The Five Best Countries to Live in if You're a Drug User

A recent study in PLoS Medicine concludes that the US leads the way internationally when it comes to getting wasted.
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Yeah?

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/630731-Aussies-the-biggest-recreational-drug-users-in-the-world

AUSTRALIANS and New Zealanders are the biggest recreational drug users in the world, according to the 2012 United Nations World Drug Report.
The use of ecstasy is in decline in Australia, but cocaine use is on the rise and Australians and New Zealanders consume more marijuana per capita than any other country.
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ro4eva said:
I know its old news but the fact that Japan took two godzilla-sized bitch slaps from the US for attacking Pearl Harbor probably makes them the least likely first world country to deviate from its US republican rooted drug policies.
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Yeah, no doubt that Japan is subservient to the US in many ways (though maybe not all).
But ignorance about drugs here is deeply troubling.
Most people think that cannabis is essentially the same thing as heroin, and speed.
There are different names in Japanese for the substances, but actual differences between the drugs are not understood or well-known. There is fear-mongering and brainwashing. It is as if the marijuana-insanity-scare tactics of the US in the 1950's won out, and we are frozen in time.

There are posters in train stations with photos of (nasty-looking!) growing cannabis, so that people can learn to recognize it and snitch on their neighbors (and friends). The posters have a teenage boy and girl, walking hand-in-hand away from the camera, suggesting that smoking weed leads to teenage sex, and away from supervision/parental control.

Plus, the tobacco, alcohol, and pharm industries here are just as powerful as in the US, if not moreso.

Still, it is not Singapore or Dubai, so I am happy about that, at least!
 
slimvictor said:
just as powerful as in the US, if not moreso.
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This is way off topic, but I think Japan's subsurvience to the US is largely feigned -- a very socially smart people giving a power-tripping superpower exactly what it wants to hear. The US and Japan's relationship on the world stage can be likened to the relationship between a cocaine-fueled but successful and arrogant stock trader, and his coke dealer, respectively. The latter knows its in his best interest to stroke the former's ego and suffer his bullshit without complaint, but never forgets that it's he and his products who make such posturing possible.

Still, it is not Singapore or Dubai, so I am happy about that, at least!
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From the stories I've heard of Westerners in Japan who thought they were being plenty discrete about their use getting their doors kicked in, coupled with the near impossibility of importing drugs into Japan (including by post) without being caught, I put this country in the same tier of anti-drug zeal as Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, and Indonesia. No, they don't put drug possessors to death, foreign or local. But I've known and read a lot of accounts of Westerners who've lived in Japan, and if the stories are to be believed, the Japanese government is very, very good at sending the message that foreign drug users are unwelcome there.
 
Spain is a pretty cool place for scoring drugs. I've never had a problem there anyway bar the odd shit deal. As long as you don't cause trouble no-one seems to give a shit.
 
I hear Ibiza (Town), Balearic Islands (Spain) rivals Amsterdam in terms of drug culture.

Also, Palma, Majorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) looks absolutely stunning (and also apparently is a tourist hotspot).
 
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USA #1 for drug users, WTF? If you're going by consumption and availability why not put Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia on the list? Why isn't Spain, Jamaica or Cambodia on that list? Australia and New Zealand would probably make the cut, except their drug prices are fucking insane8o.
MyDoorsAreOpen said:
But I've known and read a lot of accounts of Westerners who've lived in Japan, and if the stories are to be believed, the Japanese government is very, very good at sending the message that foreign drug users are unwelcome there.
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It's strange, from what I've read using substances besides alcohol and tobacco was no big deal in Japan before the US won. Sometime after they went all straight edge and shit after a methamphetamine and methaqualone epidemic.

I've heard that smoking and drinking isn't that big of a deal, but weed is almost as popular as meth or huffing, as in not common. Prescription benzos and formally Ritalin seem more popular, with benzos being no problem to get from a doctor. I think Japan is one of the top benzo consumers. But I've read media reports that cannabis use may be on the rise in Japan, due to the corrupting influence of foreigners:D. Maybe someday they'll learn the truth and chill the fuck out.

Is there just no Japanese equivalent of Erowid or Bluelight?
 
Australia and New Zealand would probably make the cut, except their drug prices are fucking insane.
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Yeah lol, it's not just our drug prices, the price of living here is apparently higher than New York and London :( But most certainly our drug prices are insane, that doesn't seem to stop anyone buying them though hehe :)

Spain sounds cool, and Ibeethah (Ibiza) also.
 
