Originally published at: "Ethically sourced" cocaine forcing posh Brits to pay out the nose | Boing Boing
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The trade inevitably involves bloodshed, the destabilisation of communities and an appalling cycle of violence.
As if wealthy British drug addicts (who somehow think cocaine can be part of a healthy lifestyle) give a tinker’s damn about the well-being of poor brown-skinned people in Colombia.
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Given the source (a former Hollyoaks actor and some guy), I wouldn’t leap to conclusions about how much of a thing this actually is, although drug dealers conning rubes is hardly unknown.
But it does illustrate that “ethical consumerism” is a joke if it’s not backed by state regulation, and redundant if it is. Like, if governments didn’t want people snorting unethical cocaine, they could just stop forcing it to be produced unethically, and then it wouldn’t matter whether cokeheads are kind of jerks.
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The trade inevitably involves bloodshed, the destabilisation of communities and an appalling cycle of violence. If demand goes up, so does production and the cycle of destruction continues.
Ethically sourced cocaine is possible. Just remove the prohibitions on it. Jesus Christ, you could order it in tablet and spay form from the Harrod’s catalog in 1912.
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Every coke addict I have ever had the displeasure of know/meeting would snort the coke off of the filthiest surfaces known to mankind, so this is not really needed.
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So, just like every other “ethically sourced” product, really? The cartels just need a trade association to verify that they are being ethical. Maybe the people buying the coke will sue the cartels when they find out it isn’t so.
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It’s still going to be imported via someone’s body cavity… hopefully one of the better ones.
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Don’t worry, soon somebody will come up with a “more” ethically-sourced DIY kit of coca leaves for the toffee noses to make their own artisinal cocaine.
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Prescient Robin Williams told us all: “cocaine is god’s way of telling you you have too much money.”
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Just legalize it and then you can change the supply channels.
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I.e. give money to the Big Pharma cartels rather than the indigenous ones.
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“Sadly, current legal regimes make it impossible to produce ethically sourced coke. But your donations can help change this sad state of affairs. By sponsoring a guerrilla for just one hundred euros per day, you can make FARC’s dreams come true.”
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Fair trade blow sourced from leaves picked by young adults who don’t have to syphon gas from nearby vehicles.
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But if you did that people who already snort cocaine will continue to snort cocaine and the only major change will be a well regulated supply chain that gets taxed by the government
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Is 200 pounds per gram significantly more expensive than normal cocaine? That seems like a lot, but I don’t know what the market is like.
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It’s more than I’d pay. I know someone who grew up with kids from a family with, well, connections, and they get coke that’s nearly as good as the stuff I once had that was stolen from a hospital’s drug disposal system (pretty sure it’s had a salt-base-salt cleanup) and it’s £150 a gram. A key bump is enough to scare someone used to Street coke. I could see charging a lot more for it if you’re selling it to showbiz glitterati though.
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Two minutes googling suggests it’s a 400% markup. A gram being advertised on government war-on-drugs sites as about £40.
I wonder if I really am now on a watchlist. My life is so blameless that seems ironic. Does it make a difference that I shouted “prank call, prank call” while googling?
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