On Politics

[daddio914]

I don't mean to infect anyone else with my boundless well of pessimism about politics in the US, but the way I look at it, "the system" is broken and in need of major fixing.  I don't just bitch and moan about it -- I actually have suggestions.  Unfortunately, I know I don't always stop with the 'broken' where someone might see what I see and keep

Comments

[lilies_and_pan]

I'm pretty supportive of flat taxes also.

As for decriminalization of drugs... I whole-heartedly support legalizing pot, peyote, and other similar substances. No would should be in prison for pot. I believe restrictions should be placed on these substances similar to how we do with alcohol, such as no driving under the influence, and so on. I wouldn't even decriminalize those drugs because I simply don't think you should be penalized at all, even in the form of a ticket, for their use. But I'm not so sure when it comes to the harder drugs. I just don't know what kind of an effect it would have on society- if any.

I think there's a big difference between meth and pharmacuticals in that even if we wanted to we couldn't make our own persciption meds. Maybe some people could. But apparently quite a few people can make meth. So even if you required them to be inspected by government officials and so on there's no guarantee that they would. I'm not even sure how you could have a government inspection process of an illegal substance. You would have to legalize it at that point. Second, I don't know that there is such a thing as healthy or good meth. No matter how good their labs are it doesn't stop it from being a dangerous product.

But throwing people in prison doesn't seem to be fixing things either. So I have no idea.

[daddio914]

Well, actually... people make meth, coke, and even LSD. The amount of complexity isn't what prevents people from making prescription drugs -- it's the lack of market and availability of raw materials (such as opium poppies, for instance). Drug manufacturers, the legitimate ones, routinely make dangerous products. Sure, some of them have a benefit that outweighs the risk, but how many drugs (even after they've been approved by the FDA) have been pulled lately because of some greater risk to the patient?

Let's take a very particular example: Cox-2 inhibitors. As an arthritis sufferer, I'm very familiar with this class of drugs. In fact, one that is no longer produced actually worked the best for me -- Vioxx. There is a risk associated with Cox-2 inhibitors. Taken for longer than three months, the patient's chance of suffering a heart attack is 2/3 more likely than it is without the medication. Taken for longer and the chance actually doubles.

However, the pain relief that a Cox-2 inhibitor can provide someone with arthritis is pretty amazing. So, while Vioxx and another competitor dropped their Cox-2 inhibitors, I can still obtain prescriptions for Celebrex. This is a drug that clinical studies have proven to be harmful, but the amount of risk involved in taking it short-term is outweighed by the benefit of being pain-free.

No, I don't think that meth has any readily applicable medical/psychological benefit. That doesn't mean that one won't be found. We don't know what we don't know.

Also, I wasn't talking about someone producing it in their kitchen (as is often the case now), but in an actual lab with safety precautions (like adequate ventilation) to prevent the build-up of explosive fumes. If you're not licensed and inspected, producing it would still be illegal (but probably not criminal, until you get into things like reckless endangerment and whatnot).