5 ms·

I think it is long past time to legalize cocaine. Why should Americans be forced to spend so much money to have it smuggled in?

bouncycastle 5y ago
Wasn't it legal in the past? Eg. ingredient in the original Coca-cola recipe.
- schleck8 5y ago
  Bloodletting was a common therapeutic meassure for a millenia, until a few centuries ago. In other words, something being considered adquate in the past says nothing about its safety by modern standards.
  - encryptluks2 5y ago
    I think research has already shown that the benefits of legalization outweigh those of criminalization. When something is legal, then people can be presented with treatment options and be given safe unaltered drugs. There are groups that literally go around passing out needles to drug addicts because it has been found to actually prevent more deaths than those caused by harm of using dirty needles.
    - GuB-42 5y ago
      Before legalization, maybe consider decriminalization, like in Portugal. It is not the same thing. Drugs are still illegal in Portugal, and trafficking is a crime, but personal use is not a criminal offense anymore. If you get caught, you can get fined, especially if you are uncooperative, but you won't face a criminal trial and you won't go to jail. But more importantly, they can suggest treatment options if you are addicted. You won't get safe unadulterated drugs but you can get testing kits. In festivals, you can find booths where they will check your drugs for free. I don't know how I feel about legalizing all drugs. Heroin is nasty stuff, even if you get the good one, and I would rather not encourage using stimulants stronger than caffeine in our overworked society.
  - bouncycastle 5y ago
    * Alcohol enters the chatroom.
- ceejayoz 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company > Coca-Cola includes a coca leaf extract as an ingredient prepared by a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey. The facility, which had been known as the Maywood Chemical Works, was purchased by Stepan in 1959. The plant is the only commercial entity in the United States authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to import coca leaves, which come primarily from Peru via the National Coca Company. Approximately 100 metric tons of dried coca leaf are imported each year. The cocaine-free extract is sold to The Coca-Cola Company for use in soft drinks, while the cocaine is sold to Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical firm, for medicinal purposes.
- recursive 5y ago
  Everything was legal before it was illegal.
pm90 5y ago
Should definitely be legalized and heavily regulated. Can’t really believe it’s the year 2022 and we’re still treating drugs with the 20th Century morals. However I suspect the drug dealers won’t just disappear, but move on to other substances. Hopefully the market for those will be smaller but I have no idea. Thinking of synthetic drugs.
- version_five 5y ago
  Ending alcohol prohibition effectively ended bootlegging I believe. And for the most part, synthetic drugs are a reaction to prohibition, either to stay ahead of substances that have been scheduled as illegal or to provide drugs that can be made in-region to avoid the risk of smuggling. There is little organic demand for such drugs, and it would be much safer if people had access to pure forms of their drug of choice, i.e. cocaine and heroin
  - netizen-936824 5y ago
    The newer "synthetic" (not all are actually fully synthetic) are partially a reaction to prohibition, at least most of the underground availability is a reaction. Some of these compounds have genuinely unique and interesting effects such as the auditory hallucinations of DiPT. We really need to be able to explore these compounds and their pharmacodynamics, they can teach us so much about the brain
- short12 5y ago
  As long as a user is permanently banned from getting a heart transplant
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    As long as people that eat foods with added sugar and excess carbs are also banned.
    - short12 5y ago
      That's not how the transplant lists. Cocaine use is a major deal already. You should read about hearts and cocaine
celim307 5y ago
Cause it’s more profitable to sell you adderall
- dodobirdlord 5y ago
  Name-brand Adderall isn’t particularly expensive, and generics are basically free.
  - celim307 5y ago
    Now it is
- anoonmoose 5y ago
  yeah but i can't buy adderall either
  - celim307 5y ago
    10-20 years ago you could get adderall from any kid on the block, it was similar to the opioid situation where the markets were flooded and overprescribed.
chrisjc 5y ago
Usual apology of "excuse my ignorance"... Isn't crack made from cocaine? Didn't crack destroy many communities, neighborhoods, cities, families, etc...? Aren't we as a society still struggling with the long term effects of this crisis? What's to stop a similar kind of crisis if cocaine was legalized? Why wouldn't a significant number of users turn to its more formidable (my assumption) and potent form if cocaine was legalized? Just to clarify, I'm not arguing that cocaine shouldn't be legalized, just genuinely curious.
- chronofar 5y ago
  Proper legalization and regulation would mean it wouldn’t be sold as crack and wouldn’t have the potential to contain fentanyl, eliminating much of the physiological risk. Proper drug legalization would also divert funds currently used for drug enforcement (swat teams, dea, private prisons, etc) to drug treatment facilities accessible to those who need it. In general the negative effects of most any drug are best fought with education, regulation, and treatment, not prohibition. Cocaine and crack were illegal in the 80s and 90s when the crack epidemic raged, so obviously legal status was not preventing such crises in the first place. The important factors there were more around support of impoverished communities than tepid laws that serve only to further the cycle of social disruption caused by petty arrests and adversarial tension between police and downtrodden communities and the empowerment of gangs by creating a thriving black market. The struggles we’re having related to crack or other drugs are related to a great many things aside from the drug itself, prohibition itself causing some of the largest problems on a global scale. What if Mexico could have cocaine as a legitimate export? Would we have violent cartels or legitimate businesses that improve the community (though surely they’d also leach as businesses are wont to do, but surely less violently than illegal organizations)? I’d posit the latter, though the transition from one to the other won’t be smooth.
  - chrisjc 5y ago
    > Proper legalization and regulation would mean it wouldn’t be sold as crack I didn't mean to imply that it would. But from what I "know", crack is very easy to "cook" from cocaine, and is much more potent and addictive in this form. Throw cocaine in the microwave, something, something, and you have crack... So what's to stop anyone with a microwave from producing their own crack from legally regulated and obtained cocaine, and why would they want to do that instead of just using the cocaine as is? Were you suggesting that bc it's purer crack (nothing added to increase potency or mass), it's not an issue? I also understand how crack was weaponized against certain communities, minorities, vulnerable and "undesirable" groups of citizens... but again, I just wonder why and if individuals would start to synthesize their own crack if cocaine was legalized.

