TIL: Jackson Pollock died when he was 44

[timelets]

On August 11, 1956, at 10:15 pm, Pollock died in a single-car crash in his Oldsmobile convertible while driving under the influence of alcohol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock#Later_years_and_death_(1955%E2%80%931956)

They didn't do drugs back then. Pollock was an alcoholic, just like many other people before him for thousands of years. Compared to alcohol, we are now (since the 1960s) in early stages of a large-scale drug consumption experiment in the West. In the East, they had it in the 19th century and it didn't end well. The social memory there is so strong that they still have death penalty for drug trafficking.

Comments

[malobukov]

There are many deaths from chinese fentanyl and carfentanil in the US. I wonder how those manufacturers and smugglers manage to suppress social memory and avoid death penalty.

[timelets]

The drug deaths, as you have observed astutely, are in the US, not China. If they were in China, the social memory and penalties would kick right in.

[malobukov]

I thought you said that they still have death penalty for drug trafficking. Part of that route goes through China. This sounds like a conveniently flexible penal system and malleable social memory.

[timelets]

What they mean by "drug trafficking" is bringing drugs in for internal consumption.