Estimating Community Drug Abuse by Wastewater Analysis • Hacker News Board

Re: Estimating Community Drug Abuse by Wastewater Analysis

#41

Post by Johnny555 » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 7:43 PM UTC

baldfat wrote: post #40

Johnny555 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you define "non-harmful"? I've known a number of senior executives in well known tech companies who are regular users (weekend partiers) of a number of drugs ranging from marijuana to cocaine, heroin and LSD. They are fortunate enough to have enough income to buy quality product, not cut with harmful chemicals. Given that they lead very successful lives, I think the drug use is not harmful to them currently. P…

Socially and relationships are in serious trouble. If you measure success as in performing in business and don't count the family and children then okay. Drugs harm relationships. Its proven. People on drugs are emotionally numb and a emotionally numb people make horrible friends and parents. http://cascw.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SubstanceAbu... Best I have seen or heard on the effects of drugs on relations…

The article you linked to is talking about "Substance abuse", but there's a big difference between drug use and drug abuse.

I know many drug users (some legal, some not), but only know of one person who has had a substance abuse problem, and his problem was with alcohol.

Re: Estimating Community Drug Abuse by Wastewater Analysis

#42

Post by brbsix » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 7:52 PM UTC

giardini wrote: post #33

Every monitoring system eventually is used for social control, despite the best intentions of the creators. This is as true in the "public" domain as it is in the private workplace. In this instance we will soon hear a hue & cry for monitoring of the drug levels in public waterways and sewers. To ensure no crime goes unpunished, that will be followed by the creation and use of systems that track drug use to the indiv…

Were such systems widespread (and known), people would be pissing and shitting out in the streets. Or you could move to an undeveloped country lacking such infrastructure and encounter more of that same. Interesting case of blowback.

Of course people living off the grid will be quite content with their composting toilets, reminding us that they were right all along.

Re: Estimating Community Drug Abuse by Wastewater Analysis

#43

Post by devishard » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 5:11 AM UTC

baldfat wrote: post #23

mrob wrote: post #3

This isn't estimating drug abuse, it's estimating drug use. Wastewater measurements alone are not enough to determine how much of that use is harmful.

So how much cocaine or heroine is non-harmful? I would even say cannabis is also shown to be harmful cognitively unless someone stops for 4 weeks but I digress.

I don't know how much cocaine, heroin, or cannabis use is non-harmful, but the amount is certainly larger than none for all three drugs.

Re: Estimating Community Drug Abuse by Wastewater Analysis

#44

Post by msellout » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 12:30 PM UTC

giardini wrote: post #33

Every monitoring system eventually is used for social control, despite the best intentions of the creators. This is as true in the "public" domain as it is in the private workplace. In this instance we will soon hear a hue & cry for monitoring of the drug levels in public waterways and sewers. To ensure no crime goes unpunished, that will be followed by the creation and use of systems that track drug use to the indiv…

> every monitoring system eventually is used for social control

That statement, even if true, does not specify what time frame "eventually" is, to what degree the "control" is, or whether the result is a net benefit to civil liberties. Perhaps the control is in the form of reducing violence, which increases liberty. There's always a trade-off.