A thought about the parents of the people who OD'd...

I know this might come across as crass, but for real, that would've happened regardless. DarknetMarkets exist independently of intention. That's like blaming the corner store for selling cigarettes because you smoked way too much and got lung cancer. It just doesn't make sense... the supply meets the demand, not the other way around. The whole thing about the war on drugs is that it is a miserable failure... for real. It is not working. Everything should be legal, and then drug issues should be treated as health issues. The parents of the people who died, the two who testified against Ross... I mean this in the nicest way possible, but Ross didn't make that one kid jump off of a roof. He could've performed that stupidity in killing himself after a 6 pack for fucks sake. The other kid who OD'd on heroin - if that had been from a street dealer, how would it be any different?

Look - I'm sorry that people die. It sucks. I'm going to die someday too, and I hope it isn't from something stupid. It is the nature of our existence. Waaayyyyyy more poeple will die this year from alcohol use. Seriously. The only message that my Government is sending me is that my freedoms are limited because they said so, and instead of legalizing not just pot but EVERYTHING and enjoying tax revenue from it, they want to pretend like it isn't in human nature to say that this demand isn't real.

The only reason there is a criminal element to any of this is because the government allows there to be one.

Thoughts?


Comments


[62 Points] None:

Cause and effect are complex chains of events.

It is guaranteed that people died specifically because of SR1. One of the parents said that her son wouldn't have tried heroin if he had to get it from a street dealer. That's plausible. (No idea if true in that particular case)

Read /r/drugs and you see people doing all kinds of insanely stupid things with drugs that they were easily able to get off the darknet. Many of those would never have the balls to go to a street dealer and some of stuff on the darknet is probably not even available from ANY street dealer. (thinking of weird stuff like DOM)

Of course, some people are alive because of SR too, because they got cleaner stuff than they can get on the street.

But at the end of the day all that matters is that making drugs illegal does WAY more harm than good. It encourages organized crime, it ruins lives through aggressive law enforcement and it makes it difficult to know the purity of anything. And it doesn't really stop drug use hardly at all.

Decriminalization of drugs would probably have saved that lady's son because he could have gotten pure stuff in a controlled setting. Decriminalization would save more lives than 100 Silk Roads.


[8 Points] Thoughtsofamaniac:

Your post and logic are right and I agree, the problem is that it's hard to tell anything to a grieving parent and have them just accept it. They don't want to believe that their children may have habits they felt the need to hide or in many cases a severe addiction - because that places a sense of responsibility on them for what they've done and what their kids did. It's easier for themselves to become convinced that some extrinsic factor somehow made the difference and influenced their children than to view their children as addicts or whatever.


[8 Points] concernisgrowing:

When I was younger I became addicted OC's and when the shit hit the fan my parents got hardcore about reporting the people I bought pills from to the police. I convinced them not to do this but, they we're absolutely convinced that had these "bad people" not been selling pills I would have avoided that terrible addiction altogether(In reality, I sought those people out specifically because they were selling pills). If I had OD'd I'm certain they would have completely blamed dealers for luring me into this dangerous lifestyle.
Among my peers, I'm the sole believer that drug legalization and regulation will save lives. I often skip over alot of pro legalization rhetoric to saying "Look, no matter how you feel about drugs, nothing we've done or doing has helped the issue. In fact, there's alot of evidence that our current approach has made things worse than ever We're spending billions and people are dying. As a society, its time to reconsider how to deal with this."


[5 Points] None:

[deleted]


[3 Points] globaldu:

He fought the law and the law won.

I used to take drugs - I still do, but I used to too - and SR was fucking brilliant. I love his balls, his intelligence... but he knew what he was doing, and he got fucked for it.

I wouldn't have the balls to do what he did which is why I'm sitting here behind my PC wall working a shitty minimum wage job while he's going to spend the rest of his life in a 6x10.

He knew the risks.


[2 Points] None:

I totally get what you're saying.

I do think the markets have made it easier for the younger generation to obtain drugs, but any kid who really wanted drugs could also find them in other places too.

I mean, I guess you could argue that it attracts more nervous kids that would never go out seeking a dealer on the streets. A lot of parents wont open mail addressed to their child so they will use this to their advantage, however, some will get caught out.

