31–40 of 128 posts
A victimless crime - unless you think we should be locking up all of the alcohol sellers? Alcohol addiction is a sad, sad affair. I would rather someone be addicted to pharmaceutical grade opioids than street heroin laced with fentanyl and other junk.
>“These charges are a warning to drug traffickers worldwide that neither the shroud of the darknet or of virtual currency can hide their illegal activities from the vigilance of U.S. law enforcement,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia. The real warning to heed here is that we allow some countries to arrest citizens of other countries who committed crimes outside of their borders.…
> I know what extradition is, but the concept of spending your whole life in country A, and having country B decide it's time to arrest you and charge you within their jurisdiction makes me uncomfortable.
That's not a very accurate description of what was alleged to have gone on here. It's more like someone spending their whole life in country A, while running a smuggling network in country B, and only then having country B decide to arrest you for organizing the smuggling of illegal items into their country.
This indictment wouldn't have happened if these guys had restricted their opioid sales to their country of residence.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment reminds me of an episode of Joe Rogan with Johann Hari [1], talking about what really causes addiction and the failures of the "war on drugs." He states, "The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, the opposite of addiction is connection." (18:08) The former U.S. surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness an epidemic, and just wrote a book on it [2]. I believe the biggest challenge we face in the…
> Johann Hari A man whose professional experience is journalist and has no science, medical, public health, or psychotherapy background... and he’s trying to sell a book. Is this too harsh a take? Is there a reason I should be taking his opinion seriously?
I personally don't think that just because he's a journalist without those backgrounds, that he's not capable of learning and presenting truth in those spaces—I see a lot of value in journalistic skills of investigation and interdisciplinary exploration. That being said, it doesn't necessarily mean he's right or that he's not exaggerating or oversimplifying.
I found the podcast episode to be quite compelling to get me more interested in looking up other sources to see whether they agree with him, or if they differ, and in which ways. Even you posting this, questioning his credibility, inspired me to search a bit of what people with more experience in directly related scientific fields have said. Some have questioned whether the studies done with rats extrapolate to humans, some have questioned his seeming disapproval of antidepressants, and more.
I guess it just depends on who and what you trust to give you the truth about this issue. I found the interview illuminating, but that doesn't mean you would or should.
>“These charges are a warning to drug traffickers worldwide that neither the shroud of the darknet or of virtual currency can hide their illegal activities from the vigilance of U.S. law enforcement,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia. The real warning to heed here is that we allow some countries to arrest citizens of other countries who committed crimes outside of their borders.…
The charges were "conspiring with persons to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, conspiring with persons to import controlled substances, conspiring to launder money, and laundering of monetary instruments"
I'm pretty sure money laundering, illegally purchasing narcotics, packaging and shipping same internationally are all crimes even in costa rica?
I'm all for tempering goverment oversight, but c'mon... they were ALLEGED drug dealers, and by world standards at least if they get extradited to the USA they might stand trial -- I can think of a few countries where they would just be summarily executed...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Johann Hari A man whose professional experience is journalist and has no science, medical, public health, or psychotherapy background... and he’s trying to sell a book. Is this too harsh a take? Is there a reason I should be taking his opinion seriously?
Because it's a novel opinion, and novel opinions are what a good scientist needs to make major breakthroughs. I sure people were saying the same things about Galileo as there were of the women from Alexandria before him, etc.
What is science, if not a never-ending quest to learn more about the universe?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment reminds me of an episode of Joe Rogan with Johann Hari [1], talking about what really causes addiction and the failures of the "war on drugs." He states, "The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, the opposite of addiction is connection." (18:08) The former U.S. surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness an epidemic, and just wrote a book on it [2]. I believe the biggest challenge we face in the…
> Johann Hari A man whose professional experience is journalist and has no science, medical, public health, or psychotherapy background... and he’s trying to sell a book. Is this too harsh a take? Is there a reason I should be taking his opinion seriously?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Hari#Plagiarism
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/...
>“These charges are a warning to drug traffickers worldwide that neither the shroud of the darknet or of virtual currency can hide their illegal activities from the vigilance of U.S. law enforcement,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia. The real warning to heed here is that we allow some countries to arrest citizens of other countries who committed crimes outside of their borders.…
A victimless crime - unless you think we should be locking up all of the alcohol sellers? Alcohol addiction is a sad, sad affair. I would rather someone be addicted to pharmaceutical grade opioids than street heroin laced with fentanyl and other junk.
Well your desire is paradoxical because people who get addicted to pharmaceutical pain killers are the ones that end up consuming street heroin when they cannot get pharmaceutical opioids anymore.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment reminds me of an episode of Joe Rogan with Johann Hari [1], talking about what really causes addiction and the failures of the "war on drugs." He states, "The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, the opposite of addiction is connection." (18:08) The former U.S. surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness an epidemic, and just wrote a book on it [2]. I believe the biggest challenge we face in the…
> How did this man get so numb to selling products that he knew were causing so much pain and suffering to others? If I had to take a guess, his income as the vice president of sales probably helped with that.
I guess I still see it as an issue of how connected he felt to himself and other people. I know plenty of people right now, who, if they were offered his salary to do the same job, would never do it. And others who were probably in a field like that and quit because it was getting too much, or maybe even became whistleblowers.
Makes me also think about how some of us can become workaholics to avoid pain in our lives, or crave lots of money to cover up for fears of not having or being enough.
>“These charges are a warning to drug traffickers worldwide that neither the shroud of the darknet or of virtual currency can hide their illegal activities from the vigilance of U.S. law enforcement,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia. The real warning to heed here is that we allow some countries to arrest citizens of other countries who committed crimes outside of their borders.…
> The real warning to heed here is that we allow some countries to arrest citizens of other countries who committed crimes outside of their borders. > I know what extradition is, but the concept of spending your whole life in country A, and having country B decide it's time to arrest you and charge you within their jurisdiction makes me uncomfortable. That's not a very accurate description of what was alleged to have…
What’s worrying about anti-American sentiments is that people are willing to advocate for the worst of atrocities just to satiate their emotional state exasperated by media.
I saw similar opinions in countless other threads. America has become the punching bag, thanks to President Trump.