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David E.H. Jones pointed out that the socially sanctioned drugs have something in common: they all taste bad. Or at least, they have a taste that is unappealing

David E.H. Jones pointed out that the socially sanctioned drugs have something in common: they all taste bad. Or at least, they have a taste that is unappealing to children, and then must be acquired by special effort. Coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol: all taste pretty awful to a ten-year-old.

mgkimsal 12y ago
Except sugar.
- hamiltonkibbe 12y ago
  Not sure why this was downvoted, sugar was likely the first example of the commodification of drugs, and the beginning of a global drug trade....
dragonwriter 12y ago
> David E.H. Jones pointed out that the socially sanctioned drugs have something in common: they all taste bad. Or at least, they have a taste that is unappealing to children, and then must be acquired by special effort. Coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol: all taste pretty awful to a ten-year-old. That's certainly not true of all of the popular forms in which those (particularly alcohol and caffeine) are consumed by adults. Sure, most kids might not like black coffee or straight black tea (but plenty of adults take it with cream and sugar resp. milk and honey), but they've got very little problem with, say, Coca-Cola.
- draven 12y ago
  Coffee, tea, tobacco and alcohol are all "raw" products. Coca Cola was engineered to taste good. If all drugs were legalized I'm sure we'd get some excellent space cookies or strawberry flavored psylocibe products.
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
    No, alcohol isn't a raw product, not even relative to the popular forms in which it is consumed.
peterwwillis 12y ago
Well first i'd question calling tea a socially sanctioned drug given how little caffeine it contains. (Also, most teas are quite pleasant tasting, if you use premium tea and make it correctly, which 99% of people do not) Second i'd note that virtually all foods that aren't fruits or vegetables must be 'acquired by special effort', and that a large number of them are fairly inedible or bland until you prepare or cook them. And don't children generally dislike pretty much all foods? And especially healthful foods?
- montecarl 12y ago
  A surprising amount of foodstuffs can be classified as a drug. Not only does tea contain caffeine (in small quantities), but it also containes an amino acid, L-Theanine, which can cross the blood brain barrier and has psychoactive properties.[1] Some people like the effect enough to supplement it.[2] [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine#Effects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine#Effects [2]: http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-L-Theanine-Veg-Capsules-60-Count/dp/B000H7P9M0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423618089&sr=8-1&keywords=theanine http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-L-Theanine-Veg-Capsules-60-C...
- gizmo686 12y ago
  According to google, tea has 3mg/fl oz, while soda has 2mg/fl oz of caffeine. Also, the people that I know who drink tea, tend to drink it by the pot, whereas most coffee drinkers I know tend to drink by the cup.
  - peterwwillis 12y ago
    The caffeine in tea varies wildly depending on the processing, region, harvest, etc. Coffee is similar but of course on average it's something like 10x more. When you drink tea you re-steep until the leaves lose flavor, and the other chemicals reduce in potency similarly. Coffee you re-grind for every brew.
  - nitrogen 12y ago
    Some sodas have twice that amount per ounce, and energy drinks have 10mg or more per ounce (just for reference).
hueving 12y ago
Soda seems to taste pretty good to them.
copsarebastards 12y ago
As far as I can tell that's true, but a lot of the taboo drugs taste awful, too. Psilocybin mushrooms taste like someone mixed stale almonds with household dust and a tiny touch of vomit. MDMA tastes like a mix of baking powder and metal. The simplest hypothesis I can think of that explains this is that most things taste bad. We usually only eat the exceptions--the things that taste good. But we'll eat something that tastes bad if it gets us high.
kristofferR 12y ago
I don't understand the argument. I'm pretty sure no illegal drugs taste good either, so what is the argument he was trying to make?
collyw 12y ago
Plenty of alcopops / cocktails that will taste fine to a kid.
omegaham 12y ago
A lot of drugs are unpleasant to administer. It's difficult to think of something more unpleasant than injecting yourself with impure narcotics. Weed smells and tastes awful; stoners end up liking the scent only because it's associated with the experience. Also, I think it's pretty easy to make all of those taste good, with the exception of tobacco (and menthol cigarettes take the worst of the bite out of that, too). Sweetened coffee, flavored dip, sweet mixers to go along with vodka, etc.

