News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by arpa on Monday April 20, 2020 @01:36AM (#22921413)
Hey, drug on wars still exists in the world. You can get excessive jail time just for having some (regardless of quantity) marijuana on you - and that is in "western" country. It was not so long ago that "marijuana had no possible medical application" and was scheduled as a class A drug in UK (and I think, still is). There is a lot of stigma, and decades of bad science, propaganda, and manufactured hatred run deep. Research is difficult, if at all possible because excessively harsh legislation. And who benefits?.. criminal cartels and enforcement agencies. This is also why scientists go such extreme lengths to create psychoactive mimics ("legal highs") - so they can research the stuff that is at least similar without going to jail. It's a fucked up world, my friend.

It's not the scientists' approach that is wrong, it's the legislators...

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by robin_reala on Monday April 20, 2020 @01:40AM (#22921428)
Cannabis was downgraded from class A to a class C drug in the UK in 2004, but was upgraded to class B five years later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drugs_controlled_by_the_UK_Mis...

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by globular-toast on Monday April 20, 2020 @02:58AM (#22921767)
It was downgraded from class B. It was never class A. The next government returned it to class B because "drugs bad".
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by robin_reala on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:21AM (#22921858)
You are of course right.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by tdy721 on Monday April 20, 2020 @01:44AM (#22921452)
You can go to jail for alcohol too. Just depends where you are.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TomMarius on Monday April 20, 2020 @02:58AM (#22921765)
Which western country is that? AFAIK even most islamist states allow alcohol for non-muslims.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TheSpiceIsLife on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:19AM (#22921850)
Australia:

To use a still of any capacity to distil alcohol such as spirits, you must have an excise manufacturer licence.

Severe penalties apply for manufacturing spirits without an excise manufacturer licence.[1]

Although, in practice, I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a case of someone being fined for making spirits at home, and you’d probably have to repeatedly offend that particular law in order to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

1. https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Excise-and-excise-equivalent...

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by himlion on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:28AM (#22921887)
For personal use, sure, you'll probably get away with it. Try selling it and see what happens.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TheSpiceIsLife on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:36AM (#22921922)
Yeah nah.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by Nursie on Monday April 20, 2020 @05:40AM (#22922444)
Distillation on home premises without proper safety procedures is a recipe for explosions and for contaminated/weird distillation products.

I'm a home-brewer, and have cold-distilled a couple of things (you can get up to about 22% that way IIRC), but I'm good with it being a little difficult to get started distilling, from a safety standpoint.

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by pmoriarty on Monday April 20, 2020 @05:58AM (#22922527)
"I'm good with it being a little difficult to get started distilling, from a safety standpoint."

If you screw up home canning, you can get botulism, which can very easily kill you and anyone else who consumes it. Same if you simply store some home-made garlic olive oil in your refrigerator.

Cook beans wrong and you could get very sick or even die. Cooking on a gas stove could result in your house catching on fire, or at least you could severely burn yourself or someone else.

Use power tools wrong and you could get maimed or killed, or maim or kill someone else.

Climb a ladder or walk in to a shower and you can fall and die.

Riding a bike wrong could result in yourself or others getting killed.

Yet few would argue that any of these things be made illegal to be done by amateurs at home because of the risks they pose and the fact that people have killed themselves or others doing them.

Why should making alcohol or any other drug be any different?

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by crankylinuxuser on Monday April 20, 2020 @08:15AM (#22923168)
Harming or offing yourself isn't as a big of deal as being a food/beverage producer and handing what you make to others (even free). Distillation is one such bulk method.

Distilled alcohol with a cut of methanol will make for a very sad day for anyone who imbibes.

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by Nursie on Monday April 20, 2020 @10:54AM (#22924317)
Few of these involve the possibility of significant explosion, which is one way in which they are different.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by selimthegrim on Monday April 20, 2020 @02:39PM (#22926910)
Only kidney beans though
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TomMarius on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:35AM (#22921917)
Isn't that because of taxation? It is that way in Czechia as well, purely because of that; it is OK to make spirits at home though (up to some - albeit pretty large - amount).
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by dejv on Monday April 20, 2020 @05:01AM (#22922265)
Sorry but it is not allowed to make spirits at home in Czech Republic.

You can use certified distillery to make spirit from home grown fruit and pay taxes (although not as much as for commercial alcohol). This spirit is used for personal use only and could not be sold.

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TomMarius on Monday April 20, 2020 @06:04AM (#22922553)
> This spirit is used for personal use only and could not be sold.

Yes, that's what I meant. Sorry I wasn't clear.

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TheSpiceIsLife on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:48AM (#22921979)
I’m honestly not sure I know what the original motivations for that law is, but I always assumed it’s due to taxation and licensing reasons.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by ejolto on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:11AM (#22921833)
In Norway you can get up to 6 months in prison for selling alcohol that is over 60% ethanol by volume. Up to 2 years if the offense is "particularly serious".
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by collyw on Tuesday April 21, 2020 @04:18AM (#22933044)
Selling is a different story from possession. I think most countries require a license to sell alcohol.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TomMarius on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:34AM (#22921915)
Oh yeah, I forgot about Norway. I have a (Czech) friend there, they have to pull down the sunblinds when they want to drink a beer. Seems insane to me, also a Czech guy.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by ccsalvesen on Monday April 20, 2020 @04:28AM (#22922149)
As a Norwegian I can tell you that your friend is pulling your leg. You are free to drink on private property. I have never heard about anyone being arrested for responsible drinking in public parks, beaches and places like that.

It's not allowed to serve people that is "visibly intoxicated" but almost no one cares. At a normal Friday and Saturday night, Oslo is a battlefield of shitfaced people.

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by ejolto on Monday April 20, 2020 @05:01AM (#22922268)
Oslo is very liberal when it comes to public drinking. It's not uncommon to get fined for drinking in parks in other cities in Norway. I've only heard of someone getting arrested for it once though, and that was because he refused to pour out the beer when requested by a police officer and chugged it instead.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by M2Ys4U on Monday April 20, 2020 @06:00AM (#22922537)
>It's not allowed to serve people that is "visibly intoxicated" but almost no one cares. At a normal Friday and Saturday night, Oslo is a battlefield of shitfaced people.

Strictly speaking the same is true in the UK, but lol.

Section 141 of the Licensing Act 2003:

"(1) A person [...] commits an offence if, on relevant premises, he knowingly—

(a) sells or attempts to sell alcohol to a person who is drunk, or

(b) allows alcohol to be sold to such a person.

[...]

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale."

Where "level 3 on the standard scale" is £1,000.

Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by ejolto on Monday April 20, 2020 @03:52AM (#22922000)
That doesn't sound right. You are allowed to drink beer on your own property, or in bars. You are not allowed to drink beer in public spaces, but the police will enforce that differently depending on the region.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by TomMarius on Monday April 20, 2020 @04:00AM (#22922045)
I think it has something to do with them having children.
Re:Psilocybin Produced in Yeast by ejolto on Monday April 20, 2020 @05:04AM (#22922280)
Drinking with children present is taboo but not illegal. So that kind of makes sense if they have nosy neighbors.