Posted by Elizabeth on August 26, 2001, at 10:07:20
In reply to Re: Paxil should be illegal / It causes brain damage » Elizabeth, posted by Lini on August 24, 2001, at 14:17:15
Lini:
> I don't know about that argument - alcohol and nicotine are both legal and the potential for abuse is significant and very real.
In the case of alcohol, the government has realised that it couldn't keep it illegal (they did try). They haven't figured that out about other drugs yet. (I also don't get why they knew that they needed to amend the Constitution in order to make alcohol illegal, but for some reason they believe that it's Constitutional to pass legislation making other drugs illegal.)
In the case of tobacco, the industry bribed the government. Also, tobacco doesn't get people high and has never been associated with non-white races or other "undesirable" people (heroin was associated with [black] jazz musicians, marijuana with Mexicans, crack with blacks, LSD with hippies, etc.). Of course, now recreational drug users are considered inherently "undesirable," so newer drugs (such as ecstasy) are just considered inherently evil.
> And, not to get caught up in semantics but, I am not sure how one would separate actual danger and abuse potential - doesn't one directly effect the other?
Not significantly. Some drugs of "abuse" are relatively safe (for example, marijuana is very safe, and opioids, although they do have high abuse potential and can be lethal in overdose, don't have the health risks of, say, alcohol or tobacco). And plenty of drugs that aren't abused are very dangerous -- antineoplastics, for example, are just about the most toxic drugs around.
Simcha:
> Isn't it true that they pull drugs from the market that cause defects.
No. The drug company does that. It doesn't mean the drug is illegal; it just means it's unmarketable (because of the "black box" that is required to be added to its labeling). Fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine were voluntarily withdrawn from the market by the manufacturer. (Phentermine, the other half of "phen-fen," is still available.)
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:76176
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010822/msgs/76447.html