this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2025
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Global News

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Cocaine "is no worse than whisky" and is only illegal because it comes from Latin America, said Colombian President Gustavo Petro during a live broadcast of a government meeting.

Colombia is the world's biggest cocaine producer and exporter, mainly to the United States and Europe, and has spent decades fighting against drug trafficking.

During a six-hour ministerial meeting -- broadcast live for the first time ever -- the leftist president said "cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky."

"Scientists have analyzed this. Cocaine is no worse than whisky," he added, suggesting that the global cocaine industry could be "easily dismantled" if the drug were legalized worldwide.

"If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business (of drug trafficking)," he said. "It could easily be dismantled if they legalize cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine."

Petro also pointed out that fentanyl "is killing Americans and it is not made in Colombia", referring to the opioid responsible for around 75,000 deaths in the United States a year, according to official data.

"Fentanyl was created as a pharmacy drug by North American multinationals" and those who consumed it "became addicted," he added.

Since coming to power in 2022, Petro has attempted to make peace with all of the armed groups that are fueled by drug trafficking in the hope of ending six decades of conflict.

Cocaine production in Colombia reached a record-high in 2023, jumping 53 percent to 2,600 tons, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

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[–] Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Most drug harm experts think so:

Source

[–] onlyoneIbought@r.nf 12 points 4 hours ago (3 children)

I don't think any drug should be illegal. I hate cocain. He's right. Alcohol is fucking terrible

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 hours ago

I think people should have the liberty to buy and injest whatever they want.

However, you should not be allowed to sell whatever you want to other people. The power dynamics between companies and consumers is not balanced, and capitalism will always find ways to abuse its costumers for profit. That's why some countries are trying to regulate ultra processes foods and sugary foods.

So yeah, you should be free to carry fentanyl and use it. But not to give it or sell it to anyone without restrictions. Same with all other drugs.

This is a black and white over-simplified overview of my stance, because you also need nuance. Does it benefit society to require that certain jobs be done by people who are absolutely sober and thus go through regular drug tests? Does it benefit society that some people be sentenced to mandatory rehab? Or does it benefit society more to have freedom to trade and consume drugs? Your freedom to use drugs might interfere with my fredom to leave the house safely.

[–] SatanClaus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 hours ago

Id be hard pressed to think cocaine is worse. I honestly trust a coked out driver more than a drunk driver. Fighting I think stays around the same overall drunk/coked out though. Lmaooo

[–] piccolo@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Thats it. No more aspirin for you.

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 hours ago

I don't know if this is true today, but it was definitely true at first. But because of cocaine prohibition, the powder became incrisingly purer and the plant increasingly stronger. Prohibition made cocaine a more dangerous substance to consume.

Legalization and regulation could bring standardization to the cultivation and processing of this plant. But as far as I know that has not happened with weed, so it is unlikely.

[–] bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 4 hours ago

When its german big pharma its ok, when its made by south americans its not ok.

[–] guaraguaito@lemmy.blahaj.zone 42 points 9 hours ago (3 children)
[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 4 points 4 hours ago (2 children)
[–] Laser@feddit.org 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Psychedelics just chilling at the bottom. I'm not even sure there's a proper LD50 for these as there are no recorded deaths where overdose was the cause. It's so funny yet sad that these are super illegal while booze and tobacco are perfectly legal.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 3 points 2 hours ago

And the CIA tried SUPER HARD to find it too

[–] guaraguaito@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

Love Sex Dreams

[–] NeuronautML@lemmy.ml 23 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (3 children)

Just to add a note that this graph comes from a study made on rats. I love the study and i use this graph frequently when discussing drugs, but i think it's important to know.

Being done on rats also raises the point that it's done excluding a mental component of using the drug, like for instance how some people use cigarettes in depression for its antidepressant effect or use alcohol to cope with mental health issues.

It also doesn't explore the mental health effects of repeated exposure to large doses of hallucinogens on people, which we still don't have research on because of how demonized hallucinogens are in most countries doing research on drugs.

[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 7 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I've been doing an exhaustive study for the last couple of decades on the effects of whiskey on a human with mental health issues.

[–] guaraguaito@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 10 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

It's hard to write down scientific conclusions when you black out at the end of the night, but so far I wouldn't recommend it. I'll try again tonight and get back to you.

