Yep, when ever I meantion cocaine as a joke half the office lights up like I was about to offer it to them. It is wild to see how prevelant under the surface it is.
All I think about is that in a few hundred year there will be the myths/stories of the excessive fools that were so blitzed that they boiled the planet. Incorrect but partially based on fact.
WTF?! Why is it so expensive in Australia?
Despite a cost-of-living crisis, Dr Hurley said there are enough people with plenty of disposable cash to ensure the demand remains high.
"We generally have a good standard of living, therefore we can afford the price of cocaine."
It might relate to amateurs dealing with sharks and the ocean increasing the risk - Australian airports are pretty tight for bulk smuggling, transit shipping through the ports is looser, but the preferred method for tonnes of drugs is to transfer from a container ship to a small boat - which often goes wrong (not enough to stem the tide, enough to see a tonne of coke on the beach every year).
eg: Mexico to WA: Couriers sentenced for massive 1.2 tonne cocaine conspiracy (2025)
Six men have been sentenced over the attempted importation of 1.2 tonnes of cocaine that was shipped from Mexico to WA shores in 2022, with their bungled and “comical” attempts to retrieve it played out in front of a Perth court.
...
At the time it was the largest drug bust in Australian history and was part of an even bigger interception of around a billion dollars worth of cocaine that was destined for our shores.
Realistically, it would involve making anyone who was involved in importing or selling illegal drugs disappear instead of just imprisoning them for a while and then letting them out to do it again.
You got the stomach for it?
Good to know only the really good liars keep their jobs.
It's always been about blaming drug cartels, smugglers, distributors etc. Drug possession is the crime, drug use is the crime, drug supply is the crime.
The theory seems to be that if only drugs were not available, people would not use them.
All evidence points the other way. Drugs satisfy, but do not create [1] the need. In the absence of illicit drugs alcohol, prescription meds etc flourish.
It seems to me that there's a missing understanding of why people want to take drugs. Is it just addiction? (If so, why not spend those billions on addiction relief?) Is it boredom? Desperation? Something else?
To win the "war on drugs" its important to understand "demand" not just supply. Without demand supply is meaningless. Whereas Cutting supply means nothing. All you do is promote other suppliers, other ways to achieve the same effect.
I'm not against policing the borders for drugs. But watching "border patrol", and seeing endless (justifiably) self-satisfied officers finding drugs, wondering "so what?". Clearly drugs are freely available (despite this bust). Clearly demand is unabated.
To me the key question at the heart of yhe war seems completely unmentioned;
"Why are people using drugs?"
[1] yes, I'm aware not all drugs are the same. Once hooked on heroin you need more heroin. This doesn't negate my root point.
Well, that's because supply _is_ the actual problem.
The real issue is that our government isn't attacking the supply side hard enough. Believe me, if we wanted dealers and cartels to "go away permanently", we could make it happen.
The issue is whether or not we have the will to make this kind of thing happen.
No, you need your daily dosage you are used to. I was an addict for a short time and then went to rehab and never did it since 10 years. And yes, like you said, the demand is there. Every day and must be satisfied. Over here in europe, we have substitution clinics and doctors where you are given polamidon or subutex(dont know whats its called somewhere else) to get you from the streets and injecting doubtable mixtures and catch hepatitis and aids. But not all people qualify for that, so they still have to go to the streets. As an addict myself, i can say, it was dire living conditions, unemployment, the wrong friends and some more factors. Sure it was fun the first times, i used to consume alcohol, which is especially totally legal in bavaria(Oktoberfest) i use to live. Then, the streets are washed with drugs, people making a huge amount of money from it and replacing a decent job and income with drug dealing. But, there is help. I undergone rehab, now living a good life, can afford an exlusive hobby and got married. People that will use drugs are born every second on this earth ball. Times are changing, not every time for the better. We have crisis, wars and other shit while an elite group of people getting richer the same second every day and celebrating their success with cocaine that makes you think you were given the nobel prize at the same time you won the lottery. Especially coke is the drug of the wealthy and successful people, thats why the demand is high and everyone wants his bit of the cake....
coloneltcb•2h ago