Slashdot Mirror
88-Year-Old Inventor Hassled By the DEA
New submitter Calibax writes "30 years ago, Bob Wallace and his partner came up with a product to help hikers, flood victims and others purify water. Wallace, now 88 years old, packs his product by hand in his garage, stores it in his backyard shed and sells it for $6.50. Recently, the DEA has been hassling him because his product uses crystalline iodine. He has been refused a license to purchase the iodine because it can be used in the production of crystal meth, and as a result he is now out of business. A DEA spokesman describes this as 'collateral damage' not resulting from DEA regulations but from the selfish actions of criminals."
It can also be used to create an explosive compound that shall remain nameless.
...it'd be a shame if anything were to happen to it!
Methamphetamine actually is useful to hikers and flood victims!
An unconstitutional federal agency puts an honest businessman out of work. If you've had enough of this shit, as well as the rest of the collateral damage from the War On Drugs like the routine violation of the first, fourth, and fifth amendments, by a militarized police force, vote for Ron Paul.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I thought it is the land of the Dream and DEA destroyed 88-years-old's dream? LoL.
so much for blaming people for killing people, this is blaming the gun maker for the people killed by it.
Notice how this hasn't gone to court? The DEA would be shut down so fast from harassing Mr. Wallace in court that they wouldn't even dare it. Instead, they shut him down by threats alone, aka PIPA/SOPA.
The problem is not the "selfish" criminals.
The real problem is the real selfishness of the people that buys drugs from that criminals.
Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
I want to say something about this, something clever, something snarky...but I'm at a loss. I mean, this is a facepalm of such epicness it is nearly unfathomable.
Scott
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
about the value of stimulus, and how all jobs are sacred, even stupid fucked up ones like these at the DEA.
Dog is my co-pilot.
Also, make sure there's no Los Pollos Hermanos close by.
http://dilemma.gulecha.org - My philospohical short film.
Can we just end prohibition already? Drug enforcement is ruining more lives than drugs.
I've used it in the past, and I'm sure REI retailed it at one point.
He should just contact the criminals who cook meth, I mean they get their supply of it from some where. In a land where crystalline iodine is illegal only criminals will have crystalline iodine. Or something like that.
... then nothing gets done.
The DEA could easily tell whomever gives the licenses to approve this guy, but they choose not to. Instead, they want to blame it on criminals, instead of where the blame really lies, which is the bullshit anti-drug laws that we have too many of.
We could legalize meth, have the government or some pharmacy make it safely, and then every loser that wants to do it won't be supporting the people who make it.
The problem here is not meth addicts, it's the bullshit they go thru to make the meth, which hurts consumers more. You won't have druggies stealing the crap the makes meth, you won't have places become toxic because people are making meth in their bathtub/kitchen.
America, the land of the hypocrites and home of the illusion of freedom.
Be seeing you...
So here in the middle of the recession, one old guy with an established business gets trounced on by the DEA because they have their heads up their butts! Where has common sense gone to? If I was in power in the DEA, I would fire or demote those who made such an idiotic decision. Rules and laws are made to protect the public, not to punish them. When are they going to get it through their heads!
just what is needed when the show is on the rebound don't take away them saying fire again.
I hate to read TFA and I hate to defend the DEA (did we learn nothing from Prohibition?) but once again this is a sloppy and wholly misleading article summary (thanks Slashdot!) To wit:
As much as I like this guy and his sense of humor, it seems much less sinister than the Slashdot linkbait summary indicates. It appears to be a pretty simple case of "government restricts chemical that can be used in meth labs, old guy making product in his garage with said product doesn't want to deal with the government bureaucracy and is surprised when the government shuts off his access to that chemical."
"95% of all Slashdot
"In May, his Oklahoma distributor -- warned by the DEA -- said he could no longer send Wallace iodine.
For Wallace to comply, the state Department of Justice fingerprinted the couple and told Wallace he needed to show them such things as a solid security system for his product. Wallace sent a photograph of Buddy sitting on the front porch."
More people need to do exactly this in the face of bureaucratic oppression and bullshit. Everyone needs more pictures of dogs.
I used this on a three month long backpacking trip where we hauled in our (insufficient) food, but used whatever (sometimes nasty) water sources we could find.
Polar pure at low concentrations overnight (to kill viruses) in the dirty water container, then pumped through a ceramic filter (get rid of giardia cists), into the clean water container (and a few CCs to replenish the fluid in the Polar Pure bottle). The one bottle handled all the water needs for multiple people for 3 months, and we couldn't really tell if the crystals had diminished at the end of the trip.
This is getting ridiculous. We need to get that insurrection started so the cops have something better to do.
Iodine isn't available without a license from the DEA.
Not here, or here, or even here.
In fact, I can only find 32 results in the first web site I thought to look in.
Looks like the system works!
Once you realize this you will be much happier.
Seriously though, it is stuff like this that makes people not want government having a hand in our everyday lives. There is no sense in this action, just some bureaucrat going by the book.
Sorry hikers and flood victims, we know you'd like clean water but while you're drinking that tepid water and consequently when you're lying ill you can reflect on the fact that your sacrifice means that drug dealers have had to find another source for iodine to create methamphetamine. We know it's a large sacrifice for an almost immeasurably small payoff, but this was low-hanging fruit and we're pretty lazy. DEA.
The purified water doesn't taste very good, but when it's the difference between hydrating and not hydrating, aka life and death, it's worth it.
WTF... how many people die from meth abuse every year? Now, look at the WHO figures for how many people die in car-related accidents (last I checked it was topping 1 million worldwide). Nice to see the government has its life-saving priorities right. Oh wait, it collects taxes from the sale of cars, registrations and fuels doen't it?
My late Great Uncle William M. Harrison was a Chemist/Geologist in Oil Recovery who worked on Oil recovery Patents 45 years. Most of the current worlds oil is recovered with methods he developed. His most famous patent was His "Oil-eating Bacteria" in which he altered the DNA of. For His work in his lab to develop a method to recover 90% of heavy crude fields, he required raw unprocessed oil. As regulations against Benzene were enforced companies could no longer provide oil samples for him to use. He tried to meet regulations but as his lab was in the back yard, he could get approval. We eventually worked around this as natural "Oil Seeps" are plentiful in the area. But as the regulators didn't care he worked on the Manhattan Project as the discoverer of Plutonium's toxicity to life, developed Venezuela's oil fields, member of the American Chemists Society for 60 years, and an expert in the dangers of the chemicals of unrefined oil didn't matter to them as "Benzene was a cancer causing chemical" 't If he wasn't delayed by the regulators and the fears companies had of the regulators, he could have lived long enough to finis the patent filing process thgetting his last patent approved he worked 17 years towards. Yet another example of regulators intentions stifling innovation...
