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Vaccinated Against Vices?

Smoke Me A Kipper writes "The Independent is reporting that the latest UK government sponsored quango, charged with looking at the problems of drug abuse, is to recommend a national anti-addiction 'vaccination' scheme. Apparantly, trials are already in progress. No details as to whether it would be mandatory. Personally I find such an idea utterly shocking - what happens when you find yourself injured in later life and morphine based painkillers no longer work? I wouldn't be surprised to find existing phamaceutical companies excited by this, having to replace cheap drugs with something new, which they can patent and control."

10 of 583 comments (clear)

  1. Placebos by tunabomber · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How about they just give all the children a shot of sugar water and then say that they are "vaccinated"? Then they'd never try drugs because there'd be no point (or so they'd think).

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    pi = 3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory71 ...
  2. The study didn't eliminate the effects of cocaine. by topynate · · Score: 5, Interesting
    It reduced them. Now, suppose you snort a line, and you don't feel high enough? What're you going to do?

    Yeah, no shit! And higher doses of coke are supposed to be better for you, are they?

  3. ah, the old puritan mentality... by painehope · · Score: 4, Interesting

    if it feels good, it must be bad. And we ( as in the government, religion, society ) have the right to tell you what to do, even in the privacy of your own home or head.

    I understand the issue of addiction, and the problems that addiction poses to society. This is one way of addressing it, but it is a morally dubious one. It removes the essentials of choice, which is a prime factor in what makes us human. It is also the cornerstone of a lot of religious tenets, which will lead once again to the unwashed christian masses sponsoring something that goes directly against their religious beliefs ( like christians who support the death penalty, where's the "thou shalt not kill" commandment again? ). So, rather than addressing the problem of addiction with personal help ( which is a morally unquestionable stance - you want help, we'll give it to you ), and treating the attendant problems ( crime - legalize drugs, diseases - re-instate needle exchange programs and allow sex ed to be taught in schools ) in a humane and efficient manner, we will embark down the slippery slope that "vaccines" for this stuff offer.

    How long after a vaccine for drugs if implemented, will we have a vaccine for violence? And how long after that will we all be mindless zombies, in a perfect semblance of "health", all marching to the beat of our corporate/religious masters? That is a state worse than 1984. 1984 was about manipulation and control. We're already there to a degree ( watched the news lately? In multiple countries? They are fucking lying to us, so blatantly in many cases that it will blow your top to actually dig into the facts ), but at least when you're being manipulated, you can be awakened. What happens when you're vaccinated or genetically altered to the point where you can't get high, can't feel love, anger, pain, joy, any of the things that make us human? Can't choose between right or wrong? I would rather die myself.

    And before anyone gets on my case about not understanding the problem, understand that I do. I've been strung out. Badly. I spent the better part of a decade putting cocaine, speed, and heroin in my arms, nose, and lungs. But I also understand that a lot of drugs have their uses. Acid won't ruin your life ( unless you're stupid enough to take way too much, but tylenol will do that as well ). Everyone should have one good trip in their life. It's fun and teaches you a lot about yourself. Cocaine has a lot of useful medicinal properties, but as a recreational drug it's useless and far too destructive. Alcohol is one most addictive and destructive drugs around, yet it's legal almost everywhere in the world. Etc. - they're just chemicals people.

    What's scary is how we react to the issues that come up because of these chemicals. If it weren't drugs, it would be something else that exposes the weaknesses in our moral logic. And it is ultimately an issue of morality. Not the morality that all these soapbox baptist neocon preachers go on about, but actual human morality that rises out of ability to reason. What the Western world was based on.

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    PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
  4. Re:Totally. by Gorath99 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Ridiculous. Medicating for no serious reason *at all*? I can't wait to see people have allergic reactions (some no doubt will) and sue the government for forcing them to take this absurd vaccine.
    I don't know if anyone is going to get forced into taking this vaccine, but I can't help but be reminded of a certain British genius whose life was destroyed by unnecessary "medication" that was forced on him by his government.
  5. Vaccine by Sunspire · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If they really wanted to get rid of a lot of crime and health problems and save the world billions of dollars, here's what they should do:

    Do exactly the opposite of what they're doing now. Concede that drugs can never be eliminated and instead work towards negating all the negative aspects of drugs one by one.

    Research safe and approved alternatives that would provide the desired good feeling without the side effects or the addictiveness. Pop a pill in the evening, but be up for work next morning without a hangover. Beats getting wasted at the bar.

    Make the stuff relatively cheap, driving the black market and oranized crime out of the drug business.

    The idea is to provide a safe and supervised alternative. By supervised I mean the stuff shouldn't be provided to minors or lunatics. There should be heavy penalties for driving while under influence and/or technical solutions to make it impossible. For instance, in some places in Europe they've installed alcohol-locks in cars that seem to work pretty well.

