3 ms·

>Whether the street drugs are produced in a quality-controlled way or not, it is well-known that use of the substances has negative outcomes in health and occup

>Whether the street drugs are produced in a quality-controlled way or not, it is well-known that use of the substances has negative outcomes in health and occupational functioning. No, the problem is that this is an urban myth. There have been drug clinics that let trained staff inject people with clinical heroin and other drugs with no adverse health effects and often the controlled dosage ended up so low that the drug users maintained self awareness and the high wasn't present or extremely weak. The clinic was shut down after twenty years of success because people were jealous of drug addicts without health consequences. A single digit number of people died from overdoses on street dugs within a week of closing the clinic. I wouldn't call that harm reduction. The truth is that most of the drugs that people want to take voluntarily are perfectly safe and it is the illegal distribution system that adds unsafe cutting agents with severe health consequences.

clnq 4y ago
While I agree that adulteration of street drugs contributes significantly to them being unsafe, it is proven beyond doubt that illicit narcotics cause addiction with negative health and social outcomes: 1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22225671/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22225671/ 2. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/preface https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-scie... 3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26816013/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26816013/ 4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20148788/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20148788/ 5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17485608/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17485608/ Even sustained use of quality-controlled narcotics is detrimental and harmful to health and social cohesion. And you do not need to read these studies that prove it, you can simply ask drug users to speak on the topic. A more sustainable solution to the drug epidemic is Portugal-style legalization and rehabilitation of users: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal. It is very sad to see that we in the West are stuck with so much confusion when a working model for this problem exists.
qwytw 4y ago
> perfectly safe That's really an over-exaggeration at least if we're focusing on longterm effects.

clnq 4y ago

While I agree that adulteration of street drugs contributes significantly to them being unsafe, it is proven beyond doubt that illicit narcotics cause addiction with negative health and social outcomes: 1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22225671/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22225671/ 2. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/preface https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-scie... 3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26816013/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26816013/ 4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20148788/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20148788/ 5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17485608/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17485608/ Even sustained use of quality-controlled narcotics is detrimental and harmful to health and social cohesion. And you do not need to read these studies that prove it, you can simply ask drug users to speak on the topic. A more sustainable solution to the drug epidemic is Portugal-style legalization and rehabilitation of users: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal. It is very sad to see that we in the West are stuck with so much confusion when a working model for this problem exists.

qwytw 4y ago

> perfectly safe That's really an over-exaggeration at least if we're focusing on longterm effects.