We are in the middle of another Nixon-style moral panic over prescription opioids, and it’s going to end up just as bad for us as the cannabis panic has been. Lives wrecked, opportunities lost, politicians and physicians irredeemably corrupted, the most abusive and dangerous drug dealers profiting the most, it’s on that same track.
Yes, but diatomic oxygen is far more addictive. Once you acquire the addiction, the amount of time you can go without oxygen dihydride, compared to diatomic oxygen, is three orders of magnitude longer.
And one popular process used to convert oxygen dihydride into diatomic oxygen involves creating diatomic hydrogen, a chemical widely used (along with diatomic oxygen) in rocket fuel.
And look at what this highly addictive chemical can do to you in sufficient doses:
Symptoms may include disorientation, breathing problems, and vision changes such as myopia. Prolonged exposure to above-normal oxygen partial pressures, or shorter exposures to very high partial pressures, can cause oxidative damage to cell membranes, collapse of the alveoli in the lungs, retinal detachment, and seizures.
Considering its addictive nature, and its use of a euphoric recreational drug (something I’ve never heard said about oxygen dihydride), I’d consider diatomic oxygen far more dangerous and insidious.
But, if you think* about it, all those people’s use of an illegal substance proves that they are of the criminal element, so you can bet that if they weren’t so damn high, they’d be doing something violent.
*and by think, I mean whatever the fuck it is that is wasting good electricity inside drug warrior’s heads…
Nitpicking, it doesn’t do most of those things without the presence of oxygen dihydride, which is why I suggested it was the real gateway drug. Iron doesn’t corrode in perfectly dry oxygen - it just forms a very thin oxide layer. Cells need a dose of oxygen dihydride before they can absorb oxygen, and breathing it only works if your lungs are damp.
Diatomic oxygen is the hard drug that life went onto after getting addicted to oxygen dihydride. (Consult a textbook - I think you will find I’m right.)
I know when to stop standing out in it, certainly. And I can turn off the tap any time I want. Really I can. I’m a social ODH drinker. Not like one of those people who even have to carry a bottle of it when they go out running.