mgkimsal 12y ago

Except sugar.

hamiltonkibbe 12y ago
Not sure why this was downvoted, sugar was likely the first example of the commodification of drugs, and the beginning of a global drug trade....

dragonwriter 12y ago

> David E.H. Jones pointed out that the socially sanctioned drugs have something in common: they all taste bad. Or at least, they have a taste that is unappealing to children, and then must be acquired by special effort. Coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol: all taste pretty awful to a ten-year-old. That's certainly not true of all of the popular forms in which those (particularly alcohol and caffeine) are consumed by adults. Sure, most kids might not like black coffee or straight black tea (but plenty of adults take it with cream and sugar resp. milk and honey), but they've got very little problem with, say, Coca-Cola.

draven 12y ago
Coffee, tea, tobacco and alcohol are all "raw" products. Coca Cola was engineered to taste good. If all drugs were legalized I'm sure we'd get some excellent space cookies or strawberry flavored psylocibe products.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  No, alcohol isn't a raw product, not even relative to the popular forms in which it is consumed.

peterwwillis 12y ago

Well first i'd question calling tea a socially sanctioned drug given how little caffeine it contains. (Also, most teas are quite pleasant tasting, if you use premium tea and make it correctly, which 99% of people do not) Second i'd note that virtually all foods that aren't fruits or vegetables must be 'acquired by special effort', and that a large number of them are fairly inedible or bland until you prepare or cook them. And don't children generally dislike pretty much all foods? And especially healthful foods?

montecarl 12y ago
A surprising amount of foodstuffs can be classified as a drug. Not only does tea contain caffeine (in small quantities), but it also containes an amino acid, L-Theanine, which can cross the blood brain barrier and has psychoactive properties.[1] Some people like the effect enough to supplement it.[2] [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine#Effects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine#Effects [2]: http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-L-Theanine-Veg-Capsules-60-Count/dp/B000H7P9M0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423618089&sr=8-1&keywords=theanine http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-L-Theanine-Veg-Capsules-60-C...
gizmo686 12y ago
According to google, tea has 3mg/fl oz, while soda has 2mg/fl oz of caffeine. Also, the people that I know who drink tea, tend to drink it by the pot, whereas most coffee drinkers I know tend to drink by the cup.
- peterwwillis 12y ago
  The caffeine in tea varies wildly depending on the processing, region, harvest, etc. Coffee is similar but of course on average it's something like 10x more. When you drink tea you re-steep until the leaves lose flavor, and the other chemicals reduce in potency similarly. Coffee you re-grind for every brew.
- nitrogen 12y ago
  Some sodas have twice that amount per ounce, and energy drinks have 10mg or more per ounce (just for reference).

hueving 12y ago

Soda seems to taste pretty good to them.

copsarebastards 12y ago

As far as I can tell that's true, but a lot of the taboo drugs taste awful, too. Psilocybin mushrooms taste like someone mixed stale almonds with household dust and a tiny touch of vomit. MDMA tastes like a mix of baking powder and metal. The simplest hypothesis I can think of that explains this is that most things taste bad. We usually only eat the exceptions--the things that taste good. But we'll eat something that tastes bad if it gets us high.

kristofferR 12y ago

I don't understand the argument. I'm pretty sure no illegal drugs taste good either, so what is the argument he was trying to make?

collyw 12y ago

Plenty of alcopops / cocktails that will taste fine to a kid.

omegaham 12y ago

A lot of drugs are unpleasant to administer. It's difficult to think of something more unpleasant than injecting yourself with impure narcotics. Weed smells and tastes awful; stoners end up liking the scent only because it's associated with the experience. Also, I think it's pretty easy to make all of those taste good, with the exception of tobacco (and menthol cigarettes take the worst of the bite out of that, too). Sweetened coffee, flavored dip, sweet mixers to go along with vodka, etc.