Recently, I saw a film version of Murder must Advertise, In the course of the story there are four or five murders for our sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, to solve. Set in England in 1933, at the heart of the story is the illegal drug trade. In this instance it's a bunch of dark villains selling cocaine.
Cocaine use is depicted as causing unauthorized laughter. People who take cocaine laugh too hard and too loud. Cocaine users wear funny costumes and dance on tables. There is a suggestion that the women are loose. Though the “dope users” are living wild and crazy, not one single person dies of using cocaine. All of the people who are killed during the course of the story, die because cocaine was illegal.
People do die of cocaine use. It constricts the blood vessels and if you have an underlying heart condition cocaine can trigger a heart attack. It's much worse if you combine cocaine and alcohol. But death by cocaine or even a combination of cocaine and alcohol is actually quite rare.
The exact lethal dose of cocaine is known. Somewhere in the bowels of the CDC archives you can find a document which will tell you how many grams of cocaine per kilogram of body weight you have to ingest to keel over dead. (It's about 1.5 grams for an ordinary sized person)
What is the lethal dose of pot? (grams of marijuana or THC per kilogram of body weight)
People do die of cocaine use. It constricts the blood vessels and if you have an underlying heart condition cocaine can trigger a heart attack. It's much worse if you combine cocaine and alcohol. But death by cocaine or even a combination of cocaine and alcohol is actually quite rare.
The exact lethal dose of cocaine is known. Somewhere in the bowels of the CDC archives you can find a document which will tell you how many grams of cocaine per kilogram of body weight you have to ingest to keel over dead. (It's about 1.5 grams for an ordinary sized person)
What is the lethal dose of pot? (grams of marijuana or THC per kilogram of body weight)
There is NO KNOWN LETHAL DOSE OF MARIJUANA. There are no deaths which have been attributed to marijuana. None. Websites that list the bad effects of marijuana are pathetic. They are larded with weasel words like “associated with” and “studies suggest that.” They mention that smoking pot will make you cough. “It is suggested” (by whom?) that marijuana “may” cause memory loss. It may slightly lower your IQ. May. Might. The more honest sources admit that bad effects are only seen with heavy use—excuse me, there is no “use” of marijuana. No matter how rarely it is ingested, is only abused.
So why is it illegal?
Is it because it causes unauthorized giggling? Giggling you don't have coming to you?
I didn't count the number of alcoholic beverages Lord Peter Wimsey consumes in the course of Murder Must Advertise. More than a dozen, I would guess. “Care for a spot of brandy, eh wot, Old Chap?” The movie is soaked in booze.
How many people die of alcohol every year? More than 75,000 in the US. How many people die as a result of the manufacture and sale of this perfectly legal substance?
How many people die of alcohol every year? More than 75,000 in the US. How many people die as a result of the manufacture and sale of this perfectly legal substance?
ZERO.
The makers of Budweiser and Coors do not have gangs roaming the streets cutting each others throats to gain turf. They do not try to sneak their products into high schools. Their employees do not carry machine guns. They do not bump each other off or rub each other out. No drone strikes are contemplated on the Coors brewery in Boulder, Colorado.
The parking lot of the Budweiser brewery in St. Louis, Missouri does not look like this:
Those people represented by the chalk outlines did not die from the harmful toxicity of marijuana or even cocaine. They died because of the cruel, meaningless and barbaric “war” on drugs.
Here are the short term bad effects of marijuana according to the DEA: “The short term effects of marijuana use include: memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, increased heart rate, and anxiety.” These “bad effects” sound like two Benadryl washed down with a cup of coffee.
Here are the short term consequences of the drug “war” (click on this link only if you have a strong stomach)
Here are the short term bad effects of marijuana according to the DEA: “The short term effects of marijuana use include: memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, increased heart rate, and anxiety.” These “bad effects” sound like two Benadryl washed down with a cup of coffee.
Here are the short term consequences of the drug “war” (click on this link only if you have a strong stomach)
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