Mephedrone Kills
Mar. 17th, 2010 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriqueSo there's a 'new' drug in the news, and there's a furore over how dangerous it is, because people have died. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8571935.stm
I was pondering that on the way home tonight. Y'see, this might sound a little odd, but I don't particularly fear dying. I mean, I'm not overly keen on the idea you understand, but in the grand scheme of things, everyone dies sooner or later - what's important is how you live before then.
Think about your average 20-something, who's trying recreational drugs. Chances are good that they've never had to face permanent debility. Might understand what 'dying' means, but ... in most cases, won't have actually been faced with it.
Is it any surprise that 'you have a very small chance of dying' isn't actually much a deterrent to drug use, amongst the population group that's most likely to commit suicide?
But look at the stuff that will cause permanent debilitation and impairment, and you get a lot closer to something that's horrifying.
The only long term solution to substance abuse is NOT to criminalize it, but instead ensure that everyone who's inclined to try, is also properly educated about safe usage, side effects and consequences. It's also to regulate - bad quality control is probably as much - if not more - of a killer than the substance itself, and not least because diluting something means you get to make more profit.
Methedrone was popular, because it was cheap, legal, and because of that possible to get a decent quality without having to worry about it. There's not a lot of research to indicate how harmful it is. Also, bear in mind that the people who died from it, had been drinking.
That's just not a good idea, y'know? Alcohol is a pretty harmful substance too, and mixing that and something else intoxicating _is_ dangerous.
But you know, a lot more people die of smoking and drinking than do of taking mephedrone.
I was pondering that on the way home tonight. Y'see, this might sound a little odd, but I don't particularly fear dying. I mean, I'm not overly keen on the idea you understand, but in the grand scheme of things, everyone dies sooner or later - what's important is how you live before then.
Think about your average 20-something, who's trying recreational drugs. Chances are good that they've never had to face permanent debility. Might understand what 'dying' means, but ... in most cases, won't have actually been faced with it.
Is it any surprise that 'you have a very small chance of dying' isn't actually much a deterrent to drug use, amongst the population group that's most likely to commit suicide?
But look at the stuff that will cause permanent debilitation and impairment, and you get a lot closer to something that's horrifying.
The only long term solution to substance abuse is NOT to criminalize it, but instead ensure that everyone who's inclined to try, is also properly educated about safe usage, side effects and consequences. It's also to regulate - bad quality control is probably as much - if not more - of a killer than the substance itself, and not least because diluting something means you get to make more profit.
Methedrone was popular, because it was cheap, legal, and because of that possible to get a decent quality without having to worry about it. There's not a lot of research to indicate how harmful it is. Also, bear in mind that the people who died from it, had been drinking.
That's just not a good idea, y'know? Alcohol is a pretty harmful substance too, and mixing that and something else intoxicating _is_ dangerous.
But you know, a lot more people die of smoking and drinking than do of taking mephedrone.
