I shall be interested in participating in this thread, and seeing the various arguments, but I have to go to work right now.
The "war on drugs" is an aberration. Not dissimilar to witch burnings, certain people in our society seem to need to impose their fear based beliefs on everyone else. In the seagull world, they are the ones you see at the beach that attack all the other seagulls in a show of superiority and territorialism. Anyone hear of what's happening to
Bernie Ellis here in Tennessee at the hands of these anti drug lunatics?
At some point in time (I hope and believe anyway) the world will look back at the "war on drugs" and wonder what the hell people were thinking. The same way we now look back at witch burnings and the anti communist insanity of a few decades back. I have plenty to say about this, but I too must be off to work.
I agree with Kenny. Drug use is a personal choice. I don't see any positive results from the war on drugs. Criminals are given a massive market, and those with drug dependencies are treated as criminals.
And not only is it misguided, it is a failure. A complete, unqualified, abysmal failure. I can't see how drugs could be made more available than they are at present. I can go to any bar anywhere in the world and ask for anything I want.
I don't argue for the complete availability of everything, however. Some drugs, such as heroin and crack, are extraordinarily addictive and can be destructive. These things should be regulated. A register in which what is sold to whom can be recorded, and when a dependency becomes apparent treatment can be offered. Kenny and I have discussed this before, and we didn't agree.
The sad reality is that we're still very much in the dark ages. Frightened control freaks run the show, and any change will probably be very long term. Change will come, though, of that I'm confident. Eventually those with close minded, fear based views will be outnumbered, and the walls they've built will come tumbling down. Perhaps not in our lifetimes, but eventually. This is my belief anyway.
There's also the consideration that things as they are provide certain people with huge profit opportunity, the whole legal infrastructure not the least among them. Imagine how many law enforcement and prison staff and court staff and lawyers and so on, would be out of work if drugs were decriminalized? Alot of peoples livlihood depends on this stuff remaining illegal. However, vested interest cannot withstand the powerful force of progress forever. Eventually these obsolete laws will go the way of obsolete technology, onto the scrap heap of history.
It seems to me that this is the product of fear and ignorance. Someone dies, a youth worse yet, and people become hysterical and start making stupid decisions. The press fans the flames of this stupidity and before you know it, more freedom is taken away. People die of alcohol related matters on a regular basis, but we all know that banning it is no solution. Hell, I know a lady whose son was killed riding a skateboard, so by this rationale we should be banning skateboards, no?
thats correct its a product of fear and ignorance.. some people use it cause they might think that they wont belong to their friends if they dont use it..
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