Re:Amphetamine use in America's workforce
by ta_339393 on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @03:31PM
(#11817430)
It does improve cognition in low doses with very little side effects and no real long term danger unless you already have a cardiac condition.
Also there have been studies that show that people on low-dose therapeutic amphetamines are less likely to abuse drugs, including stimulants.
Note -- I'm a staunch anti-prohibitionist and I agree that stimulants are useful tools, but they are also dangerous tools with a high potential for abuse and some pretty wicked effects if you push them too far (stimulant psychosis in the short term, pretty nasty anhedonia as well as a bunch of other health effects in the long term)
So yes, of course let's decriminalize and legalize - and let's start by acknowledging that lots of well rounded people use amphetamines mostly safely and responsibly (the occasional binge seems inevitable) - but let's also have a rational harm reduction talk about the dangers of stimulant abuse. More than any class of drugs, I think they give with one hand and take away with the other. What goes up must come down after all.