What does his age have to do with this? 88?
Hmm... He must be born around 1923, which would have made him a beatnik, definitely, and quite possibly a serious druggie around the time of Woodstock.
Wait! DEA, I hope them beat that darn old hippie up, whimps.
Who would risk having an old daddy around selling meth and crack to the kids?
Damn druggie.
When I was in New Zealand on LOTR back in 1999 I couldn't buy quantities of plain ole alcohol over a few ounces because they were using it to make meth. You had to be able to prove you were a business to buy quantities so I had to go through the office and not just use petty cash to buy simple alcohol. In this country they hassle you if you try to buy multiple packets of decongestants. The joke is I can buy lab grade ammonia that can be used in explosives without any hassle. I'm betting you can buy everything needed for plastic explosives from a single source without a hassle but try to buy any single component that can be used in drugs and you get hassled.
I bet meth labs use water. maybe we should make water purchasing severely restricted, and charge people large licensing fees to use water. how about oxygen, or a nice nitrogen/oxygen mix to reduce the risk of atmospheric fires? natural gas for bunsen burners, electricity for lights. We have made a chemical element illegal to own. that seems wrong. its time to make methamphetamines (damn thats a hard one to type) decriminalized. it wont significantly increase use, and will save lives from criminal behavior.
Here's the DEA's list. Those marked as "List 1" are the most restricted. It's not that long a list. Iodine is the only chemical on List 1 that isn't particularly hazardous.
He makes like $100,000/year. But he is complaining about having to pay a $1,200 application fee and having to fill out a form and print out his customer list and send it to them. Now, he has hired a lawyer. Rather than waste money on a lawyer, he should have just payed the fee and invested in some cheap security theater. If that part was too much work, he should have rented a storage unit at some facility that has security. But, instead he chooses to be a jerk about it. If they deny his application now, he has no one to blame but himself.
I was just thinking the same thing about your entire family. Asshole.
I apologize in advance for actually reading TFA, but I don't see anywhere in the article any claims from the DEA that the chemical has ever been used to actually make meth.
Choice quotes:
about four years ago, the DEA began to look closely at the product, even citing it in a position paper, and suggested that it was being used by cranksters as well as campers.
Suggestions do not equal proof.
Special Agent Richard Camps, a San Jose-based state narcotics task force commander, said he received reports of suspicious buyers. "Weird-looking people, 'Beavis and Butt-Head'-types, were coming into camping stores and buying everything they had on the shelves," Camps said.
Really? A "state narcotics commander" (which I assume is someone important, probably in charge of other officers) just called a class of people "beavis and butt-head types," and he gets to keep his job? Whoever is doing PR for the state is probably cringing right now.
"Then they would take off into the mountains and try to cook meth with it." The DEA reported agents found Polar Pure at a meth lab they dismantled in Tennessee two years ago.
Okay, so they tried to do it, but then what happened? Did they succeed?
If it's just as hard to cookup meth with this stuff as it is to cook up meth with other stuff that's legal, or if you just can't figure out how to cook up meth with this stuff at all, then let this old guy have his iodine.
coding is life
Read Sandra Day O'Connor's dissent in Gonzales v. Raich, in which the Chief Justice concurred. Or even read Thomas' dissent in that case. (He's never very nuanced, but he's always clear on his points.)
Yes, they were dissents, but they were just barely so, and there is a strong body of history and law to support them. And the majority opinions don't directly clash with her reasoning, so it is more that mere dicta.
Remember that a constitutional amendment was required to ban the substance -- this was before the outrageous overreaching by the federal government government using the commerce clause, as we know it today. A constitutional amendment was therefore also required to repeal the power to ban it. O'Connor very powerfully argues that Section 1 of the 21st amendment completely strips the power to regulate alcohol ("intoxicating liquors") from the federal government and, in case there were any doubt, Section 2 returns that power explicitly to the states.
Water? I'm pretty sure water must used in the process of cooking meth.
Citizen! Please provide adequate security for your faucets and purchase our water license for $1200. You must maintain a record of all water that is used from your faucet, and must be able to account for where it is used. Bulk users of water are suspect and must be reported to the authorities.
These security precautions are for your own safety and for the safety of your children.
It can be used to cook meth, you know!
First half is composed of iodising salts, second half silverised activated charcoal – that's a “survival straw.” The iodine kills the bacteria, the second half removes the iodine. You use them to make survival kits, they are water purifiers. They are often used by special forces soldiers ...
The purpose of existence is to make money.
Let's outlaw Sudafed next. Oh, and don't forget that cologne contains alcohol. Let's ban sale of cologne to minors. Land of the free... pfff
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
And how is a dog not good security if all that can happen is theft? Grossly overcharging for permits is awfully close to extortion, done by a government. Not giving exact specifications on what "security" should be, makes "lack of security" an invalid reason to deny a permit. If you want to set rules, you should make them well known and publicly available.
I'm all for regulating this, but you'll have to do it the proper way. In my opinion, the "free country, free will" thing in the USA constitution has been misused a lot, but in this case, it totally fits the bill. Make up some proper rules, publish them properly, and don't extort extreme large amounts of money out of people trying to obey them.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
water... when it's the difference between hydrating and not hydrating
Well then I have some good news for you! Haven't you heard, thanks to the vigilant heroes working in the nanny-state, you no longer need to waste your time purifying water to stay hydrated. It doesn't actually hydrate after all! Just think of the savings to the world economy. We truly are living in glorious times thanks to the genius of our technocratic leaders. It's a good thing I'm just a Beta and I don't have to do all the thinking required to be one of those hard workers, that would be doubleplusungood!
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
he's earned every right to mouth off to anyone he wants.
