7 Facts About Drugs That Will Make You Question Everything You Know

7 Facts About Drugs That Will Make You Question Everything You Know

The War on Drugs is a lie. This is something that is widely known and accepted on these forums. It has spread a lot of myths and misconceptions about how drugs work that do more to inhibit the stopping of the War on Drugs than they do preventing people from using them. So here are seven facts about the illicit drug world that you may not know.

Fact One: 85 percent to 90 percent of people who use even heroin, crack or meth don't become addicted.

I found this bit particularly interesting.

Even the UN Office of Drug Control -- the main drug war body in the world -- admitted that 90 percent of all currently banned drug use doesn't harm the user -- although they've pulled the link from their site.

Fact Two: Portugal decriminalized all drugs -- and injecting drug use fell by 50 percent.

This is a widely circulated piece of information on this website so I'm sure most of you already know this one.

Fact Three: Switzerland legalized heroin for addicts over a decade ago. Nobody has ever died on an overdose there on legal heroin.

Now this one I didn't know about. I also haven't seen it mentioned much here at ATS. This is some good information. Apparently Switzerland, a very conservative country, legalized heroin use by assigning every addict a clinic to go to and get a free fix under careful professional supervision. They also get support to beat their addiction and help finding a job. Since then, there have been zero deaths due to heroin overdose. There has also been a drop in heroin use as well since most people start wanting to rejoin the workforce now that there isn't a stigma against being an addict.

Fact Four: A Harvard Professor calculates the murder rate would fall by at least 25 percent after legalization.

This just makes sense logically. Since drugs are illegal they are subject to other illegal means to protect profits. When they are legal, the police are required to protect these businesses instead of arrest them. Therefore there isn't a need to kill anyone over a drug deal gone wrong. Just call 911 or contact a lawyer. When was the last time you heard about a shootout over a bar getting ripped off by local street thugs? Exactly.

But in any case, there is actual scientific data to back this fact up too.

Professor Jeffrey Miron has carefully studied the very significant fall in the murder rate following the end of alcohol prohibition. Using these figures, he has calculated that when the war on drugs ends, there will be a fall in the murder rate of between 25 percent and 75 percent as the war for drugs ends. Under prohibition, everyone feared Al Capone; nobody fears the head of Corr's.

Fact Five: Kids find it much easier to get hold of illegal drugs than legal drugs.

Now this fact flies directly in the face of popular rhetoric, but logically it also makes sense. Most people's go to criticism against legalization is, "What about the children? Won't they be able to get drugs easier?" Well no. Liquor stores selling alcohol and even convenience stores selling cigarettes can be shutdown for selling their products to people under the appropriate age. The police take this very seriously and will setup sting buys with underage people to make sure they id everyone. Why anyone wouldn't think this wouldn't apply to other drugs is beyond me. But hey check this out too:

In a major survey, American kids said it was easier to get hold of cannabis than to get hold of beer or cigarettes. In fact, kids were more than twice as likely to say they could easily get cannabis than beer.

Fact Six: Addiction is not caused primarily by the drug you take; it's caused by distress.

This one may get some push back. The author of the article supplied this video to explain the addiction process:

Fact Seven: When people see drug reform in practice, few want to go back.

This is my favorite fact. People see the success of drug reform and realize that they are GOOD ideas.

For example, a year after marijuana was put on sale in licensed stores in Colorado, 58 percent supported the legalization, and only 38 percent opposed it. When Switzerland -- a really conservative country -- was asked to vote on whether to reverse the legalization of heroin for addicts, 70 percent of citizens voted to keep it legal -- because they had seen such remarkable results.

Seriously, at this point, anyone still arguing to keep drugs illegal is just denying reality. Stop believing those dumb after school specials and look at the data and facts that say that the War on Drugs is a disaster that needs to end immediately. If we did, it would go a LONG way to cleaning up our crime problem, oh and reducing THIS inconvenient statistic: U.S. Has World's Highest Incarceration Rate. Hard to be the "land of the free" when you jail more people than any other country in the world. I'm pretty sure the definition of being in jail ISN'T being free.

