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Sheesh. Be sure to keep your cigarettes safe in a case made of U-235—conveniently designed to fit right in your shirt pocket. Also be sure to try our cocaine-l

Sheesh. Be sure to keep your cigarettes safe in a case made of U-235—conveniently designed to fit right in your shirt pocket. Also be sure to try our cocaine-laced wine[^1] aged in fine lead bottles! [^1]: A real thing once, if I'm not mistaken.

askvictor 4y ago
Indeed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_wine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_wine This is the drink that inspired Coca Cola when the prohibition meant wine was off the table (but cocaine was fine)
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  One could argue cocaine is less dangerous than alcohol.
  - beenBoutIT 4y ago
    IRL cocaine is about as safe as caffeine and can be consumed in beverages (tea, Coca-cola, etc.) by healthy people without any real negative issues. Right now in 2023 we as adults should have two options for beverage stimulants, caffeine and cocaine. Basically the beverage market has been artificially cut in half for no good reason. https://www.tni.org/en/primer/coca-leaf-myths-and-reality https://www.tni.org/en/primer/coca-leaf-myths-and-reality
    - hammock 4y ago
      Outside the US it is possible to get coca leaf for use in tea. It is an interesting different type of morning boost. Certainly not something to make a big deal of
      - galangalalgol 4y ago
        Yeah, if you powdered pure caffeine and did a line you'd be in a bad way too I'd guess? The ld50 for caffeine is only roughly double that of cocaine. Pure nicotine has half the ld50 of cocaine. It just no one boils down tobacco juice into oil and drips it into their eyes for a bigger hit. At least not more than once. Essentially all plant based recreational substances found in their dilute natural forms absent any breeding programs to concentrate intoxicants, are probably relatively safe. It is the processing that is an issue. The alcohol buzz from eating overripe fruit is probably even innocuous. Edit: there had to be exceptions, and I think jimsonweed is probably one now that I go looking. The recreational dose even in raw form is way too close to the lethal one.
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
    Maybe. But if we're comparing like to like cocaine is by far the most dangerous central stimulant in common use. It's much easier to overdose on cocaine due to its effects on sodium channels leading to cardiac arrest, whereas amphetamine and methamphetamine are pretty hard to have a lethal overdose on. I guess MDMA is pretty dangerous in overdose too. Alcohol definitely takes the victory in terms of long term damage though. It's hard to think of an organ system that isn't damaged by chronic alcohol abuse.
    - hammock 4y ago
      Most cocaine overdoses these days are caused by fentanyl contamination
    - chimeracoder 4y ago
      > Maybe. But if we're comparing like to like cocaine is by far the most dangerous central stimulant in common use. That's... debatable at best. Contamination with fentanyl notwithstanding, it's relatively rare to have a fatal overdose on cocaine or methamphetamine. However, methamphetamine causes a lot of acute damage which cannot be dismissed. Neither one is "safe", but methamphetamine causes more acute and long-term harm than cocaine does - in part due to the contexts in which it's used, but in part due to the pharmacokinetics of the drug itself.
      - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
        I was only talking about lethal overdose, where cocaine has a significantly lower threshold than meth. For acute damage, cocaine also has a lot of that, like the potential for rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney damage. Usage patterns have an effect for sure, but that was not a part of my analysis. I think if we're including real world patterns, we also have to include adulteration with other drugs, and in that case I think cocaine is the more dangerous. While adulteration with other phenethylamines is a very common thing with amphetamines, especially in Europe, the more dangerous ones like PMMA and 4-FA seem to be fairly rare these days. More common are 2/3-FA and various cathinones.
csours 4y ago
Uranium glass is definitely a real thing.
- detaro 4y ago
  A pretty safe one though.
  - csours 4y ago
    Safer than everything else mentioned here for sure
sixstringtheory 4y ago
Not sure about the cocaine, but Cristal bottles used to be made with lead: https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/cristal https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/cristal Waterford ceased using lead in their crystal products: https://www.waterford.com/en-us/discover-waterford/the-waterford-story/your-questions-answered https://www.waterford.com/en-us/discover-waterford/the-water... Pretty interesting stuff: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass
- akiselev 4y ago
  Uranium glass is even more fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass Glows under UV!
King-Aaron 4y ago
You joke about radioactive isotopes, but a lot of tobacco does have polonium-210 lurking within the chemical cocktail you're inhaling.