The reason for causing this are: Cognitive better than reality came early. When the progress of science and technology, used to be a good thing now because some side effects leading to become damage cancer society. As the scientist speaking, this is also he didn't want to see China Dakco is a professional LED supplier, its flagship product for led display,led screen,led board
.. as, say, gasoline refineries, I bet they would not be "blowing up at alarming rate" -- and no, I do not use their end product, and do not even intend to use it!
Paul B.
We could legalize meth, have the government or some pharmacy make it safely, and then every loser that wants to do it won't be supporting the people who make it.
Just because the DEA overreaches and just because there are solid libertarian arguments for legalizing some drugs doesn't mean there are no substances for which prohibition makes good social, economic, and ethical sense....
Your idea sounds nice, but unless your plan includes banning the users of your legal dispensary from medical and dental care the fiscal costs alone are way too high. Amphetamine abuse causes serious neurological problems, well in excess of those potentially caused by alcohol, cocaine, or heroin; the burden of caring for addicts could be staggering. Severe depression, anxiety, concentration problems, motor impairment, etc. Not to mention the social and moral costs of, you know, just watching people cook themselves into death or permanent oblivion with product that you asked your government to manufacture and give to them.
If you firmly believe that people should have a right to get high, fine. But don't go spouting off about which particular substances should be available - without the pharmacology, economics, and ethics to back it up - simply to satisfy your libertarian impulse. That's not advocacy, it's sociopathy.
- $1200 is a lot to pay for a license and a license generally needs to be renewed once a year.
- He would need to produce an additional 200-300 units a year to justify the cost of the license and this is a lot of units to produce.
- He's 88 years old. He most probably produces the product for his love of the technology than for profit by this time.
Let's be pretty blunt about this... I'd imagine that it all started with the $1200. While the DEA is obviously trying to do their job, their job policing the drug trade in the U.S. should not be impact legitimate uses of these chemicals by stopping the small and up and coming businesses from being able to function. It would be like saying that since a bomb maker would likely need a resistor or relay to make a detonator, then anyone who wishes to build anything with a resistor or relay should have to pay DHS a $1200 fee before they could purchase them. This would eliminate a tremendous number of small businesses from starting up and would seriously hurt America as a result. We as computer geeks often forget that things like crystalline iodine is a component to a guy like this in the same way that a resistor is to a electronics nerd.
The DEA is a publicly funded entity. They already receive their budgets from the government and we as a people pay their operating expenses as a whole because we recognize that they "fight an evil" which most of us believe needs to be fought. I am disappointed to see that they are penalizing this guy. Yes, you have many great and valid points about how he dealt poorly with this situation...but... he's justifiably pissed off that the DEA is penalizing him for doing absolutely nothing wrong. I makes absolutely no difference which organization it is that is trying to take his money... honest inventors and businessmen shouldn't have to pay stipends such as this because there's a few bad apples screwing it up for him.
No he obviously is not a diplomat. He almost certainly isn't someone you'd want negotiating contracts for your company. But he is a guy who produces and probably regularly improves upon a technical innovation and provides it to a group of people who wish to buy it and see a utility with it. The DEA is obviously aware of him now. They had the budget to track him down and communicate with him. Asking $1200 for a license to a chemical he obviously knows how to handle was just plain stupid. As to the bulk purchasers thing... this is obviously what was most important or should have been to the DEA. Instead of putting the guy out of business, they instead should have been more diplomatic and asked him "If someone orders more of these things than they could actually use, could you give them a call and say 'Hi... wow you're my best customer this month... it's a big order and I don't want to make you wait unjustifiably long, what are you using all these filters for? Can I send you the first 1/4 of the order today as I have that many on my shelf and I'll send the remaining 3/4 when I finish producing them?' and call us if they sound like they aren't buying them for the filtering itself.". I bet you anything, the old fella would have been much more amenable, and then the DEA would have accomplished something meaningful instead of shutting down a small, legitimate business.
Ever heard of amendments, you know, the legit way to make changes? that's how you keep up with the times, not by wiping your ass with the constitution.
if the commerce clause and general welfare are enough to authorize anything, why bother with constitution in the first place?
You forget that water does not hydrate
It is just too addictive. It has more or less a 100% addiction rate. So you can't do "just a little" meth or be an occasional user. You get hooked, hardcore. Combine that with the massive amount of damage it does and it is just not safe for use at all really.
I think people forget that there are different levels of dangers in terms of drugs. Some, like marajuna, are pretty harmless. It doesn't have any physical addiction symptoms, is effectively impossible to OD on, and doesn't cause much long term damage (there are studies to indicate it causes some damage to higher reasoning skills, and of course when smoked it causes damage that any smoke inhalation does). It is quite safe over all.
Others though, like meth, are exceedingly dangerous. They have strong physical addictions (some like heroin can have fatal withdrawal symptoms), and do extreme amounts of damage to the body. You want to see real nasty, look up Krokodil but don't look at photos unless you have a strong stomach: People literally rot away alive. Life expectancy for addicts is a couple years at best.
While I sure as hell don't support the current "All drugs are evil and should be illegal," mentality, you have to learn about them and appreciate that some are just too addictive and destructive to be things that are sold over the counter. We need to legalize the reasonably safe drugs, not just everything and say "Fuck it, this can kill you quick but who cares?"
I used to use this stuff all the time when I hiked in Colorado. The main thing was you needed to warm the water up a little and run it through a coffee filter to get out the chunks. Son of a gun. That stuff was great!
Iodine has all kinds of legitimate uses in all kinds of non-drug fields. Why not focus on stopping the drug labs getting hold of those things that are specific to the production of drugs. If the drug labs cant get the Pseudoephadrine or other drug ingredients, it wont matter how much iodine they can get.
I have a bottle of his product sitting not 20 feet from me. Serves as a backup on all of my camping trips should my primary water purification method fail, or if the water is just too dirty to use a filter. The first time I used the stuff was a decade ago when I visited Philmont with my scout troop, where a pair of bottles is given to every contingent for safety.
This guy makes $100,000 a year on this stuff. They told him he needed to pay a $1100 regulatory fee and needed to secure his stash. He completely ignores the fee and sends the DEA a picture of his old dog claiming it's his security. I'm really at a loss. Did he secretly not actually want to keep his business?
