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P “The most dangerous type of drug abuse is – Nils Christie, Norwegian criminologist < 10 per cent class participation< 50 per cent final examination – I. the origins of Canada's drug laws and – II. benefits and harms associated with the – III. possible alternative laws and policies Why are some drugs illegal?
Why are some drugs illegal?
P Because they cause direct or indirect harm/danger?P Because they risk creating dependency?P Because they reduce productivity at work, or interfere P Because they give pleasure? Need to condemn P Cultural/moral/religious reasons?P Fairness?P Perceived inability of other means to reduce these Cultural/moral/religious reasons for
making some drugs illegal
Contraindications
P “If your goal is fitness and health, [this drug] “should have no part in your life.” [The author] P “Drug use is a sin that must be stopped.” explains that using [this drug] is like “buying on credit” because after the drug triggers an initial energy release “by blocking normal shutoffmechanisms” there follows within one to threehours a hangover effect of under stimulation,motor impairment and mental inefficiency. Useof this drug, the author reports, is also linked tohypoglycemia, greater risk of coronary heartattack and stomach ulcer.
A [UK] teenager was taken to hospital after overdosing on espresso – a “psychoactive, addictive drug” coffee. Jasmine Willis, 17, developed a fever and beganhyperventilating after drinking seven double espressos while working – a neuroactive drug that fosters dependency because of . . . Ms Willis, who had thought the coffees were single measures, – risks miscarriage, osteoporosis, insomnia, anxiety, and said the effects were so severe that she began laughing and crying forno reason while serving customers at the shop. . . . She developed a fever and began struggling to breathe after being sent home by herfather.
– crosses the placenta and also filters into breast milk;scientists are particularly worried that it affects fetuses and "My nerves were all over the place. "I was drenched. I was burning infants just when brains and nervous systems are up and hyperventilating. "I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast and I thought I was going into shock. . . . Theteenager . . . suffered side effects for days afterwards and now saysshe cannot stand the sight of coffee.
– may threaten developing bone mass in children “Girl overdoses on espresso coffee,” BBC NEWS, news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/- – may be implicated in Attention Deficit Disorder /2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/6944026.stm, 2007/08/13 11:18:00 GMT P Another drug:P These drugs are thought to cause 76000 hospitalizations and 7600 deaths per year in the US by causinggastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding. . . "The Foodand Drug Administration believes anywhere from 10,000to 20,000 deaths each year are the result of severe P The amount of caffeine consumed by the average P Chronic use of [these] drugs can lead to severe gastrointestinal (GI) complications, such as ulcers. Fiftyto 80 percent of the people hospitalized for GI bleedingtake these drugs. Ulcers are found in about 15% of thepeople who use these drugs for at least 3 months. Ulcerscan eventually lead to GI bleeding or may even perforate,spilling the contents of the stomach or small intestine intothe sterile abdominal cavity. Every time they come inwith bleeding, they have a 10% chance of dying. P A few people develop asthma, hay fever, nasal congestion, or hives from these drugs. These people should never take these drugs, nor should CHICAGO (AP) - Reports of dangerous side effects and deaths fromwidely used medicines almost tripled between 1998 and 2005, an people who have active stomach or duodenal analysis of U.S. drug data found. The number of deaths and serious ulcers. Anyone who has ever had a peptic ulcer injuries from prescription and over-the-counter drugs climbed from should be very careful about taking these drugs 34,966 to 89,842 during the study of reports to the Food and DrugAdministration.
because they can lead to a recurrence.
Potent narcotic painkillers including Oxycontin, sold generically as P These drugs sometimes affect the normal function oxycodone, were among 15 drugs most often linked with deaths in of the kidneys, or they can cause fluid to the study. Drugs frequently linked with serious nonfatal complications included insulin, the arthritis drugs Vioxx andRemicade, and the antidepressant Paxil. . . . P Some reports suggest a link between use of these The FDA issued a statement saying it is aware of the growing drugs and reactivation of tuberculosis.
number of reported problems and takes them seriously . . . . P An overdose can be fatal for a child or adult.
