Perspective March 24, 2010
Posted by Sharny in : Essay,Politics,Rants,Society , add a commentThere’s been a lot in the British media lately about the fairly new legal drug mephedrone. Charlie Brooker did a humourous piece on the fuss being made in his Guardian colomn and his points very accurately demonstrate why making it illegal will do nothing to help. However, under our current classification of drugs in this country it should be illegal, the effects are similar to those of a couple of class As and Bs.
The recent furor has come about after the deaths of two young men. Naturally when people’s kids start dying you get sobbing parents explaining how their kids didn’t think it was a risk and about how lovely their children were which throws anyone middle aged, middle class, or both into something of a rage against the drug. What people seem to completely wash over is rather an important point: they didn’t just take mephedrone on it’s own, they took as part of a cocktail with the opium substitute methadone, which was also combined with alcohol.
So a couple of idiots take a load of drugs at the same time, and of course it’s not the legal high alcohol that is targeted, woah no, it’s the legal high mephedrone. There has been so much in the media lately about “legal highs” as this scarey word. Oh my god, people are getting high and it’s not illegal! We must put a stop to this! No one should be allowed to get high! Not ever! It’s morally wrong!
Not once have I ever seen mention in a news article of the most highly consumed legal highs in the world: Alcohol and Tobacco. Or for that matter caffeine, which many people in the western world rely on to get them through the day. If people were relying on mephedrone or even something like cannabis to get them through the day it would be calls for a intervention. But not goood ol caffeine. When it comes down to deaths, mephedrone can be associated (but not even be declared as the main cause) for no more than a handful of deaths in the short time it’s been available. Tobacco on the other hand is responsible for the deaths of one jumbo jet full of people every hour, every day, 365 days a year. 5.4 million people.
Alcohol doesn’t look much better in this standing, claiming 1.9 million lives every year. As a direct result of it’s use. Not combined with other things. We’re talking over 7 million lives claimed every year from legal highs. And you know why that doesn’t get on the news? Because there aren’t sobbing parents. Because it’s not new and it’s not scary. But it should be scary. 7 million deaths is scary. The fact that our drug classification is based not on science, not on health risks, not on dependence. Not on anything other than supersition. That’s scary. That is petrfying.
Song of the Day: Delirious by Luka Bloom March 12, 2010
Posted by Sharny in : Entertainment,Music,Review,Scraps , add a commentThis is like the fith time I’ve played this song toda and I think I’m going to be going in for another one very shortly. Not entirely sure why but it’s captivated me with melodic folky flamenco groove. He manages to make it sound like so much more than one man and one guitar. I’m pretty fascinated with his style of guitar, it’s ranging from soft strumming to a furious whip that makes for a snappy and punchy sound, all the time complimented by delicate and carefully selected melodic rhythm.
The lyrics touch that line of brilliance between a specific event and a vague generalisation, I think that anyone can get some level of connection with them, everyone knows a little bit of what he’s talking about. But most important is that groove, woah man, it’s just phenominal.
Here’s the video, I couldn’t find a way to embed it. If you can resist tapping your feet and bobbing your head I don’t know what’s wrong with you.
