Buddhini Samarasinghe: Scientists Should Stick to Science

It is a statistical fact that you are more likely to die while horseback riding (1 serious adverse event every ~350 exposures) than from taking Ecstasy (1 serious adverse event every ~10,000 exposures). Yet, in 2009, the scientist who said this was fired from his position as the chairman of the UK's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Professor David Nutt's remit was to make scientific recommendations to government ministers on the classification of illegal drugs based on the harm they c...

 Drugs is a Human Construct

The human body is an assembly of chemicals, as is all food & all medicine. So what we label as a drug is a social construct. Lifting weights changes your bio-physiology in a way that creates performance-enhancing effects on your body. Drinking coffee changes your metabolism in a way that creates performance-enhancing effects on your body. Eating breakfast changes your biochemstry in a way that creates performance-enhancing effects on your body. Practicing in your sport of choice creat...

 Making Drugs Illegal Makes Them Valuable

The more difficult the government makes it to acquire illegal drugs, the higher prices black marketeers can charge. The harsher the penalties for dealing drugs, the more freedom the dealers have to commit other crimes in their pursuit of the economic and social power their trade gives them. After all, they're already criminals and have little more to lose: low risk, high reward. The tighter the crackdown by the government, the scarcer the supply of drugs, and the more potential for money and ...

 Self-Awareness is Not the Self

Is self-awareness what constitutes a self? Self-awareness can be altered by psychoactive drugs, electrical stimulation, political or religious propaganda, even advertising.