I mean, you could say that the markets make it slightly safer for kids to obtain drugs. It's a nasty world out there and kids can easily get pushed onto harder drugs by dealers, they could get mugged, anything.

It's heartbreaking to hear when people overdose, but same could go for alcohol or tobacco. Loads of kids end up in A and E getting their stomach pumped.


[2 Points] GreekLobsta:

I have mountains of anecdotal evidence that corroborates this dude's statement ( the original poster).

I'm not even going to get into those stories, but where I'm from, the most common drugs besides weed and booze is definitely benzos and stimulants. Besides coke almost all the stims are pharmaceutical, not street drugs.

There are ghetto people I know who openly buy and sell pharms on facebook. Using xanax or kpins before a night of drinking is an extremely common practice with almost everyone I know.

If I bring up the concept of the DNMs with people they are usually astounded, and very rarely does anyone else have any experience with the DNMs and most know crazy myths about buying a gram of weed of the markets and having the cops raid your house the next day.

Knowledge of the DNMs is actually very small. In fact on the non DNM reddit posts about Ross more people are saying his charges are to prevent anyone else from making "Silk Road 2" as if now that SR is down anyone has stopped buying and selling over the darknet.

DNMs don't cause overdoses,addiction, or substance abuse. We seek out substances and utilize any possible avenue to acquire them. Addiction and ODs are just a side effect.

Americans (and everyone else in the world) needs to take some fucking personal responsibility for their fuck ups. Instead they push all the blame onto some scapegoat who gets sacrificed for their own peace of mind. Escapists rule when it comes to drugs. No one wants to face the cold, harsh reality that maybe their relative or friend just fucked up and it was all their fault.


[1 Points] givemeoil420:

lost a friend to pills than a hot bag of H killed him after a year in a half way house... it sucks to lose some one but i cant blame the drugs or even the dealer... he was sick and needed help and slipped through ... plenty of people go into our health care system and get a pure morphine for weeks or pain killers for months after surgery and don't become dependent or meth or heroin users ....


[1 Points] Interversity:

You're right, but in the real world nobody can say any of this shit to parents of dead kids, because they're parents of dead kids. It just trumps anything else.


[1 Points] YelloCriminal:

Really, people like this have no Drug education,and its easier for them score off the internet without...any experience thinking they are a rockstars..... Really it sucks to see people die from od's...but you have to have som minimum education about it,and treat drugs with respect


[1 Points] footlockervip:

around here in one of the busiest areas in the country for heroin use, dealers can and often do get murder charges for selling a bag that someone OD's with.

blows my mind how people are willing to pop a few $4 bags on the corner, risk MAJOR prison time for distribution (likely in a school zone becuase no matter where you stand theres a school), or murder charges if someone OD's.


[1 Points] footlockervip:

if the government gave a shit there would not be nearly 4x as many overdoses from legal prescription opiods then heroin in 2011.

2011, 14,091 people die from painkiller overdoses, 4,102 die from heroin overdoses.


[1 Points] Dabblin:

They're cut with fentanol analogs to add potentcy


[1 Points] dontthrowawaymydope7:

Personal responsibility; a concept that apparently no longer exists in today's society.


[1 Points] MotherfuckingSnowman:

My mom is the only reason I'm still alive aside from giving birth to me. She called the police and kept me alive via CPR while the police arrived and were nice enough to arrest me after I was stabilized at the hospital. Thanks you police:) you are truly heroes and I would gladly attempt to charge/incarcerate your mother that saved your life cause some of her sleeping pills were in the basement you live in. Fuck you. I would spend every single day that I had to rot in a jail cell as a result of you keeping you in a tiny box ONLY feeding you bologna and pissing on your face while fucking your wife right in front of you for every day you made me sit. Pieces of fucking scum.


[0 Points] Ajegwu:

People die from OD all the time.

I think Ross was dealt such a heavy sentence because he really fucked shit up for the government. Just by arresting him and putting him on trial, millions of more people know about (and use!) darknet markets now. There are so many markets now, I've lost count. The growth is exponential.

I guess what I want to know is do the parents testify and do the street dealers then get life without parole?