Great post, been thinking the same for years, too bad we will likely not see this ever happen in NA anytime soon

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Now if we can get the American elite, like the Clintons and the Bushes for all the drugs they have brought into the country using our military and three letter orgs....Disband the corrupt DEA, and get on with legalization...
perhaps America can move on to further greatness....

a reply to: Habs2133

Yeah... You know what drives me up a wall? Whenever I point out the success that Portugal has had with decriminalization and the go to response is, "Well we are a much bigger country so the same things won't work for us." How does the scale of a country effect something like decriminalization policy exactly? Plus it's not like what we are doing now is super effective...

I'd like to add in one myself,

"Alcohol is the gateway drug,"

For its advertised and glamorized with athletes, movie stars, supermodels, and is to be found at nearly every restaurant and gas station. It is a very, very, very harmful drug that is very addictive and has a plethora of health-concerns that are brought upon by addiction/dependacy.

It is socially accepted as normal behavior whenever drunk driving accidents occur, overdoses occur, or serious and sometimes terminal illnesses can be onset or worsened by alcohol consumption.

Back in 2013, iirc, alcohol was ranked as the 2nd most socially disruptive drug - crystal meth was the only drug ranked higher.

There are mountains of peer-reviewed and published articles/journals regarding the direct correlation between alcoholism and aggression/violence - there are mountains of peer-reviewed and published articles/journals regarding the direct correlation between alcoholism and committing crime.

People who are "against making drugs legal," for whatever ridiculous propoganda-esque reasoning blow my mind.

Alcohol? Meh.
Cigarettes/Tobacco products? Meh.
Prescription narcotics? Meh.

But cannabis? RAAAAH! YOU LOSER HIPPY! YOU WANT TO DESTROY THE MORAL FIBRE OF THIS NATION! RAAAAH! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL MY CHILDREN! RAAAAH! DRUGS R SO BAD!!!!

Stop arresting, beating, torturing, and murdering people (especially consenting adults) for possessing/consuming an herb.

Go play Mein Kammpf somewhere else.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Fact Three: Switzerland legalized heroin for addicts over a decade ago. Nobody has ever died on an overdose there on legal heroin.

Switzerland had 126 deaths by opiods in 2013. Source

If I could rebute one simple fact, I have doubts concerning the trustworthiness of the other points.

a reply to: RomeByFire

Don't forget that caffeine is also a highly addictive legal narcotic. That is one that isn't mentioned as often because it isn't known to be destructive.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

How does the scale of a country effect something like decriminalization policy exactly?

It shouldn't, in theory, if it's State policy.

Federal overreach is always unsuccessful though.



I'm sceptical of a couple of those "facts".

I agree with legalisation though.

So in lieu of "Drug Free Zones" switch it to "Free Drug Zones".. I can dig it!. Now the hype won't have to steal $3000 worth of other folks' gear to get $200 to feed their Jones and We ALL have a Jones.

In My days, We were in battle vs. the Urban male and the 'Crack War' well those guys are just now getting out of prison. While the sub-Urban (voter) received PROBATION for using the same drug.
It would be interesting to see how much $$ the Prison Lobby kicks into erections?

How long have We been fighting a 'war' in Afghanistan? Since what 2001? What has happened since? First an epidemic of opiate pain killers and now heroin. How are both made? Using what ingredients?
The ones they don't kill by usage they'll incarcerate for Sales and/or possession..

namaste

Proud Member of LEAP
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

To Wit: If Your retirement fund showed the same rate of growth of that of Afghanistan's opium production since 2001 Y'all would be sipping "Boat Drinks" in The Bahamas ...

originally posted by: ManFromEurope
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Fact Three: Switzerland legalized heroin for addicts over a decade ago. Nobody has ever died on an overdose there on legal heroin.

Switzerland had 126 deaths by opiods in 2013. Source

If I could rebute one simple fact, I have doubts concerning the trustworthiness of the other points.

Here is the source that the article used to cite that fact:
From the Mountaintops: What the World Can Learn from Drug Policy Change in Switzerland
The report is a 56 page report that you have to download at that link.

I will say that I kind of doubted the zero number, but if you chalk that statement up to hyperbole, do you think the rest of the claim about Switzerland's success is incorrect? That their legal heroin program WASN'T a success?

a reply to: Krazysh0t

If someone wants to use a certain kind of drugs he will succee in buying and using it.

