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Comment by 0xbear | Hacker News Reader

That shit can really screw you up. See e.g. this case right here: http://gawker.com/5941532/mma-fighter-who-ripped-friends-hea...

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Sounds like we better ban alcohol, a substance much more likely to elicit violence than psilocybin.

Alcohol is the fourth leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S.

I'm not advocating for or against anything here, just that alcohol is not a good example or comparison to use when arguing for some other mood-altering drug.

There are different kinds of violence. Dude ripped out the heart from his friends chest while he was still alive and then cooked it. When discovered by police he didn't see anything wrong with what he did.

Going out on a limb here, but I think there may be more to the story than they both ate a couple of magic mushrooms.

People who get drunk on alcohol are super violent all the time: murdering, mutilating, and fighting each other, and getting in to car accidents where they kill a whole bunch of people -- so much that it's not usually considered newsworthy to point out any particular case of someone being drunk when they got violent.

Now, how often do people get violent from taking mushrooms? Basically almost never, which is why a news story like this gets coverage.

Of course, people can and sometimes do (non-violently) freak out on mushrooms, which is why it's important to treat them with respect, take them with a sitter under a good set and setting, and perhaps ideally under the guidance of a therapist.

You do realize that you're unquestionably believing the word of the heart ripper, right?

No actual evidence has been released regarding what happen, since the case never went to court (he took a plea).

I've heard people have even died from caffeine overdoses [0]. We should ban coffee, soda and energy drinks while we're at it.

EDIT: While my argument is sarcasm, there's both a change.org petition to ban raw caffeine [1], along with several senators who support such a ban [2].

0: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/south-carolina-te...

1: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-food-and-drug-administration-in...

2: http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i18/US-senators-push-ban-caff...

Oh please that's an absurd argument. Nobody here is saying we should ban every possible dangerous thing. The question becomes what are the recreational benefits of using the drug when weighed against the possible risks and side-effects. If you're willing to present statistics that more people overdose on caffeine than cause violent crime on mushrooms, then maybe you'll have something.

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