# What if a non-harmful, addictive drug hit the streets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 4, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351 "2002-07-04T13:34:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Barnabas\_Truman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@Barnabas\_Truman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barnabas_Truman)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/21 "2002-07-05T21:18:59Z")
Interesting. Shortly after posting that I suddenly really really wanted some soda. The soft-drink industry has been spiking our national advertisement supply with psychologically addictive meme-drugs! Help help help! ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/22 "2002-07-05T21:49:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LilShieste \* > **These sites don’t explicitly give the statistics as WSLer gave, but I think they will do.** Not quite. I’m not surprised to see a link between inhaling any type of smoke and getting lung cancer. I was hoping to see a cite for WSLer’s assertion that smoking marijuana is 40 times more likely to give you lung cancer than smoking tobacco. “One joint has as much tar as 10 cigarettes” is irrelevant here, because marijuana is not smoked in the same quantities as tobacco. 20 cigarettes a day–one every 45 minutes–is a common habit, but one joint every 45 minutes would be quite excessive. I’d also like a cite for the alleged link between marijuana and schizophrenia. The links I found seem to suggest that marijuana is beneficial to schizophrenics, which I don’t think is what WSLer was trying to imply. For example, from [this page](http://www.ndsn.org/SUMMER99/MARIJ3.html): > [@](#): > > However, the brain cannot produce high enough levels of anandamide _[a chemical similar to THC]_ to lower dopamine levels, according to researchers. Persons who suffer from schizophrenia often smoke marijuana and some researchers believe patients may be treating themselves with the drug. ---
**Author:** ![alex5390](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@alex5390](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alex5390)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/23 "2002-07-06T15:47:11Z")
What about Nitrous Oxide? It is the same stuff that dentists use as “Laughing Gas”, so I am guessing it isn’t harmful. But im not too sure that it is addictive and it isn’t on the streets. But it is in every grocery store. Just take a can of Whipped Cream, don’t shake it, put your mouth on the white thing the whipped cream comes out of and press the thing. (Make sure it is facing up.) The gas that propells the whipped cream is nitrous oxide. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/24 "2002-07-06T18:54:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alex5390 \* > \*\*What about Nitrous Oxide? It is the same stuff that dentists use as “Laughing Gas”, so I am guessing it isn’t harmful. But im not too sure that it is addictive and it isn’t on the streets. \*\* Your guess would be wrong. Just because a substance may be relatively safe when administered properly by someone with medical training does not mean that it is harmless. Nitrous oxide can kill you. Under certain conditions it can kill you _very quickly_. It is not physically addictive, but like almost any substance that can produce a “high” it is available on the black market and people do abuse it. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/25 "2002-07-06T21:53:33Z")
Heroin itself comes under this category. Apart from the risk of overdose, heroin causes no physical damage to the body, and people who are assured a constant untainted supply can live to ripe old ages with few consequences. Of course, once it becomes a street drug… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/26 "2002-07-07T01:32:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kambuckta \* > **Heroin itself comes under this category. > Apart from the risk of overdose, heroin causes no physical damage to the body** So it does no damage apart from the damage it actually does. Sounds great. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/27 "2002-07-07T03:29:53Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Lamia_ > **So it does no damage apart from the damage it actually does. Sounds great.** Now, that’s not really very fair. You can overdose on aspirin, it’s just less likely because aspirin comes in pre-measured doses. I’m sure **kambuckta** meant that _a normal dose_ of heroin causes no physical damage to the body. (I don’t know enough about it to agree or disagree.) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/28 "2002-07-07T03:42:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barnabas\_Truman \* > \*\*Hm, this sounds remarkably similar to a few drugs that are already on the market legally: air, water, food, shelter, and human affection, to name a few. \*\* Those aren’ t drugs. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Besides, there’s a big difference between things that are _addictive_ and things which are necessary for human existence. The former satisfy desires, whereas the latter satisfy needs. ---
**Author:** ![ssj\_man2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ssj\_man2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssj_man2k)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/29 "2002-07-07T05:53:04Z")
Heroin is only bad because it is extremely addictive. In fact, small amounts of heroin are good for you. Heroin is just poppy seeds. That’s why if you eat a poppy seed bagel, you can test positive for heroin. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/30 "2002-07-07T15:32:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr2001 \* > \*\* > Now, that’s not really very fair. You can overdose on aspirin, it’s just less likely because aspirin comes in pre-measured doses. > \*\* It is also less likely because aspirin is not addictive. As a drug addict builds up tolerance to a particular drug, she or he will require higher and higher doses of that drug to produce the desired effect (and avoid the undesired effects of withdrawl). This makes eventual overdose more likely than it would be with a non-addictive substance. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ssj\_man2k \* > \*\*Heroin is just poppy seeds. > \*\* No it is not. Heroin is a narcotic produced by acetylation of morphine. > [@](#): > > \*\* > That’s why if you eat a poppy seed bagel, you can test positive for heroin. \*\* No you cannot. Heroin does not have the same chemical composition as anything naturally found in poppies. You can, however, test positive for morphine or codeine, as these do naturally occur in poppies. Uncle Cecil has dealt with this subject before: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_116.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_116.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/31 "2002-07-08T21:53:27Z")
> [@](#): > > heroin causes no physical damage to the body You ever see a longtime heroin addict’s hands? ---
**Author:** ![agentfroot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@agentfroot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agentfroot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351/32 "2002-07-09T03:22:24Z")
midol! seriously, my friend was building up a tolerance to it, so she had to cut back. also, pringles and ramen noodles tend to be addicting… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-a-non-harmful-addictive-drug-hit-the-streets/117351.md?page=1)