bouncycastle 5y ago

Wasn't it legal in the past? Eg. ingredient in the original Coca-cola recipe.

schleck8 5y ago
Bloodletting was a common therapeutic meassure for a millenia, until a few centuries ago. In other words, something being considered adquate in the past says nothing about its safety by modern standards.
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  I think research has already shown that the benefits of legalization outweigh those of criminalization. When something is legal, then people can be presented with treatment options and be given safe unaltered drugs. There are groups that literally go around passing out needles to drug addicts because it has been found to actually prevent more deaths than those caused by harm of using dirty needles.
  - GuB-42 5y ago
    Before legalization, maybe consider decriminalization, like in Portugal. It is not the same thing. Drugs are still illegal in Portugal, and trafficking is a crime, but personal use is not a criminal offense anymore. If you get caught, you can get fined, especially if you are uncooperative, but you won't face a criminal trial and you won't go to jail. But more importantly, they can suggest treatment options if you are addicted. You won't get safe unadulterated drugs but you can get testing kits. In festivals, you can find booths where they will check your drugs for free. I don't know how I feel about legalizing all drugs. Heroin is nasty stuff, even if you get the good one, and I would rather not encourage using stimulants stronger than caffeine in our overworked society.
- bouncycastle 5y ago
  * Alcohol enters the chatroom.
ceejayoz 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company > Coca-Cola includes a coca leaf extract as an ingredient prepared by a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey. The facility, which had been known as the Maywood Chemical Works, was purchased by Stepan in 1959. The plant is the only commercial entity in the United States authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to import coca leaves, which come primarily from Peru via the National Coca Company. Approximately 100 metric tons of dried coca leaf are imported each year. The cocaine-free extract is sold to The Coca-Cola Company for use in soft drinks, while the cocaine is sold to Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical firm, for medicinal purposes.
recursive 5y ago
Everything was legal before it was illegal.