    Why it will never happen in the US:
    - The tobacca and alcohol lobby would bury anyone who tried to push it.
    - Unfortunately for a lot of people this sort of pragmatic solution is unacceptable. It's not about eliminating crime or saving lives, it's about legislating (their) morality.
    - Once you've spent billions on something stupid it's hard to pull the plug and admit defeat. Those who've worked in IT sees this every day, some stupid project is beyond all salvation and everybody knows it but more money is being inject solely because a shitload has already been spent.

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    It's like deja vu all over again.
  6. Re:Always thinking of the children... by Pharmboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Amen. I am not sure why so many look to the government to "solve all that ails us". Not only does this strip away rights, it forces entire populations to participate in an experiment. Not only will persons who are at high risk of being addicted be affected, but the vast majority of participants would never have tried those drugs or become addicts, but still forced by government regulations, to share the same risk.

    I am not sure how the UK treats "required immunizations", but we have a little choice in the US, from home schooling to waivers for "religious reasons", although most would not have enough information to do so. This strikes me in the same vein as "Big Brother", since the patented 'viruses' that you would have to be injected with are not exactly open source, but are instead proprietary property of some Drug Company(tm) used under the direction of the Federal Government, all in the name of what is best for us.

    If that doesn't worry the shit out of you, then there is no hope for any of us.

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    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  7. Some Info On The Vaccines by vajrabum · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Here's some information on the vaccines mentioned in the article. There's one from Xenova and another developed by Scripps . Both work by creating antibodies to Cocaine. The Xenova vaccine has had a phase II trial. I wonder if the specificity of the antibodies is really a settled question. If not, then you might find that pleasure, pain, and sex or something more subtle wouldn't be quite the same thing again. Not something I'd want to mess with. It seems silly, if not scary to be considering giving it to children at this point. Here are the folks at the UK Brain, Science, Addiction, and Drugs although they don't have much up.

  8. Re:Always thinking of controlling the masses by ron_ivi · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Another interesting one is a Vaccine to create a Guilt-Free Soldier.
    People are creating pills to immunize people against fealings of guilt and remorse.
    "It's the morning-after pill for just about anything that produces regret, remorse, pain, or guilt," says Dr. Leon Kass, chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, who emphasizes that he's speaking as an individual and not on behalf of the council. Barry Romo, a national coordinator for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, is even more blunt. "That's the devil pill," he says. "That's the monster pill, the anti-morality pill. That's the pill that can make men and women do anything and think they can get away with it. Even if it doesn't work, what's scary is that a young soldier could believe it will."

    Are we ready for the infamous Nuremberg plea?"I was just following orders"?to be made easier with pharmaceuticals? Though the research so far has been limited to animals and the most preliminary of human trials, the question is worth debating now.

    "If you have the pill, it certainly increases the temptation for the soldier to lower the standard for taking lethal action, if he thinks he'll be numbed to the personal risk of consequences. We don't want soldiers saying willy-nilly, 'Screw it. I can take my pill and even if doing this is not really warranted, I'll be OK,' " says psychiatrist Edmund G. Howe, director of the Program on Medical Ethics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. "If soldiers are going to have that lower threshold, we might have to build in even stronger safeguards than we have right now against, say, blowing away human shields. We'll need a higher standard of proof [that an action is justified]."
    Slightly ironic that the /. title was "vaccinated against vices", and the Village Voice's spin is "vaccinated against morality".
  9. Re:Sample religous reasons by Firethorn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What kind of FUD have you heard? They most commonly use chicken embryos (ie eggs), not human fetuses. No vaccine that I've heard of uses human fetuses for it's creation.

    There are a few treatments for genetic disorders that use stem cells from the umbilical cord, otherwise all 'fetal tissue' used is used in research.

    As it goes, my grandfather had polio. He still walks with a limp.

    As for those who can't be vaccinated, the more people you get who can be vaccinated protect those who can't, as they won't become a carrier.

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    I don't read AC A human right
  10. Re:quick fix mentality by Larthallor · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually, that IS the problem: Drugs are TOO fun. They are often times more fun than other things in people's lives that turn out to be useful to society. Like work, friends, and family. If none of these (or any other) areas of your life are very appealing compared to being high, you tend to get high instead of spending time with them. Which tends to make work, friends, and family even less enjoyable, or not even available. And since drugs can be taken in doses much greater than their natural analogs, they often are more fun, almost by the biological definition of the word.

    You have a reward system in your brain that has evolved for hundreds of millions of years to promote evolutionarily useful behavior. Drugs skirt right around this system and end up promoting one behavior; getting high again. And, since, as mentioned above, the doses can be so much higher (or bind tighter) than natural versions, you get habits and desires burned into your brain quickly and deeply.

    Ever hear of "thinking with your genitals"? Much of that "thinking" is attributable to the reward system in your brain. Tapping into that with drugs is like hypnotizing yourself that doing drugs is what you want. You create a new, often dangerous behavior that becomes instinctual along the lines of sex because it uses the same pathways as sex!