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From: wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler)
Newsgroups: net.rumor,net.med
Subject: Re: A Coca Cola "thought experiment"
Message-ID: <656@pyuxa.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 28-Mar-84 08:56:33 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxa.656
Posted: Wed Mar 28 08:56:33 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 29-Mar-84 05:39:26 EST
References: <744@eosp1.UUCP>, <46@infopro.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 26

[]
For Mr Fielder to say that cocaine is non-addictive flys in the face
of medical evidence.  We have a cocaine hotline here in New Jersey that
takes calls from all over the US.  Through this hotline, and subsequent
refferals to addiction control centers, it has been found that there is
a an astounding rate of cocaine addiction being discovered.  No one who
is on a recreational drug will admit that they are addicted just as
most alchoholics will not admit their addiction.  The incidence of
cocaine addiction is soaring in this country and to say it is not an
addiction is false, according to all of the latest medical evidence.
The addiction is just less visible due to the nature of the class of
people using the drug (upper middle class to rich).  These groups are
far more able to hide their addiction.  Heroin and other mainline
drug addicts tend to focus in the lower strata (economically) of
the population where it surfaces in a greater proportion of crimes
committed in order to support the addictions.  The cocaine mainliners
commit fewer crimes due to their higher economic status and thus
have money to purchase cocaine to feed their addictions.

BTW, grass can be addictive also, in the same sense as cigarettes.
Ask Buddy Hackett about it, he freely admits to a grass habit that
was with him for over 10 years.  It was the same as cigarettes, and
you can get all of the lovely tars, etc. just like from cigarettes.

T. C. Wheeler