Alcohol?

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<p>spideygirl: Thanks for the offer. I’m sure I’ll still be on CC.</p>

<p>My question was for you to provide evidence to substantiate the assertion that marijuana is often adulteration with heroin and/or various forms of cocaine, something that you have repeatedly asserted but have yet to provide any evidence for. It’s not like there’s a dearth of information on the general issue of adulteration either - I found lots of talk about the use of PCP, heavy metals and glass particles to adulterate marijuana, but nothing about heroin or cocaine.</p>

<p>I suspect, not to insult you, that you’re not really basing this argument on any particular validated conclusions, but rather on third-hand misinformation.</p>

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@spideygirl

In every library, there is a huge section on addiction. In those books studies are cited. The vast majority of the books agree that illegal drugs are bad.

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<p>You know, though it may surprise you I’ve actually been to the Princeton library and come back with stacks of books on the issue of drugs, addiction and prohibition many times (surprising? shouldn’t be, really). A lot of them agree with what you say. But a non-negligible, large number of them raise serious questions. Mostly about marijuana.</p>

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@spideygirl

A tiny minority of fringe players like to challenge the notion that drugs are bad. You like to focus on those opinions. Statistics can say whatever you’d like them to. You can even pay for studies which will say whatever you wish. You can ignore lots of good research, and focus on a few dissenting opinions. All of this can take up lots of your time, but it is a game I am not wiling to play.

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<p>A tiny minority? Fringe players? This is your first mistake: dismissing every opinion you don’t agree with as baseless, lunatic and not worth listening to. The people who are questioning the official stance on marijuana, for example, are not a tiny minority; they are not fringe players (many are prominent doctors, including many involved in the drug field), and they have conducted a large amount of very sound research.</p>

<p>That doesn’t mean that they are right, merely that they have a viewpoint worth listening to.</p>

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@spideygirl

The TRUTH is that the majority of the best minds world-wide agree that illegal drugs should be avoided for health reasons. They have lots of high quality research to back them up. You should rely on professionals to sift through research, to apply it, and to guide you based on years of experience doing so. Surfing the net is not a sound substitute for reliance on the best minds in a field.

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<p>A lot of them have very good research. And then there’s a lot who don’t, and who base their arguments on third-hand pseudo-evidence. The fact of the matter is, I don’t trust anybody to tell me what to think about the literature; having been the child of 2 doctors who were never hesitant to give me access to primary research (medical journals and the like) I’m confident in my ability to digest the medical literature. Doesn’t mean I think I’m the equal of every medical doctor out there; but I’m not an idiot, and I know how to read a medical study.</p>

<p>The bottom line is, so far you have made a number of assertions, and when asked to substantiate them, you have always declined, and tried to redirect. I’m not asking much. A few case reports to back up your claim of crack-adulterated marijuana, maybe? Or some studies of the physical addictiveness of marijuana? Anything would be nice.</p>