I do not think the over regulation of these kinds of materials is necessary in society, but it is what it is right now. If he wanted to keep his business, he should have at least tried to look like he wanted to comply instead of brushing everything off and hoping for the best.
Only retards use crystal meth, only retards make crystal meth, but honestly, who gives a shit if retards die from crystal meth overdoses. The world could do with less retards. If anything we should be giving all these retards free meth and a place to die so this problem goes away.
Stopping legitimate chemists from buying chemicals to stop retards from killing themselves and other people too stupid to make good decisions is totally unfair and non-productive. We should just let these retards make meth, smoke meth and die. It would certainly cut down on property crime because the cost of making meth without the risks of law enforcement are close to zero.
I wish all these drugs were legal so these retards would go off and kill themselves.
And to anyone who's got a story about someone in their family that used meth and it fucked up their life, good riddance, that person was a fucking idiot and deserved what was coming to them.
And it's incredibly handy. You fill the small glass vial with water, soak the pellets in it for a while, then pour a capful of iodine-laden water into about a gallon jug of suspect drinking water. It's one of the lightest and simplest water purification systems I've ever encountered; it is even easier than boiling water. You could even use this device to make a stagnant puddle potable, if you didn't have a larger water vessel.
This thing must certainly have saved lives before. It allowed me to extend a southern Utah desert hike to two weeks instead of the (maybe) two days' worth of water I'd have been able to pack in.
Polar Pure isn't just some recreational upper like gas station ephedrine tablets used to be. It allows a person to drink the water one needs to survive in adverse environments. It lasts for thousands of gallons, and its weight and size are negligible.
I've very sorry to see Polar Pure go.
Why did it take an Amendment to make alcohol illegal and not one to make marijuana illegal?
Learn to love Alaska
It was 3/5ths, and it was 1787, and given your inadequate knowledge of the basic facts concerning the census count of slaves, you're probably not aware of the way that number was arrived at. There were people who didn't want them to count at all. I'll give you a hint: It *wasn't* the slave holders in the South. Perhaps if you think about the problem for a minute it might dawn on you why that was the case.
The founders knew perfectly well that things would need to change with the times. That is precisely why they created the amendment process in the first place.
There are countries where you can safely get drugs that are not realy damaging (optionaly designer drugs at smartshops with one week time to think things over (so nu impulsive buying)) and where you can legaly test them at government lab test facilities for like 5 USD or even for free (to see if there is some damaging substance there that is not supposed to be there). With the lab results you are 100% sure if you can take them reasonably safely.
It are these places where people take drugs responsibly (once every few months) and are well informed. It is not illegal to use (just to deal outside government regulations, if not banned ofcourse).
There is also no government enforced action taken against fairly safe coocked pills (mdma, xtc, speed and such), because there are almost no addicts and just 2 deaths a year on avarage and that is either overdosed or deadly pill subsances.
The US government has something to learn.
Also, Soap can be used to create nitrogen, you buy soap? you are a criminal!
"Combine that with the massive amount of damage it does and it is just not safe for use at all really."
A new study out this week from Columbia University reports that the "massive amount of damage" caused by meth is actually totally overblown, basically a "myth", and in fact counter-productive for the purpose of treating meth addicts. Very much in the same scare-mongering tradition of claims that (a) marijuana causes instant insanity, (b) crack babies are crippled for life, etc.
http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/21/why-the-myth-of-the-meth-damaged-brain-may-hinder-recovery/
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
There is no authority at the federal level to ban marijuana. A state or locality can do so.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I've hiked and backpacked many a mile, and I've never used any iodine product to purify water. Can't stand the taste. Yuck.
I use regular Clorox. Carry a small bottle that has a medicine dropper screw-on cap and just add a couple of drops per quart of water. Let it sit for half hour or more, and you're good to go. Tastes more like the water from your faucets.
This one of the more basic, and stable, high quality water purification products that can kill giardia in small amounts, long term, cheaply.
I first heard of this guy 25 yrs ago, having trouble with EPA registration (for the bactericidal part, usually like $1-2 million for a new one about then). Amazing that he's still at it. All too soon America will be short of these old guys that knew what to do, knew their rights, weren't empty greed heads and provided niche products with fantastic value. Then when America fails, too many will just say "back luck" and wonder why.
That's not really true, at least for amphetamines and opiates.
Methampethamine analogues are commonly prescribed (at least in Australia) as weight loss pills (for obesity) and for narcoleptics. They are addictive drugs, but the addiction rates amongst patients prescribed these drugs is very very low - because the patients aren't looking to get high and don't have addictive personalities.
Even heroin isn't anywhere near the bogeyman that people make it out to be - it was available over the counter as cough syrup for decades prior to criminalization (although I believe the US banned it before most other countries), and didn't result in the collapse of civilisation or everyone with a cough becoming an addict. My only personal experience is with morphine in hospital, but I absolutely hated the high it gave me - it felt like my brain was fogged.
The benzodiazepine class drugs are the really dangerous drugs as far as addiction is concerned, but no one talks about that problem. I personally suspect it's because they're mostly used by the elderly as sleeping tablets, and can't be demonised as party drugs. There are thousands of doctors who don't have a choice but to continue prescribing benzodiazepines for their elderly patients because withdrawal would kill them.
NO we cant take a bath and get a job because the DEA wont let us!
The DEA reasoning on this is completely absurd. A product with *significant* life-saving (and ass saving) primary uses is held back by an overzealous response to drug-thousandaires buying overpriced iodine in micro-doses to manufacture a drug for which far more critical components are already regulated, and the DEA has the gall to point the finger elsewhere?
That's right, people, we had to take away your freedoms to better protect you from people participating in a black market resultant from our criminalization of a chemical compound. So much has been laid on the altar of the war on drugs. Civil property forfeiture, warrantless-compilation of private actions, televised fried eggs...
Will we ever claw back form this?
The drug was has caused actual war on the streets, and war in Mexico and hugest population of non-violent drug related prisoners in the world. It is part of the economic problem as well, with all the resources that go into it and all the regulations like the one in this story, which in fact destroys jobs.
Drug War must stop.
Ron Paul 2012.
You can't handle the truth.
"I had to hit her. She made me do it".
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
Fisrt of all, I have no experience with meth (except saw a movie about is (Spun) that is supposed to give the user an idea of the experience, including forgetting stuff that the viewer seen before), nor do I have experience with heroin. And I never intent to experience it, ever.
