People Who Use Drugs Need to Be Treated With Dignity

Heroin is "semisynthetic"...Cocaine is a concentrated extract that requires some chemicals...Meth is completely synthetic, but structurally close to ephedrine, found in plants...
 
Let's say there are three categories of molecule: natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic.

Cocaine is natural. Other chemicals are required to separate the cocaine from other materials in the coca plant, but the shape of the molecule itself is not changed.

Heroin is semi-synthetic. That means it started out as a natural molecule (morphine) and its structure was changed slightly through a chemical reaction. MDMA synthesized from sassafras oil or methamphetamine synthesized from ephedra would also be semi-synthetic.

Methamphetamine can also be fully synthetic, which means that it is created from scratch starting with very small molecules. This would be the case for methamphetamine synthesized from phenyl-2-propanone (P2P).
 
ahh yeah… Thanks..

And LSD has that ergot fungi in its process of making it doesnt it? Maybe that's not essential. I dont know. So is LSD semi or fully synthetic?

And Cannabis is natural of course, but can hydro that is pumped full of hormones/nutrients/whatever be classed as semi synthetic, or is it still natural?

Magic mushrooms, natural….
 
neversickanymore said:
Does god want users and addict to be treated poorly?
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Absolutely not, in my opinion.

From what I recall when I read an American translation of the Bible into "modern English" (I read the New International Version), Jesus Christ openly shared his table with a prostitute, Mary Magdalene. And when society wanted to stone her to death for adultery, Jesus said something along the lines of, "Let he who among you is without sin, cast the first stone." Afterwards, IIRC, no one came forward to stone her.

Also, I recall reading in several places that about helping those in need.

Proverbs 14:31 comes to mind.

neversickanymore said:
Did god create religion?
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IMO, no. It's all about faith, accepting God as your savior, and believing in His word (the Bible) in order to be considered saved (and Baptized in water, and Christened as a baby, and being Baptized with the Holy Spirit - depending on the denomination).

Religion is a man-made word - I think it's never mentioned in the Bible. Each denomination of Christians has their own interpretation of what it means to be a true Christian.

Drugs are not mentioned in the Bible (with the exception of alcohol). Because of 1 Timothy 5:23, some denominations probably believe it isn't a sin to drink booze, while others believe it is.

I've heard some people argue that it is a sign to use recreational drugs because it can be considered an idol. And one of the Ten Commandments forbids any other false gods (idols apparently qualify as false gods) before me.

For far too long, blood has been spilled over disagreements between different denominations of Christians.

Unbeknownst to many, for a time science in general was considered as heresy towards the church. Renaissance astronomers, such as Galileo Galilei feared being executed for their work (some of them were burned at the stake for their theories). It is because of acts such as these that the fact that science is now (for the most part) embraced by Christians leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

During the mid 19th Century, Mormons flocked out west into Utah and surrounding parts to escape persecution by other denominations. Among them was probably the greatest gunsmith to have ever lived: John Moses Browning.

Sorry for the babbling, I'm done.
 
I don't believe in the christian "god", but IMHO the christian religion has nothing to do with what he speaks in the bible.

what I mean is that bible is meant to be taken as a metaphor that carries a good message (love for each other, compassion etc) and christians should pursue this good message helping other people YES EVEN ADDICTS and spreading love in the world, and i'm not saying none of them does it but most of them just judge other people and spend their time praying a man in the sky that no one has ever seen and no one will ever see to make your wishes become true if you behave good (santa claus anyone?) which btw he never does.

i mean, how can you believe that a man rules the whole universe (because he speaks the language of men and supposedly looks like a man) and that there are such things as heaven and hell? (bevause honestly humanity CANNOT be divided into bad and good, it's much much more complicated than that) and also that the earth is the only planet IN THE WHOLE FUCKING UNIVERSE with living beings crawling on it (because when god creates the universe in the bible he doesn't talk about creating life on any planet other than earth)

IMHO christians should read the bible in a metaphoric way and don't take what is written for true (also because how can you believe such incredible things happened just reading them from a friggin book written centuries ago? wtf?) and carry the message in their life and get the fuck over it, and stop behaving like they are the only righteous beings on this fucking planet.
but you know there are too many economical reasons behind christianity (trust me, i live in Italy, we have the pope whom has more fucking gold on him than... well, something full of gold)

sorry for the rant, i just had to say what i think
 
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Let's get all old testament for a moment.
Genesis1-29, On the sixth day...........
then GOD said behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed it shall be food for you.
Yeah,,the articles condescending but we'll intentioned. Honestly I don't believe many people have any idea what to do about addicts and addiction
 
Being an addict is a shortcoming because of the burden it puts on others regardless of the role various drugs' illegality has in addictive behavior. I think that's what the author meant by saying that. The synthetic/natural distinction is pretty meaningless. As was stated previously, even "evil" destructive drugs like meth have been found in nature. What's "natural" is just what's been found to have been biosynthesized in the environment.
 
Methamphetamine was not really found in acacia. Laboratory error I think.

Unless there's new information out.
 
And behold God placeth the needles and the soda cans and the partially full lighters in the waters beside New Jersey so as man walketh along that shore he may find plenty awash.
 
Not that I see this happening anytime soon, but I could think of one way in which the government could motivate people to not discard used needles and other "expired" or broken drug paraphernalia: some really good grub, or some spare change.

Using a lobby dustpan (preferably with a big "BIO-HAZARD" sign on the bottom end) and a gopher reaching tool, I'd be more than happy to very carefully collect 50 used needles stinking up the "waters beside New Jersey" in exchange for a couple of Whoppers - but only if I also get some fries and an XL Mountain Dew to wash it all down.

Dumb idea? Oh well I tried.
 
An important part of what I do is encouraging the public to look at people who use drugs as fellow human beings.
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That this even has to be said fills me with shame and doubt for humanity as a whole.
idk where the concept that drug users are the scum of the earth came from but its disgusting.

Overall not a bad article but definitely approaches the topic from a strange angle.
 
People who use drugs need to be treated with dignity.
All people need to be treated with dignity.
Even those with small minded biases against drug users.

Whether a drug is "natural" or "synthetic" is irrelevant.
We absolutely must have the right to choose what to put into our bodies.
This includes everything from avoiding peanuts to purposefully taking a lethal dose of downers.
 
^Good post Slim...

The fact that this person feels the need to brag about her efforts to get others to tret drug users like "Human Beings" shows her bias...I think this is what's bothering some of us...It should go without saying that you treat your fellow humans "with dignity"...
 
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