this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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Today I Learned

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[–] [email protected] 84 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I got medical cocaine once. I had a chemical burn on my eyeball from inadvertently spraying shave gel into it, so that it underwent the get to foam reaction under my eyelid (the bottle slipped and I reflexively grabbed it). It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced, by far and I’ve broken bones without realizing it.

I was in the ER, literally writhing in pain, and they were asking me questions I couldn’t really answer at the moment, so the dr got annoyed (?) and gave me some eye drops. The INSTANT they hit my eye, the pain disappeared and I was suddenly able to breathe normally, sit still, and be a person. It only lasted a little bit (maybe 5-15 minutes, but I can’t really remember), so they reapplied them a few times while I was there. I tried to get them to give me some to take home and they were weirdly cagey about it, and then they explained that it was a cocaine solution. I then asked if it was just 10% in saline solution or what and the doctor made me promise that I knew I could not buy pure enough cocaine to put in my injured eye safely.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 days ago

Next day he was there for chemical burns on both eyes due to street-grade cocaine generously sprinkled onto both eyeballs, so they got twice the medical cocaine drops.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’ve never willingly done cocaine, but it really, really hurt and the eye drops just fixed it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

I ain't judging. We all do what we need to do to numb the pain.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

and I’ve broken bones without realizing it.

Comparing something very painful to something you didn't even notice seems an odd choice

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

That’s fair, lol. I chose it because I wasn’t in shock and the doctors said I should have been in serious pain, as a metric of my (dangerously) high pain threshold, but then I didn’t give any context.

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[–] [email protected] 154 points 3 days ago (8 children)

I’m actually more concerned about all the plastic they manufacture per year.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 days ago (1 children)

But the micro plastics can be the fossil fuels for future civilizations!

[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about micro plastics to dispute it

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 days ago

It's OK because when you burn plastic the smoke goes up to the sky and becomes stars.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Yeah, who wants micro plastics in their dental cocaine

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[–] [email protected] 109 points 3 days ago (3 children)

We still have medical cocaine. It makes sense to have a company who has long term experience processing it to still do the same as long as they keep up the proper permits and labs.

Set this aside and I agree with @[email protected] that i have much less worry about this than i do about all the plastic. I truly wish we could and would move back to glass bottles because those can truly be recycled. Plastic CAN be but most places anymore don't actually recycle it.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago (5 children)

I read recently that recycled plastics make better railroad ties than wood does. You’d think someone would jump on that.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You have wood railroad ties? You mean the bars under the rails?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Yes. And they are usually treated with creosote. Which is why you should never use them in a vegetable garden.

We still don’t have high speed rail in the US.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Why? Do cars ride on railroad tracks now? (Yes, I am dimly aware there are also places outside the US.)

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 days ago

Always have? 🌎 🧑‍🚀🔫🧑‍🚀

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I'd expect them to stay sane and use prestressed concrete ones like the rest of the industry. Steel might make sense in some situations.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (3 children)

My worry with changing bottles is whether or not anyone has looked into the difference in shipping pollution vs the plastic pollution. It could end up being no better in the long run. I would think glass would be better for sure if the shipping is electric, since the power itself can be regulated more tightly. But with fossil fuels, I have no idea where it would end up.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Once upon a time Coca cola used to sell coke in glass bottles that you would then give back to them, they'd wash them, sanitize them and sell them again. You'd pay a small deposit on the bottle that they'd then give back to you. They had bottling centers all over the place.

They switched to plastic bottles because it was much cheaper to let the government handle the garbage problem

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

The glass also needs more energy to be shaped.

In EU we optionally have returnable plastic bottles for coca cola, which will be reused until worn down.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I'm not sure how it would even make sense to have globally centralised bottling.

Luckily Wikipedia keeps a page on this, and I see there are almost twenty bottling plants in the US alone. Another industry blogger breathlessly reports that coke has 900+ bottling and syrup plants across the globe.

To your point I'm sure some glass bottles get shipped internationally, but it doesn't appear to be their M.O. They keep a few syrup plants across the globe and many bottling plants and distribution partners who work more locally, so the weight of their shipping media for the beverage is likely to be fairly well optimised.

Switching to glass across the globe would be a task for local bottlers and distributors, and although it might pose some challenges it'd be worth it imo

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Glass vs plastic has two issues, glass costs more to ship because it weighs many times what glass does and glass comes with increased rates of injury from broken glass. Cans are the best solution.

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Put it back in the drink you dipshits

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 days ago

"But officer, I got it from the store, its FDA APPROVED, ITS LEGAL!"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Man, if they had put enough in the drink to have a noticable effect just imagine taking a swig of it and the feeling going from fizzy/sweet/bitter to tingling/numb. A drink that just numbs your mouth.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 days ago

If they only (freely) sold cocaine but stopped producing all the plastics I think they would greatly improve their effect on the world.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

But they won't put it in their drink. The hypocrisy 😤

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 days ago (3 children)

The cost of drugs in the media and government talk are almost always wrong.

two million grams of cocaine

Where I live a relatively pure gram goes for €60/g. So that's €120 million worth of pure cocaine.

I think the price that they used is the price they dare ask in the medical world. Which I've seen to be up to $500/g in small quantities. (Posted online by a science student who saw it listed on a certified vendor website). So even if that's the amount they put on it that would still only be $1 billion instead of 3, and that's not even wholesale.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

two million grams of cocaine

This irks me. Two tons of cocaine but bigger number sounds like more.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago

I guess they used grams because it's mostly people that enjoy drugs that will read the article.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

According to my sources (just a quick ddg search), 2000 kg of cocaine is worth more like $6 million.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Yeah I gave an example of the worst possible prices.

I misread however, it's 2 billion USD or 3 billion NZD. But that still doesn't make sense.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 days ago (7 children)

All drugs should be legal.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 days ago

A controlled substance is just that - you have to have the appropriate permits and approvals to be able to manufacturer and supply it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

Why would opioid manufacturers need cocaine? I thought cocaine wasn't an opiate, so wouldn't they just be drug manufacturers?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

Pharmaceutical companies make drugs and only one company in the USA can refine cocaine. They buy the cocaine from Stepan and then make other drugs from it or just dilute it for medical use.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Opioid manufactures also manufacture other drugs, like pharmaceutical grade cocaine. That's the only connection I can see - I don't think the cocaine molecule is similar enough to opioids for it so be a useful precursor.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

Stepan makes it not Coca Cola. I thought International Flavors and Fragrances made it but I guess it's a different factory with no windows a ton of chimneys and barbed wire gates.

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