Quote:
Originally Posted by undercoverbrother
They are not equal.
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Did you know that the active ingredient in cough syrup (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextromethorphan) is a very powerful dissociative very similar to ketamine? One is legal because it has a beneficial side effect that we haven't found a good substitute for. The other is illegal. Both drugs are in the same class and have very similar power levels.
The line that has been drawn is very arbitrary. There are some very powerful non-prescription drugs out there, with the potential to mess you up as much or moreso than even some illegal drugs.
This story makes me wonder how many people work on powerful prescription meds like xanax, etc and how much those really mess people up. I've tried addoral which they give people for ADD and that stuff is pretty powerful.
A lot of people think drugs are black and white. Prescription drugs are safe. Non-prescription drugs aren't that powerful. Illegal drugs are bad. All three of those statements are far from the truth. You can't really generalize about drugs. Each drug has a history of why it is available over the counter, prescribe-able, or illegal. Not all these reasons make sense.
I suspect a lot of issues around drugs will become big debates in the next 100 years as people are able to educate themselves and not just take pro or anti-drug propaganda to heart. We see it already with the dangerousness of alcohol vs weed debate. The dangers of certain over the counter medications and prescription medications are going to be highlighted now that people can share their experiences so easily these days.