[–] Laser@feddit.org 3 points 3 hours ago

Your commitment to science is commendable

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

It also doesn't explore the mental health effects of repeated exposure to large doses of hallucinogens on people, which we still don't have research on because of how demonized hallucinogens are in most countries doing research on drugs.

Also, I don't think you'll get that past an ethics board...

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 hour ago

There’s that “therapist” at a mental health facility that would give ULTRA MACRODOSES of LSD to his patients, put them in a completely white room, strip them naked, chain them together, and play sad and horrifying things to them for DAYS in a row, and the only food they got was a nutrient slop they had to suck out of the wall… that didn’t go well.

[–] cactusupyourbutt@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

what about testing the ld50 on humans?

[–] guaraguaito@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 hours ago

Interesting! Do you have a link to the original study by any chance?

[–] bizzle@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Damn so when I say something like "in my opinion a joint is exactly the same as a cup of coffee" I'm wrong... because coffee is more likely to kill you than a joint

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

It doesn't say that. The X axis is basically the inverse of how many times a "usefull dose" you need to take before you die. Or you can see it as "overdose potential".

It's basically impossible to overdose on cannabis, but really easy to overdose on heroin. Coffee is kinda weird, it's at 0.01, meaning you need 100 times the effective dose to die.

That's basically 100-300 cups of coffee, so if you're drinking just coffee you're going to kill yourself from just drinking the water in the coffee way before the caffeine in the coffee gets dangerous.

[–] Drewfro66@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 6 hours ago

The joint is probably worse for you than the coffee because the smoke fucks up your lungs. But that's not a problem with the drug, it's a problem with the consumption method.

[–] ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works 32 points 9 hours ago (15 children)

He's right, we should legalize it. We've lost the war on drugs. Fully legalized cocaine would be dirt cheap and addicts with access to a safe, affordable supply could lead relatively normal, stable lives. The money earned in the drug trade would be taxable instead of supporting criminal or extremist groups, both at home and abroad.

[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

While I can admit drugs aren't "good" per se but I do think most* should be legalized. We should have harm reduction classes that can teach people how to use responsibly. And have clinics where addicts can go to try and get clean and can provide whatever drug they're addicted to in a safe environment. Also tax revenue.

But that would require empathy and an honest look at how other countries handle drugs much better than the U.S.

[–] Peck@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

South Park predicted it yet again

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[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 10 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

Anecdotally, cocaine seems to make its users into the worst versions of themselves. Alcohol can have negative effects (the “mean drunk”, drinking as disinhibition for impulsive antisocial behaviour, etc.) though the average drinker is generally not regarded as negatively as the average cokehead. I wonder how much of this is due to the substances’ intrinsic properties and how much due to cultural expectations.

[–] SatanClaus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 hours ago

Cocaine either makes me crazy. Aka I think it was cut with something. Or does absolutely nothing to me. Aka this is the pure stuff. The better the cocaine, according to my friends reviews versus mine, the less I feel any "effects". So that was the start of internal alarm bells about ADHD 😂(very much so diagnosed and medicated now lol). Just better focus but a bit moreso than my current meds, as a rough guess it's been over 10 years.

But I never saw them become the worst versions of themeslves.

Unless. They drank at the same time as consuming.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 10 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I suspect a large part has to do with a selection bias. The people most likely to turn into a bad cokehead are also the people with the most access to it. Most people will never come into contact with cocaine, but they will come into contact with alcohol and likely consume it. The average person is more likely to become an alcoholic, while only certain segments are likely to even have the potential to become a coke addict and I'd bet on those segments being more likely to be harmful.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago

Yeah. The stereotype of the cokehead is the asshole trader who works at Goldman Sachs. Rookie numbers and all that…

[–] onlyoneIbought@r.nf 1 points 4 hours ago

I sometime drink coca leaves in tea. It makes me a bit more focused but that's it, I don't like it that much.

[–] guaraguaito@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Is cocaine legal in Colombia?

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

According to wikipedia, you can own up to a gram (1 or 2 doses, but like half a dose if you're the kind of person who doesn't need the internet to know that), and you can gift it and make your own. But you can't sell it...

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 hour ago

Jeeeez. A gram of pure stuff is enough to get both my partner and I zooted for like three nights straight.

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