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The most dangerous thing about cocaine is the nasty crap it's cut with and the violent gangs that control its distribution. We literally craft laws that guaran

The most dangerous thing about cocaine is the nasty crap it's cut with and the violent gangs that control its distribution. We literally craft laws that guarantee people will die from impure substances and that violent criminals will get richer, and we call it the morally correct policy. We pretend it is stopping people from using drugs, when in reality it simply ensures that a 15-year-old can get coke more easily than whiskey. It is fucking psychopathic.

JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
a certain pleasure is derived from the fact that the substance is illegal, make it legal and people would pursue other substances instead because they are perceived as banned hence more fun
- standardUser 3y ago
  In reality, the legal substances are the most widely consumed by a gargantuan margin. It's a comically massive gap between alcohol/caffeine/weed and the apparently forbidden fruits you're referring to. Also, how "forbidden" is cocaine really when it's universally available and ridiculously easy to get?
  - lisasays 3y ago
    It is absolutely not "ridiculously easy" to get cocaine in most major cities. Or even "fairly" easy. With a few exceptions it's still (at least) a moderate hassle.
AndyMcConachie 3y ago
I live in Rotterdam which has the distinction of being Europe's largest port and also Europe's largest cocaine port of entry. It's obvious to anyone living here there's lots of money laundering going on and ocassionally they'll make an effort to try and stop it. Money laundering is the opposite of tax evasion. It's people trying to pay taxes on profit that they otherwise would not be able to pay taxes on, because these profits are made through illegal means. Money laundering is proof that criminals are willing to pay taxes on their income, so why not let them? If the Dutch government were to magically stop all money laundering in The Netherlands they would receive less tax income, and would therefore either have to raise my taxes or lower the government's budget. My taxes are kept lower because of money laundering, yet I'm regularly told that money laundering is bad. It's like you say, once you look at drug policy from a systematic viewpoint it doesn't make any sense. If you take any perspective other than jingoistic moralism drug policy makes absolutely no sense.
- malermeister 3y ago
  I think if you want to have public healthcare, the cost/benefit analysis of a drug like cocaine that has actual negative health implications becomes more tricky. Then there's the secondary effects of people becoming more prone to violence and risky behavior, which in turn increases healthcare costs even more and adds policing cost.
dpweb 3y ago
That’s what we need another highly addictive legal substance that’s harmful to health and can buy in every store. Making it illegal does not eliminate its use. It reduces its use. 63% of Americans drink. 1.7% use coke (have in the prev 12 months).
- standardUser 3y ago
  It is only "illegal" in an abstract sense. It's play-acting, so we can pretend we're doing something good. In reality, any popular illicit drug is universally available, with no regulation, no testing, no age-restrictions and no taxes. There are zero people who want cocaine and can't get it with relative ease.
- jrflowers 3y ago
  I love the idea that if you legalize something that it will be available in every store. When they legalized weed in Colorado I couldn’t even find carburetors at Napa Auto, only carbureted bongs! No WD-40, only WeeD-420! Those jazzy grass smokers stuffed Williams Sonoma so full that you can’t buy “pots” anymore, only “pot”! If they legalize cocaine, music stores won’t sell my daughter a trumpet for marching band, only “marching powder”!
  - standardUser 3y ago
    Right? And in every single case, a popular illegal drug is more widely available than a legal drug. In most states you can't buy alcohol after a certain hour or on certain days, or you need to go to a state-run store. And there are limits to potency. Marijuana is of course highly regulated in every state its been legalized. And in both cases you're going to have to show your ID. But coke and mushrooms and ecstasy? No age check, no state-run stores, no potency limits, and business hours are 24/7/365!

JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago

a certain pleasure is derived from the fact that the substance is illegal, make it legal and people would pursue other substances instead because they are perceived as banned hence more fun

standardUser 3y ago
In reality, the legal substances are the most widely consumed by a gargantuan margin. It's a comically massive gap between alcohol/caffeine/weed and the apparently forbidden fruits you're referring to. Also, how "forbidden" is cocaine really when it's universally available and ridiculously easy to get?
- lisasays 3y ago
  It is absolutely not "ridiculously easy" to get cocaine in most major cities. Or even "fairly" easy. With a few exceptions it's still (at least) a moderate hassle.

AndyMcConachie 3y ago

I live in Rotterdam which has the distinction of being Europe's largest port and also Europe's largest cocaine port of entry. It's obvious to anyone living here there's lots of money laundering going on and ocassionally they'll make an effort to try and stop it. Money laundering is the opposite of tax evasion. It's people trying to pay taxes on profit that they otherwise would not be able to pay taxes on, because these profits are made through illegal means. Money laundering is proof that criminals are willing to pay taxes on their income, so why not let them? If the Dutch government were to magically stop all money laundering in The Netherlands they would receive less tax income, and would therefore either have to raise my taxes or lower the government's budget. My taxes are kept lower because of money laundering, yet I'm regularly told that money laundering is bad. It's like you say, once you look at drug policy from a systematic viewpoint it doesn't make any sense. If you take any perspective other than jingoistic moralism drug policy makes absolutely no sense.

malermeister 3y ago
I think if you want to have public healthcare, the cost/benefit analysis of a drug like cocaine that has actual negative health implications becomes more tricky. Then there's the secondary effects of people becoming more prone to violence and risky behavior, which in turn increases healthcare costs even more and adds policing cost.

dpweb 3y ago

That’s what we need another highly addictive legal substance that’s harmful to health and can buy in every store. Making it illegal does not eliminate its use. It reduces its use. 63% of Americans drink. 1.7% use coke (have in the prev 12 months).

standardUser 3y ago
It is only "illegal" in an abstract sense. It's play-acting, so we can pretend we're doing something good. In reality, any popular illicit drug is universally available, with no regulation, no testing, no age-restrictions and no taxes. There are zero people who want cocaine and can't get it with relative ease.
jrflowers 3y ago
I love the idea that if you legalize something that it will be available in every store. When they legalized weed in Colorado I couldn’t even find carburetors at Napa Auto, only carbureted bongs! No WD-40, only WeeD-420! Those jazzy grass smokers stuffed Williams Sonoma so full that you can’t buy “pots” anymore, only “pot”! If they legalize cocaine, music stores won’t sell my daughter a trumpet for marching band, only “marching powder”!
- standardUser 3y ago
  Right? And in every single case, a popular illegal drug is more widely available than a legal drug. In most states you can't buy alcohol after a certain hour or on certain days, or you need to go to a state-run store. And there are limits to potency. Marijuana is of course highly regulated in every state its been legalized. And in both cases you're going to have to show your ID. But coke and mushrooms and ecstasy? No age check, no state-run stores, no potency limits, and business hours are 24/7/365!