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Comment by cannonpr | Hacker News Reader

The ban on cocaine is kind of annoying even in its pure form, it’s a very useful local anaesthetic with good tolerance, low side effects that few people are allergic to. I have often wished it was included in some of the more advanced first aid kits, or used more widely for minor operations.

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"In the United States, cocaine is regulated as a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse but has an accepted medical use. While rarely used medically today, its accepted uses are as a topical local anesthetic for the upper respiratory tract as well as to reduce bleeding in the mouth, throat and nasal cavities.", from Wikipedias cocaine page. I remember septoplasty surgery using topical cocaine for example.

Where do I buy it for my med kit?

In any upscale nightclub restroom.

If only that was actually cocaine...

The same place you buy Adderall or Fentanyl, which are also schedule II.

Cocaine is sometimes used in the US to stop nose bleeds and for blood vessel constriction generally, in addition to occasional use as a local anesthetic.

We have good local anesthetics that don't carry the same addiction risk. There's no reason to provide such a potent addictive drug at OTC.

As it turns out, lidocaine causes a lot of nerve damage. It even has long-lasting cognitive effects, in some patients.

oh heck, i had no idea! i just bought a huge tube of it for an elbow injury. time to pitch it i suppose. thanks for the info. it's sad what the nanny-state babies inflict on society for lack of understanding second-order effects.

I think you will find that cocaine actually compares very favourably and exceeds most current ones, except for the addiction potential, and the damage it did to the US foreign currency balance way back when they made it illegal.

If you have two drugs that are comparable, except one has a high risk of addiction, why would you consider the one with addiction potential except in very specialized situations?

Used as a local anesthetic there's no addiction risk. You don't get high from it, and it's not prescribed at home so you can't make a habit out of it. The only risk is medical people who have access to it stealing some.

Grandparent was suggesting including cocaine in OTC first-aid kits

Just take sugar instead. Cheaper, stronger and legal.

Are you claiming sugar is a better local anesthetic than cocaine?

I was referring to the widely unknown facts that sugar is a stronger drug than cocaine[1], and more addictive[2]. Also much more dangerous.

[1] fedup movie (sundance 2014)

[2] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...

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