[recuter]

When I was in Peru coca tea was available everywhere for literally pennies. It is legal in most of South America. It doesn't even get you high it just sort of helps with elevation sickness.

This seems to upset US politicians from time to time and cause diplomatic spats, they were adamant against the sale of it despite it being traditional in that part of the world. Punitive about it.

Now it is legal in Canada and not a peep. Tres Bizarre.

[ceejayoz]

There’s a pretty vast gap between coca tea and refined cocaine, isn’t there?

[blululu]

Sort of. It's analogous to Beer vs Whiskey: Same psychoactive, but one substance has been chemically concentrated. Both are bad for you but one can be consumed in much lower quantities and concentrations so the health risks are a bit attenuated. Drinking a beer a lunch on a Friday is generally acceptable, but whisky at lunch any day would raise some eyebrows. That said if you start drinking 5 beers a night every night your friends and family might intervene.

[kortilla]

Not really analogous. A whiskey beverage is usually served at one alcohol unit of strength and has the same alcohol as a beer.

In fact, someone who has a whiskey neat for lunch is likely going to get less alcohol than someone who has a pint from a microbrew. 16 ounces at 10% abv vs 1.5 ounces at 40%.

[blululu]

In both cases the psychoactive is the same but the concentration is different. It is a fair nuance you bring up that an unregulated refining and cutting process has a lot of variability in its amount which can mean taking a rather large amount. While drinking a beer can have more total alcohol than a shot of whiskey, the social stigma is there for reasons. Concentrated consumption is on a different level in terms of behavior and results. I frequently see people have a single beer over a meal, but I don't usually see people have just one shot of whisky...

[kortilla]

I frequently see people have a whisky neat or something like a martini and that’s it. It’s a low carb substitution for drinking beer.

[User23]

> Not really analogous. A whiskey beverage is usually served at one alcohol unit of strength and has the same alcohol as a beer.

The only place I’ve ever gone to a bar where this is actually true is in Utah. Not to mention with the rise of craft beer even a beer isn’t a standard drink often as not.

[recuter]

You crush it and mix with water, add lime to turn it into a paste. The only other thing you need is a little potassium permanganate which is commonly used for lots of things.

Wouldn't say the gap is vast, it isn't a very involved process.

Maybe you mean there is a vast gap between Peru and Canada. Few thousand miles that.

[ceejayoz]

A vast gap in potency.

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

> Owing to the presence of these alkaloids, coca tea is a mild stimulant; its consumption may be compared to consumption of a moderately strong cup of coffee or tea.

[cronix]

We legalized or decriminalized all of that stuff in Oregon 3 years ago. You can get mushrooms now. Meth, heroin, cocaine, all decriminalized. Psychedelics can be used in a clinical setting: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/11/oregon-legalizes...

Decriminalization measure: https://ballotpedia.org/Oregon_Measure_110,_Drug_Decriminali...

[LoganDark]

Clinical settings can violate "set and setting", though. Lots of people, including us, would not want to use psychedelics in a clinic isolated from the world. We'd want to be at home, in our comfy bed, playing nice music, while talking to our friends on the internet.

Luckily, in Oregon, possession of small amounts at home is only a civil violation, so it's basically OK as long as you don't get caught. Even if you do, there's no jail time, only a fine, and IIRC the fine will even be waived if you pass a psychiatric evaluation.

Obviously, possession being legal means nothing if you obtain it illegally. But it's completely legal to buy research chemicals online for "research purposes". Then, even if you end up consuming it, the sequence of events is that you bought a research chemical (which is fine) and then a research chemical in your possession was also a psychedelic in your possession (also fine) once you used it (also fine).

-Emily

[recuter]

https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/coca-not-dirty-word

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3875615

https://www.npr.org/2008/09/14/94518300/u-s-bolivia-ties-str...

[tayo42]

can you get this in dispensaries or anything now? some how dispensaries in CA are selling mushrooms and even advertising them. I guess theres some weird middle ground? seen this in dc too, even like dmt carts. id make that drive for legit mdma lol

[cronix]

No, psychedelics are supposed to be done in a clinical setting by a licensed therapist. The only thing you can buy in a store is cannabis. All we basically did is say we're not going to spend resources fighting personal amounts of drugs. Still illegal to sell. There was one store in downtown Portland that was openly selling mushrooms, even advertising. They got shut down in a week or two once it hit the news. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAvchkZq_WQ

[hezralig]

I was in Portland recently to watch a game at Providence Park and could swear that I walked past a dispensary for mushrooms.

Edit: Found an article about it. https://nypost.com/2022/12/02/countrys-1st-magic-mushroom-sh...

[29athrowaway]

For thousands of years people have munched coca leaves and made teas out of that and there has been no problems whatsoever.

The problem started when someone took a bunch of those leaves, mixed them with a bunch of chemicals to create a highly concentrated substance.

[recuter]

You mean Coca Cola? I agree, fizzy drinks are very bad for you. We should tax 'em.

[29athrowaway]

Modern Coca Cola uses decocainized leaf extract.

[recuter]

I know it sounds wild but this factoid and the Coca Cola company have quite a bit to do with the US government attitude towards the coca leaf and its legal status.

See links posted upthread.

[selectodude]

Cocaine is legal and schedule II here in the United States already. As is methamphetamine.

https://www.lannett.com/products/numbrino/ https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/00...

[LoganDark]

Yep, methamphetamine hydrochloride is sold as a prescription drug called Desoxyn.

We did a bunch of research on this when we started on amphetamines for ADHD treatment. Fortunately not meth, but dextroamphetamine.

-Emily

[ufmace]

Technically yes, but I think what most people think of as "legal" is rather different from "can be prescribed by a doctor for a legitimate medical use".

[tenpies]

> When I was in Peru coca tea was available everywhere for literally pennies.

Just for the sake of adding to this comparison: it takes 300 kilos of coca leaves to make 1 kilo of cocaine[1]. The coca leaf tea to cocaine analog, is somewhat like comparing extremely diluted orange juice (which has a natural amount of alcohol) with Everclear (96% proof).

---

[1] And I'll note that 300:1 is the low end of the spectrum. I've seen ranges from 400:1 to 600:1 being more realistic.

[recuter]

I did say the tea did not get you high. Felt akin to a strong coffee or Red Bull if that. Really did help with the high altitude.

It is also considered sacred and traditional by the indigenous. Probably for that very reason. Yet even at these low concentrations, US officials frequently demand it be outlawed.

Unless you're a Canadian drug company.