The Good News: Smack & Coke Use Down - The Bad News: Speed & X Up

From the following article:

I suppose it is good to hear that fewer people are taking heroin and cocaine. And I guess the alternative use of ecstasy and speed is better - if you can call it that.

What I wonder is, why don’t they just create a truly safe “party drug”.

Perhaps something along the combination of Red Bull (for energy) and Prozac (for smiles) with a dash of Viagra (for, well, you know).

Seriously…every generation has had its share of recreational drugs, why don’t they just come out and make one that is non-addictive, not driving-imparing, without side affects and gives the user a few hours of enhancement.

I know, there are the Nancy Reagan’s who think all you have to do is just say no - but get real. Kids are gonna do it no matter what - wouldn’t it be better to just create something that at least does no more harm than make someone dance faster, laugh louder and feel good for a few hours?

No such thing, sorry. Most of the drugs you mention were thought to be “safe and sane” at one time.

But don’t worry- heroin and cocaine always reassert themselves! :wink:

Illegal drugs will always be inherently dangerous, because they are controlled by black markets. Some drug dealers cut their product with dangerous substances in order to increase profits. They have no incentive to provide safe, reliable product. This would be easily fixed by ending the travesty that is the War on Drugs.

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The article DMark cited does not say that cocaine and heroin use were down. Coke and smack were up by 1%. In fact, Afghanistan’s heroin production has set new records. Before the war there, Afghanis produced 90% of the world’s heroin. Under the Karzai government, drug farmers and processors have proudly exceeded previous crop records.

Uhm… dunno how true this is but I had heard that paxil (another anti-depressant) is a derivitive of ecstacy… apparently the only real difference is that prozac has a coating on it so it’s released over the period of a day rather then pretty much all at once as X is…

Yeah learned this from some ex-friends when I was on it and they wanted to take some and sell it on the street! :eek: I of course made sure my pills were hidden so they didn’t accidentally ‘disappear’

Paxil or Prozac? You mention both. Well, either way, it sounds pretty dubious. I’m no pharmacist, so I don’t know what’s related to what, but I do know that Paxil is available in both controlled-release and immediate-release tablets. If your friends were right, everyone on the immdiate-release stuff would be dancing 'till dawn, wouldn’t they?

Neither Paxil nor Prozac are related to ecstacy. All three do have a superficially similar method of action in the brain, but I can assure you that they are very different drugs.

‘Safe’ or at least legal party drugs do exist and are sold at stalls at a lot of large festivals and parties, the only drawback is that they are not particularly effective - what the punters want is something that will get them ‘off their tits’ so to speak. The creation of a ‘safe’ party drug that would appeal to the mass market is certainley not likely, also it depends what your definition of safe is? Every drug has some sort of side effect if used in large enough doses, but in my opinion Ecstasy used moderatley is fairly ‘safe’. I know people who don’t drink but instead go out bi-monthly, take 150mg of MDMA and dance for 6-8 hours and they are in much better shape than the friends of mine that go to the pub 3-4 times a week. I also believe that any fluctuation in the use of heroin and cocaine is a temporary one, as traditionally the market for both these drugs is quite stable.

Uhm Paxil sorry… put in Prozac until I remembered I was on paxil and then only changed one!

I was told it takes a little more paxil to get you high, and that you have to take off the coating. These people I used to know were into the drug scene (why they are ex-friends) so they knew what was selling on the streets… and paxil could be sold…

As you can see on this page paxil is available in both Controlled release and regular versions, as well as an oral liquid suspension. So regular paxil has no time release coating. if it did, there would be little need to create a seperate product whose only difference is the addition of a time release feature.

X is about as safe as they come when you look at “party drugs”. The main danger is dehydration, and that could be combated with just a bit of education. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a bit of euphoria with zero potential dangers there’s always good ol’ mary jane. Too bad our government feels it necessary to protect its citizenry from their own harmless choices. Except the drunks of course–they’re A-OK!

I recall a line from the old Barney Miller program. A junkie looks the cop in the eye and explains:

“Dollar for dollar heroin is your best drug buy.”

Except of course when you get to the stage where you are banging up £200 worth a day!

Are you totally sure about that? Could someone page Qadgop or another MD for the Straight Dope?

Maybe it could be sold to stupid people. You can’t get a “high” from any SSRI. If you could, the DEA would have them scheduled as having potential for abuse. If you took a lot of it, might you feel, well, very weird? Yeah, probably. You might also have a very serious reaction to it.

Also, be wary of declaring Ecstasy as safe. There is a good amount of evidence suggesting it is anything but.

…not that you, OF, were declaring it safe, but a few people in the thread had insinuated that.