askvictor 4y ago

Indeed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_wine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_wine This is the drink that inspired Coca Cola when the prohibition meant wine was off the table (but cocaine was fine)

quickthrower2 4y ago
One could argue cocaine is less dangerous than alcohol.
- beenBoutIT 4y ago
  IRL cocaine is about as safe as caffeine and can be consumed in beverages (tea, Coca-cola, etc.) by healthy people without any real negative issues. Right now in 2023 we as adults should have two options for beverage stimulants, caffeine and cocaine. Basically the beverage market has been artificially cut in half for no good reason. https://www.tni.org/en/primer/coca-leaf-myths-and-reality https://www.tni.org/en/primer/coca-leaf-myths-and-reality
  - hammock 4y ago
    Outside the US it is possible to get coca leaf for use in tea. It is an interesting different type of morning boost. Certainly not something to make a big deal of
    - galangalalgol 4y ago
      Yeah, if you powdered pure caffeine and did a line you'd be in a bad way too I'd guess? The ld50 for caffeine is only roughly double that of cocaine. Pure nicotine has half the ld50 of cocaine. It just no one boils down tobacco juice into oil and drips it into their eyes for a bigger hit. At least not more than once. Essentially all plant based recreational substances found in their dilute natural forms absent any breeding programs to concentrate intoxicants, are probably relatively safe. It is the processing that is an issue. The alcohol buzz from eating overripe fruit is probably even innocuous. Edit: there had to be exceptions, and I think jimsonweed is probably one now that I go looking. The recreational dose even in raw form is way too close to the lethal one.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  Maybe. But if we're comparing like to like cocaine is by far the most dangerous central stimulant in common use. It's much easier to overdose on cocaine due to its effects on sodium channels leading to cardiac arrest, whereas amphetamine and methamphetamine are pretty hard to have a lethal overdose on. I guess MDMA is pretty dangerous in overdose too. Alcohol definitely takes the victory in terms of long term damage though. It's hard to think of an organ system that isn't damaged by chronic alcohol abuse.
  - hammock 4y ago
    Most cocaine overdoses these days are caused by fentanyl contamination
  - chimeracoder 4y ago
    > Maybe. But if we're comparing like to like cocaine is by far the most dangerous central stimulant in common use. That's... debatable at best. Contamination with fentanyl notwithstanding, it's relatively rare to have a fatal overdose on cocaine or methamphetamine. However, methamphetamine causes a lot of acute damage which cannot be dismissed. Neither one is "safe", but methamphetamine causes more acute and long-term harm than cocaine does - in part due to the contexts in which it's used, but in part due to the pharmacokinetics of the drug itself.
    - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
      I was only talking about lethal overdose, where cocaine has a significantly lower threshold than meth. For acute damage, cocaine also has a lot of that, like the potential for rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney damage. Usage patterns have an effect for sure, but that was not a part of my analysis. I think if we're including real world patterns, we also have to include adulteration with other drugs, and in that case I think cocaine is the more dangerous. While adulteration with other phenethylamines is a very common thing with amphetamines, especially in Europe, the more dangerous ones like PMMA and 4-FA seem to be fairly rare these days. More common are 2/3-FA and various cathinones.

csours 4y ago

Uranium glass is definitely a real thing.

detaro 4y ago
A pretty safe one though.
- csours 4y ago
  Safer than everything else mentioned here for sure

sixstringtheory 4y ago

Not sure about the cocaine, but Cristal bottles used to be made with lead: https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/cristal https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/cristal Waterford ceased using lead in their crystal products: https://www.waterford.com/en-us/discover-waterford/the-waterford-story/your-questions-answered https://www.waterford.com/en-us/discover-waterford/the-water... Pretty interesting stuff: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass

akiselev 4y ago
Uranium glass is even more fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass Glows under UV!

King-Aaron 4y ago

You joke about radioactive isotopes, but a lot of tobacco does have polonium-210 lurking within the chemical cocktail you're inhaling.