MOLLY, K2 AND OTHER REASONS THE DRUG WAR IS KILLING PEOPLE

This past weekend I watched a documentary about Prohibition and it's effect. When first put into effect in 1919, it helped establish things like the Mafia, gangland shootings and massive corruption within government and police department. Notice how that is EXACTLY what happened with the war on drugs which is making us less safe than ever with a militarized police force, drug cartels that make more money than most countries and random shootings that killing innocent people ever day. Yet the drug war continues unabated and few seem to care. Instead we get calls for more gun control, or police on the street, neither of which will work. The most serious things going on right now is that because we have spent so much time demonizing drugs (and lying about their effects for the most part) synthetic drugs are all the rage and they are killing people due to how they are made.

When I was growing up some decades ago, the most harmful drugs were cocaine and heroin and they pale in comparison to the death rate from the synthetics of today. Weed, mushrooms and LSD were prevalent and non-lethal. You might go insane if you took too much acid, but it is never deadly. Ecstasy started making the rounds as I got older and the concert scene got younger and more rowdy. Even then, I never understood why take something you have no idea what is in it. And today's version, Molly, appears to be even less appealing. Why are college kids taking this drug and dying in such huge numbers all of a sudden?

Molly comes from an abbreviation on the word molecule. Apparently one experiences LSD-like effects for about 8 hours, or about the same time of an acid trip. It raises heart rate and alters perception, especially if combined with things like weed, alcohol or even psychedelics, which sounds exceedingly dangerous. Overdoses of this drug are becoming more prevalent with three deaths, one in Boston, two in NYC, and six overdoses reported just this week.

Molly has hit such a milestone that "artists" like Kanye West and Miley Cyrus sing about using it. I half expect Cyrus was on the drug when she started that ill-advised strip tease on the VMA's last week. Apparently as the early signs of overdose, high blood pressure, high heart rate and high respiratory rate, are common at raves already, most don't realize they are sick until it is far too late. Thus, the nine overdoses this past week, killing three and leaving the others in critical condition. Usually, NYC alone sees 10 deaths a year from Molly but are worried as two so close to each other may mean that this latest batch of Molly is killing people. Stay away from Molly.

Meanwhile In Colorado, 25 people have been admitted to area hospitals for overdosing on synthetic pot called "spice," or "K2." Why on God's green earth would people smoke fake pot when real pot is legal? It is a horrible thing to smoke that leads to psychotic breaks, depression and even death. I knew someone who used to smoke this crap and he's serving ten years in prison for a plethora of charges. He made national news when he tried to escape from the police coming to arrest him by hiding in a chimney which he got stuck in. What a maroon. This is the kind of schmuck who smokes spice. But, I have to say anyone in Colorado who is still smoking astro turf instead of legal weed is dumber than Dean, the guy in the chimney. This stuff is way dangerous and should be used by no one.

This is just like Prohibition. When alcohol was banned, people still drank it anyway. Bootleggers used other sources, like rubbing alcohol, to synthesize booze which at first went well. But the government in all their infinite wisdom decided to make companies double the amount of wood alcohol in things like rubbing alcohol making it harder to make into booze. Instead of stopping the problem bootleggers went and sold the tainted booze anyway, killing many in the process. When the government told the public these miscreants deserved to die for flaunting the law, many got pissed. It was the beginning of the end for Prohibition as people felt that no one deserved to die for drinking. And as Prohibition also gave us the Income Tax, to offset lost taxes on alcohol revenues, that law was double trouble. The worst part is that we are doing the exact same thing now with drugs.

Because drug sales are not regulated, people are dying due to tainted materials. Because drugs are not sold at market prices, drug mafias are now a world wide problem. Crime is rampant and innocent people die everyday from drugs, not mattering whether they use them or not. Some are just caught in the crossfire. As the DEA has spent way too much time intercepting weed, mushrooms and LSD, new, more deadly drugs take their place, just like Prohibition. Will this be our moment when we realize that the drug war is not cost effective and is literally killing us? Probably not. But to every young person out there who may be reading this column, heed this message: stay away from Molly and K2. Weed and acid may be bad at least you won't wind up in the morgue.