Comment on Colombian president says cocaine 'no worse than whisky'

• ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I don’t think it’s innocuous, but we’re already failing to prevent the harm it causes and our efforts are causing a great deal more.

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• guaraguaito@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Not really, it’s somewhere between alcohol and nicotine in terms of addictivness. Less than alcohol, more than nicotine.

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  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Ah ok. I wouldn’t know conclusively but the cokeheads I knew were… more intense than the alcoholics.

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    • Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Probably it being illegal creates a selection bias. Most people will never use it or have it easily accessible. Most people will have easy access to alcohol and nicotine, and will likely try at least alcohol.

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      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        No, I’m referring to the “let’s buy another 8ball for $250 tonight” and then regretting it the next day. Super common. Whereas the drinkers could be okay with not drinking anymore in most cases.

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• Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s not, most studies put them about even, possibly more for crack but definitely not several times more addictive.

  Meanwhile Sugar/sweetness is more addictive than cocaine but no ones calling to ban jolly ranchers.

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• onlyoneIbought@r.nf ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  No it’s not wtf.

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  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You people really like your cocaine. Wtf indeed.

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    • onlyoneIbought@r.nf ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      My mum’s alcoholic. Sorry but alcohol is fucking terrible.

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    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You’re right, it’s hella addictive. I’m very lucky that my body/brain works the way it does, though… I’ve got access to endless amounts of incredibly pure stuff and I only do it a few times a year.

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  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Alcohol is blamed for about 2,100 overdose deaths a year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cocaine, meanwhile, killed 14,510 people in the last year.

    Now, let’s back up a step and look at how many American adults use these drugs. The National Institute of Health says that about 86 percent of adults drink. In comparison, only about half of a percent of adults use cocaine.

    That statistic alone tells you that cocaine use is a far riskier activity.

    Source: www.theraleighhouse.com/…/cocaine-versus-alcohol

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    • Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      That statistic is about cocaine related deaths, not necessarily overdoses. Often with cocaine related deaths the user is taking multiple drugs at once, usually opiates, and often alcohol too, but it usually doesn’t get blamed.

      This is also more a problem with prohibition then cocaine itself since people don’t know the dose of what there getting or adulterants. If it were legal like alcohol there would be far less deaths. There were far more deaths from alcohol under prohibition when your “whiskey” was full of methanol and industrial alcohol

      Also overdose isn’t the only danger from drugs. One that alcohol is miles ahead of every other drug is DUI, which kills about 13,000, meanwhile cocaine, by itself, is rarely implicated in DUI. Alcohol impairs your driving ability way more than cocaine. There’s also chronic health concerns, which are harder to weigh. Alcohol is a carcinogen and chronic use fucks up your liver, meanwhile cocaine will fuck up your heart.

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    • onlyoneIbought@r.nf ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The Alcohol-Related Disease Impact application estimates that each year there are more than 178,000 deaths (approximately 120,000 male deaths and 59,000 female deaths) attributable to excessive alcohol use, making alcohol one of the leading preventable causes of death in the United States, behind tobacco, poor diet and physical inactivity, and illegal drugs.4,5

      My mum’s alcoholic and sorry but if cocain is illegal alcohol shouldn’t be either.

      I am not for drug prohibition at all. I don’t think it solves anything, but cocain isn’t worse than wiskey, they’re both fucking terrible.

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      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I simply don’t agree that alcohol is worse than cocaine. Cocaine can literally stop your heart from one line. And I have no interest in sussing out if that’s from impurities or whatever, it’s a very dangerous drug. Alcohol also can be deadly but it’s not for most people. Cocaine kills many times the number of people who use it compared to alcohol.

        I would rather there be harm reduction measures rather than just making anything illegal that is deemed “bad”

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