If Drugs Came With An Ingredients List We Probably Wouldn't Be In This Situation
Written by Craig Rogers, Posted on , in Section Teens & Tweens
Hidden Dangers
If a person goes to a drug dealer, then they're probably already ok with putting dangerous substances in their body, but does the danger go further than we realize? There have been numerous reports by chemists telling the general public that the drugs they are purchasing illegally are often not what they are told. In the quest to make higher profits, drug dealers will cut their product with many different substances. In some cases these are harmless, like sugar or creatine, but more harmful things like benzocaine and levamisole are also frequently included. Furthermore, along with the inherent dangers of these substances one must consider how this impacts the strength of a drug. Because a consumer never knows how much something has been cut, they are always in the dark as to the actual dosage they are taking. This is often a major factor behind overdoses.
Placing False Trust In Drug Dealers
When a person chooses to patronize a drug dealer, there is already a high level of trust. They are committing a crime and putting themselves in a situation that has many inherent risks. It is both this necessary level of trust and the fact that the entire thing must be kept under wraps that encourages drug users to not question what it is they are given by their dealer. As most drug dealers aren't overly concerned about their customers health in the long-term, it's easy to see where this gets dangerous and why people are so frequently consuming drugs cut with mysterious substances.
Is There Any Answer?
This is the question that most people come away with. Can we stop these dangerous drug mixtures from being distributed? Short of stopping people from choosing to do drugs, not really, and that isn't the easiest task itself. So the dangers will remain, as most people consuming street drugs aren't going to have the chemistry background necessary to figure out what they're really consuming, nor do most of them probably even care if it gets them high. Unfortunately, continuing to place this life and death level of trust in drug dealers will only lead to more deaths. You can't force a person to make the responsible decision and at least know what it is they are consuming.
