CHECK Ost #1

SOCIETY
ENGLISH
As a reminder, the global market value of illicit
drugs is estimated at $ 500 billion. If you are
really curious about where this money ends up,
have a browse through the topics menu of the
UN Office On Drugs and Crime: arms smuggling,
terrorism, human trafficking, poaching,
cybercrime, corruption and so on. It doesn‘t
take much imagination to build a direct connection
between the line of coke you snort and
forced prostitution of minors.
HELPING DRUGS USERS IS TRICKY
Advice and contact points for drug users and
addicts face a particular dilemma. Most drug
prevention professionals know that people
don’t stop using drugs by simply telling them:
”Don‘t use drugs because they‘re illegal and unhealthy“.
The task is rather to convey consumption
strategies and to limit individual damage
in the event of drug abuse, for example in the
form of safer use. Anyone who has ever been
confronted with a destructive dependency in a
friend or family member knows that defending
public morale will not get you anywhere.
Currently, any form of drug counselling and
education inevitably takes place in the context
of crime. So the question is how effective this
work really can be. And how much positive
potential goes to waste through criminalization
and social ostracism of certain substances.
6 FLIES DEAD AFTER 30 MINUTES
In 1952, the chemist Albert van Schoor investigated
the amphetamine MDMA, better known
as Ecstasy. He carried out toxicological experiments
with flies and noted: ”After 30 minutes,
6 flies dead“. A scientific publication did not
follow up on his observation.
If you look around long enough, however, you
will find numerous study-based writings that
prove the harmfulness of MDMA and the like.
Regular and excessive consumption of amphetamines
attacks brain tissue. Improper use can
lead to hyperthermia (overheating), which can
be fatal. Cocaine consumption can have massive
physical and psychological consequences,
lead to immune deficiency, severe weight loss
and damage to blood vessels, liver, heart and
kidneys. Heroin poisoning can cause unconsciousness,
breathing problems and circulatory
60 CHECK OST #1
failure due to the slowing of the heart. If you
fall unconscious while on heroin, your reflexes
are switched off, which is why there is a risk of
choking on vomit.
Much is being said about the dangers of illegal
drugs. So why are people willing to accept those?
LEGAL VS. ILLEGAL
Expansion of consciousness, talking to God,
finding inner peace, just getting high, enhancing
sexual experiences, numbing instant
pain. The list of reasons why drugs appear in
almost every culture in the world is long. They
even play a role in western church culture.
Frankincense, for example, contains the active
ingredient Incensole. It has a similar effect on
wild mice as antidepressants and anxiolytics. In
the resin of the frankincense species Boswellia
papyrifera, Incensol and its acetate can even
make up a total content of up to 10% and more.
That‘s pretty potent.
Millions of Christians regularly leave Sunday
mass sedated through frankincense, which is
then called pious. And millions of stoners are
afraid of being caught intoxicated by the police.
Because that‘s called criminal. But joking aside:
a non-scientifically-based drug policy harbors
very real dangers: for our health as well as for
our society.
DRUG-CHECKING
The body of a sixteen-year-old ballerina reacts
differently to an ecstasy pill than the body of
a forty-year-old sumo wrestler. Nevertheless,
both of them buy a pill from a dealer in a club
that evening and take it. Have they consulted
Foto: Max Titov_unsplash.com