The problem with heroin and meth is that it is not pure what (most) dealers deal. The reason for that is so that people are so addicted due to extra crap in the substance, that quiting almost or does kill them. More addicts; more money. Less rehab; bigger insurance in the 'investment'.
Most studies are for scaring, and studies from the US are extra tricky because government allowed studies are recieving incorrect samples in order to back up the drugwar some more. Pathetic situation.
If the entire world was taking xtc four times a year, world piece would be achieved in no-time, but we have to keep on waging these stupid wars. It's so sad...
"A DEA spokesman describes this as 'collateral damage' not resulting from DEA regulations but from the selfish actions of criminals." Calling your co-workers who decided to harass this guy without supporting rules selfish criminals is pretty harsh. Granted it's true, but you'd expect government agency spokesmen to be a little more politic.
'A DEA spokesman describes this as 'collateral damage' not resulting from DEA regulations but from the selfish actions of criminals."'
That is obviously, factually untrue.
The harm was caused directly by the DEA regulations. They, in turn, may have been necessary because of the actions of criminals; but the spokesman's reported words are self-evidently untrue.
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
their going to take away my iodized salt
Just sell brita-filter type attachments that you put on any bottle. The Iodine is permanently lodged in the "cap" which can be resealed with any bottle lid. Unfortunately makes it more disposable but since the original stuff is 6.50 and lasts for 2000 times, this would let you reuse a plastic water bottle 2000 times... you know assuming it didn't photodegrade by being left in the sun.
Given you'd have to standardize on the 1L/2L/500ml type of water/juice bottle and not gatorade.
But the point still stands, it just needs to be permanently part of something attached with a low-flow rate. You can make the low-flow rate part of the cap so it could even be used on water faucets (given the right threading.)
But that would make the cost skyrocket. I suppose there's an alternative, and that's putting them behind the prescription drug counter like pseudo-ephedrine. Makes it harder to buy a lot of it at once, since it lasts for quite a while, one would only need 1.
Or even at the camping stores, require them to be locked up and only purchasable with ID, limit 1. You just have the problem of stores like Walmart that put all their camping stuff out and people just shoplift tiny bottles.
Yeah, it was non-slave owning notherners who didn't want slaves to be counted as a person. Politically it would be a disaster if you could just import more people to boost your population numbers and stuff the legislature with more seats.
The GP is right. The constitution was a document for a simpler time. It's also not even close to being perfect.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
This is 100% on the head of the DEA, It would be the same as blocking cold medication from a store because it can be used for making Meth. I'm glad the DEA tries to spin excuses that are completely BS, nice work.
I have 2 or 3 bottles of this stuff in my camping equipment. That it's all been packed by this one guy in his garage blows my mind.
Isn't marijuana a Schedule 1 drug according to the Feds? Which would essentially ban it? But states can then override it (see California), correct? I'm not very conversant with drug laws since I don't deal with any besides what my doc prescribes me (somehow I don't think my blood pressure medicine is going to be a problem).
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Is that you have the DEA openly admitting that it's collateral damage and then trying to deflect the blame on the criminals making meth as opposed to the idiot legislators who crafted the law in the first place.
What's it like living in ignorance of everything that will steal your health, your money, your home, your job and/or your cultural identity?
Must be blissful.
100% addictive? Too harmful to health? You do realize that many ADHD medicines are chemically almost the exact same as street methamphetamine? The same shit the government peddles (through encouragement from schools) onto millions of children?
Meth is the latest of a group of demonized drugs (previously it has been crack, heroin, or other opiates). Every generation has to have their superbadomgwecan'tallowthisone drug because it provides a basis point for limitations on legalizing drugs. After all, we could legalize everything... but wait, we can't legalize THIS. Because THIS is so bad because . And if we're going to make THIS illegal, we mine as well make a few others too... and in fact, I don't want to be a hypocrite, so let's ban weed too.
He's an old guy wanting to be left alone, DEA bugs him about some stuff, he more or less tells them to "sod off." Some prissy official gets his panties in a twist, and has a personal grudge against the guy.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Congratulations, you're part of the problem. Attitudes like yours are why things continue down the path they are on. If things are wrong, you do not accept them. Period. You don't shrug your shoulders and go "it is what it is."
>DEA spokesman describes this as 'collateral damage' not resulting from DEA regulations but from the selfish actions of criminals
In another related story about how useless the DEA can be, pharmacies across the country have now had their Tylenol and Aspirin stocks pulled from the shelves
again siting that the selfish actions of a few criminals and drug abusers made it now so that the rest of the world can not get rid of their headaches.
Also, in other news, Obama has pulled relief help funding from the all organizations including the DEA, siting that the selfish criminal actions of a few banks
has made it now that no one should ever get any help from the US government ever again....
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/water-treatment.htm
"Crystalline Iodine (found at some chemical companies and sporting goods stores) First make a saturated solution and then measure your own dose to add to water. The crystalline form stores well indefinitely and new batches of the saturated solution can be made from a small amount of crystals each time you take a trip".
Did you just zone into consciousness in the middle of your first sentence? What the hell are you trying to say?
No, the states can not override federal law. Medical marijuana may be left alone by state authorities in California, but the feds can swoop in any time they like and shut down any MM operation they want and prosecute them in federal court. For a while, it seemed that they were backing off of this sort of "unwelcome enforcement" in Cali, but recently word is that they're about to return to business as usual.
State laws are always trumped by federal laws.
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
Car can and have been used to kill people... they should be ban and anything else that can harm us..... like oil spills, Chemotherapy, FDA, nuclear power plants, chemtrails, etc...
And I don't have to read all the comments to know others have mentioned this logic..
They are the biggest failure in all of human history.
The possession of hand-sized rocks today have been made illegal. "I had a few rocks out in my garden and I was fined and the rocks were removed by the police" says Mrs Smith. A law enforcement spokesman describes this as 'collateral damage' not resulting from regulations but from the selfish actions of criminals. "Any common criminal could pick up one of those rocks and break your window, or bludgeon your kids right in front of your house. Think of the children for Christ' sake!" said Sgt Aswipe (thats prounced ahs - weep - ay).
-- Senior Software Engineer, Attorney appearance services, locallawyerapp.com.