“U.S. data shows near-tripling of reported deaths, drug reactions in 7 years,”Canadian Press, September 11, 2007 | 2:44 PM ET Those who are in the process of developing a negative addiction show three signs. The first is a loss of interest intheir family and family responsibilities as more and moretime and concentration is used up in this pursuit. Typically, The toxin in Botox products may spread to distant parts of a person uses three to four hours per day at this point. the body, with potentially fatal consequences, Health Second, the person becomes more self-directed and less Canada said . in announcing new labelling information concerned about his or her vocation. The person is no longer concerned with achievements or promotions. “Such . . . People with a history of neurological disorders, a point of view. may not only limit professional growth, swallowing difficulties or breathing problems should be but it can actually jeopardize one’s employment.” extremely cautious about using the products, HealthCanada said.
The third and most definitive sign. is a lack of concernwith a person’s own bodily health. The final test of whether or not this addiction exists occurs when the person is toldthat he or she must stop because of a medical problem. Theaddict continues. The addict realizes that continued abusewill cause further damage, but needs the high.
Peaceful Measures (paraphrased from pp. 236-38 Danger as justification for banning
Practising what he preached, a 63-year-old pushing his limits in an effort to become the oldest Canadian to climb MountEverest.
“Ottawa prof dies on Everest,” Ottawa Sun, April < Some drugs – banned
Danger – mobile phones?
No parent should give a child aged eight or under a mobile [In Nova Scotia] 25 per cent of all pregnant women phone, the chairman of an official safety study said today.
Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the NationalRadiological Protection Board (NRPB), said he believed “Why are so many pregnant women smoking when that mobiles may pose a health risk, although this was not doing so means putting their fetus at risk of future cognitive and behavioural problems, not tomention sudden infant death syndrome?” Recent reports from Europe raised concern over possiblelinks between mobile use and tumours in the ear, and any “The cancers to come,” Globe and Mail, October 29, 2002, commenting health risk - if it exists - is certain to be greater for children on new report from Cancer Care Nova Scotia, a program of the province's “Don't give a mobile to your child, warns expert,” The Independent, Health Canada is advising men who take drugs forimpotence and erectile dysfunction to seek immediate medical attention if they experience vision problems.
warnings to women not to take the medication________ during pregnancy because the drug Users of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra are at risk of a rare side- could cause severe birth defects. When taken by effect called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, pregnant women it can cause brain, heart and caused when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked.
Symptoms include sudden and painless loss of vision in one facial defects in fetuses. Some babies exposed to the drug while in the womb have been born “Impotence drugs linked to rare vision problem,” Globe and Mail, July 27, 2005 Alcohol dangers
British drug regulators . . . recommended against the use ofall but one of a new generation of antidepressants in the Alcohol abuse is killing 2.5 million people each year and treatment of depressed children under 18. . . . Their governments must do more to prevent it, the World Health effectiveness in treating depression in children, they said, has not been sufficiently demonstrated, and some drugshave been linked with suicidal thoughts and self-harm in Some 4 per cent of all deaths worldwide are attributable to alcohol, the U.N. body said. The main causes of alcohol-related deaths areinjuries incurred when drunk, cancer, liver cirrhosis, heart diseaseand strokes.
. . . Experts on the British agency's advisory committeeestimated that 40,000 Britons under 18 were taking such .The global body's first report on the subject in seven years recommended that governments raise alcohol taxes, restrict sales,promote alcoholism prevention and treatment programs, and bansome alcohol advertising.
“British Warning on Antidepressant Use for Youth,” New YorkTimes, December 11, 2003 “Alcohol causes 2.5 million deaths a year: WHO,” CBC News, February 11, 2011:http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2011/02/11/health-alcohol-deaths.html Shaky science in determining harm
Risk of Dependency
"It's a worse addiction than drugs, I'll tell you that," characteristics of a plague – it is not only rocker Alice Cooper told Sound Wave Magazine last year. "You should see some of the guys out there . . . guys like Lou Reed, Iggy, Dylan, Neil becoming very dangerous. _____ abuse .
Young. . . . Then you see Pantera, Megadeth, takes the form of an imperious and irresistible “Social Studies,” The Globe and Mail, September 4, 2002.
Source: “Legalising Drugs: Choose your poison,” The Economist,August 10, 2002 Risk of Dependency
Dependency - University Students and
"It's a worse addiction than drugs, I'll tell you that," Media and Internet
rocker Alice Cooper told Sound Wave Magazinelast year. "You should see some of the guys out there playing. Guys like Lou Reed, Iggy, Dylan, Neil Young are out there playing. Then you seePantera, Megadeth, Metallica and all these bandsout playing golf. Everybody plays." “Social Studies,” The Globe and Mail, September 4, 2002.
