How many more?

[praktik]

Not sure how many tribers have been following this case in the UK — but uk mom has her kid die after taking ecstasy and has used the moment to campaign for drug war reform.

Super proud of her and thought I'd share here to spread the news.


The war on drugs killed my daughter | Society | The Observer

 

[Maui]

The article says she "meticulously" researched the risks of the drug, bought the high quality shit, and proceeded to take HALF A GRAM. She died because she was dumb. Who takes half a gram of any drug at once!?

 

[Ho||yw0oD]

The article says she "meticulously" researched the risks of the drug, bought the high quality shit, and proceeded to take HALF A GRAM. She died because she was dumb. Who takes half a gram of any drug at once!?

x2-6 for mushrooms. "Half a gram" means nothing to a new user. Again, if this were legalized the product could come with guidelines for safe use.

 

[praktik]

Maui don't be a dick just cause I posted it.

I think this is a great way to put a face on the costs of the drug war and to make normals think twice about their tacit support for ineffective and destructive policies.

 

[The Truth]

Drugs and the Meaning of Life : : Sam Harris

 

[Maui]

x2-6 for mushrooms. "Half a gram" means nothing to a new user. Again, if this were legalized the product could come with guidelines for safe use.

Haha, ok you got me. Really I was using hyperbole there mind you.

 

[Maui]

Maui don't be a dick just cause I posted it.

I think this is a great way to put a face on the costs of the drug war and to make normals think twice about their tacit support for ineffective and destructive policies.

First of all I wasn't being a dick. I was just pointing out a side note on the story. Because she in fact was dumb. It's also dumb for high school kids to be doing drugs while their brain is still developing and when they should be studying and learning. Also they should be conscious of putting themselves in dangerous situations at such a young age.

Also, don't take me being a dick personally bro, I'm like that generally with no prejudice.

I fully agree with the complete legalization of all drugs for many reasons.

This would be clear if you were to have paid attention to my past posts in said area. * See now that's being a dick.

 

[praktik]

Point is that an environment that offered some sort of sign post, suggested dose/weight, purity on the packaging, dispensaries that package product with information just like any prescription you get today by people who can advise you on safe usage.

These are the kinds of things that reduce needless death, cause as dumb as this particular action was - she may have been brilliant otherwise and done some useful shit.

So I dunno, to respond to the story with a churlish comment kinda *felt* like being a dick to me, but maybe once you're at certain threshold of dickery the small stuff just doesn't rate anymore?

A lil empathy goes a long way.



...how the fuck did I just out-hippie YOU?

lolz

 

[erika]

I'm sure if we all write our enlightened minister Peter Mackay, he will totally support this - not and yet it makes so much sense, both from a safety and from a government revenue perspective.

 

[Maui]

Point is that an environment that offered some sort of sign post, suggested dose/weight, purity on the packaging, dispensaries that package product with information just like any prescription you get today by people who can advise you on safe usage.

These are the kinds of things that reduce needless death, cause as dumb as this particular action was - she may have been brilliant otherwise and done some useful shit.

So I dunno, to respond to the story with a churlish comment kinda *felt* like being a dick to me, but maybe once you're at certain threshold of dickery the small stuff just doesn't rate anymore?

A lil empathy goes a long way.


...how the fuck did I just out-hippie YOU?

lolz

But apparently that's exactly what she did on her own on the internet beforehand. So if that is true, and she couldn't comprehend the data then who is to say she would follow the instructions on the prescription. How many people do you think actually read that shit? Also, the government is certainly not going to allow 15 year old's to buy these drugs, so she would be getting someone to bootleg it for her and she's essentially back in the same position as buying from a street dealer.

As for being a dick, I just tell it like it is. To be honest I was irked by the poorly written article and so maybe was taking my frustration over that out in my comment. I swear I don't read a single well written piece of journalism these days. I guess it's a sign of the times for the industry. I just found out that Huffington Post writers don't get paid. That explains so much now re: that rag.

I really just can't stand stupid people these days and I've probably been being a little too harsh with my online comments. But I do give that girl some leeway as she was only 15 after all and we all do stupid shit sometimes.
But her, her mother, and her friends need to accept some of the blame in what happened.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings. If we ever meet I'll be sure to owe you a hug ok?

 

[Sal De Ban]

You know praktik, Percs are legal, and they have suggested dosages, and they come with legitimate medical advice on safe usage just like any prescription. People still die from abusing percs, tylenol 3, etc, all that shit every day. So, this situation has little to do with the war on drugs - and more to do with a young person who rolled the dice, risked her life, and lost.

 

[praktik]

You know how much is in each perc, its standardized. You dont with illegals. The fact people still OD is not an argument if the rate at which they OD, thanks to those controls, is less than that of illegal drugs.

Do you have a substantive basis on which to claim the rate of perc ODs is just as high - or higher - than illegal drugs, even with the controls regulation allows for?

