As 'binary' as the distinction may seem to you...
I drew a pretty FAIR distinction when I concluded that the
individual bears the greatest responsibility.
This goes for peanuts, french fries, and amphetamines.
But amphetamines require a LOT more intervention to exist.
Very few human beings are capable of synthesizing this compound, much less discovering it.
Your equating these is far more 'binary' than anything I have said.
Inventors also bear responsibility.
This is the legal view in many cases, and it could be argued as a moral view.
It is not an all-or-nothing prospect, with the user assuming 100%.
Responsibility is SHARED.
The proportion could be argued.
For example - the inventors of Prozac do indeed bear responsibility.
But the pharmaceutical industry that produces them have profited BILLIONS of dollars and they contribute staff members to the FDA.
Who do you think I blame more?
How about families of Prozac users that committed suicide?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdkFasjSJ_g
Just as with MDMA, the 'adverse events' seem to be the minority.
Yet the nature of it is so VIOLENT that the minority deserves to be acknowledged.
Nobody told these people that the newest miracle pill could result in such emotional pain that its users would WISH for death.
So yes - Prozac's inventors bear responsibility.
The FDA and the legions of doctors so arrogantly prescribing it
bear more.
Yet it is the
individual that ultimately bears the bulk of responsibility.
Penicillin, which I am highly allergic to after several child-hood exposures, is different from the other drugs.
Its goal is healing infection, while MDMA and Prozac are designed to change brain function.
While all three could be applied in admirable ways...
Isn't an acute and lethal reaction to
healing infection more acceptable than a failed attempt at curing depression?
Perhaps not to the victim...
French fries?
The corporations that PROFIT from its widespread marketing and consumption DO bear responsibility.
While I do not believe in the American response of suing companies when personal responsibility is obviously greater...
No other food contributes to the 'obesity epidemic' like french fries.
It is truly an evil and destructive food.
But as with drugs it is the DOSAGE that causes damage.
I enjoy fries probably once per month OR LESS.
I'm also 30 years old and invested in my personal health.
When I was younger I would eat them 4 times a week, like most of my peers.
Many here will not realize just how bad french fries are until they reach their 40s.
My father is a brilliant man, but at 55 years old he is suddenly fighting diabetes due to poor choices made over the course of decades.
Yet fast-food restaurants STILL bear some responsibility.
It was not always understood that starches are so damaging...
So this undermines both the individual and corporate responsibilities, doesn't it?
Knowledge is required, isn't it?
Shulgin could not have known the 'neurotoxicity' of MDMA when he synthesized it.
This undermines his responsibility as well.
If I had to assign a proportion of blame, he would receive a miniscule amount.
Is this enough 'drawing the line'?
Do we need percentages?
Ok.
Shulgin gets 2%.
Does this help?
By my arguments, those that profit bear greater responsibility than the creator.
The manufacturing and distribution of the drug is taken out of the hands of its creator.
In the case of Shulgin, he has made the formulas public - and this entitles him to a greater share.
But those that currently manufacture and distribute MDMA should be FORCED to share harm reduction techniques to their customers.
In terms of 'profit' it is the INDIVIDUAL that profits most.
By using the drug we inherit an unbelievable wealth, at least for a while.
This is a simple argument.
You have refused to argue one of my primary points - that Bluelight bears a SPECIAL responsibility.
And many members utterly fail in this regard, disseminating false and harmful information.
In my opinion, this places more responsibility HERE than on Shulgin or on public education.
If this weren't the case, I wouldn't be spending so much time on BL since my own near-lethal reaction to MDMA.
I should have never trusted the words of people that glorify the world's most popular amphetamine...
While I am quite angry at the arrogant culture of ecstasy users that ASSURED me of the drug's 'safety'...
I must admit a great level of personal responsibility.