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> Would a pill with the label "Not to be taken by people with an unstable psyche" or "Possible side effects: Knife carving of muscle tissue by user" pass any re

> Would a pill with the label "Not to be taken by people with an unstable psyche" or "Possible side effects: Knife carving of muscle tissue by user" pass any regulatory body? And yet alcohol kills and maims millions per year. The tool is not dangerous, it is the person who (mis)uses it.

scottlocklin 7y ago
Millions? Citations needed. Assuming this is right in some sense, alcohol has been integrated into functioning civilizations for thousands of years and still causes this kind of damage, where insane garbage like LSD hasn't, and no civilization worth talking about has managed to integrate a psychedelic drug with it and maintain a high level of civilization. And yes, I've tried it, and I've seen what it does to people: nothing positive. Sure makes people think they're clever though.
- KptMarchewa 7y ago
  https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/msb_gsr_2014_1.pdf https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alco... Page 14.
  - scottlocklin 7y ago
    Great; some NGO, based on (citations needed) claims millions of premature deaths a year from alcohol, a substance which has been used by humans for at least 30,000 years. I look forward to their detailed report on what the projections are for widespread psychedelic use. Of course there won't be any. Because psychedelic use is at least at present a useful form of social control. I know a few people who killed themselves drinking and driving, and have a cousin who drank themselves to death. I know dozens, perhaps hundreds of people who have destroyed themselves psychologically using psychedelics. Dead people are tragic. Zombies are worse.
    - sergioj97 7y ago
      > "Because psychedelic is at least at present a useful form of social control" Why significantly more so than alcohol?
sergioj97 7y ago
Different tools have differences though. And some tools harm people more easily than others, independently of the person who uses them. I don't understand why alcohol has such an important place in some cultures and I find disturbing the degree to which it is associated with social activity. However, I still consider LSD to be a more dangerous drug.

scottlocklin 7y ago

Millions? Citations needed. Assuming this is right in some sense, alcohol has been integrated into functioning civilizations for thousands of years and still causes this kind of damage, where insane garbage like LSD hasn't, and no civilization worth talking about has managed to integrate a psychedelic drug with it and maintain a high level of civilization. And yes, I've tried it, and I've seen what it does to people: nothing positive. Sure makes people think they're clever though.

KptMarchewa 7y ago
https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/msb_gsr_2014_1.pdf https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alco... Page 14.
- scottlocklin 7y ago
  Great; some NGO, based on (citations needed) claims millions of premature deaths a year from alcohol, a substance which has been used by humans for at least 30,000 years. I look forward to their detailed report on what the projections are for widespread psychedelic use. Of course there won't be any. Because psychedelic use is at least at present a useful form of social control. I know a few people who killed themselves drinking and driving, and have a cousin who drank themselves to death. I know dozens, perhaps hundreds of people who have destroyed themselves psychologically using psychedelics. Dead people are tragic. Zombies are worse.
  - sergioj97 7y ago
    > "Because psychedelic is at least at present a useful form of social control" Why significantly more so than alcohol?

sergioj97 7y ago

Different tools have differences though. And some tools harm people more easily than others, independently of the person who uses them. I don't understand why alcohol has such an important place in some cultures and I find disturbing the degree to which it is associated with social activity. However, I still consider LSD to be a more dangerous drug.