pm90 5y ago

Should definitely be legalized and heavily regulated. Can’t really believe it’s the year 2022 and we’re still treating drugs with the 20th Century morals. However I suspect the drug dealers won’t just disappear, but move on to other substances. Hopefully the market for those will be smaller but I have no idea. Thinking of synthetic drugs.

version_five 5y ago
Ending alcohol prohibition effectively ended bootlegging I believe. And for the most part, synthetic drugs are a reaction to prohibition, either to stay ahead of substances that have been scheduled as illegal or to provide drugs that can be made in-region to avoid the risk of smuggling. There is little organic demand for such drugs, and it would be much safer if people had access to pure forms of their drug of choice, i.e. cocaine and heroin
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  The newer "synthetic" (not all are actually fully synthetic) are partially a reaction to prohibition, at least most of the underground availability is a reaction. Some of these compounds have genuinely unique and interesting effects such as the auditory hallucinations of DiPT. We really need to be able to explore these compounds and their pharmacodynamics, they can teach us so much about the brain
short12 5y ago
As long as a user is permanently banned from getting a heart transplant
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  As long as people that eat foods with added sugar and excess carbs are also banned.
  - short12 5y ago
    That's not how the transplant lists. Cocaine use is a major deal already. You should read about hearts and cocaine

celim307 5y ago

Cause it’s more profitable to sell you adderall

dodobirdlord 5y ago
Name-brand Adderall isn’t particularly expensive, and generics are basically free.
- celim307 5y ago
  Now it is
anoonmoose 5y ago
yeah but i can't buy adderall either
- celim307 5y ago
  10-20 years ago you could get adderall from any kid on the block, it was similar to the opioid situation where the markets were flooded and overprescribed.

chrisjc 5y ago

Usual apology of "excuse my ignorance"... Isn't crack made from cocaine? Didn't crack destroy many communities, neighborhoods, cities, families, etc...? Aren't we as a society still struggling with the long term effects of this crisis? What's to stop a similar kind of crisis if cocaine was legalized? Why wouldn't a significant number of users turn to its more formidable (my assumption) and potent form if cocaine was legalized? Just to clarify, I'm not arguing that cocaine shouldn't be legalized, just genuinely curious.

chronofar 5y ago
Proper legalization and regulation would mean it wouldn’t be sold as crack and wouldn’t have the potential to contain fentanyl, eliminating much of the physiological risk. Proper drug legalization would also divert funds currently used for drug enforcement (swat teams, dea, private prisons, etc) to drug treatment facilities accessible to those who need it. In general the negative effects of most any drug are best fought with education, regulation, and treatment, not prohibition. Cocaine and crack were illegal in the 80s and 90s when the crack epidemic raged, so obviously legal status was not preventing such crises in the first place. The important factors there were more around support of impoverished communities than tepid laws that serve only to further the cycle of social disruption caused by petty arrests and adversarial tension between police and downtrodden communities and the empowerment of gangs by creating a thriving black market. The struggles we’re having related to crack or other drugs are related to a great many things aside from the drug itself, prohibition itself causing some of the largest problems on a global scale. What if Mexico could have cocaine as a legitimate export? Would we have violent cartels or legitimate businesses that improve the community (though surely they’d also leach as businesses are wont to do, but surely less violently than illegal organizations)? I’d posit the latter, though the transition from one to the other won’t be smooth.
- chrisjc 5y ago
  > Proper legalization and regulation would mean it wouldn’t be sold as crack I didn't mean to imply that it would. But from what I "know", crack is very easy to "cook" from cocaine, and is much more potent and addictive in this form. Throw cocaine in the microwave, something, something, and you have crack... So what's to stop anyone with a microwave from producing their own crack from legally regulated and obtained cocaine, and why would they want to do that instead of just using the cocaine as is? Were you suggesting that bc it's purer crack (nothing added to increase potency or mass), it's not an issue? I also understand how crack was weaponized against certain communities, minorities, vulnerable and "undesirable" groups of citizens... but again, I just wonder why and if individuals would start to synthesize their own crack if cocaine was legalized.