It recently came to light—with an assist from Elephant—that a cocaine-fueled party scene included a great deal of sexual abuse. That story is linked below.

Stepping forward to call out abuse, with truth guiding our words, instead of invective…is scary. We need more of it. We need to cultivate a culture of protecting one another. That’s not a cancel culture—we never give up on anyone, even abusers, who were often abused—but we gotta call out abuse when we see it.

That happened recently, and I’m proud that we did it, though it was scary and stressful. The company is already making some changes, though not enough, and the original anonymous instagram account has saved future employees from such sexual abuse.

Drugs are not all the same. Cocaine, specifically, is an immoral drug. It may look snow-white…but it’s red, stained with the blood of those who grow and sell and transport it here. It’s a drug full of suffering. It’s akin to supporting factory farms, only for humans. We gotta care about fair-trade, and fair labor, in everything we do—and some drugs are just…harm-causing, and selfish.

Original article follows: 

Boulder’s all about supporting local, organic, fair-trade and fair labor. Well, half of Boulder. The other half…

I have a few questions for the half of Boulder, including many friends of my friends, who seem to do coke on a regular basis:

1. I’ve been broke all my life. Many of us have. How does it feel to blow wads of cash on blow, instead of, say, on groceries or giving to a worth non-profit or cause?

2. How does it feel to snort blood up your nose? ‘Cause that’s what you’re doing: coke isn’t white: it’s stuffed up people’s asses, it’s the direct cause of gangs, gang warfare, civilian and child murders, it’s destroyed lives and communities, it’s used as a tool for exploitation and it, too often, destroys beautiful people’s erstwhile beautiful lives.

3. You know you looked wonderful last year. This year…not so much. Yah, you.

4. Look, I’m all for legalization, generally. To each his own, as long as we aren’t hurting anyone. But coke hurts everyone it touches. Is it possible, at the least, to source it from a happy farm somewhere? I mean, pot by comparison is incredibly healthy and non-society non-life destroying, and those I know involved in the trade are still beset by douchery, threats, break-ins. Yes, much of that would go away if we treated pot like alcohol, legally, and again I’m generally for that.

But on a basic, immediate level, how can we support something that is causing suffering?

Real question—I’m ignorant, curious, and wondering how the hell this community of ours supports so much casual drug use.