Drug use (Social issue)

General

• Dr. Carl Hart - Fox News - How drugs are perceived in America
  • 2:20 - The safety of a drug depends on how it's being used.
  • 4:50 - Drugs can be used safely.

Amphetamines

• YouTube - Dr. Carl Hart - Notion that meth users are impaired is not supported by scientific evidence
  • 6:10 - He says meth users have cog. functioning in the normal range
  • 6:20 - He criticizes the use of brain image differences to conclude that meth is causing damage in the brain.
  • 11:30 - He points out that 90% of research related to drug use is being funded by a US gov agency which has the mission of learning about the bad things that drugs do.
  • 14:00 - "[So we arrive at a situation where] any use of the drug is deemed pathological"
  • 22:50 - You can get into trouble with these drugs.
  • Comments:
    • I've done both [meth and Adderall] and they are exactly the same 100%.

    • i'm not proud of this but i've done my fair share of adderall and meth. meth feels exactly like adderall, except it feels x10 stronger. adderall is like baby meth. meth is WAY more addictive and makes you go insane.  Also, my tweaker friend once took adderall and said he felt like he inhaled second hand meth smoke

    • I've taken meth and it was way way way more potent that adderall.
    • I've smoked crystal meth and I've insuflsted and orally administered adderall up to the 120mg range. When smoking meth I feel a way more intense rush of euphoria and a way stronger high
    • Maybe it's bc meth crosses the blood brain barrier quicker, or maybe it's bc I'm talking crystal meth, but I've always found meth to be stronger (lasts longer, more euphoric, slightly more addicting). (...) I'm not arguing that the difference is drastic, but it's enough a difference that adderall isn't going to keep you content if you want crystal meth, unless it's the only thing available.
    • meth comes on faster and stronger. especially when you smoke it. on Adderall you come up. I was put on Adderall in first grade and I'll never forget that day. I was speeding my balls off. (...) I'd have to say Adderall lasts waaay longer (I took the time released capsules) and my body always felt waay worse than when I smoked meth. The first time I smoked meth I was like "is this IT?, I've felt like this since first grade. It's the same thing. just diffrent come up times and one lasts longer than the other.
    • Adderall is meth, meth is adderall. I know cause ive tried both. Meth is easier to overdo, cause you arent sure of the dosage.
    • Adderall consists of multiple amphetamines, not just pure amphetamine. It us designed using certain amphetamines which are less euphoric than pure amphetamine or methamphetamine, to make it less appealing for abuse. It may have comparable physiological effects (blood pressure, heart rate, ect). But it is not as euphoric by design. That doesnt mean its not as dangerous if abused for the long term.

Steroids

• Kidnapped and TORTURED by a Cartel for 16 days - Larry Pollock - Fresh Out Interviews
  
  • 11:50: "Then the whole BALCO scandal happened and that the prosecutor who was involved in that kicked off this big...what's the term I'm looking for...crusade.  He started with the BALCO scandal and then he went into baseball and going after Barry Bonds and all them and then became headlines and this same guy is what pushed the Anabolic Control Act that made steroids a felony.  Because back when I was coming up it was just a regular prescription drug, it wasn't even illegal.  It was until 1990, they did the Animal Control Act and made it a felony.  So this same guy who prosecuted BALCO and he prosecuted Barry Bonds and so forth, decided they were going to make a big statement in the news.  So they went around the world rounding up steroid labs everywhere from different countries and the United States as well under the auspices that they're cleaning things up for the Beijing Olympics.  And it was just a big political thing to make headlines.  The truth the matter is none of us had anything to do with the Olympics.  It wasn't even related to the Olympics but this is the headline they made so they they actually extradited British citizens from Thailand to the United States to stand trial and so forth and they shut down pretty much all the labs.  And I was one of the last ones to go down because I was in Mexico and I was kind of watching this all happen and I thought I was safe being over there in Mexico because I figured I hadn't broken any laws.  But when you got conspiracy you know you don't actually have to do anything they just have to say you did it and: prove you didn't do it.  So that's what kicked off what they call operation raw deal in 2006-2007 where they just rounded everybody up and took down all the big labs."
  • I found this interesting because it makes it seem like it was a single prosecutor who stirred up a crusade against steroids for his own personal gain.  Although if the public hadn't been open to the idea that steroids were cheating, the crusade couldn't have happened.  But making it a felony seems incredibly excessive.