire-someone-for-being-too-ugly/
- anon987 11y agoHere's to hoping people realize and deal with the real gateway drug: Prescription opiates
- thatswrong0 11y agoThey're not just gateway drugs, but also a huge problem in and of themselves. I have a friend who went to rehab for heroin and he said most of the people there were addicted to oxycodone, not heroin. Opiates are not to be trifled with, yet some doctors are more than willing to throw them at people. My other friend was prescribed Norco for a sore throat >:(
- speeder 11y agoI've heard that Heroin was invented in first place to be a "phasing out" drug of sorts, to fix Morphine addiction...
- malka 11y agoIt was. Then suboxone, methadone, etc. I can't wait to see the latest fad.
- girvo 11y agoSuboxone helped me kick a 6 year heroin addiction. For an actual addict, there is effectively no high from it (aside from the relief of getting rid of withdrawal symptoms, which is very different from an actual high). So, you can dismiss it as much as you like, but it (coupled with excellent support from the government-run clinic) saved my life.
- stevesearer 11y agoI recently burned my hands with bacon grease while cooking which was a painful experience and was prescribed Norco. The pain was pretty much gone in the morning ~12 hours later and I had only taken one dose (which made me feel terrible, btw) and didn't take any more. I imagine many people just take the dosage until the prescription is gone.
- lips 11y agoThe article fails to put the timeline of meth-centric US laws into perspective. i.e. restrictions on meth ingredient purchasing, the move from large US production facilities to imports to small homebrew operations. This isn't a particular area of interest to me, but to discuss law/supply/demand issues of marijuana, and then to casually toss in increases in meth and heroin without the same analysis of contributing factors is not truly informative.
- rhizome 11y agoAre you talking about consumers...or dealers? The gateway is supply-side, and decriminalizing and medicalizing drug abuse takes away all of their profit motive. Make pot legal, they'll move to other high profit drugs because that's what their suppliers will have. Legalization cuts off that entire miserable supply chain.
- Mz 11y agoThere's always been this "gateway drug" argument around pot I have studied ...bunches of stuff. And I believe a huge factor is the fact that marijuana is illegal, so you cross an important legal threshold when you try it and that can become a slippery slope. I think details like that probably matter more than the substance per se. Addiction is hard to solve in part due to shame and all kinds of social reinforcement. If you have a bad habit that won't get you stigmatized, ostracized and arrested, friends and family can be excellent sources of support for helping you break the habit. But when you can't TELL ANYONE...don't be surprised when a bad habit is exponentially harder to break when deprived of amiable social support.
- lisivka 11y agoCrossing streets on red light is illegal too. Enjoy it.
- Karunamon 11y agoAnd I believe a huge factor is the fact that marijuana is illegal, so you cross an important legal threshold I've always thought the "gateway drug" nonsense was, in part, due to the realization someone has that they've been blatantly, bald-fadedly lied to about drugs for most of their life. (DARE bangs on about cannabis like it was injecting heroin and PCP with dirty needles!) And the next thought from there, naturally, is "Okay, now what else were they making up?
- andrewstuart 11y agoMy theory is that if you can't get a cheap, legal high then you are more susceptible to trying something else.
- eru 11y agoCould you think of a way to test this? (I imagine one can probably find lots of `natural experiments'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_experiment)
- vidarh 11y agoWe test that every day: People get their oxycodone prescription etc. taken away. Today this is one of the most substantial gateways to heroin use. A proportion of those who have their opoid prescriptions taken away turn to buying more on the black market. High black market prices for drugs like oxycodone lead people to try heroin.