[alekratz]

> Is it just me or is the appeal here: "Look! Poor people are having unapproved fun! Shame and Horror!" and assurances that they will suffer for it.

This is not the kind of drug people do for fun. This is the kind that is done to make you forget that you exist while it's active. From the article:

> "We aren’t worried about it,” they say. Ultimately, they claim, they have nothing to lose. "Bombé helps us forget everything. In the West, they have bank accounts, I have nothing. With bombé everything is easier.”

This isn't weed, or LSD, or a "fun" drug. This is the kind of thing that puts you into a stupor so you don't think.

[whimsicalism]

> This isn't weed, or LSD, or a "fun" drug. This is the kind of thing that puts you into a stupor so you don't think.

More like heroin, perhaps.

I would caution about taking everything this article says at entirely face value - you as a reporter could probably get a similar quote about marijuana in Africa as well.