CHECK Magazin - Gesundheitsmagazin für Männer No.5

SOCIETY
ENGLISH
recorded exactly 359,747 drug offenses and
284,390 suspects in Germany in 2019.
Judges:
In 2019, the Federal Office of Justice counted a
total of 21,339 judges and other representatives
of the public interest in the administration of
justice in the Federal Republic of Germany. In
2020 there were 333,600 police officers on duty
in Germany. Every year about one police officer
takes care of about 1.08 drug offenses, and one
judicial officer takes care of about 16.7 drug
offenses.
As a reminder, the global market value of illicit
drugs is estimated at $ 500 billion. If you are
really curious about where this money ends up,
have a browse through the topics menu of the
UN Office On Drugs and Crime: arms smuggling,
terrorism, human trafficking, poaching,
cybercrime, corruption and so on. It doesn‘t
take much imagination to build a direct connection
between the line of coke you snort and
forced prostitution of minors.
HELPING DRUGS USERS IS TRICKY
Advice and contact points for drug users and
addicts face a particular dilemma. Most drug
prevention professionals know that people
don’t stop using drugs by simply telling them:
”Don‘t use drugs because they‘re illegal and unhealthy“.
The task is rather to convey consumption
strategies and to limit individual damage
in the event of drug abuse, for example in the
form of safer use. Anyone who has ever been
confronted with a destructive dependency in a
friend or family member knows that defending
public morale will not get you anywhere.
Currently, any form of drug counselling and
education inevitably takes place in the context
of crime. So the question is how effective this
work really can be. And how much positive
potential goes to waste through criminalization
and social ostracism of certain substances.
6 FLIES DEAD AFTER 30 MINUTES
In 1952, the chemist Albert van Schoor
investigated the amphetamine MDMA, better
known as Ecstasy. He carried out toxicological
experiments with flies
and noted: ”After 30
minutes, 6 flies dead“.
A scientific publication
did not follow up on his
observation.
If you look around long
enough, however, you
will find numerous
study-based writings
that prove the harmfulness
of MDMA and
the like. Regular and
excessive consumption
of amphetamines
attacks brain tissue.
Improper use can
lead to hyperthermia
(overheating), which can be fatal. Cocaine
consumption can have massive physical and
psychological consequences, lead to immune
deficiency, severe weight loss and damage
to blood vessels, liver, heart and kidneys.
Heroin poisoning can cause unconsciousness,
breathing problems and circulatory failure
due to the slowing of the heart. If you fall
unconscious while on heroin, your reflexes are
switched off, which is why there is a risk of
choking on vomit.
Much is being said about the dangers of illegal
drugs. So why are people willing to accept
those?
LEGAL VS. ILLEGAL
Expansion of consciousness, talking to God,
finding inner peace, just getting high, enhancing
sexual experiences, numbing instant
pain. The list of reasons why drugs appear in
almost every culture in the world is long. They
even play a role in western church culture.
Frankincense, for example, contains the active
ingredient Incensole. It has a similar effect on
wild mice as antidepressants and anxiolytics. In
the resin of the frankincense species Boswellia
papyrifera, Incensol and its acetate can even
make up a total content of up to 10% and more.
That‘s pretty potent.
Millions of Christians regularly leave Sunday
mass sedated through frankincense, which is
then called pious. And millions of stoners are
afraid of being caught intoxicated by the police.
Because that‘s called criminal. But joking aside:
42 CHECK BERLIN/BRANDENBURG #5