[Citation needed] Do you know anything about drugs that you didn't learn from DARE? Let's see what you've gotten wrong:
The majority of meth users are not addicts. The percent of users addicted to stimulants is about 16%, substantially higher than alcohol (about 5%), but a far cry from the ridiculous claim like 100%. http://oas.samhsa.gov/methTabs.htm#TX
Heroin withdrawal is rarely fatal. Alcohol withdrawal is often fatal. And yet, Alcohol is illegal, suggesting that fatal withdrawal symptoms is not a criterion currently used to judge which drugs should be legal.http://www.drugrehab.co.uk/FAQ-heroin.htm#Tolerance,_Addiction,_and_Withdrawal
Krokodil is an opiate people make from codeine available OTC in Russia. Most article I've read on it suggests the users would prefer heroin but it's too expensive. If heroin were available in a safe and legal form no one would be cooking Krokodil. Another argument for legalization. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/krokodil-the-drug-that-eats-junkies-2300787.html
As to your final point, illegal drugs are not currently hard to find. Their illegal status is not effectively limiting access and therefore not preventing negative public health and safety effects of drug use. However, because they are illegal, the drugs are of unknown strength and purity, and are sold by a criminal element. This causes additional negative effects that could be eliminated by legalizing these drugs.
Try educating yourself instead of spouting propaganda you heard/
Let's all remember that old DEA slogan, "Fuck you and get the fuck out of my office"
Haha, that's pretty funny. What I don't understand though is how a three year investigation didn't determine the expected result. I wonder if the manufacturers just failed to submit evidence to support what they thought was a sure-fire case and the decision was therefore arrived at by default (it's hard to know when the news sources are UK sources, even the left/liberal media seem to like to poke fun at European decisions so they often leave out the facts that make you go, oh yeah, actually that's not as stupid as it sounds).
The issue with the phosphate was the effect on plants and other green organisms. Algae and bacteria blooms, that kind of thing. What is so much worse about zeolite A, sodium carbonate, citrates, and sodium silicate?
Blar.
I was already annoyed about the pseudoephedrine restrictions. Did you know phenylephrine (the 'safe and effective' replacement) works no better than placebo when ingested orally? That's not the line the government sold the public about it. They said it was 'just as effective for most people'.
And now they're going after the guy who makes Polar Pure? The one positive of this is that I learned about the small business behind a product that probably saved me from the shits when I was a teenager backpacking in New Mexico. Poor guy.
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NOOO!! Polar Pure is a great product. Other water purifying products cost orders of magnitude more on a per volume of drinkable water basis. I love this product. A bottle of the stuff can treat way over a thousand liters, and has an indefinite shelf life. I have a bottle, in my emergency kit. I'm gonna rush out and buy one or two more right now. F#C%ing DEA!
Incidentally the Polar Pure website says they are involved in a government permitting process, so he is down, but not necessarily out.
-- QED
Once you recognize someone is a victim due to your actions in the course of your regular duties, it becomes YOUR responsibility to make it right. Labeling something collateral damage doesn't absolve one of responsibility, but, instead, claims responsibility with mitigating circumstances. And if you're responsible for the harm, you're responsible for the fix.
The laws that were created to get rid of marijuana did not make it illegal. They made it so you needed a stamp. The fact that they did not sell stamps was a seperate issue.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
Thanks to the war on drugs, it is now easier to get meth amphetamine than it is to get cold pills.
Meth dealers don't check I.D. or log who purchased, like they now do with cold pills.
If you're someone like me, who has a certified birth certificate, social security card, and an out of state expired I.D., and that's still not enough to get current I.D. with the new regulations.
-Myke
I can just see it now, how it would go at the check-out register.
"Sir, I need you to show ID, sign this log, and you can't buy all four of those, you can only buy one at a time."
"WTF? My 60s party is going to be a total flop without ALL 4 of these."
"Sorry sir. I guess your party will be collateral damage from the War on Meth."
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This is one of those cases where the bright sunshine of media attention PLUS a sympathetic Congressperson can do what no amount of bureaucratic paperwork or civil lawsuits can ever accomplish - or at least never accomplish in a short period of time.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
First, the guy is hilarious. FTFA:
---
"For Wallace to comply, the state Department of Justice fingerprinted the couple and told Wallace he needed to show them such things as a solid security system for his product. Wallace sent a photograph of Buddy sitting on the front porch.
"These guys don't go for my humor," Wallace said. "Cops are the most humorless knotheads on the planet."
---
Also, wasn't this guy relatively safe via security through obscurity. Meth heads don't go around randomly seeking out any component but ephedrine. But now, this guy is a target.
Isn't dihydrogen monoxide used in methamphetamine manufacture...?
Shouldn't we ban that...?
-Myke
It is just too addictive. It has more or less a 100% addiction rate. So you can't do "just a little" meth or be an occasional user.
Simply not true, and I've known enough casual users to have seen for myself. That's not to say a lot of people that use it don't get hooked on it with devastating consequences, but it's not this mythical substance that will screw up your life if you so much as touch it either.
Also not true... I have gone through several grams of pure methamphetamine and did not find myself at all addicted when I stopped. Would I ever do it again? No.
Do I think methamphetamine should be legal? I don't know. It is certainly a dangerous substance. But it is in no way a "take one hit and be hooked for life" type of substance.
It depends on the person though. Some will love it so much they'd want to do it all the time. Methamphetamine also has barely any physical addiction, it is 99% psychological.
Another point of misinformation you mentioned was that heroin WD can be fatal. I have never heard of anyone passing away from opiate withdrawl. It is simply very uncomfortable for several days, and then a mental challenge after that.
The only drugs that can be fatal for withdrawl are benzodiazapines, barbituates, alcohol, GHB, and other drugs that affect GABA and can cause seizures upon withdrawl.
Meth use shortens lifespan by such a significant amount that the money spent on healthcare & dental work would likely be recovered by their inability to survive to the age of social security.
Keep in mind, Meth users are regularly enabled to live a parasitic lifestyles through social programs like welfare, unemployment, & disability. Meth use isn't a fiscal liability, it's a cost saver.
Just create a "job corps for drugs" program and exchange Crystal Meth for janitorial services. We'll have the cleanest public buildings in the world.
