Ecstasy threatens Cambodia’s jungles

[thujone]

But, people claim to be envirometnalists. They use cotton bags at the grovery store, and drive electric cars. Then they buy MDMA form someone who chops down the rain forest so they can sell you two and a half hours of euphoria. If the person using the drug is not to blame then who is? Thats a very self serving statement. Just like walmart. IF you do not want children the age of 6 to make your clothes, dont buy those clothes. It is that simple. The person who buys questionable products is the one who supports them

So you tell me that people buying illegal antiquities are not single handedly responsible for the destruction of native cultures all around the world, so they can have something that looks nice in their foyer?

um.. you do realize that this is caused by the fact that it is illegal in the first place... right?

^ THAT was exactly my point, not that some people shop at walmart. fact is, i don't know whether walmart employs sweatshops, and i certainly don't know whether the sassafras oil used to make the world's supply of ecstasy comes from a single jungle in cambodia. i do know that the article is heavily biased, which makes it far likelier to it's grossly exaggerating figures.

 

[Huaca]

The environment is being harmed because it is illegal. Solution: make it legal. Grow it in lowland agricultural areas where the government can monitor the waste runoff and so forth.

 

[The Is]

Thujone how could you possibly absolve yourself or responsibly by saying that it is the fault of whoever made it illegal?

The fact that it is illegal is the situation we're living under. Its what we have been born into. Our decisions work *In the world we live in* not in some land were everything is how we think it *should be*

That means that when we know the effects of our actions, and then choose to act, we are responsible for our actions. What ambiguity could there be in this situation?

 

[drunken_etard]

I know ppl in my class from Cambodia. THis girl named Visnea is in my water wand waste water class straight from Cambodia because of the problem they have with illegal drug waste pooring into local wells and aquafirs. The way she explained Cambodia is one scary ass place. SHe said there huge fortress's in the jungle that not even the army goes near. Ands that where they make the sass oil and meth and such.

 

[Inrvizion]

At least Pol Pot is dead. Now it's just a Sass flavored genocide...

Seriously though, I agree that we have to make our decisions based on the world we live in where E is illegal, however, I can't say that if I was living in poverty out in the Jungles of Cambodia that I would be doing anything different.

Shit, if it was sanctioned and controlled, and LEGAL I'm absolutely sure they could find a much more environmentally friendly way to produce Sass Oil.

More than one love to Cambodia,
Inrvizion

 

[infinity2k7]

Huh, is there really such mass production of this oil to cause damage? And how does it scale compared to legit chemical/other operations environmental damage anyway... It seems like hype to me, i don't believe ecstasy production is of a large enough scale to be a serious threat.

 

[DrunkardsDream]

The Cardamon Mountains. It's actually the last place in the world for the Siamease Crocodile and the fresh water Irrawaddy Dolphin (only 50-60 left).

The article states their are Tigers, well it's unclear how many are left but in a 1998 survey they found around 50. That's ten years ago and the Chinese have a massive demand to grind their bones for medicine and eat their dicks so i can't imagine there are any left?

As you can imagine their extremely poor earning 20-40 dollars a month so poaching, logging and jungle meth labs are just the harsh reality.
I'm pretty sure logging for tropical timbers is ALOT more of a problem though especially with the massive government corruption over there I could tell you some storys. . .

It's a very beautiful place in the rainy season with huge waterfalls and low hanging mists. Very sad really but us humans fuck everything up, it's what we do best!

That's very sad. I hope those animals don't become extinct. I've heard that even the Tasmanian Devil faces extinction.

 

[elroy44]

That's a damn shame...if it was legal we might not have this problem.

 

[spun420833]

Cambodia should really just start making it legal to harvest the oil, but make the folk reforrest @ the same time.

Good to see tou chiming in Beenhead. Haven't heard from you for a while. Get married yet?

 

[ranunky]

Its like if I didn't know better sometimes I'd feel like humans are just animals with brains!

Er...

Animals have brains... and humans are animals............ 8)

 

[diche]

is it just me or does the title of this article scream "free-association"?

 

[dexingpotsmoker]

That is truly saddening.

The root of the problem, in every sense, and in every way, is money.

