“A lot of people recoil from the word "drugs".”

— David Pearce (philosopher)

which is understandable given today's noxious street drugs and their uninspiring medical counterparts. Yet even academics and intellectuals in our society typically take the prototypical dumb drug, ethyl alcohol. If it's socially acceptable to take a drug that makes you temporarily happy and stupid, then why not rationally design drugs to make people perpetually happier and smarter? Presumably, in order to limit abuse-potential, one would want any ideal pleasure drug to be akin - in one limited but important sense - to nicotine, where the smoker's brain finely calibrates its optimal level: there is no uncontrolled dose-escalation.

" The Abolitionist Project https://www.abolitionist.com/", Talks given at the FHI (Oxford University) and the Charity International Happiness Conference, 2007

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David Pearce (philosopher) 28

British transhumanist 1959

David Hockney (1937) British artist

Interview with Jasper Gerard, "Taking the fight to the dreary people," The Sunday Times (London) (2 October 2005)
2000s

“"Designer drugs" are a word bag, just like "drugs", by the way. But after the word "drugs" is the word: "illegal". And after the "designer drugs" there is something much worse: lack of knowledge.”

Jerzy Vetulani (1936–2017) Polish scientist

Vetulani, Jerzy (18 October 2010): Nawet czarownice wiedziały, co sprzedają https://dziennikpolski24.pl/nawet-czarownice-wiedzialy-co-sprzedaja/ar/2867902, interview. Dziennik Polski (in Polish).

“I would say it was about time that you believe in something. And sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll ain't it…. A lot of people used to think they were.”

Joe Strummer (1952–2002) British musician, singer, actor and songwriter

Strummer on Man, God, Law and the Clash (31 January 1988)

“There's only two types of people who are against drugs: the people who have never done drugs and the people who really sucked at doing drugs.”

Doug Stanhope (1967) American stand-up comedian, actor, and author

Deadbeat Hero (2004)

“John Stossel: Your party created a prescription drug program, you voted against it. Don't elderly people need these drugs?
Ron Paul: Yeah, that's why I voted against it, because these government programs failed to work. A lot of elderly were, and still are furious over that program, because it's so complex and difficult.
John Stossel: But a lot of people like it, hey, I'm getting my drugs paid for, they're free.
Ron Paul: You know who else likes it? The drug companies. They spent quite a few millions of dollars, they did the highest lobbying, the profiteers were the ones who really pushed that program. But the assumption shouldn't be made that if you didn't have it, people wouldn't get their drugs. The market is designed to lower prices, not raise prices.”

Ron Paul (1935) American politician and physician

20/20 unaired interview by John Stossel, December 7, 2007 http://www.abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=3970423 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzvtQy_zKHk
2000s, 2006-2009

“Sangamon’s Principle,” I said. “The simpler the molecule, the better the drug. So the best drug is oxygen. Only two atoms. The second-best, nitrous oxide—a mere three atoms. The third-best, ethanol—nine. Past that, you’re talking lots of atoms.”
“So?”
“Atoms are like people. Get lots of them together, never know what they’ll do.”

Neal Stephenson book Zodiac

Source: Zodiac (1988), Chapter 1

“He—an addict for 20 years—undoubtedly writes from close experience about that sordid world of pimps and prostitutes, drug addiction and sexual deviance, grotesque crime and heinous punishment. It fascinates as much as it shocks—even as you recoil in horror, knowing you’ll probably never set foot in Mumbai’s innards, you’re dying to know more about them.”

Jeet Thayil (1959) Indian writer

Savita Iyer, Ahrestani in: Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil Dens and iniquity http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/05/narcopolis-by-jeet-thayil.html, Paste Magazine, 28 May 2013

“I am, by calling, a dealer in words; and words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) English short-story writer, poet, and novelist

Speech, quoted in The Times (February 15, 1923).
Other works
Variant: Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

“Like concepts such as national energy policy or war on drugs, competitiveness covers a lot of territory”

Allen B. Rosenstein (1920–2018) American systems engineers

Allen B. Rosenstein and Phillip Burgess (1988) "U.S. Competitiveness." Bureaucrat. Vol. 17-18. p. 21.

“See, the average number of people that die every year from taking herbs is zero. Every year about three people die from taking vitamins. Every year about 320 people die from taking over-the-counter drugs. About 9,000 people die from food-borne illnesses. And every year, 90,000 to 110,000 people die from taking correctly prescribed drugs. This is not counting the incorrectly prescribed!”

Kent Hovind (1953) American young Earth creationist

Creation seminars (2003-2005), The Garden of Eden

“A lot of people recoil from the word "drugs".”

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