The constitution was a document for a simpler time. It's also not even close to being perfect.
Nobody said it was, and the founders knew it wasn't. That's why there's an official process to change it: amendments. How many times can this point be raised and subsequently ignored in the same thread?
There are even worse consequences for using meth. Pregnant women who use it do serious damage to their children, both mentally and physically. Its a horrible drug. I don't know what the solution is. I do feel that our war on drugs is not only destroying our country but Mexico and other countries as well.
especially fertilizers... they can be used to make rocket fuel! imagine all those farmers engaging in criminal activities all over the world...
...and the moon and beyond!
Meth is highly addictive and I am not in favor of legalizing it (although I am troubled by the laws making it illegal). That being said, you are overstating the addictivity of meth. In my younger years I abused various drugs including to some degree meth. I never came close to developing an addiction to meth. Of course, that was largely because I was aware of its high potential for addiction and I limited my use of it to forestall that possibility.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
If folks could obtain legal amphetamines easily the meth folks would go out of business. Dad was a pharmacist and he said when the amphetamine prescription was widespread the country was cleaner than ever, all the yards were neat and maintained and folks were (mostly) at a good body weight.
"So you can't do "just a little" meth or be an occasional user. You get hooked, hardcore."
You're full of shit. I happen to know two people who tried meth a good few times and just moved on as it wasn't for them. This is the #1 fallacy spread around to demonize whatever drug happens to be discussed at the time. It's sooooo "addictive" no one can ever stop after your first taste!!!!! Just total bullshit by uneducated religious nutbags...
And if they want to stop these people from making drugs... why not use this at a honeypot? Get the guy's help and prosecute the real criminals. I'm sure if they explained that people ordering a case every week in a non-hiking area to a P.O. Box are probably making drugs, he'd help out a little bit.
I'm calling shenanigans on your post. Just on a cursory reading, I found two things that are completely false:
1) Meth has a "100% addiction rate". It doesn't, or you're using that term, "addiction" incorrectly. Doesn't have 100% dependance nor addiction.
2) Heroin isn't dangerous to withdraw from. Not. It sucks, it can make you *wish* you were dead, but it isn't dangerous to withdraw from opioids. Alcohol withdrawal can kill you, other drugs too, but not opioids.
And, yes, IAAD (I AM a doctor).
If he really wanted to, he could take a vacation to the beach, and collect a whole lot of seaweed. There is a lot of iodine in kelp, and you can also electrolyse seawater to get iodine. There are a large number of naturally occurring brines with high amounts of iodine in various forms. Oh, but don't tell the DEA about it, (or about wikipedia or the internet), lest they kill all the kelp in the ocean, ship all of the water in the ocean to another planet, and get rid of that awful iodine once and for all! Seriously, when he sent them a picture of Buddy on his porch, that was the most accurate a response he could have given them with respect to their stupidity. They are hemorrhoid free (perfect ass holes), and they are restricting his trade, destroying the availability of a valuable product, and I sincerely hope he gets calls from a dozen suppliers (maybe even overseas suppliers), providing him with all the crystal iodine he needs. Kids will do stupid things, but drunk driving never slowed auto plant production, ever!
A DEA spokesman describes this as 'collateral damage' not resulting from DEA regulations but from the selfish actions of criminals."
Those black eyes are collateral damage, not resulting from my fist but from your own selfish actions.
Now shut the fuck up and get back in the kitchen, bitch, before your selfish actions cause you more collateral damage.
Its because you make a shitty unfair society that people do drugs.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
USA USA USA USA
Have you actually worked or lived near a gasoline refinery?
I have. A Chevron gasoline refinery to be precise. In Richmond, California. That thing blew up at least once a year when I was working in the vicinity. I stlil have fond memories of driving down Interstate 80 with a sky-high plume of black smoke behind me.
Wow, I never knew that. It's amazing what Wikipedia gets wrong all the time. Dang that unarbitrated hogwash.
Best way to throttle the DEA is to just stop convicting people in court. Best way to do that is to acquit them. So when you are on a jury, don't convict anyone of a drug crime ( of violence yes, but of possession, distribution, whatever.. hell no ). "Sorry your honor, I just don't believe it". This can be stopped.
It is just too addictive. It has more or less a 100% addiction rate. So you can't do "just a little" meth or be an occasional user. You get hooked, hardcore. Combine that with the massive amount of damage it does and it is just not safe for use at all really.
I'm not sure if that's true or not, I don't know much of anything about drugs. What I don't see is why it's relevant. If some guy wants to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger, that's not safe, and it will result in his death. It's still his life, and it's his right to end it. I feel the same way about drugs. I don't care if they're safe or not.
By all means, spend the money we're using now in the drug war to educate people about the dangers. Then let them make their own damn choices.
What makes me sick is less the result, one way or another, than the DEA's reply.
If you are an entity that is supposed to be protecting the people of the USA, and you decide that you're going to put some old family business on the chopping block, then have enough sense of responsibility to come out and say so. "Yes, we decided to close him down because we believed that he was putting people's lives and health at risk."
If the "criminal opportunists" are so powerful that they can put an old man out of business, and your poor little team at the DEA can't do anything to stop that from happening, then you need to be fired for incompetence. It looks to me like the DEA have the authority but lack the sense of responsibility, which makes them unfit to serve.
"We're from the government and we're here to help!"
Shall we remove bleach and ammonia from the store shelves too? Furthermore a basic pipe-bomb can be made from baking soda and water.. How about tennis balls? They can be filled with strike-all match heads, and guess what you have there?
There was another story about the FEDS seizing a 800+ lb record breaking tuna from a man because the tuna was caught in a net, and not with a rod/reel.. According to the feds, there is a law that states tuna must be caught with rod and reel.
It could be called "Breaking Good".
There is no reason anyone need obey any law, no one has the authority to make such a thing. The ability to kill me instead does not count. I dont care what everyone else on Earth does says thinks or feels, to me or otherwise, thats your problem; I only care what I do. I belong to no group.
LAW is GOOD though, when it is agreed to, as a way of minimizing violence, uncertainty, and wasted effort. Dealing witnh medicines/drugs.dietary substances does not fit those categaroies. No law about any "drug" is legitimate, be it aspirin, penicillin, or heroin. I say nuke Washintgyon please Iran; maybe we can take out the State Capitols ourselves.
