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> but why methamphetamine? [...] Why risk your health when amphetamines and Adderall are just as good? The phenomenon is called the "iron law of prohibition" [

> but why methamphetamine? [...] Why risk your health when amphetamines and Adderall are just as good? The phenomenon is called the "iron law of prohibition" [0]: The iron law of prohibition is a term coined by Richard Cowan in 1986 which posits that as law enforcement becomes more intense, the potency of prohibited substances increases. Cowan put it this way: "the harder the enforcement, the harder the drugs." This law is an application of the Alchian– Allen effect; Libertarian judge James P. Gray calls the law the "cardinal rule of prohibition", and notes that is a powerful tool for the legalization of drugs. It is based on the premise that when drugs or alcohol are prohibited, they will be produced in black markets in more concentrated and powerful forms, because these more potent forms offer better efficiency in the business model—they take up less space in storage, less weight in transportation, and they sell for more money. Economist Mark Thornton writes that the iron law of prohibition undermines the argument in favor of prohibition, because the higher potency forms are less safe for the consumer. I learned this term from Johann Hari's book, Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs [1]. The "epidemic" of opioid overdose deaths would be ended instantly by giving the addicts all the pure heroin they need. ("I think I've mentioned this here before... uhm, 'Switzerland'..., found it"). A response to my comment [2] said "drug overdose deaths fell by about two thirds between 1995 (Heroin prescriptions started in about 1994) and 2012:" [3]. Meth amphetamine is basically an anti-depressant - people don't need even Adderall, they need safe anti-depressants (!SSRI)[4], and help finding stability [5]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_prohibition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_prohibition [1] http://chasingthescream.com/ http://chasingthescream.com/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14782416 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14782416 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14783800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14783800 [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18211048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18211048 (my comment about coca leaf's anti-depressant effects. Amphetamines are somewhat similar.) [5] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17997852 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17997852 (edit: added [5], moved [4] to after "!SSRI") (Edit2: moved all the references [] from inline to the bottom of the comment.)

rconti 8y ago
I had never heard this 'law' before, but it makes total sense. In college, alcohol was effectively prohibited in the dorms. Off-campus parties were often broken up by 10 or 11pm. So prepartying became extremely important in order to attain the requisite buzz, particularly when you factor in weak party beer and long lines at the keg. Of course, you had to secretly store potent enough alcohol, (potent enough to easily hide in quantity) and consume it quickly, to limit the likelihood of being found drinking in the dorms. So, everyone bought 20oz soda bottles from the vending machines, knew their personal taste/tolerance in terms of how much soda to consume from the bottle, before filling it back up with their choice of rum or vodka, to be consumed quickly before departing for the evening.
crankylinuxuser 8y ago
"Economist Mark Thornton writes that the iron law of prohibition undermines the argument in favor of prohibition, because the higher potency forms are less safe for the consumer. " Except the US govt hasn't cared about saving people who they deem breaking the law. In fact, they've helped kill people doing so. http://time.com/3665643/deadly-drinking/ http://time.com/3665643/deadly-drinking/
imtringued 8y ago
The vast majority of adverse effects are a result of the drug being illegal rather than the effect of the drug itself. With proper dosage and pure uncut drugs most addictions won't ruin the user's life unless of course they have to spend all their money on drugs because they cost so much. This leads to people becoming drug dealers to finance their habits. They start cutting the drugs with cement dust or other shit that is going to ruin the health of drug users downstream and smoke the drug for free.

rconti 8y ago

I had never heard this 'law' before, but it makes total sense. In college, alcohol was effectively prohibited in the dorms. Off-campus parties were often broken up by 10 or 11pm. So prepartying became extremely important in order to attain the requisite buzz, particularly when you factor in weak party beer and long lines at the keg. Of course, you had to secretly store potent enough alcohol, (potent enough to easily hide in quantity) and consume it quickly, to limit the likelihood of being found drinking in the dorms. So, everyone bought 20oz soda bottles from the vending machines, knew their personal taste/tolerance in terms of how much soda to consume from the bottle, before filling it back up with their choice of rum or vodka, to be consumed quickly before departing for the evening.

crankylinuxuser 8y ago

"Economist Mark Thornton writes that the iron law of prohibition undermines the argument in favor of prohibition, because the higher potency forms are less safe for the consumer. " Except the US govt hasn't cared about saving people who they deem breaking the law. In fact, they've helped kill people doing so. http://time.com/3665643/deadly-drinking/ http://time.com/3665643/deadly-drinking/

imtringued 8y ago

The vast majority of adverse effects are a result of the drug being illegal rather than the effect of the drug itself. With proper dosage and pure uncut drugs most addictions won't ruin the user's life unless of course they have to spend all their money on drugs because they cost so much. This leads to people becoming drug dealers to finance their habits. They start cutting the drugs with cement dust or other shit that is going to ruin the health of drug users downstream and smoke the drug for free.