Cocaine

Cocaine has a long history of use, predating Western Medicine, and it is still used today in some medical situations. But the cultural taboos surrounding cocaine, both negative and romantic, have left us with gaps in our knowledge. We don't know important facts which would allow us to be safe when we use, and what we do know about cocaine is usually wrong.

To be honest, cocaine is not a very "fun" drug. Sure, it will blow your mind for about 10 minutes, but then you usually can't eat, sleep or fuck for hours, and during the comedown your mind remains determined to get you to use more of the drug. There are plenty of safer and more enjoyable options for psychonauts seeking to blow their minds, but since cocaine is so popular (in part because of how hard the government has worked to deceive people about the drug), we need to encourage open and honest discussions concerning it.

Cocaine cost less than $1,000 per kilogram to produce, but by the time it makes it way to the streets, it might fetch upwards of a quarter-million dollars ($250,000). That's enough cash to fund both sides of a massive war. On the illegal side, dealers, traffickers, producers, wholesalers and transporters have plenty of incentive to move product when they can make so much money in so short a time. On the legal side, tens-of-thousands of trained, "law-abiding" citizens work for law enforcement units specifically devoted to fighting against drugs--to bashing in doors, confiscating property, and arresting anyone who they can label a bad guy. These folks stand to lose their jobs if the war on drugs is discontinued--if the truth about drugs and the war against those of us who use them becomes public.

Check out this clip from VICE if you want to know what cocaine production looks like:

We can end the war on drugs tomorrow by regulating the sale of illegal drugs and reducing the price of cocaine to around a-dollar per gram--the price of production with a bit of profit added for distributors. The underworld drug market would immediately disappear, but so would the huge industry supported by them--the police forces, prison guards, parole offices and surveillance equipment manufacturers who would lose their jobs, their identities, their profitability if the white flag is waved in this war. So it is up to us, the users and those who support us, to end this war, for our enemy cannot find an incentive to do it for us--they are invested in its permanent continuation, even as our lives are on the line.

Love the drug users in your life, and if you are a drug user, love yourself. Its not your fault that the system was built to turn your small life issues--addiction--into a permanent life derailer--criminality. We can work to slowly undo these cultural traps.