We're talking about what rules can be established to reduce death - not which rules will bring us a drug utopia with no ODs.

 

[Sal De Ban]

i'm not stuck to any particular opinion on this issue, but there is a bit of a general opinion that abuses of prescription drugs has caused a significant spike to overdose deaths in the past decade and a half. The common denominator is that people take this stuff - illegal or not - without paying attention to the consequences or how their bodies are reacting.

 

[kyfe]

I'm sure if we all write our enlightened minister Peter Mackay, he will totally support this - not and yet it makes so much sense, both from a safety and from a government revenue perspective.

 

[veteze]

wow, she took the equivalent of around 5 e's at once. her first time. jesus.

 

[lobo]

Also, the government is certainly not going to allow 15 year old's to buy these drugs, so she would be getting someone to bootleg it for her and she's essentially back in the same position as buying from a street dealer.

That's pretty spot on. An under aged kid would have still gotten her hands on drugs and maybe there still wouldn't have been a way to determine how strong the stuff was.

I generally don't care either way on whether drugs are legalized or not. I did my share of low key drugs when I was younger but I have no desire for them now at my age. However if you were to legalize drugs how far and potent of a drug do you legalize? Could or should LSD or heroine be legalized? I mean at what point does it not make sense to legalize a drug?

Lobo

 

[Maui]

wow, she took the equivalent of around 5 e's at once. her first time. jesus.

There is so little we know about what actually happened in this story.

SWIM regularly takes mdma and it comes in the tiny capsule and not even a quarter of the capsule is full. This stuff is obviously pretty pure as it knocks SWIM who is an almost 20 year veteran on his ass. How much that amount is by weight I'm unsure but by SWIMS judgement it would take a lot more than 5 of them to equal .05 of a gram. Another friend of mine once got caught by security at Stereo 10 years ago and had to down 7 at once. And I don't think I need to comment on the quality of the stuff at that place back in the day.

But we don't know for certain how strong her stuff was because the article doesn't back up his claim of 91% with anything. Did forensics test and conclude this percentage? Why wouldn't he add that to the sentence? How do they really know how much she took? Was a friend sitting beside her as she dosed? We don't know as it wasn't explained. She had a heart attack? Really? Well sorry to tell ya, but some people have heart defects, and will be prone to dying out of the blue instantly by a wide variety of things. This could have happened if she took only a quarter of that amount and mixed it with whatever other stuff she happened to be on at the time. Prescriptions? Alcohol? MDMA is actually a stimulant and mixing any stimulant with a downer like alcohol is dangerous. But nobody cares. I tell almost every single person I see doing blow and drinking at the same time how dangerous that is and it doesn't even register with them.

 

[praktik]

Makes sense to legalize all of them, maybe most especially the most dangerous ones.

Otherwise we are basically inventing markets for ruthless gangs and cartels to exploit. So the question is really - who do we trust to deliver dangerous substances - regulated pharmaceutical companies beholden to oversight, testing and compliance with regulation. Or would we rather the market be served by the most odious organizations in the world?

This offers a blueprint for what a legalized world might look like:

After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation | Transform: Getting Drugs Under Control

The real question is: do current policies, or legal frameworks, offer most reduced death/harm from drug use.

I would submit that prohibition actually increases death from drugs like heroin and cocaine - we have bigger reservoirs of disease threatening all of society, more impurities leading to miscalculations (which can trip up even "expert" users), stigma and enforcement that cause users to avoid seeking treatment for fear of the consequences. The math should be: what set of policies offers us the least death, disease and harm across society?

 

[Brandon]

Interesting contrast to the famous Leah Betts case, which they mention in the article.

 

[R4V4G3D_SKU11S]

i'm not stuck to any particular opinion on this issue, but there is a bit of a general opinion that abuses of prescription drugs has caused a significant spike to overdose deaths in the past decade and a half. The common denominator is that people take this stuff - illegal or not - without paying attention to the consequences or how their bodies are reacting.

Overdoses on perscription opiates may have increased because their use has increased, rather than some inherent danger. I'm not quoting any sources on that but it makes logical sense.

 

[Maui]

Prescription opiates are a different beast. They are such a problem because they are being over prescribed for pain by doctors. If drugs are legalized such as heroin and cocaine, they are not going to be prescribed for people by doctors. Someone would have to go and seek these drugs out to do on their own will.

Cocaine is especially bad because right now according to a forensic testing of evidence from police the drug is clocking in at an average of 20% coke in the actual product. Many different cuts are being used and some of them are quite harmful and produce different effects on the body which makes managing the drug experience difficult.

 

[Sal De Ban]

Overdoses on perscription opiates may have increased because their use has increased, rather than some inherent danger. I'm not quoting any sources on that but it makes logical sense.

Of course. But why has usage increased? More people twisting their ankles due to a challenging economic climate?