Florida teen sold deadly toxin abrin online, US says

[Thorns Have Roses]

^Making chemical weapons is a big story. It'll be a big deal if hydrogen sulfide is used for anything other than suicide, I'm surprised some aspiring terrorist hasn't resorted to it (even if there weren't fatalities, everyone would panic given how omnipresent the ingredients are). Even for a suicide irresponsibly risky to bystanders, it doesn't get covered like in Japan 'cause we don't have so many people in close proximity to poison by accident, and good folks have the courtesy to do it in their car and leave a sign to warn first responders (and I guess it's unpopular since we have easy access to firearms, but whatever).

I am really horrified at how amoral these bitcoin based markets are in what they allow. I mean, obviously I'm fine with someone screwing the controlled substances act with their business (as it violates our inherit ownership of our bodies and minds), but these places can be downright criminal.

 

[babylonboy]

^There are people who are every bit as outraged that someone might buy cocaine or heroin over the net.

 

[Thorns Have Roses]

Of course, and I can sympathize with them (I'm for legalization only because prohibition is more detrimental to society), had we a different regulatory environment regarding the recreational use of psychoactives, I'd be outraged at not only sites like these, but I'd also loathe RC vendors for putting people at risk with inadequately researched chemicals (I support our right to make informed decisions, not business' right to poison us until someone proves they're doing so). I merely believe that resorting to black market methods is forgivable when no reasonable alternative has been presented, especially given the proportion of us who are self-medicating.

I don't think pointing out that people have different approaches to ethics justifies the extreme moral relativism of facilitating access to materials whose sole purpose is to violate the rights of others (poison, illegal firearms, explosives, etc. Likewise any place that aids and abets white collar crimes). Not to sound like some self-righteous prig, I'm not exactly a good productive citizen, in fact I'm more of a detriment to the world than a boon. I can see where you're coming from if you're an anarchist who sees these sites' actions as a moral grey area (though I strongly oppose revolutionaries and reactionaries who think that a minority needs to start trying to violently overthrow the system to get people to catch on to their way of thinking).

Hopefully this informs your opinion of me and lends context to my statements here and elsewhere.

 

[neversickanymore]

I am really horrified at how amoral these bitcoin based markets are in what they allow. I mean, obviously I'm fine with someone screwing the controlled substances act with their business (as it violates our inherit ownership of our bodies and minds), but these places can be downright criminal.

I agree.. a very big mistake. It unfairly groups us drug people in with criminals.. oh but wait that unfair distinction is still readly made today and is based on common practices of law all over the world.

 

[omnipresenthuman]

This makes me think of how I knew this one dude who smoked a ton of weed and he said that he could use the Silk Road to hire an assassin if he wanted to...I never really believed him but it sure was awkward between me and him after he told me that.

On another note, though, stories like this always make me wonder how I would've turned out if I could've watched all 5 seasons of 'Breaking Bad' before I graduated high school...2 meth labs, what...