All I was trying to say about the Swiss program is covered in the last quoted sentence. Managed opiates can help users, even hardcore addicts, to become responsible members of the society. I do have concern for the problems caused by stimulants. However, you have to admit that "tweakers" (people addicted to and using large amounts of stimulants) comprise a rather small percentage of amphetamine users. With a regulated system, we could track usage statistics and when a "tweaker" starts buying all he can get his hands on, the computer could flag him for a talk with the addiction counselor at the distribution center. All of it could easily be paid for by taxes on the drugs themselves and we could start doing real research into what policies are most effective at keeping people from killing themselves with drugs. Cocaine is just as bad in self administration studies and I agree that in such studies, stimulants cause the subjects to self administer until death far more than with opiates. Of course, with opiates you take a nap and with stimulants you can't. Just the pure fact that the subject is awake may be the biggest difference in those types of studies. Exactly.
