this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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[–] Grimy@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I've had friends that were cocaine addicts and some that really hit the bottom. This seems insane to me, this isn't a fun and easy drug like weed imo. I've always lumped coke with meth and heroin.

[–] TheBlackLounge@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Its harm potential is somewhere in between. To put it in perspective, alcohol is worse than heroin. And like alcohol addicts, your friends should be able to get a clean and safe source to reduce damage, and the help they need without any fear of persecution.

You can't criminalize problems away. It evidently didn't help your friends.

[–] Grimy@lemmy.world -1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I don't think alcohol is worse than heroin by any means, although the harm that alcohol does is definitely underestimated.

I'd also like to say that I don't necessarily think the use should be criminalized. Putting addicts in jail solves nothing and the justice system should be concentrating on the ones that sell it. Making it legal will just make more addicts, and won't help the ones that currently are.

It's also harder to stop abusing something if it's sold in every city legally. Dealers go to jail and their numbers can be deleted.

Decriminalization but making the sale highly illegal while offering free rehab to the ones that need it is the way forward imo.

[–] ngdev@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

My friend's brother just died of heroin overdose a few weeks ago and I just couldn't help but feel for him. How many dark alleys did he have to go to to get his high? How many sketchy people were involved? Did he have access to clean needles? He overdosed alone, and likely felt subhuman due to being relegated to the fringes of society just to get his high.

Legalization would not have kept him from getting high, but it certainly would have enabled him access to clean drugs from a safe place, clean needles, and possibly made him viewed as someone who enjoyed getting high and not a piece of shit addict. He had a problem and it being illegal only made it worse for him.

Legalize it all. He was an adult, it's his body. He can do what he wants with it, it's nobody's place to tell anyone what you can or cannot consume. He loved getting high on heroin and I don't see a problem with that.

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 5 points 11 months ago

He was an adult, it's his body

This seems to be widely questioned view as of lately 😞

[–] themelm@sh.itjust.works 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah there is no safe amount of cocaine to do. There is also no safe amount of alcohol to do. At least if shit is legalised people can decide to use cocaine or not with informed consent and can be sure they are actually getting pure cocaine.

I had a friends cousin die from using cocaine but it was because they had bought it off a street dealer and it was tainted with fentanyl. They just wanted to have a little extra fun on a night out on vacation. They'd be alive and well if cocaine was legal.

Prohibition doesn't work. It just adds suffering and stigma to addiction. One of the biggest factors to addiction is isolation something that criminalizing health issues greatly contributes to.

[–] Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

If there's no safe amount of alcohol to do, there's no safe amount of weed to do.

[–] themelm@sh.itjust.works 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Nonsense. Alcohol is a carcinogen, every part of your body it touches has an increased risk of developing cancer. It is directly neurotoxic. It damages the liver and stomache. A bottle of it can kill you. Stopping taking it can kill you.

Weed taken orally is physically very safe. It can still be habit forming and there are other unwanted side effects but to act like it is physically comaparable to alcohol is silly.

I say there's no safe amount of cocaine because it is directly cardiotoxic and has been known to cause heart defects in healthy young men at moderate doses.

I don't think ant drug should be illegal I just think people should be aware of the dangers of substances so they can make an informed decision.

[–] fxdave@lemmy.ml -1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Weed can also cause cancer. In fact, it's worse in terms of that.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago

Yes but they aren't legalizing it because it's fun and safe they are legalizing it because jailing people over drugs does not help them and there is no point in filling your jails with such a high percentage of your population.

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I agree with you. I know a lot of people who are cocaine addicts and their addiction makes them all incredibly unreliable. I've also known people who died due to tainted cocaine. It's not a safe drug by any means.

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I know people who do a bunch of dumb things that are bad for their lives - and only their lives - but they don’t become a criminal in the process.