Thai Drug Hitting Calif. Club Scene

Washington Post.com ^ | Oct. 26, 2002 | Louise Chu

[EggsAckley]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. –– The newest drug to hit California's underground club scene is sweet, colorful – and deadly.

The drug, a form of methamphetamine called ya ba, a Thai name meaning "crazy drug," has made its way into raves and is said to be significantly more powerful and dangerous than the current club drug of choice, Ecstasy.

"The scary thing about these is that they are adding color to them and adding flavor, which could give the perception that these drugs are less dangerous than they really are," says Will Glaspy, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

[gitmo]

How does anybody get the idea to put stuff like this in their bodies?

[FITZ]

Here the wealthier kids will use drugs like Ecstacy but the poorer kids will sniff aerosol paints. Something's missing in eithers' lives.

[EggsAckley]

nihilism

Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief.

The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.

A diffuse, revolutionary movement of mid 19th-century Russia that scorned authority and tradition and believed in reason, materialism, and radical change in society and government through terrorism and assassination.

Psychiatry. A delusion, experienced in some mental disorders, that the world or one's mind, body, or self does not exist.

[fourdeuce82d]

How does anybody get the idea to put stuff like this in their bodies?

pretty much the same way they get started drinking/smoking- they see someone else doing it, they try it...and they like it. And then the discover later that letting it alone is harder than they thought.

[DAnconia55]

If recreational drugs were legal, safer drugs would be developed and marketing would allow control of distribution.

But, that's ok... keep the failed WOD going, and keep being blind false moralists until your kids and grandkids one day end up trying something that will kill them on the first try....

[EggsAckley]

Uh.......okay.

[Rocksalt]

"If recreational drugs were legal, safer drugs would be developed and marketing would allow control of distribution"

What makes you think this? Market control of narcotics would mean just as much motivation to sell as there is now.Most of the schedule 1 drugs at this point can kill you on the first time.I totally agree the WOD is losing at this point,but I have yet to hear a realistic plan for distibution of narcotics if they were legal.I could not accept goverment regulation of them,and I refuse to believe that the freemarket could sell them safely either.The drug laws that exist to control narcotics are on the books to attempt to keep people from ruining their lives,and other's as well,true,they are not working and they infringe upon our rights many times,but I have yet to hear of a realistic plan that does not involve goverment controls.It's a shame drugs are not safe,because so many people desire them.Why? Could it be societal conditions are not good and people want to escape? Maybe changing societal conditions might be good start,when more people feel their lives are satisfying without drugs,use will go down.

[TERMINATTOR]

Safer drugs? Like heroin which was supposed to be a safe substitute for opium? I don't subscribe to the "beter living through chemistry" school of thought. The government has no business regulating "things" whether it's drugs, cars, guns, toasters or whatever. People commit crimes not objects.

[Rocksalt]

"The government has no business regulating "things" whether it's drugs, cars, guns, toasters or whatever."

I concur.I would rather see armed citizens of this country be responsible for drug enforcement.That would be like if you sell narcotics to someone's child,you get what you deserve.You would be amazed how many drug pushers would be out of business real quickly.

[Lancey Howard]

LOL, these drug-crazed libertarians always seem to pop their noses into threads like this, hahaha.

[truth_seeker]

"If recreational drugs were legal, safer drugs would be developed and marketing would allow control of distribution."

Do you consider PCP, crack cocaine and methamphetamine to be "recreational drugs?"

How about LSD, Extacy?

[RWG]

From watching parents drink and smoke plus the countless ads on tv and radio suggesting that even for perky dorothy hamil there comes a time when at least one pill a day is needed or maybe they've seen bob dole smiling after taking his pretty blue pill.

[Rocksalt]

Those drug ads on TV do give the impression that there is a drug for any problem.You notice the list of side effects is always a mile long too. This is part of the problem. If I never saw another one of the Pharmy industry's ads on the toob,I sure would not be dissapointed.

[blaze]

Ya ba da ba doo! Sorry,I just had to say it!

[eno_]

Here the wealthier kids will use drugs like Ecstacy but the poorer kids will sniff aerosol paints.

FITZ got it right: There IS NO "SOLUTION." Huffing gasoline is VERY BAD. But there is no way to stop people from huffing gasoline, or to regulate what is abused, whether the abused chemicals are legal to posses or not. The first step to making things better is realizing it is the drug-taker, not the drug. The laws are not stopping drug-takers now. So, while it may be counterintuitive for law-abiding people to think this way, getting rid of the ineffective laws may actually help the drug-takers. It probably won't make it worse, and the WoD has its own very large costs and bad effects, and if this turns out not to be so, drugs could be made illegal again.

[MHGinTN]

The reason there are so many abortions can be correlated to the fact that abortion is legally sanctioned thus women have the imprerssion that it may not be so bad. Legalize all drugs and the kids will perceive them the same way they perceive alcohol ... it ain't so bad, but it is, especially for young formative brains.

[SicTransitGloriaMundi]

The drug war has lost any credibility it had with kids because all drugs are lumped together when kids can see for themselves that marijuana, for example, isn't exactly destroying their friends' lives.

This article helps make the earlier poster's point: we know nothing about this new drug, but everyone is already assuming it needs to be stamped out before a single person has needed medical attention. Capitalism can't function here when we're forced to presume that no new recreational drug will have the chance to be proven safe.

As far as the question about Extacy and LSD, those are the two safest schedule 1 drugs. It's essentially impossible to overdose on either one, they don't provoke violence, and they're not addictive. Extacy use causes a deadening of the emotions over time, but it's definitely safer than most drugs.

[Mr. Mojo]

How does anybody get the idea to put stuff like this in their bodies?

Natural selection at work.

[Cold Heat]

Saw a TV special on this the other day. The Tai's are devastated from it.

The eventual mental breakdown after extended use causes murder/suicides and the like.

Nasty stuff!