cliff@unmvax.UUCP (02/06/85)
The March issue of Science 85 has an interesting article starting on page 60:
"Designer Drugs." It is about the synthesis of legal drugs that have some
effects of particular illegal drugs (primarily Heroin). These drugs are legal
because every substance starts out legal (sort of innocent until proven guilty)
until for one reason or another it is outlawed. The article claims that "in
late 1984, Congress gave the DEA a new weapon to combat designer drugs--emerg-
ency schedulin powers" ... "The new powers allow the DEA to ban designer drugs
with the strokef of a pen and a year to justify the action."
Why don't they come right out and say it: "Any substance that makes you feel
different when introduced to your body is automatically illegal (with the ex-
ception of alchohol, tobacco and caffeine)" Stop pretending that reasons of
health have anything to do with it; the organic derivatives (when purified in
a clean lab in a legal setting) are many times more safe than the new designed
drugs that are produced by home chemists on the run from the law.
Although it is not explicitly stated, certain parts of the article suggest
that when the legal versions of heroin were sold, they were sold as illegal
drugs (i.e. people were checking into heroin clinics, though urinalysis found
no trace of heroin). People laugh when I mention that there are quite a few
people profitting in illegal drug manufacture/sale that would be quite unhappy
with laws that would legalize their jobs. When people are legally
manufacturing chemicals and selling them at outrageous profits ( $500 invest-
ment yields a product worth $2,000,000 on the black market ), is it surprising
to believe that these drug millionairess might not be part of the lobby to
keep drugs illegal?
So I ask you, the netreader, do you think drugs should remain outlawed and why?
--Cliff [Matthews]
{purdue, cmcl2, ihnp4}!lanl!unmvax!cliff
{csu-cs, pur-ee, convex, gatech, ucbvax}!unmvax!cliff
4744 Trumbull S.E. - Albuquerque NM 87108 - (505) 265-9143mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (02/10/85)
A few years ago, there was a major Royal Commission on drugs, called
the LeDain Commission. They concluded that there should be no laws
against possession of any drug whatever, but that certain drugs should
carry penalties for sale.
Where a drug is physiologically more dangerous than some threshold,
this seems like a sensible approach. It is clear that laws against
possession have only two main effects: to finance the Mafia, and to
create delons of otherwise law-abiding citizens. Neither of these
effects are good. A third possible effect is to increase to use of
harmful drugs, but I think there might be some argument about that one.
--
Martin Taylor
{allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt
{uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsrgv!dciem!mmtsteiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny) (02/13/85)
> > > It is clear that laws against > possession have only two main effects: to finance the Mafia, and to > create delons of otherwise law-abiding citizens. Neither of these > effects are good. A third possible effect is to increase to use of > harmful drugs, but I think there might be some argument about that one. > The UN commented the other day on something I have suspected for years. A fourth effect is to cause serious damage to the economy. How can the tens or hundreds of billions (no one knows, but the estimate is 5.4 billion for California pot crop alone) of dollars that are moved about from country to country untaxed not have a profound affect on the world economy? Still another effect is to make the government look like self-serving idiots. We pay them billions of dollars to enforce drug laws and there is a cocaine *glut*--prices are going down. Is there really a conspiricy by the mafia and the government to keep drugs illeagle or are the majority of United States citizens having some neural short circuit that blinds them to the obvious? Polls tend to indicate the latter. -- scc!steiny Don Steiny - Personetics @ (408) 425-0382 ihnp4!pesnta -\ 109 Torrey Pine Terr. ucbvax!twg --> scc!steiny Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060 fortune!idsvax -/