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America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#21

Post by gerbilly »

ydb wrote: post #2

Most people would think the government is responsible for all these drug epidemics: the DEA jailing minorities on minor infractions or the CIA hustling cocaine between countries (look it up). But really the true culprit is just the youth, and always has been. Ever since the early 1900s traditional family values and social community/cohesion has been seriously on decline. Say what you will about Ted Kaczynski, but his…

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

― Socrates

Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#24

Post by marcoseliziario »

npo9 wrote: post #23

Do you want to reduce drug addiction? Make the world a better place. Everyone suffers so much. Loneliness, depression and anxiety and becoming more prevalent. These are increased risk factors for addiction.

I've long suspected that a lot of illegal drug usage is actually an attempt on self-medication

Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#25

Post by marcoseliziario »

Clubber wrote: post #14
freddie_mercury wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't really completely agree with this argument but I'd like to remind the HN community not to downvote simply because you disagree. pg has explicitly said that downvotes on Hacker News can be used for disagreement. "Downvotes to express disagreement are part of the ethos of this site; it's a norm Paul Graham established almost a decade ago."

It's not a great idea and here's why: it's an almost sure way to create an echo chamber. How? The point system is the gamification of the forums. It's designed to spur conversation while also an attempt at self moderation. When someone posts a controversial but trailblazing comment, like say "Scrum Agile doesn't work very well for their company and here's why," the barrage of downvotes from the orthodoxy makes that p…

Yes. Probably by design.

Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#26

Post by dirktheman »

refurb wrote: post #18
rayhendricks wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would disagree that today’s youth are suffering because ‘reality sucks’. If anything the youth of today have it better than ever before. In 1950 [at least in the USA] a youth would not have had access to reliable information on possible career choices and outcomes apart from maybe a school counselor, now that information is available instantly on the internet. Likewise reality would have really sucked had the youth…

Human’s have a few characteristics that make them prone to seeing things in a distorted way. The first is thinking they live in unique times - “it’s never been like this before”, when in fact every generation has existential threats. The second is perspective and looking at the past with rose colored glasses. No, the 1970’s were actually a really depressing time to be living in the US and yes, the boomers had to live…

A crippling financial crisis, an unpopular war and a crook for president...

Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#27

Post by ddorian43 »

irscott wrote: post #19
HocusLocus wrote: post #17

What's next, "America's caffeine epidemic"? Interspersed with all this pedantry is a smarmy judgement towards stimulants and COMPLETE LACK of context of the times, and a lack of any societal or species context that recognizes the BREATHTAKING ACHIEVEMENTS during said times of "Oh so bad bad we should be ashamed it's an epidemic!" There's an undercurrent here that is almost criminal. The sin is not excess, certainly a…

I dated someone with a meth problem for five years and would disagree with you. Meth completely changes a person's personality. I think all drugs should be legal and think humans have done amazing things with/on drugs. I've also seen this go horribly awry and witnessed some absolutely insane things from people on speed. There's a lot more to it than simply a lack of sleep. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulant_ps…

What about cases with people using legal drugs (ritalin,adderall etc) ?

Who knows what's inside meth/speed/cocaine/weed that you buy in the street ?

Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#28

Post by rank0 »

irscott wrote: post #19
HocusLocus wrote: post #17

What's next, "America's caffeine epidemic"? Interspersed with all this pedantry is a smarmy judgement towards stimulants and COMPLETE LACK of context of the times, and a lack of any societal or species context that recognizes the BREATHTAKING ACHIEVEMENTS during said times of "Oh so bad bad we should be ashamed it's an epidemic!" There's an undercurrent here that is almost criminal. The sin is not excess, certainly a…

I dated someone with a meth problem for five years and would disagree with you. Meth completely changes a person's personality. I think all drugs should be legal and think humans have done amazing things with/on drugs. I've also seen this go horribly awry and witnessed some absolutely insane things from people on speed. There's a lot more to it than simply a lack of sleep. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulant_ps…

Not all stimulants are the same. Meth is certainly higher risk than other commonly prescribed amphetamines.

Psychosis comes from abuse...from binges and lack of basic self care. Life crippling drug abuse is USUALLY a symptom of a deeper problem, rather than the problem itself.

Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#29

Post by trianglem »

HocusLocus wrote: post #17

What's next, "America's caffeine epidemic"? Interspersed with all this pedantry is a smarmy judgement towards stimulants and COMPLETE LACK of context of the times, and a lack of any societal or species context that recognizes the BREATHTAKING ACHIEVEMENTS during said times of "Oh so bad bad we should be ashamed it's an epidemic!" There's an undercurrent here that is almost criminal. The sin is not excess, certainly a…

Stimulants like speed are highly addictive. With mental alertness also comes euphoria that users chase. It builds tolerance quickly and users resort to taking ever larger amounts that ends up devastating their bodies.

Re: America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)

#30

Post by drewsmahgoos »

irscott wrote: post #19
HocusLocus wrote: post #17

What's next, "America's caffeine epidemic"? Interspersed with all this pedantry is a smarmy judgement towards stimulants and COMPLETE LACK of context of the times, and a lack of any societal or species context that recognizes the BREATHTAKING ACHIEVEMENTS during said times of "Oh so bad bad we should be ashamed it's an epidemic!" There's an undercurrent here that is almost criminal. The sin is not excess, certainly a…

I dated someone with a meth problem for five years and would disagree with you. Meth completely changes a person's personality. I think all drugs should be legal and think humans have done amazing things with/on drugs. I've also seen this go horribly awry and witnessed some absolutely insane things from people on speed. There's a lot more to it than simply a lack of sleep. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulant_ps…

Sorry, but that's just one person. In what situation would you trust a study based on one person?

I know, lots of people go crazy on meth. There is also god knows what else in street meth. There are so many people taking amphetamines that are successful and there are people taking prescription methamphetamine as well.

Personally I wouldn't want to be on stimulants, long term, on a daily basis. But just because you know one person(or maybe more) that went crazy and had a personality change on meth, does not mean that there isn't successful use.

There are also plenty of people successfully using opiates as well. So many people use drugs daily and live a normal life.

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