If someone decide to NOT use any drugs he or she will succeed in not buying it and not using it.

So... why make drugs illegal? Making drugs illegal will cause a lot of unwanted problems in society and will cause the people who use it a lot of unwanted complications in life.

Is it really this simple..?

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I've always suspected that a large part of the continued "war on drugs" has everything to do with for profit prisons. The government wants to bury the facts you've just listed from the public and these articles help prove it.

The prison industry is highly profitable. The two biggest prison corporations in the country made $3.3 billion in 2012 -- profiting from government payments and prison laborers, who were forced to work for pennies on behalf of companies like Boeing and McDonald's.

With so much money at stake, it's not surprising that the for-profit prison industry is corrupting our political process. According to National Institute on Money in Politics just one such company, the GEO Group, has given more than $6 million to Republican, Democratic, and independent candidates over the past 13 years.

We Must End For-Profit Prisons

Private companies have made huge profits off the mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders, and are now turning their attention to increasing the detention of Latino immigrants—the newest profit center for the prison industrial complex.

How the private prison industry is corrupting our democracy and promoting mass incarceration

originally posted by: ManFromEurope
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Fact Three: Switzerland legalized heroin for addicts over a decade ago. Nobody has ever died on an overdose there on legal heroin.

Switzerland had 126 deaths by opiods in 2013. Source

If I could rebute one simple fact, I have doubts concerning the trustworthiness of the other points.

I assume the OP is representing data from legally supplied heroin in clinics.

People will still die from self medication.

On what other points do you have doubts?

a reply to: EternalSolace

I agree. For profit prisons are one of the most evil things we've conceived in this country. Instead of identifying why our prisons were getting so overcrowded and thus more and more expensive to run and fixing that (mandatory minimum sentences and the war on drugs at large), we just outsource the problem to a bunch of greedy aholes more interested in making money rather than rehabilitating our society's troublemakers.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Think it might be a bit if semantics in play too. Probably no overdoses on the legal stuff because that is done under close supervision but obviously there is still going to be some underground stuff going on.

The war on drugs isn't about helping people and making the world a better/safer place, it's about own profit, interest and control of the human population by inducing fear and preventing the exploration of our consciousness and evolution of the mind. Mind altering substances are a part of life without them we would still be in the stone age.

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Think it might be a bit if semantics in play too. Probably no overdoses on the legal stuff because that is done under close supervision but obviously there is still going to be some underground stuff going on.

Which is a fair point. Though even the link the other poster gave showing illicit drug deaths comes with a graph showing a SHARP decline in even the illicit drug deaths. So I'd chalk that point up more so to hyperbole rather than being dishonest with what it was trying to convey.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Most drugs in the U.S. and laws against them are financially driven-

21yr old gets a dui, has a little pot, goes to jail (here for a felony) has to hire attorney, spends thousands on fines and attorney fees, has to pay 75.00 per month for a breathalyzer for his vehicle, has to pay for DUI/drug school rehab, misses probation meeting, car broke down, warrant for his arrest.... looses job, cant find a job, ........ .


Great thread Krazy!!!!!

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Fact one is a bit specious and taken out of context. In its full context: "it turns out 85-90 percent of people who use any drug do not become addicted." The author did some wordsmithing and failed with the transitive property. Fact one should be buoyed by this language -- crack, heroin, and meth are the most highly addictive drugs and that fact has been known forever. Fact one is more than misleading, it's a lie, untruth, misrepresentation, etc.

originally posted by: BeefNoMeat
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Fact one is a bit specious and taken out of context. In its full context: "it turns out 85-90 percent of people who use any drug do not become addicted." The author did some wordsmithing and failed with the transitive property. Fact one should be buoyed by this language -- crack, heroin, and meth are the most highly addictive drugs and that fact has been known forever. Fact one is more than misleading, it's a lie, untruth, misrepresentation, etc.

No, it shouldn't. Alcohol is just as addictive as those drugs. (link)

Also, here is the study that fact came from:
Extra-medical stimulant dependence among recent initiates.

Meanwhile, you are just denying just because you don't believe the fact is true. This is what I was talking about in the OP. So many people are misinformed on how drugs work that their biases lead them away from the facts.