Resident of Japan here. Young people ruining their kidneys by swallowing whole bottles of OTC cough medicine instead of smoking weed isn't "winning the war drugs". Look up "市販薬OD" if you don't believe me.
This is hilarious. You think Japan is struggling with drug trafficking, drug abuse and policing of drug use?
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Cannabis-Empire-Nineteenth-Cen...
If you're an American, please stop ruining other peoples countries because you want them to be like your own messed up one.
There is just some stuff that really shouldn't have happened.
Of course cough medicine isn't any more mind altering than caffeine - except that there at least two types of highly psychoactive cough medicine: opioid, which has narcotic effects, and dextromethorphan, which has dissociative effects.
Experts, including Dr. Toshihiko Matsumoto, claim that wrist-cutting, suicides, and other self-harm increases when it becomes more difficult for young people to purchase cough syrup, presumably because they use it self-medicate trauma.
This is a microcosm for drug policy in general. Prohibition is only successful if you ignore second-order effects.
None of this is to discourage you from learning more about drug policy. Maybe if more people learned about it we would stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again
> I've been following drug policy around the world for decades
Is this supposed to make you an authority on the topic?
> Of course cough medicine …
You literally said “cough medicine isn’t mind altering,” and then used the next paragraph to explain how it is mind-altering.
> … presumably because they use it self-medicate trauma
Are you implying that when vulnerable people try to harm themselves with drugs we should let them pick their own drugs and dosage? How about, you know, real medical help?
Of course not, that's why I provided the name of an authority.
> You literally said “cough medicine isn’t mind altering,” and then used the next paragraph to explain how it is mind-altering.
Paraphrasing the argument of my interlocutor and then immediately refuting it is a common rhetorical device.
> How about, you know, real medical help?
Of course people need real medical help. It's easier for them to seek it if they aren't at risk of criminal prosecution. Look up "harm reduction".
These are all net negatives that can be offset with net positives.
Telling them they can all smoke weed for no reason is not.
I'm actually amazed you think this way, but then again, you are a foreigner in Japan and those are constantly bitter that places in East Asia are actually not rampant with drugs and drug abused homelessness.
>Prohibition is only successful if you ignore second-order effects.
Prohibition is only successful if you want it to be, the West does not. Much of Asia did. That's the difference and it's amazing living in Asia without having to worry about a war on drugs.
>None of this is to discourage you from learning more about drug policy.
Why do you think I'm commenting here so bluntly if you think I don't know about what I'm talking about?
So now you're putting words in my mouth?
> I'm actually amazed you think this way, but then again, you are a foreigner in Japan and those are constantly bitter
"Pointing out ways that something you like can improve means you secretly hate it" is not a cogent argument.
> that places in East Asia are actually not rampant with drugs and drug abused homelessness.
Have you ever been to Japan? I've met a lot of drug users, and I've seen a lot of drugs. I know someone who runs a methamphetamine self-help group and credits cannabis with his recovery. I've met compassionate growers who supply cancer patients with free cannabis. I've been in a brick-and-mortar store that sells grey-market research chemicals from overseas. I know a shaman who runs underground pharmahuasca ceremonies. And last but not least, I dodge drunk salarymen and puddles of vomit on my way home from work every Friday night. Or do you not consider alcohol to be a drug...?
> Why do you think I'm commenting here so bluntly if you think I don't know about what I'm talking about?
You didn't even know about cough medicine. You have a credibility deficit right now. I've given you names and keywords and falsifiable statements and personal experience. All you've given me is baseless confidence and status quo bias. Throw me a bone!
In the meantime, may I suggest you read a book? "Drug Use for Grownups" by Dr. Carl Hart is a good place to start.
Yes. It sounds like you haven't.
Your comments are just entertainment at this point.
If you have lived in Japan, have you lived anywhere else where drugs do actually have a strong societal impact?
You sound about as naive as someone who blindly seethes after illicit drug use does.