Money drives those who have power, unbelievable amounts of money is made from the illegal drug trade. Much money can be made from illegally harvest sassafras and making drugs. Money is hard to come by in places like Cambodia. You can only get food with money, clothes, with money, a house with money, a "life" with money. We like money. We use money. We need money. It takes less money to get something from Wal-Mart.

We are hooked on an idea.
The world is run on numbers.
The fate of our existence hinges on having or not having something so small and insignificant, so common and unprofound, something that I have laying on the floor.

Something I gave way too much of to my friend just moments ago for an "illegal" bag of medicinal, nutritious and enlightening herb.

Can Obama fix our problems? Hell no.

Our problems are thousands of years old.

 

[Distortionz]

We are to the earth what cancer is to us, its ridiculous how we can be so smart and stupid at the same time

 

[Spucky]

The environment is being harmed because it is illegal. Solution: make it legal. Grow it in lowland agricultural areas where the government can monitor the waste runoff and so forth.

But this will never happend!

So, it is on your Hand, not anymore on mine (i quit already).
U just have to stop it, it is your Part.

I have been on that Part just a few month ago,
Koh Kong up to Battambang + Trat-Province in Thailand,
Cambodia is destroyed by Drugs of all Kind,
mainly Yaba!

 

[hexxx]

The environment can take much more serious devestation than all humanity can dish out. It will absorb it, there will be extinctions (us included) and the cycle of life will continue. Im not condoning these labs but derestriction, legislation and the establishment of reserves would be a great start. In a world where you cannot stop people from doing what they want, rather try to make the best of a bad situation.

 

[rachamim]

It is very sad but true, but then you can get the oil from 4 different plants. If only producers used their brains for more than adding Dollars and Euros.

Hexx: The environment like anything else has very real paramters , which if exceede will mean the point of noreturn. It is quite true that dangers are very often over-stated, but dangers exists none the less.

I spend quite a bit of time in that country and I have to offer that drugs have not destroyed it much at all. there is a problem with Yaa Baa (Yaa Maa in Cambodia) but it is very limited and nothing at all like in Thailand and mynammar/Burma. AIDs/HIV and HCV are terrible things and true threats but most HIV/AIDs there is due to heterosexual sex, not drugs. In any event, heroin is the main drug of abuse by the por, it is cheaper than Yaa Maa for locals, and is much more prevalent.

With the new methadone clinic near the Airport is will go a long way towards stemming its spread among IDUs, the deforestation is terrible all over SE Asia, even here where people are dying because of it but that is bad with or without MDMA which is really not a big issue worldwide. Illicit Lumber is far, far, far worse for the region.

 

[squirrel_master]

Rather, it yields very pure sassafrass oil. To an Organic Chemist, purity is everything.

yes and we know how much purity's in todays pills. 8)

 

[squirrel_master]

Shit, if it was sanctioned and controlled, and LEGAL I'm absolutely sure they could find a much more environmentally friendly way to produce Sass Oil.

exactly. so the user's are hardly to blame. blame the drug war. just like they bitch about the mexican cartels growing ganja in cali. the solution is legalize it so it can be controlled and grown in an area where it will not cause damage and purity can be controlled as well.

 

[rant*N*rave]

yes and we know how much purity's in todays pills. 8)

Impurities come from post-chemistry pill production. If the sassafras oil weren't pure, you wouldn't have any MDMA at all, because it would be way more difficult to make. The MDMA in pills is usually incredibly high grade for a non-regulated chemical, however, the assholes that press it throw in all kinds of other bullshit alongside it.


As for all this sassafras nonsense, if it weren't illegal to make MDMA, we wouldn't have a problem at all. When I lived in Michigan we had a HUGE sassafras tree growing in our back yard. Shame I had absolutely no idea what it was good for... I could have distilled oil if I wanted - it's what I'm going to school for!!! :D But yeah, pretty much, you can grow these trees all over the US without much difficulty. Stupid that we're destroying ecosystems to do it now...

 

[p-mo]

Yes it could be possible to grow the stuff naturally and farm it in a way that doesn't harm the ecosystem. BUT this will continue to happen. Why? Because it will always be cheaper to find the trees that grow naturally cut them down and distill the oil. Legalising MDMA or Sassafras oil production isn't going to cure this problem- instead you'd need to find better paying jobs for those poor folks- which I'm sure would be next to impossible- they probably earn more than doctors, lawyers or teachers in Cambodia...