Colombian President Gustavo Petro said during a government meeting that cocaine is “not worse than whiskey” and that it’s only illegal because it comes from Latin America.
Colombia, the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocaine, has spent decades fighting drug trafficking, but the country’s left-wing president claimed the drug was being scapegoated by American politicians, who have waged the war on drugs for decades.
“Cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whiskey,” Petro said during a six-hour-long government meeting.
“Scientists have analyzed this: cocaine is not worse than whiskey,” he added, suggesting that the global cocaine industry could be “easily dismantled” if the drug was legalized worldwide.
The thing is, he’s absolutely right. There was a suppressed 1995 study by the World Health Organization on cocaine and its effects. The US threatened to pull out of the WHO at the time since the findings didn’t match US drug policy. Instead of losing the US, the WHO quietly shelved the study.
https://www.brucekalexander.com/articles-speeches/cocaine/181-who-cocaine-study
https://web.archive.org/web/20090618160146/www.tdpf.org.uk/WHOleaked.pdf
From the conclusions section:
A continuum can be identified for cocaine use, which includes:
- experimental use
- occasional use
- situation-specific use
- intensive use
- compulsive/dysfunctional use
Experimental and occasional use are by far the most common types of use, and compulsive/dysfunctional is far less common. Compulsive or dysfunctional users often have serious relationship, work, legal and health problems.
I am against drugs. I think no one should be using drugs. I think drugs like Alcohol, Meth and Cocaine are a making of the devil. Ideally drugs would only be used as medicine.
None of the problems related to drug use are solved by criminalization. None of the societal and personal problems leading to drug use are solved by criminalization. Instead they are made worse. The most reliable way to reduce drug use in society is by removing economic hardship and lack of opportunities from people and providing better support to people in difficult emotional situations. The most reliable way to help existing drug users to stop using, is by reducing harms associated with drug use, while working on improving their life situation.
Really ? the devil ? We agree on the fact that legalization would go a long way in encouraging safe use. However you seem to be under the impression that drugs are solely used as a getaway from hardships of life. Let me know if I got that wrong. In any case, plenty of users find drugs to be entertaining, eye-opening, tranquilizing, or otherwise interesting or helpful in a variety of other ways. I think it’s important to remember that many drugs are just part of nature; plants, mushrooms. They’re god’s creation.
I have met plenty of people who did various drugs. I have made various experiences myself. Nobody that i met who did drugs, was in good place in life all around. Those who did materially well had family issues, anxieties, etc.
Everyone who developed to do better reduced and eventually stopped using drugs regularly including not drinking alcohol much anymore. This also is not specific to any particular drug. I.e. i know a guy that went from being hospitalized after a speed (amphetamine, not meth), ecstasy and alcohol bender to being completely sober and stable in his life and i know someone who never did more than weed, but ended up failing his degree just sitting at home, smoking weed and playing playstation.
Some drugs are needed for medicinal uses. Some like psychedelics can have a a very positive impact in therapy, if used properly. But that is very different from taking acid at some festival, where many people end up on bad trips. I also volunteered for helping people with bad trips on festivals, provide safer use material, and sometimes drug checking. Psychedelics often have a history of spiritual use in a careful ritualized setting by people who lived in a very different relationship to their environment. In my eyes that is more of a medicinal use than how psychedelics are mostly used “recreationally”. I don’t think that psychedelics belong into a “recreational” setting.
I think we can agree that these are very different from the Cocaine, Meth and Alcohol i mentioned as coming from the devil. The world would be better off without them. For cocaine one could argue, whether Coca-Tea is to be put in the same category as extracted cocaine.
Just wanted to point out, of the three you mentioned, cocaine is still used in medicine, especially in dentistry. You may in fact even have used an analog yourself that’s pretty common: Lidocaine
Cocaine, like, regular chemical cocaine, is also used as a vasopressor (think Epinephrine) in Europe.
Alcohol - meaning Ethanol - is also used in medicine due its antimicrobial properties though. I believe the medical-grade mouthwash I used after my wisdom teeth were removed contained some ethanol, though I’m unsure because I didn’t memorize the ingredients.
Using Cocaine as a local anesthetic is very different from use aimed at psychoactive stimulation. E.g. having a small dosage injected in your gums vs. snorthing/smoking/IV use. I wonder though, how often it has to be used instead of lidocaine in practice.
We have the same issue with opiates, where the medical use is crucial, but the problems of abuse are also very strong. However while the physical addiction is extremely strong with opiates, it seems that many of the associated problems are particularly strong due to criminalization. E.g. people with chronic pains who receive opiates permanently can life a somewhat normal life, despite a physical dependence having developed. Programs that provide clean heroin to addicts have been very successful in mitigating a lot of the harm.
People who are high on Cocaine, Meth or Alcohol constantly will cause problems to themselves and others. The Ego-boost and inhibition reduction destroy peoples character. You also have regular reports from heroine users, that their local drug scene got much more problematic, when there was a wave of crack coming in.
Possibly true, but also a lot of the reports for issues caused by cocaine use lump cocaine with all of its derivatives, including things like crack cocaine. Rarely is pure cocaine affordably sold in the black market.
It would be as fair as combining statistics for oxycodone and tramadol.
I don’t think cocaine is as dangerous as it’s usually thought of from what I’ve read. Still dangerous enough to be age restricted and regulated for sure, but also in the right doses about as harmful as cigarettes (except cigarettes also harm those nearby)
Crack isn’t a derivative of Cocaine. powdered Cocaine is typically the HCl salt. Crack is the free base, which makes it soluble for IV injection or smokeable. Because of the “direct” connection to the bloodstream it works much quicker and harder with a shorter duration. But it is the same active chemical compound.
As for recreational Cocaine use, i have witnessed many people falling into addiction w.o. realizing it. Typically it would go like this: Only at Festivals -> only in the club -> yeah birthday home party -> We are all very drunk at the bar, what if we call a dealer to extend the evening? -> i brought some to the bar already, so we don’t have to find a dealer this time -> i’m bored at home…
Cocaine is especially dangerous in this regards because it is “smoother”, the effects don’t last as long as for other stimulants and in lower dosages it can go below the radar of people unfamiliar with drug use, whereas people on amphetamine are more easy to spot already from their physical appearance under the influence.