October 14, 2004

Drugs in Baghdad "...was asking me whether it was true or not that people in Iraq were becoming addicted to valium and whether valium was easily available over the counter." Wed, Oct 13, 2004 entry.
posted by orococo 20 years ago
  • From link: here are certain areas in Baghdad that are well-known for their criminals and various crimes, ranging from rape to kidnapping to killing. Often the culprits are junkies who do what they do because they're high on something or another. Nothing like a nuanced & informed opinion. Last thing Iraq needs now is reefer madness. Heh.
  • I like her, the one who does Bagdhad Burning. she's wonderfully literary, has an excellent grasp of american slang, and is considered by many to be a fraud, or a hussein-sympathizer. at least, anti-merkan. Real or not, I don't care. She does more for me than 'A family in Baghdad' and its offspring....
  • Gyan did you read the whole page? Don't trivialize this by calling it reefer madness. She's talking about something different.
  • PatB, I read the whole post the first time and I just reread it again. The blogger attributed a cause-effect relationship to intoxication/crime. I remember reading in Sullum's book that according to a study on New York City homicides in 1988(at the height of the crack epidemic), out of 118 murders included by authorities as cocaine-related, only 2 were committed under the influence of cocaine/crack. I'm not disputing that certain class of drugs viz. stimulants can incite aggressive tendencies, but there are a number of factors involved and the issue is not as black & white as the blogger presents.
  • Iraq: It's the new Mexico
  • Iraq: It's, like... woah. Check out the lizards.
  • Gyan, I think it may be a cultural thing. If the penalty for drug use under Saddam was death, odds are there hasn't been a whole lot of drug education going around. that sentence stuck out like a sore thumb for me, too.