Paco - Not just a nickname for Francisco anymore

...it's also a compelling argument for drug legalization.

I first read about paco a few days ago in the International Herald Tribune/New York Times. For those who (like me a few days ago) have no idea what the hell paco is, it's "a cheaper[, smokable] alternative to snortable cocaine" made up of the chemical byproducts of cocaine production mixed with a plethora of goodies, ranging from rat poison to crushed glass.

Now my initial reaction is to doubt the veracity of the second half of that, as both 'ingredients' are a common part of drug war mythology and a pretty surefire way to make sure you don't have repeat customers (because they'll be dead). But the New York Times is reputable, and maybe when you smoke (vs. snort or inject) crushed glass or rat poison you actually don't die (you know, for a week or two at least). I'm willing to accept it, unless or until new information comes to the fore.

But I digress. Whatever exactly is in paco it is evidently bad news, as the growing number of unfortunate addicts in Argentina, as well as their families and the physicians which are treating them, can attest. Apparently it is roughly analogous to crack cocaine. Except, you know, worse.

The kicker? If cocaine was legal, paco wouldn't exist. That was my first thought when I read about paco. It's just as much a byproduct of prohibition as it is a byproduct of cocaine. Why, you ask? Because if cocaine was produced legally, those producers wouldn't be able to cut it with crushed glass and rat poison.

Tim Worstall put it nicely, if a little overstated:

"[T]he harm from paco comes not from the cocaine part of it, but from the cutting part of it: that rat poison for example. If cocaine itself were legal and available in pure form, then no one would be smoking the paco, the sweepings from the laboratory floor.

However, we know that cocaine is not going to be made legal: among other things there are a series of treaties under the auspices of the UN to make sure that no one does indeed do that. So, sadly, paco taking will eventually reduce, but for much the same sad reason that PJ O'Rourke pointed out crack cocaine use would reduce. Because those who smoke it will die." (from here)

If that's not a sad and frightening sentiment for change, then I don't know what is.