The war on (some) drugs continues

[andrewducker]

When they talk about "The War On Drugs", I didn't realise that the US air force is giving their troops amphetamines and then sending them out to fly missions.

I've seen some my friends on amphetamines. They have all of the judgement of a startled dog. You might as well fill them full of hyper-strength coffee until they're bouncing off the walls and then hand them a machine gun. In fact, that's exactly what theyr'e doing.

Please, lord, if there's going to be a war, keep it the hell away from me.

Comments

[arkhamrefugee.livejournal.com]

Here, here.

drugs R fun

[substitute.livejournal.com]

When my dad was in the service (world war ii) and the war ended, he had to get from Norfolk VA to California, across the entire continent. So he and his friend bought a very bad car and stole a lot of oil from the ship for the car to burn, and the ship's doctor gave them a sack each of amphetamines and barbiturates: take the white one to drive and the red one to sleep. They drove across the nation that way. Somehow they neither died in a flaming crash nor got addicted to hard drugs.

Of course they'd been taking those pills through the war to stand long watches, etc.

[luxcanon.livejournal.com]

What they carefully do not mention in the article you link to is that IF the pilots 'choose' not to use the meds, they don't get to fly. At least that is what was reported on CBS news on the 20th of December.

It's fucking insane. The most expensive and awesome weaponry on the planet, and we crew them with speed freaks. I did a fair amount of speed in my early 20s, not that I'm proud of it, and I regard it as the most dangerous drug I've ever consumed.

Insanity.

[worldforger.livejournal.com]

Andrew, you are much more knowledgeable about world affairs than I am. Can you direct me to some less hypocritical nations with more intelligent leadership that I can research? Cat and I are considering immigration. No, I"m not joking. Between the, as you put it, war on SOME drugs, the efforts (somewhat successful) to legislate Christianity to the masses, and the nonsensical "Homeland Security" measures, I fear at least a return to a new type of McCarthyism, and at worst fear we may slide toward teh status of police state. I know there are much worse places to live, but I am certain this cannot be the best. I'd rather have a decent education and continued freedom for my children, among other things.

Interesting note in the war on drugs--Alchohol (a drug in and of itself) is a bigger health problem in the US than illegal drugs, and until the END of prohibition, trade in alcohol was a major source of violence. In fact, all drugs, including cocaine, were legal in the US until the 1920s, I believe. There was little or no violence associated with them.

No, I'm not a user myself (anymore), but lets face it--Drugs, like guns, do not ON THEIR OWN cause harm. Misuse of anything can harm, though.

[andrewducker]

Well, Canada seems to be a lot more sensible in many respects. Britain isn't bad (even if our glorious leaders do seem to be rather in love with the US). I hear that Holland (and Amsterdam specifically) is very good.

I recommend taking a few long holidays in exotic places (make friends over LJ first, to make it easier to visit cheap) and ask lots of silly questions to get a feel for them.

I don't think, by the way, that America is going to get _that_ bad. But I don't know if it'll take a look in the mirror and work it out before it dips much further.

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

My ex-PhD supervisor did some research on a drug that the French and Canadian armies give soldiers to keep them awake on night watch (which I'm fairly sure was amphetemine-like). They were doing map-instruction-giving tasks. Basically, tired undrugged soldiers were the same as untired, undrugged ones, but slower. On the drugs, they were insanely overconfident and wouldn't listen to guidance.

Mmm.

[kpollock.livejournal.com]

There's some new drug not long out (brand name is Provigil, not sure of the chemical name) that seems to just negate the need for sleep with no real side effects. You (apparently) don't even sleep for longer after you come down off it (with amphetamines, you do tend to sleep for ages when you do crash) which suggests to me that it works in quite a different way from most stimulants.

I only ever took speed to enable me to keep drinking a lot of vodka whilst retaining good attention. This seemed a vital ability in my days of hanging out in Hell's Angels clubhouses :-)