Comment by shric

They can be in more countries than just the Netherlands IIRC. And simple test-kits are available too - these aren't as good obviously, but can e.g. prove the absence or presence of certain (by)products.

Also, these tests are set up in a way that they are anonymous in a way that e.g. even if prosecutors could subpoena a test-location or lab to hand over administration, this administration won't contain any PII or even pseudonymous information.

Ah funny! You were 3 hours before me. It's not just xtc and coke. It's much more than that. Most things are simply going to be sent to the lab.

The only thing they don't test are things you can somehow get legally, if I recall correctly (so whatever you can get for any psychological condition).

Lsd can be tested as well in the Netherlands. You can get a quantative analysis, but you lose the sample.

Sure it can’t be more than 150mg of MDMA, but that doesn’t tell you how much meth / fentanyl / whatever is in there, so it’s not like you’re somehow in a safer boat with it. At least it’s easier to test LSD for adulteration due to it being such a different chemical than what it could be adulterated with.

That's why I don't vape nicotine. Small molecule, sold in concentrate, mixed by who knows who. A high school chemistry experiment. If a butcher offers you a 4-ton pork chop by mistake at least it's obvious you shouldn't stand underneath it. Cigs are cigs but nicotine in solution is an assassination weapon. Ask the CIA.

People who long for the old days must realize there were serious mental issues in society. It wasn't a simple case of the dids and the didn'ts. People were batsh*it insane, and I don't mean hallucinogens, especially not LSD that is not directly toxic at all. People were literally driven to hysteria by the ~thought~ of LSD.

The juggernaut opposing LSD and set the stage for the endless war on drugs. It was the boogeyman that could justify any legal atrocity. Lives could be destroyed, tripping teenagers were treated as if it was a life threatening medical emergency, which is trauma and sadism. The monkey brain slides that implied chromosome damage was deliberately not replicated after the mistake in handling was found, and the study was cited for a decade after author retracted it. Just too convenient to repeat the lie.

It is not surprising that G. Gordon Liddy a toady in Nixon's cabinet, spoke up at a meeting briefly to suggest putting LSD on opposition journalist Jack Anderson's steering wheel. As if it's presence would cause an instant accident that flipped the car 5 stories into the air. He was showing off his ignorance and trying to boost his reputation as a 'fixer'.

But far more dangerous than LSD, a few impaired people here and there was the mass hysteria to the 'plot' and 'scandal' that wouldn't work anyway and 3/4 of the country was consumed by it. That was in 1972.

Then along comes fentanyl that is really scary and not much serious pushback, until 'recently'.

Well, also it degrades over a couple of years (unlike M) so the producer usually makes the dose strong to start

This is true of every illegal drug to some extent. You do not know how it is mixed. Though sure, your 100mg of "MDMA" is unlikely to contain more than 100mg of MDMA

Cocaine is still legal for medical use, but in twenty years of anesthesia I've never seen it used (though we are not an ENT-heavy practice). Too much concern about diversion. It's a great drug for ENT use but the way little bits of excess disappear means that most hospital pharmacies don't want to touch it (and surgery centers that don't have 24/7-staffed pharmacies want it even less due to risk of break-ins and theft).

Heroin is not legal in the US, although it is in the UK at least as a hospice med (under the generic name diamorphine).

My wife, a PhD student at the time, was tasked with delivering cocaine to another university's research lab. I believe they were administering it to mice, I don't know much else. Anyway, my wife agrees and proceeds to take a public bus with an illicit substance and no accompanying permit or documentation. Wild.

There were multiple, I think they were called 1p-LSD, 1cp-LSD, 1d-LSD, 1v-LSD and currently you can still legally buy 1S-LSD. Its a bit of whack-a-mole with the lawmakers because there isnt a blanket ban, only ever the specific chemical gets banned. Although stuff got quite a lot more expensive with every iteration.