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Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

theatlantic.com

141–150 of 165 posts

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#142
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hangovers tend to occur when you've had MDMA mixed with one of the ever-more-frequent mixers such as methamphetamine, cocaine or even MDA, which actually targets dopamine receptors far more prominently than the serotonin and knock you out for days. Pressed pills are usually the culprit, and I would avoid them unless you know exactly where they're coming from. From a wide array of experience, pure MDMA (in recommended…

From your own article: "The drug's letdown can include feelings of confusion, irritability, anxiety, paranoia and depression, and people may experience memory loss or sleep problems, jaundice or liver damage." And: "Dr. John Halpern, a Harvard Medical School assistant professor who led the research, said pure MDMA can change core body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure in the short-term, and decrease immune r…

It definitely varies by person. I know people who say they consistently get an afterglow and feel even better the next day, whereas others consistently feel the serotonin deficiency and can feel a bit depressed. The jaw clenching seems to be more universal.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#143
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've personally seen MDMA fix two marriages, with one session each. Its divine stuff. I'm very happy that new studies have been completed or are being planned to further explore the psychotherapeutical side of the drug. But aside from that, I agree. It's the best. No hangover (if it's pure), short duration, music sounds amazing, an amplified sense of intellectual focus and compassion, and good times with friends. You…

No hangover? Except for, let's see, a short list: Severely depleted serotonin levels, causing irritability and possibly depression Loss of focus, concentration, and attention (good luck programming competently the day after) Bruxism (jaw clenching/grinding)

Bruxism (jaw clenching/grinding)

This happens when MDMA is cut with meth. I think he mentioned "pure", but when it's illegal it's hard to guarantee purity, so legalization would have at least that benefit.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#144

I found this sentence interesting - I surmised that Viktor serves a large segment of the East Coast and personally takes in $24,000 to $32,000 per month after all his other costs are covered. Let's say he takes in an average of $30,000 per month. Does $360,000 annually sound like quite a small amount of money for running a highly illegal business that serves a large chunk of the East Coast? Small-to-medium sized busi…

I know someone who makes a little more than that and only works part-time (although with MDMA, not pot).

This guy is talking up his role because he obviously likes the image of being a drug dealer. Chances are that he is the mid-level supplier in one of thousands of organizations serving the East Coast. There is no real 'east coast head' of all pot supply, the drug business is very very broadly distributed.

$30k+ a month for a guy in the middle of one of these orgs sounds right. Remember, there isn't much work - you aren't going door-to-door 12 hours a day and grinding out, you are handling a package or two a week plus some re-packaging.

He'd likely has a normal job (the person I know does) and a business that he uses to launder his extra income.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#145
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No hangover? Except for, let's see, a short list: Severely depleted serotonin levels, causing irritability and possibly depression Loss of focus, concentration, and attention (good luck programming competently the day after) Bruxism (jaw clenching/grinding)

Bruxism (jaw clenching/grinding) This happens when MDMA is cut with meth. I think he mentioned "pure", but when it's illegal it's hard to guarantee purity, so legalization would have at least that benefit.

I'm pretty sure that jaw clenching happens with pure MDMA. I've experienced it on every roll, with stuff sourced from a variety of highly rated Silk Road vendors.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#146

> In many circles, drugs are nearly as easy to find as liquor. I can't figure out if this is a mistake, deception (liquor is not a drug, it just contains one), or implying that "drugs" means "illegal drugs".

I think the reason why you are getting downvoted is because, especially from the context, its very common to know that 'drugs' means 'drugs taken for fun' (not all of them are illegal either). See, this is why I'm not sure I like computer people anymore - overly pedantic, not advancing the conversation. I call that 'smart-stupid' -- so smart, yet dumb at the same time.

How is 'drugs taken for fun' a definition that excludes liquor? GP is right to point out that intelligent people should not blithely assume a distinction between illegal drugs and liquor; the distinction depends on jurisdiction.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#147
post #128
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google for David Nutt in the UK. An scientific expert in the area of drugs. British government asked him to conduct a study of the relative dangers. Didn't like the result. They sacked him.

Cannot locate the item right now, but didn't the entire brain-trust leave with him, too? Sucks working for an org that ignores the results that don't suit their ends.

Heh, not only that but the person who fired him got sacked for doing so [1] and Nutt ended up helping start what is, essentially, a political competitor to the organization he was thrown out of [2].

[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8349300.stm

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Scientific_Committe...

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meth at recreational doses is not safe. It's highly neurotoxic.

Much more so, dose-relative, than amphetamines that you find in, say, Adderall? Do you have a reference; I'd like to read more.

Amphetamines are not neurotoxic, methamphetamines are. If you want to read some scientific research search pubmed for methamphetamine neurotoxicity and you'll find a ton of results.

Here's wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#Neurotoxicity

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10% laundering "tax" is much less than the almost 40% the government would take otherwise.

I don't know what "laundering tax" you're referring to but the whole point of laundering money is to make it seem like real profit from a legitimate business, and thus, regular corporate and/or income taxes must be paid.

Heh good point, not sure why I was excluding taxes on the laundered money.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#150
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Careful. MDMA can have beneficial effects, but there's mounting evidence that it's some degree of neurotoxic. If you use it weekly, you'll likely cause some amount of permanent damage in the long run. I can also tell you that MDMA can cause anxious/depressive episodes that last a few days after use. There's even a name for this (suicide Tuesday). Not everyone experiences this side-effect, but like any other drug, it'…

I used a lot of MDMA 20+ years ago. I was immediately aware, on trying it, that it was neurotoxic. I don't know how I knew that, but I did. However, after I quit I saw no evidence of permanent damage. As a fairly high-level software developer, I'm pretty sensitive to the state of my brain, and I don't recall ever experiencing difficulty working more than 2 or 3 weeks after taking MDMA. Also, I only heard about this r…

You're correct in saying that fluoxetine (prozac) can reduce the ability of the chemical that causes MDMA neurotoxicity (whatever it is) to get inside the axon and cause damage. However, in doing so fluoxetine reduces MDMA’s ability to work (as you stated).

People regularly dosing with SSRIs may be safe from neurotoxicity, but they usually don’t feel the normal effects of MDMA either. The idea of using SSRIs to prevent neurotoxicity is something of a catch-22: If you take the SSRI after coming down from the MDMA, it’s probably too late to do a lot of good. On the other hand, taking an SSRI before-hand tends to reduce the desired effects of MDMA, making it more logical to simply take less MDMA in the first place.

All things considered, it’s unlikely that taking an SSRI before or after MDMA is a very useful prevention strategy. Since SSRIs have their own side effects and potential risks, the practice should probably be avoided.

source: http://www.dancesafe.org/drug-information/is-mdma-neurotoxic...

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