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Surprisingly good article. I wish more time was spent on the negatives. You don't read that its addictive until the last paragraph.

Until then it seem to be pro-3MMC in how it's talked about which I think is dangerous. The history of it however is fascinating.

2 comments

every recreational drug is addictive in the same way as weed or sex or anything else that feels good. thats nothing to be concerned about.

the problem is when something gives you physical dependence like heroin or heavy drinking where you cant just decide to quit because your body adapts to the drug and you will get sick without it, and i dont know if thats the case with 3-MMC.

Agreed, but even some physical dependency seems to be acceptable, though surely only because they're grandfathered in. For example caffeine

I’ve always been skeptical about caffeine’s alleged physical dependence. I’m a two or three cups a day consumer, but I’ve quit many times and never felt any different. This has been entirely by accident, like forgetting to pack coffee on a 2 week back packing trip, or purchasing decaf coffee by mistake, and didn’t even realize I wasn’t drinking for several days

Caffeine’s physical dependence is well documented, you’re by definition an outlier.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-004-2000-x

"In experimental studies, the incidence of headache was 50% and the incidence of clinically significant distress or functional impairment was 13%."

That is by definition not what "outlier" means.

"I've quit many times" is a telltale sign of chronic addiction

OK, but you didn't apparently read the post you replied to, which says "by mistake, and didn’t even realize".

If a drug is compatible with a healthy social or productive lifestyle it would seem unreasonable to ban it. Danger of withdrawals might be a consideration.

Caffeine is pretty safe. The withdrawals, for those of us who experience them, are safe if unpleasant.

There's prescription drugs that cause dependency but are widely prescribed. Gabapentin is a good example?

Alcohol is the drug that best fits the "grandfathered" idea, since it's for many folks not compatible with a healthy lifestyle and the withdrawals can be fatal. Alcohol is impossible to ban, though, because the precursors are in every grocery store on the planet and grow on trees

There are many prohibited substances that are more "compatible with a healthy social or productive lifestyle" than legal substances. The actual criteria for a ban seems to be if it isn't alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, or prescribed by a doctor.

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms don't last more than 1-2 weeks. And we're talking about headaches, feeling sluggish... not dying, like other drugs.

The only common drugs that cause deadly withdrawals are alcohol and benzodiazepines. Opioid withdrawals are famously extremely unpleasant but not typically considered life-threatening.

Can cause hyponatremia. Which is where your blood sodium is too low and your brain can swell due to osmosis, destroying it.