4 ms·

There was a time, not that long ago, when cocaine was 100% normalized. It was a regular ingredient used in everything from basic OTC remedies to, most famously

There was a time, not that long ago, when cocaine was 100% normalized. It was a regular ingredient used in everything from basic OTC remedies to, most famously Coca Cola which was Cocaine + Kola nut. And Coca Cola itself was based on Vin Mariani, a wine mixed with cocaine that was drunk or endorsed by everybody from Popes to Thomas Edison and Ulysses S Grant. It was also regularly offered for free to laborers by employers because it was seen to observe productivity, and all other sorts of stuff. So we were pretty much a nation of coke heads. It's probably much more difficult to see the harm in things when its so normalized. But of course people did and so the tide gradually shifted against it. We're already seeing the exact same process play out with social media and, more generally, digital addictions. But it's a relatively unprecedented technology in that it's essentially a digital drug that can't be especially well defined. But I expect these things are well on there way out. The age restrictions will likely come with broader prohibitions if they are positive outcomes from such, and we're already seeing exactly that in places like Australia. Government and intelligence agencies desire to use it for mind control or whatever will probably quickly fade once they realize the same concept (which I think is quite frankly absurd - hence my sardonic term) could just as well be used against them, were it possible.

DystopiaNow 1mo ago
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pjc50 1mo ago
You can actually see this phenomenon happening now with alcohol consumption, which is in a long decline .. replaced by social media addiction.
- hirvi74 1mo ago
  Don't forget vaping and nicotine pouch addiction too.
teiferer 1mo ago
> most famously Coca Cola which was Cocaine + Kola nut. That's a common misleading myth. Early coca cola was coca leaves and kola nut. Yes, the former contained cocaine alkaloids. But it's different from saying you take a soda and mix it with cocaine. The dosage wasn't comparable to a snorted line today.
- somenameforme 1mo ago
  I think this is akin to arguing that saying coffee has caffeine in it is misleading, because it's not the same amount as one might get in a powdered concentrate of pure caffeine. Yeah, but it does have caffeine in it and Coke did have cocaine in it. And the effective dose was significant. It was marketed precisely on this point; it being a "nerve stimulant", "brain tonic", cure all for hysteria, melancholy, and more. There's a great article on it here. [1] Coke also got defensive on this point because not only was it referred to as "dope" and other such drug implicit terms, but people also began pointing out the issues with coke and cocaine. Nobody knows exactly how much cocaine was in the original concoctions, but it is known that they began rapidly reducing the amount once the issue started being discussed. Of course I can also see that being argued as evidence of them having a bunch (oyyy, shut it down!), or indeed having a negligible amount (bahh, let's nip this nonsense in the bud). Either way it had a very non-zero amount, and people were consuming it in absurd quantities. If you believe Coke's response, 90% of all businessmen were "constant patrons." [1] - https://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/cocaine-laced-coca-cola-introduced-1886 https://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/cocaine-laced-c...
  - teiferer 1mo ago
    > I think this is akin to arguing that saying coffee has caffeine in it is misleading I don't agree. I don't know anybody snorting caffeine lines and it doesn't have all the connotations of an illicit drug either. > It was marketed precisely on this point Sure, but that was then, not today. That mismatch is part of why this outrage is misplaced.
    - somenameforme 1mo ago
mitxela 1mo ago
Methamphetamine too. You could buy it over the counter as, IIRC, a cough medicine? And we're doing it right now with alcohol.
- ciupicri 1mo ago
  I think that was heroin.
ciupicri 1mo ago
If it increased productivity, it doesn't sound that bad to me. I also doubt that so many Americans were really coke heads, or that the situation was so dire.

DystopiaNow 1mo ago

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pjc50 1mo ago

You can actually see this phenomenon happening now with alcohol consumption, which is in a long decline .. replaced by social media addiction.

hirvi74 1mo ago
Don't forget vaping and nicotine pouch addiction too.

teiferer 1mo ago

> most famously Coca Cola which was Cocaine + Kola nut. That's a common misleading myth. Early coca cola was coca leaves and kola nut. Yes, the former contained cocaine alkaloids. But it's different from saying you take a soda and mix it with cocaine. The dosage wasn't comparable to a snorted line today.

somenameforme 1mo ago
I think this is akin to arguing that saying coffee has caffeine in it is misleading, because it's not the same amount as one might get in a powdered concentrate of pure caffeine. Yeah, but it does have caffeine in it and Coke did have cocaine in it. And the effective dose was significant. It was marketed precisely on this point; it being a "nerve stimulant", "brain tonic", cure all for hysteria, melancholy, and more. There's a great article on it here. [1] Coke also got defensive on this point because not only was it referred to as "dope" and other such drug implicit terms, but people also began pointing out the issues with coke and cocaine. Nobody knows exactly how much cocaine was in the original concoctions, but it is known that they began rapidly reducing the amount once the issue started being discussed. Of course I can also see that being argued as evidence of them having a bunch (oyyy, shut it down!), or indeed having a negligible amount (bahh, let's nip this nonsense in the bud). Either way it had a very non-zero amount, and people were consuming it in absurd quantities. If you believe Coke's response, 90% of all businessmen were "constant patrons." [1] - https://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/cocaine-laced-coca-cola-introduced-1886 https://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/cocaine-laced-c...
- teiferer 1mo ago
  > I think this is akin to arguing that saying coffee has caffeine in it is misleading I don't agree. I don't know anybody snorting caffeine lines and it doesn't have all the connotations of an illicit drug either. > It was marketed precisely on this point Sure, but that was then, not today. That mismatch is part of why this outrage is misplaced.
  - somenameforme 1mo ago

mitxela 1mo ago

Methamphetamine too. You could buy it over the counter as, IIRC, a cough medicine? And we're doing it right now with alcohol.

ciupicri 1mo ago
I think that was heroin.

ciupicri 1mo ago

If it increased productivity, it doesn't sound that bad to me. I also doubt that so many Americans were really coke heads, or that the situation was so dire.