Yeah it's ridiculous to say BZP is safer than meth. Unless you mean it's unpleasant so you're less likely to get addicted. Is he to blame for the piped out x pills? Fuck that! Although the older spice products he made were closer to weed and safer than the new shit so I'll give him that.
I agree that recreational drugs should be regulated like any other product. I mean there's drugs and even surgeries used for purely cosmetic reasons. Some drugs blur the line between medical and life-enhancers, like anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, HRT, sometimes pain-pills and drug maintenance therapy. Shit in the US weak opiate preparation, amphetamines, inhalants(ether, chloroform, amyl nitrite), bromides and even some barbiturates were OTC. In some states and some countries weak opiates/depressants/stimulants are still OTC. Those drugs are way worse than soft drugs like weed or psychedelics.
What I think should be done:
1.Soft drugs like weed or psychedelic should be legal.
2.Certain preparations or small amounts of harder drugs should be OTC like Sudafed is. Small amounts of stuff like coca, khat, or even opium should be dispensed in limited amounts.
3.There should be an age limit of 18 for everything, including alcohol.
4.There should be drug maintenance therapy available for addicts ie. diamorphine maintenance.
5.New drugs must be shown to be safe, like other medicine. Think drug approval, only for euphoria instead of a medical treatment.
6. They must meet standards of purity, consistency, and list the drug, dose, and side effects. If addictive it should be clearly labeled.
7.They should be taxed like tobacco or alcohol, except for medical use including maintenance.
8. Possession should be legal for certain drugs/amounts. Dealing, growing, or smuggling small amounts should either be legal or decriminalized.
They could make cannabis basically legal if it was moved to schedule V. Those drugs can be OTC. Surely cannabis is safer and less addictive than schedule IV drugs like benzos or barbs. Shit it's safer than lyrica, Robotussin AC, or buprenex(which was CIV)
I wonder how everything would be different if drugs were treated as a personal choose and addiction as an illness, rather then a moral and criminal problem to be stamped out. How much could we have learned if recreational drugs were studied like pharmaceuticals? On one hand I could see big business fucking shit up and making drugs that are more addictive, like what the tobacco or food industry did. But maybe some drug that's safer and less addictive would arise. Would it be like Synthehol, Soma, or Ambrosia? Or would it be Substance D or Neuroin?