Ammmerricaaa fuck yea!! The us shouldnt even be on that list. Just because there are tons of users doesnt mean its the bestplace to live and do drugs freely, which is what i thought the list was going to be. I mean it does vary state to state esp with weed, but have a g of coke or dope and your not walking away with a warning
 
lol... Yeah you can. A while back when we had no shortage of heroin here (early to mid 90's), Cabbramatta and around the train station people would offer it to anyone walking by (and there would be addicts passed out all over the place), the police have cleaned it up a bit now i believe, but it's still very easy to obtain (i think) and for coke and meth and heroin places like kings cross and oxford st in Sydney city are easy to score, other cities have their areas (or st's or corners as well)... So yeah I think so, there will always be street dealers like that in certain areas.

Those Kangaroos can box your head in, so you wouldn't want to try and rip one off.
 
Don't live in any illusion about the Netherlands as some kind of "cannabis heaven" anymore. Cannabis is illegal to buy or possess for foreigners and even resident Dutch have to have a "weed pass" to enter coffee shops.

I recommend you instead head to Berlin. No coffee shops, but you're allowed to have 10 g of cannabis (IME much more in practice, no one cares as long as you're not dealing) on you and the smell of weed can be felt just about everywhere in the city. The atmosphere towards drugs feels much more liberal than in Amsterdam nowadays.
 
MyDoorsAreOpen said:
This is way off topic, but I think Japan's subsurvience to the US is largely feigned -- a very socially smart people giving a power-tripping superpower exactly what it wants to hear. The US and Japan's relationship on the world stage can be likened to the relationship between a cocaine-fueled but successful and arrogant stock trader, and his coke dealer, respectively. The latter knows its in his best interest to stroke the former's ego and suffer his bullshit without complaint, but never forgets that it's he and his products who make such posturing possible.



From the stories I've heard of Westerners in Japan who thought they were being plenty discrete about their use getting their doors kicked in, coupled with the near impossibility of importing drugs into Japan (including by post) without being caught, I put this country in the same tier of anti-drug zeal as Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, and Indonesia. No, they don't put drug possessors to death, foreign or local. But I've known and read a lot of accounts of Westerners who've lived in Japan, and if the stories are to be believed, the Japanese government is very, very good at sending the message that foreign drug users are unwelcome there.
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I like your analogy of the coke dealer and stock trader.

But not having to worry about the death penalty makes a huge difference for those who want to take the risk!
So I would definitely say that Japan is far more relaxed, despite how insane things are here.
I have seen or heard about many people using drugs here, mostly in Tokyo (but none anywhere around where I live).
There are active hippy- and electronic music- type communities (sorry for the stupid over-generalizations!) where drug use is normal, and I don't know if such a thing exists in Singapore, Dubai, etc.
 
Cyanoide said:
Don't live in any illusion about the Netherlands as some kind of "cannabis heaven" anymore. Cannabis is illegal to buy or possess for foreigners and even resident Dutch have to have a "weed pass" to enter coffee shops.
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I live in the Netherlands, and have seen no sign of this. This only applies to border towns and cities, mainly Masstricht. I also hear its easy to get cheap weed from street dealers in Masstricht, as even the dutch dont want to use the "weed pass". So sorry to say Holland is STILL a weed haven.... for now
 
kracks said:
I live in the Netherlands, and have seen no sign of this. This only applies to border towns and cities, mainly Masstricht. I also hear its easy to get cheap weed from street dealers in Masstricht, as even the dutch dont want to use the "weed pass". So sorry to say Holland is STILL a weed haven.... for now
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Ok, thanks for the correction. But you do have moved in a stricter direction though. I have lots of relatives in Almere and Amsterdam and visit quite often, and I can't help but feel it doesn't feel as liberal as it used to.

It seems like always when there's a conservative party in power, your laws get more strict, and always when there's a liberal/left party in power, the laws are again relaxed.
 
snafu said:
Disappointed that US is number one. I knew a guy who was arrested for the cops finding just a few bud seeds in a bag in his car.
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i was booked for a roach.....that wasnt even a weed roach it was from a roll up (bag tabacco in a rolling paper)...the cop didnt even test it as i was already being booked for paraphernalia (papers) and driving on a suspended liscence.

the charge stuck too because at the time i had atleast 3 more open cases and my lawyer said it would only bring more problems if i asked the judge to test the roach or to even question the validity of said charge so i have a possession charge on my rap sheet for a cigarette roach.
 
^ It all depends on which state you are in tho right? (not state of mind, location lol) as the laws vastly vary from state to state (same here in Aus). Some places in the US sound heaps relaxed with weed, i recall one cop who said in his town (where ever it was) they don't bother with anything under an ounce. But other places are still obviously VERY strict.
 
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