Reduced productivity as a justification
for banning?
. many of [the students] said they learned fromthe study that relying on devices such ascellphones "actually inhibited their ability to manage their lives as fully as they hoped," the authors reported. Some said they needed to curbtheir media habits, although they doubted they P Drugs that promote enhanced intellectual ability “Tech addiction symptoms rife among students,” CBC News, April 6,2011.
www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/04/06/technology-addiction-students.html Soldiers on Drugs
The distractions of constant emails, text and phone messages are agreater threat to IQ and concentration than taking cannabis,according to a survey of befuddled volunteers.
P Hoo-Ah and Oo-Rah: energy bars. At meal times, Doziness, lethargy and an increasing inability to focus reached "startling" levels in the trials by 1,100 people, who alsodemonstrated that emails in particular have an addictive, drug-like (performance-enhancing ration components) that include energy bars and sports drinks. Armypersonnel eat Hoo-Ah bars while the U.S.
. . . "This is a very real and widespread phenomenon," said GlennWilson, a psychologist from King's College, London University, Marines enjoy Oo-Rah bars. Each bar includes who carried out 80 clinical trials for TNS research, commissioned the amount of caffeine found in a cup of coffee.
by the IT firm Hewlett Packard. The average IQ loss was measuredat 10 points, more than double the four point mean fall found in “Recent US military words and phrases,” The Globeand Mail, March 18, 2003 “Emails ‘pose threat to IQ’,” The Guardian, April 22, 2005 “Smart” Drugs
Banning to
“fairness”
Banning Drugs for Producing
Activities that produce pleasure
Pleasure?
P Sports fanaticism – encouragedP Chocolate cake/greasy hamburgers – encouraged P Sky diving, rock/mountain climbing/heli-skiing, P Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, crystal meth.
P Some drugs – banned and discouraged
Should this be illegal?
Should this be illegal?
Eating ice cream really does make you happy.
Scientists have found that a spoonful of the coldstuff lights up the same pleasure centre in the brainas winning money or listening to your favouritemusic.
“How ice cream tickles your brain,” The Guardian (UK), April 29,2005 P "I do it for the end of the climb.
[Detroit police officer Mike Stefani] relished the adrenaline adrenalin rush. It's the thrill of having “Old friend helps former cop take on Mayor Kilpatrick,” Detroit Free Press,March 2, 2008 < Rock climber Lucie Poirier, two days before falling to her death with her husband in the Saguenay Region of You'll feel on edge as we set up undercover operations with unpredictable, violent drug dealers. You'll feel theadrenaline rush as we crash through the door of stashhouses occupied by armed felons.
– “Enthusiasm, skill not enough to save mountaineering pair,” The Globe and Mail, August 6, 2002 Special Agent Mary Irene Cooper, Chief of Congressional & Public Affairs forthe U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, writing about an upcomingtelevision program about the DEA, March 24, 2008 Methamphetamine – pleasure
The Future of Pleasure?
P Dr. Mary Holley, an obstetrician who runs the Albertville, Ala.-based Mothers AgainstMethamphetamine ministry, said her interviews with male and female meth addicts revealed that sex in theNo. 1 reason people use it. "The effect of an IV hit of methamphetamine is the equivalent of 10 orgasms all on top of each other lasting for 30 minutes to an hour, witha feeling of arousal that lasts for another day and a half,"said Holley. But the euphoric effects do not last long.
< Bill Poovey, “Meth's sexual effect explains addictions,” Associated Press, December 3, 2004 The future may be here
A Texas company claims to have invented a kind ofOrgasmatron for women -- an electrical stimulation devicethat takes women to a pre-orgasmic state. . . . [The device]uses a pair of electrical pads attached to the ankles toincrease its wearer's sexual responsiveness.
The company said the [device] was invented by accident.
One of the four co-inventors . . . was trying to develop anelectrical foot massager. Using his girlfriend as a testsubject, the prototype didn't do so much for her feet, but itdid stimulate her sexually. . . “Orgasmatron Puts Tech in Sex,” Wired News, October 24, 2003

Source: http://www.oscapella.ca/lect1.pdf