[Poll] Would you sell drugs?

1) yes, but I would give ample warning of side effects. And if it looks like they are addicted I would cut them off.

2) No. that's like saying if I drive a car into a lamp post it's car manufactures fault.

3) I support the effort to legalize drugs.

4) Unsure, depends on what the effect and side effects are.

 

I've never been sure how to separate the side effects of drugs vs addiction.

Nicotine is addictive but a lack of it doesn't cause as severe reactions as hard drugs.
For this particular drug, would there be withdrawal? Are users perfectly conscious (no heightened aggression, etc) during use? Health damage? Nausea, vomiting, pain, brain dysfunction, severely impaired decision making?
Granted there'll still be the usual problems of addiction, from financial ruin to crime.

In this particular instance, I'm assuming the drug:
- only gives 100x strength buff, users don't get "high", so no chance of abuse for entertainment and less likelihood for mass proliferation
- only sold for high price, so poor ppl can't buy it, and it can't be manufactured cheap enough like common generics
- only has a foreseeable application in military or physical labor settings, assuming a medieval world where mechanized labor is not an option, again it's not abusable for entertainment,
then I could be ok with selling it, depending on the type of military applications.

For typical isekai stories, if there was some kinda major genocidal war going on, the positives of the drug may outweigh the negatives (extinction of the human race)
Or if not, it could be abused by people in power to control their army.

 

I've sold high abuse potential drugs before, so I don't see why not.

 

Our cigarette boxes having warnings in small print. Currently parts of our government are trying to get it enlarged into large print (and/or add pictures), but cigarette companies are lobbying against it saying it is a violation of their freedom of speech.

@Arcturus raised the example that if you introduce doping in a competitive setting like this, you inevitably force all the competitors to take it.

For instance, imagine that you are forced to be a gladiator due to debt. You are absolutely required to fight to the death in the next battle. You find out that your next opponent will be using the 100X strength drug. Will you go buy the 100X drug too? How much choice did you have in this matter?

The addictive nature of the drug doesn’t mean anything to you?

Addiction biology varies from person to person. A lot of studies have shown that a person can be genetically predisposed to addiction — as in their brains are wired in a way so that it is more likely for them to get addicted to things.

To make an example, alcohol really isn’t that addictive of a substance (compared to other drugs). But why do we have alcoholics?

It turns out alcoholism isn’t as related to the number of drinks a person has.

Some people are able to spend all of college constantly drinking enormous amounts alcohol (American culture for you) — but never end up addicted or alcoholic.

Other people (with the predisposed addiction trait) only need to drink a comparatively little amount of alcohol and suddenly they’re addicted/alcoholic.

It’s very peculiar.

 

I’m going to do the irresponsible thing and “tap out”.

There is no FDA in this universe. Drugs are mostly untested to the rigorous standard they are in this world, and your friend isn’t a multimillionaire drug company. Rather, he’s a “basement alchemist” who recently came up with a new drug that he’s tested on like n = 5 people.

He’s confident that it works and it appears to be highly addictive. The testers constantly come back and are desperate to buy more.

You have no longitudinal data on what happens to the testers in the long run.

Your friend is positive he can make a huge profit if he goes to market right now — and he doesn’t want to delay because the recipe could be stolen.

I would argue that the military application makes it even worse.

Would you really want your spouse to go to war due to a draft — end up forced to take drugs (or die) — and then come back addicted?

Again, the competitive nature of war makes this kind of drug frightening. If one country rolls out a full entire army with 100X strength buffs, doesn’t that mean your own entire army needs that buff to compete?

 

Agreed, that's why I thought the gladiator issue wasn't really a problem. Since it's just a smaller underground economy / mercenary issue and users more or less know exactly what they are getting into.

Large scale adoption for military settings would be the real concern, and that would depend on the scenario. Drug addiction is probably the lesser of two evils if you're invaded by demons (as with most isekai) and threatened with mass extinction/slavery/subjugation.

Already happened in history.
https://militaryhistorynow.com/2018/05/08/combat-high-a-sobering-history-of-drug-use-in-wartime/

 

This is really odd. I’m not sure which one I would prefer.

