[stevenschmatz]

> These drugs have no accepted medical use and a high potential for dependence and abuse, according to the DEA. Heroin, LSD, and marijuana are in the same category.

This is a pretty absurd comparison, grouping marijuana and heroin in the same category.

[MichaelGG]

Methamphetamine is only Schedule II. You can buy it at Target. There's a fun video of a congressional hearing with the DEA head and a few reps hammer her on this, only to get lots of talking in circles.

[DaiPlusPlus]

You cannot buy methamphetamine at Target. The closest you can get are ephedrine-based decongestants... from the Target pharmacy.

[thirtyseven]

Yes you can. Methamphetamine is used to treat ADHD under the trade name of Desoxyn.

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-9124/desoxyn-oral/details

[DaiPlusPlus]

Yes, but you can't simply "buy it" from Target.

[mcbits]

You can buy it in the same sense that you can simply buy cigarettes. Just the documentation requirements are different.

[api_or_ipa]

With ID, might I add. CVS wouldn't sell me pseudoephedrine using my foreign license, which enraged me. I had to settle for phenylephrine which is a very poor replacement. Mind you, I've bought liquor using that license and never been hassled.

I hate this war on drugs.

[zild3d]

wouldn't amphetamine be closer? (adderal)

[rm_-rf_slash]

It was entirely political. The Nixon administration made drugs highly illegal to badger hippies and blacks.

[pharrington]

Downvoters: this is literally true. Quote from Nixon policy chief John Erlichman, also in the sibling comment's link:

"You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities," Ehrlichman said. "We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

[danjoc]

Fact check,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ehrlichman

Was convicted of perjury. We're supposed to believe what he says?

https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/

Wait, it's not what he said. It's what Dan Baum said he said, 22 years after he supposedly said it, 17 years after Ehrlichman died. Since John isn't around to corroborate the story, I guess we just have to take Dan's word on it?

Not impressed.

[pharrington]

Yes, Erlichman is known to have lied to support his political goals. The quote in question supports that claim.

A quick wiki search finds numerous clinical marijuana and LSD trials conducted in the 50's and 60's suggesting therapeutic applications. The CSA of 1970 classifies these drugs, counter to the then growing body of evidence, as having no known medicinal use.

We know that later, the CIA bought Nicaraguan cocaine specifically to sell in American black inner cities.

We know the US peddles patently absurd, fear and lie based anti-drug propaganda to school children in the form of the DARE program.

We also know, well, everything we currently know about various psychoactive substances.

The consistent thread this weaves is a bit more convincing to me than, "this politician lied about some stuff. Maybe I can't believe anything he's said?"

[ada1981]

Exactly.

[anythingnonidin]

I'm surprised you've been downvoted so much. It's true! http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richa...

[glangdale]

Peculiar that you are being downvoted for a statement that is (a) true and (b) recently confirmed by John Ehrlichman in a huge recent article in Harpers.

https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/