I have smelled meth [and lots of weed - heck, for a while my brother ran a tidy little grow op in the basement, like 25 plants] and it is a strange catch-in-the-back-of-the-throat chemical smell. The morons living next door on 13th Bay St in Norfolk VA were meth heads, the bikers across the street did weed.
I could swear that there was at least one person on the Dope who lived next to a meth lab. Maybe 8 - 10 years back?
‘Exception which proves the rule’ guy signing in…
Heh. Obviously we don’t know each other!
Thank you.
While I hate to argue with such a nice person as you…the pot laws weren’t focused on the damn hippies, they came about during Prohibition when all of the white folks went to speakeasies, but the black boys smoked their wacky tobaccy and seemed to be far too happy about it. Gotta do something about those uppity jazz band players, right?
It also was used to scapegoat Mexicans. There is a reason that cannabis (from which the common word “canvas” is derived) has a common Spanish name.
Harry Anslinger, a sort of poor man’s J. Edgar Hoover, headed the Bureau of Narcotics during that Prohibition era.
But, the sanctions did become worse as a means of persecuting the hippie movement in the 60’s, as well.
That is a whole bunch of excellent information all in one place. I’m just going to bookmark it so I can come back when I need it later.
Thank you for all of that, it is much appreciated.
The reason I believe mixing meth with marijuana is so rare is because most people consuming meth are trying to maximize their meth dollar, and mixing it with marijuana isn’t going to do that. It would be a very inefficient method of ingesting it. Yeah, most meth heads will not turn down marijuana, bu they’re not going to use it to waste meth, either.
Thanks. And thanks to @Moriarty , too. I knew the history, but I was only looking at it from my personal perspective of all the anti-drug propaganda I heard in my time. It’s good to see the earlier history here, too.
I’ve done some scientific work on the gateway theory of marijuana, and yeah, it’s pretty much how you describe it. I don’t remember the exact numbers either, but most anybody who does hard drugs will also at some time have been a regular user of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco.
One paper I was involved with found that it was a triangle between marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco. It didn’t matter which was the first that somebody used, use of any one made a person more likely to go on and use the other two.
I would add: even if they do use both pot and meth my guess is that most ‘dual users’ dont mix them together.
And about 98% started with Coke (Coca-Cola, or Pepsi), and near 100% started with milk.
THOSE are the true gateway drugs!
I have never used meth, but I have family members who are former users. It has a very distinctive harsh and astringent smell. I’d describe as being similar to melting plastic.
Good to know my completely unscientific guess was relatively close to reality.
But it had to be. Of all the pot smokers I’ve known in my life I’ve know, like, two (?) who did any stronger drugs. So, yeah, my guess was probably an overestimate.
Does it now? Now and again I have been smelling a skunklike odor on my street in the UK.
I was wondering if this might indicate a meth lab, in which case I’d be concerned.
But if it’s just pot, no worries. I think all the indications are that pot is pretty harmless: less dangerous than alcohol, probably.
Not probably, definitely. Show me one documented case of a death by pot use, and then compare with the yearly amount of deaths from alcohol abuse. (to be clear, that means the general ‘you’)
No argument, sir. I like a glass or two of wine with dinner. And I agree that mariuana seems to be generally harmless. As for physically addictive drugs… it’s a problem. We should probably decriminalise them to avoid violent crime connected with the supply chain?
Well, my government is working on that, though half-heartedly:
It depends on the type of user. For a meth addict, you’re correct that they aren’t going to cut the effect with pot. But a party user very well might.
During 90s rave culture, lots of people did meth when ecstacy wasn’t available (although we called it crystal - much more fancy). And plenty of us mixed in a little pot to cut the edge. Smoking both together was much rarer, but did happen. It’s easier to get away with doing meth in public if it’s being smoked in a joint versus snorting off your pocket mirror.
And as for the question if someone could walk down the street normally when high on meth, absolutely (for certain levels of high). It’s not like you become a crazed maniac after one hit.
Pot and Meth? That is some real cardiac tug-of-war!
Yep. I knew someone (in her early 30’s) who died of it. I wasn’t there, but her still shocked boyfriend told me about it the next day. It didn’t sound like it was a good death.