Addiction is a really scary thing, and I’m not sure if the price of freedom is worth that.

>.< If it were me, I think I would just surrender. And if not that — this is totally a huge moral/ethical debate — but I think I’d rather “die in dignity”.

 

its legal so why not, but i would make sure to put banners about how it can cause death

 

Mmm .. I've had previous military experience. While I don't presume to speak for all military personnel, my understanding of current and historical military doctrine is mutually assured destruction MAD as a last resort, either nuking the enemy, or setting off nukes on home turf. Countries with nuclear weapons have been attacked/engaged in war -- Israel, India, Pakistan, and now possibly N.Korea -- but never to the extent that they had to resort to MAD. So we may never know if they would pull the trigger if forced.

In comparison to these worst case scenarios, doping up soldiers is really the lesser of many evils, and something military and govt officials will not hesitate to sign off on when the situation turns bad.

Not to mention an invasion of demons or whatever apocalyptic event will be considered an extreme wartime scenario, and martial law will be in effect. So citizens won't even get much say about their concerns. The drug will almost certainly be confiscated/co-opted and mass produced for the war effort.

Granted, in this scenario it's an isekai world. They may not have nukes or bombs, so their societal perspective on doped soldiers (and whatever their bottomline is) may be entirely different from us.

It's unfortunately always down to a few individuals in the military that are sacrificed in defense of their country. Again, already done multiple times in history.

 

No, Ai-chan's cousin was killed by drug overdose.

Before that, he was going in and out of rehabilitation centers, always falling back to his old drug habits because of how broken he was by then.

Before he was going in and out of rehabilitation centers, he tried it just for fun with friends and most of his friends were as broken as he was.

Before he became an addict, he was doing well at school. He wasn't the best student, but he excelled at mechanics and he wanted to be a mechanical engineer, designing cars and trains. Ai-chan recall he used to fix father's car whenever something was wrong even back when he was in middle school. In high school, he tried drugs for the first time and that set his future.

Ai-chan hates drug pushers the most. Kill them all, whether isekai or in this world. This is what death penalties are for. Drugs not only destroy lives, they destroy families and people's future.

Do not look down on addiction. Eventhough you're aware of it, you will usually be unable to fight it. Case in point, the average nuffians who think not reading free stuff for a day is reason to riot and attack translators for being slow.

 

Yes. Laws help prevent abuse. Medicines are drugs as well. People abuse them.

Tough question, but no. Responsibility falls upon the users. Ignorance does not make manufacturers liable for payment, unless governments make it mandatory.

I would support banning of some drugs, but not all drugs. Again, medicine are drugs as well.

Yes. Side effects are hard to remove, and cost rises as side effects go down.

Anyways, these are my answers. I didn't click anything on the poll, since I'm burned out on polls. I will answer, but I will not vote.

 

1. Would you ever sell a drug that has the potential to kill people when abused?
Hmm... legal you say? So..money or morality...Money wins, sorry! If it was illegal I wouldn't and I wouldn't sell outside the gladiators...


2. Should drug manufacturers be responsible for the deaths from their drug?
It depends...as long as it's safe in controlled specified amounts, I don't see it much different than regular medicine. The addiction is the main problem, here..but I would make sure people knew that before buying. If my friend didn't agree, then I wouldn't sell with him. As long as people know what they're getting into before they're buying, I dissolve myself of all blame.


3. Do you believe in banning or making drugs illegal? Would you support an effort to ban drugs?
I would, too many lives get ruined by drugs, but sadly many more know the effects and find a way to try them out of curiosity or desperation. I'm a hypocrite this way. Money is too tempting okay?!

4. If a drug was mostly safe, would you take one yourself?
Hahahahahaha, no. I'm a hypochondriac who gets freaked out over medicine side effects and only takes them in dire circumstances.

Edit: After reading comments, I have decided to look for a different occupation while selling. Once I have enough money, I'll find a different profession. Maybe a shop...

 

*drugs lychee*

 

SnFF the fuCking DrUGS plEASe

 

Bad!

Although I'm curious with what.

Name a drug, reapyon!

 

@iampsyx's BL collection

 

If I was a pharmacist, I would be a drug dealer/seller/solicitor of sorts.