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Lumifer comments on [Link] Death with Dignity by Scott Adams - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: Gunnar_Zarncke 12 May 2015 09:34PM

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Comment author: Lumifer 15 May 2015 02:52:47PM *  -1 points [-]

A deliberately lethal medicine is simply a poison.

The dose makes the poison and that has been known for ages. You can kill a man with water.

"Euthanasia drugs" only make death pleasant and painless. Often they are just an overdose of opiates.

Comment author: DanielLC 15 May 2015 07:48:59PM 1 point [-]

They are a poison. The fact that they can do other things is irrelevant if you're using them as directed for a poison. Although I suppose there might be problems if someone claims to be suicidal so they can underdose and use it for opiates.

Comment author: Lumifer 15 May 2015 08:07:07PM 0 points [-]

They are a poison.

I don't think you get it. Everything is poison in the appropriate dose. What usage is "as directed" is irrelevant if you can freely acquire the necessary amounts.

Comment author: DanArmak 15 May 2015 06:41:25PM *  1 point [-]

Which is one reason most opiates, and most other drugs you can easily overdose on and die (as opposed to water), are not legal to buy without prescription.

Comment author: Lumifer 15 May 2015 07:42:03PM 0 points [-]

Actually, no, the reason why you can't buy opiates without a prescription is because they are addictive psychoactives.

You can very easily overdose on Tylenol (acetaminophen, paracetamol), but it will take you a while to die from liver failure. You can buy unlimited amount of Tylenol in every pharmacy.

Comment author: DanArmak 16 May 2015 12:47:15AM 0 points [-]

Actually, no, the reason why you can't buy opiates without a prescription is because they are addictive psychoactives.

Like I said, dangerous overdoses and side effects are one reason, not the only reason.

Which drugs are legal, and which don't require prescriptions, is in large part a matter of historical contingency, lobbying and politics. But there are other reasons too, and dangerous side effects or overdose effects are among the more important ones.