The War On Drugs

[discovolante]

I think there's a fair argument for limiting which recreational drugs can be sold in the same place (for consumption on the premises), if those drugs can interact. As a trivial example coffee weed shops in the Netherlands don't also sell alcohol, although there are bars that allow weed smoking and coincidentally have a weed shop right next door.

Clubs where lots of attendees are mashed off their tits on ecstacy pipes seem to be able to make enough money from entrance fees, cloak rooms etc. Add in charging £X for a pill that costs pennies to make and they'd probably be viable. Water should be free, obviously, and having some official medical-type person who'll help you if you're having a bad time rather than throw you out into the street at 3am in the rain would make those venues an attractive place to be.

I'm not sure what the model I'd suggest for cocaine. Obviously people like doing it on a night out, but I can't envisage what a specifically cocaine venue would be like (other than really f.cking annoying).

Just the same but with the volume even higher so they have to shout even louder over each other.

[jdc]

The suggestions from e.g. Transform re ecstasy and cocaine seem to be less about party drug venues and more about licensed vendors and purchasers, (with limits on the amounts you can legally buy and no resale allowed). Psychedelics and cannabis are the ones they recommend drug venues for. I think I prefer the idea of cocaine clubs for marching powder fans but only for selfish reasons - it keeps them all in one place, well away from me.

In countries where coca/cocaine have been partly or wholly legalised so far they seem to have tended to go for decriminalising possession of small amounts (Bolivia seems to be a special case). I haven't read this yet: https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu ... /1610/3046 but it looks at the approaches to the US's War On Drugs taken by politicians in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru.

Also, btw, Stever here: https://filtermag.org/heres-what-a-lega ... look-like/ "suggests cocaine gums, lozenges and energy drinks—even snus-like packets that are placed in the upper lip, simply replacing tobacco with coca leaves. Regulating these and other “mild” forms of the drug would put a dent in the illicit cocaine trade, disempowering gangs and protecting people from adulterated products."

[Bird on a Fire]

In countries where coca/cocaine have been partly or wholly legalised so far they seem to have tended to go for decriminalising possession of small amounts (Bolivia seems to be a special case). I haven't read this yet: https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu ... /1610/3046 but it looks at the approaches to the US's War On Drugs taken by politicians in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru.

Also, btw, Stever here: https://filtermag.org/heres-what-a-lega ... look-like/ "suggests cocaine gums, lozenges and energy drinks—even snus-like packets that are placed in the upper lip, simply replacing tobacco with coca leaves. Regulating these and other “mild” forms of the drug would put a dent in the illicit cocaine trade, disempowering gangs and protecting people from adulterated products."

I stayed in a hostel in Cuzco (~3400m in the Andes) where the hot beverages trolley included coca leaves for making tea, which is recommended for altitude sickness. I didn't notice any particular effects (and I'm sure my girlfriend at the time would have let me know if I'd become annoying) and I didn't get altitude sickness symptoms either.

They also sell coca-infused beer, which is an interesting concept.

I tried snus in Sweden as well, and even for a 10-year smoker it gave a pretty notable headrush. I can't see a bunch of bankers or builders on a night out stopping off for a pot of tea on their way to the club, but a little pouch might work.

But in any case, regulating the market is obviously the way to go, instead of endangering consumer safety in the West and destabilising huge swathes of Latin America.

[discovolante]

The suggestions from e.g. Transform re ecstasy and cocaine seem to be less about party drug venues and more about licensed vendors and purchasers, (with limits on the amounts you can legally buy and no resale allowed). Psychedelics and cannabis are the ones they recommend drug venues for. I think I prefer the idea of cocaine clubs for marching powder fans but only for selfish reasons - it keeps them all in one place, well away from me.

In countries where coca/cocaine have been partly or wholly legalised so far they seem to have tended to go for decriminalising possession of small amounts (Bolivia seems to be a special case). I haven't read this yet: https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu ... /1610/3046 but it looks at the approaches to the US's War On Drugs taken by politicians in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru.

Also, btw, Stever here: https://filtermag.org/heres-what-a-lega ... look-like/ "suggests cocaine gums, lozenges and energy drinks—even snus-like packets that are placed in the upper lip, simply replacing tobacco with coca leaves. Regulating these and other “mild” forms of the drug would put a dent in the illicit cocaine trade, disempowering gangs and protecting people from adulterated products."

Yes sorry I got sidetracked. Thanks for all the extra info. It's mad how there are so many possible approaches to the issue but we seem so stuck on 'drugs bad ban drugs arrest people heh heh' and then 'legalise everything!'

[tom p]

I think there's a fair argument for limiting which recreational drugs can be sold in the same place (for consumption on the premises), if those drugs can interact. As a trivial example coffee weed shops in the Netherlands don't also sell alcohol, although there are bars that allow weed smoking and coincidentally have a weed shop right next door.

Clubs where lots of attendees are mashed off their tits on ecstacy pipes seem to be able to make enough money from entrance fees, cloak rooms etc. Add in charging £X for a pill that costs pennies to make and they'd probably be viable. Water should be free, obviously, and having some official medical-type person who'll help you if you're having a bad time rather than throw you out into the street at 3am in the rain would make those venues an attractive place to be.

I'm not sure what the model I'd suggest for cocaine. Obviously people like doing it on a night out, but I can't envisage what a specifically cocaine venue would be like (other than really f.cking annoying).

I was going to say you should read some of julie burchill's 1980s articles about being in the groucho club, but nobody should do that.

[discovolante]

I went to the Groucho Club once, albeit not in the 80s, and yes everyone was f.cked.

[Bird on a Fire]

I went to the Groucho Club once, albeit not in the 80s, and yes everyone was f.cked.

I had my first legal drink in the Colony Room a couple of doors down, a few months before it closed. It was disappointingly civilised, though I think most of its famous members had already drunk themselves to death by that point.

[discovolante]

I went to the Groucho Club once, albeit not in the 80s, and yes everyone was f.cked.

I had my first legal drink in the Colony Room a couple of doors down, a few months before it closed. It was disappointingly civilised, though I think most of its famous members had already drunk themselves to death by that point.

Haha, nobody was being particularly badly behaved, they just had a...look about them. I only saw one minor celeb though

[dyqik]

I'm not sure what the model I'd suggest for cocaine. Obviously people like doing it on a night out, but I can't envisage what a specifically cocaine venue would be like (other than really f.cking annoying).

Isn't that just the Tory party conference after-party?