As a wilderness backpacker, I use iodine tablets and whatever other kinds there are (forgot the names) on trips. They are mainly a backup to our water purifiers but we'll use them overnight sometimes since it's easier than purifying but there is a time delay before use. They are a no brainer to bring because they basically have no weight or space penalty.
A couple weeks ago I was picking up a prescription at Walgreens and a kid got in the next line and asked for some Sudafed. As I left I saw him get in the passenger side of a car and take off. It dawned on me then what probably happened. Wish I saw their license plate.
simple, fast homepage with your links: http://www.ngumbi.com/
The funny thing about this,
There are several legal forms of Meth prescribed to people with attention or untreatable depression-type disorders, not to mention all the "Lighter" variations of Amphetamine salt given to kids who can't focus, the morbidly obese, etc.
It is a useful drug, Just not in the way it has been portrayed. Many of those who become addicted are those who become adjusted to the therapy and positive benefits provided by such; in other words, self-medicating behaviours, conscious or not of such detail.
You can always tell the difference between someone who has a severe maladjusted attention disorder VS someone who is more prone to becoming negatively addicted, in such a way that the person with the disorder becomes calm, focused, and able to execute both mental and physical tasks - he or she would become relaxed, directed, and in control... Whereas the person whom is prone to the "recreational, not beneficial" addiction, is one whom gets hyped up, agitated, or engages in other delinquent out of control behaviours due to the stimulants effect on his or her energy levels, it has a hyping effect versus a centralizing or harmonizing effects.....
Food for thought.
It is just too addictive. It has more or less a 100% addiction rate. So you can't do "just a little" meth or be an occasional user. You get hooked, hardcore.
There were loads of casual meth users in the rave scene in the late 90's. These people used some at a party once a week and that was it. The overwhelming majority of them were functional members of society with jobs, in college, etc. That's not to say that some small percentage didn't get hooked. One guy got hooked on meth and lost his university scholarship because of it. That was a life changing mistake. However, like most all drugs, society only see the people who have hit rock bottom. The other 95% of users who are not similarly effected remain invisible. Result: Society believes that drug X,Y,Z has absolute power to run everyone into the ground.
If you're a mess then drugs will make you more of a mess. If you have your shit together then no drug can destroy you.
"Liechtenstein is the world's largest producer of sausage casings, potassium storage units, and false teeth."
Do it like the meth heads do :) Straight from the "National Drug Intelligence Center" website http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs1/1467/index.htm
It's times like these that sorely tempt me to actually vote Libertarian.
We are the 198 proof..
Yet the government is perfectly OK with a large portion of the population (including kids) being fed amphetamines for ADHD. Methamphetamine is just more efficiently absorbed. Same effects basically. They even have an extended-release variety.
The government doesn't want you to stray from their APPROVED tax-paying drug dealers and medical cartel.
It's gotten to the point where if it isn't alcohol or tobacco and it gives you a buzz, it's immediately demonized and banned often with one-sided fictional research that they themselves fund.
Both alcohol and tobacco have SEVERE side-effects with normal use and will usually eventually kill you, even when not "abused". The War on Drugs is stupid and always has been since its roots in the 20's.
It seems like the law is just stupid. The DEA agents are just doing their job -- requiring anything which can be used in the production of dangerous drugs to be secured -- but this guy has been doing this for 30 years and no one has stolen his iodine yet.
Will they be requiring all car owners to have a 24-hour security service watching their cars? After all, they could be stolen and used in a crime. We need to get reasonable here.
If these kind of law continue then the big corporations and the republicans will be in control of everything, and this country will be a shit hole.
Without big corp money behind him he is screwed. They can get pizza defined as a vegetable, he can't get the materials he needs to run a small business. By the way, the government defines a small business in various ways depending on the type of business, but can have up to 1,500 employees and take in $21,000,000 a year. You can see why they do not give a damn about this guy, no money - no political power.
I'm not going to scour the comments to see if anyone already said this yet, but I didn't see it, so here goes.
Iodine is used for the methylation step in the reaction process, and there are other ways to do it. They are not as efficient, and slower, and messier, and basically produce a lot more toxic waste and a dirtier product. So even if the DEA actually managed to block all sources of iodine, they would arguably be doing more damage than good.
If you ask me, trying to control chemicals is pointless. It's the addicts that need attention, not the chemists. But it's way sexier trying to bust criminals than help poor people.
This is about huge American corporations seizing control from ALL small businesses, and driving them under, intentionally, methodically, without prejudice. You can't get a decent chemistry set nowadays, chemicals I used to experiment with as a 12 year old child are now a felony to posses. And NOT because of the potential of illicit drug production, Americans used to know basic chemistry; well enough to not rely on mega monopolistic corporate personas to make everything for them, with no real alternatives, save "competing" products from other mega-corporations. This is the natural regression of the American political system which favors corporate influence over the people. The USA is really just a front for criminal corporate "enterprise". I'd end this comment with a statement such as "END THE USA", except for the fact that it's already been ended.
Actually, alcohol and benzodiazepines are the only drugs with fatal withdrawal symptoms. Heroin and other opioids have a very uncomfortable withdrawal syndrome, to say the least, but are not fatal. Perhaps you should do some actual research before propagating misinformation.
you can't do 'just a little' meth or be an occasional user. You get hooked, hardcore
Fact: There is very little in the way of withdrawal symptoms from meth, mostly you just sleep for days. Many people use amphetamines casually without getting addicted, in fact our armed services gives it to the troops in certain situations to promote wakefulness, they're called 'go pills'.
some like heroin can have fatal withdrawal symptoms
Fact: Nobody ever dies directly from heroin withdrawal. The perfectly legal drug alcohol, on the other hand, can indeed cause death upon withdrawal. Actually, using just about any measure of "harmfulness" you want, alcohol is far and away THE most dangerous drug, whether you look at addiction potential, severity of withdrawal, harm to the body, cost and/or danger to society, whatever you look at... Good old booze is number one. This inconvenient fact is a big reason why our current drugs laws are so pathetically hypocritical. If there were any rhyme or reason to the law alcohol would be illegal and heroin would be easily available at the local drugstore. The reality is that the laws are completely arbitrary in their approach as to what's dangerous and what isn't.