Does America REALLY Want a Drug-Free Society?
Holliston Perni
I was just reading ARIADNE'S CLEW, by J.P. Befumo (an ass-kicking book,
btw), and came cross the following excerpt that really made me stop and
think. Here it is:
Melanie hesitated, then said, "I admit you may have gotten a raw
deal, but overall, you have to see how the intent of establishing a
drug-free society is basically justified-"
"Drug-free society?" he shouted. "What utter bullshit! Open your
eyes, for Christ's sake! We made token moves against cigarettes, until the
price reached four dollars a pack, most of which represents federal taxes.
We have no problem selling alcohol, even targeting specific advertisements
to inner-city minorities. We put our kids on Ritalin because we can't take
the time to deal with their behavior problems. We gobble our Rogaine because
our hair is falling out. We push Viagra to those whose overall poor health
and mental imbalances have made them impotent. We stuff our faces full of
Prexal because we can't function socially. We live on Prozac because we can't
cope with life in general. Whom do you think these hypocrites are
protecting? Kids on the street? Or is it the big drug companies, the big
alcohol companies, and the tobacco companies, all of which pour millions of
dollars into buying their agendas in Washington? And oh by the way, do you
know why marijuana was originally illegalized? It was done to provide law
enforcement officers in the southwest with a convenient excuse for
discriminating against Mexican Americans. So don't you dare talk to me about
a drug-free society! What we really need is a hypocrite-free society.
This brought to mind another interesting historical fact:
From 1840 to 1880, Great Britain enforced a prohibition
against the drinking of gin. Not drinking in general, mind you; just gin.
Why would a country prohibit just the drinking of gin, not the drinking of
anything else for forty years? Because the rich people drank whiskey, and
the poor people drank what?.gin. The same is true today in America.
If we're rich, then we greedily consume our Ritalin, our
Rogaine, our Viagra, our Prexal, and our Prozac. Sure, we want a 'drug-free
society'-but only for THEM. And who concocts and sells these permissible
pharmaceuticals? Why, the big drug companies, of course. They don't want
people using something they could easily grow in their back yard, or,
indeed, anything for which they don't hold an exclusive patent. Bribing the
government and the media to push their agenda is easily affordable, and
money well spent, and every 'Republicrat' is demonstrably on their take.
(Of course, when it turns out that they've been knowingly
selling arthritis medication that causes heart-attacks and strokes, the
government they have purchased conveniently looks the other way.)
Whom do you think these hypocrites are protecting? Kids on the street? Or is
it the big drug companies, the big alcohol companies, and the tobacco
companies, all of which pour millions of dollars into buying their agendas
in Washington?
So much for our drug-free society!
For those unaware of the history of drug laws, the first
laws against opium in the U.S. were really attempts to discriminate against
Chinese immigrants who smoked opium. Cocaine was outlawed largely because of
fears that superhuman Negro cocaine fiends would go on a violent rampage,
raping white women and shooting white men. Marijuana was outlawed because
"all Mexicans are crazy, and marijuana is what makes them crazy." Today, the
main impetus for opposing marijuana is that, unlike those who use alcohol,
marijuana smokers tend to think, and are more prone than those dulled by
booze to question authority.
The international illicit drug business generates as much as
$400 billion in trade annually according to the United Nations International
Drug Control Program. That amounts to 8% of all international trade, and is
comparable to the annual turnover in textiles, according to the study.
Taxing legalized drugs could solve our Social Security crisis, provide
universal heath care, or pay to secure our borders. Instead, we turn
harmless citizens into political prisoners.
The bottom line here is that there are entirely too many
people in this country worrying about minding OTHER people's business,
instead of raising their children, imparting values that will keep them from
turning to drugs, and living their own lives.
The most recent figures available from the Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) indicate that, in 1999, federal
expenditures on control of illegal drugs surpassed $17 billion, while the
combined expenditures by federal, state, and local governments exceeded $30
billion. What is more, the nation's so-called 'drug war' is a protracted
one. The country has spent roughly this amount annually throughout the
1990s." (Source: National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences,
"Informing America's Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don't Know Keeps
Hurting Us" [Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001], p. 1.)
How many more wars can we afford to fight? Americans would do a
lot better to stop waging wars, stop installing brutal right-wing dictators,
stop trying to topple sovereign governments, and instead, turn our attention
toward our own very real, and very pressing problems. We'd find that by so
doing, we'd attract a lot less rancor from crazed zealots bent on jihad.
Once again, the ONLY way we're going to take back our country is
to STOP voting Republicrat. Personally, I would vote for ANY third-party
candidate, from the far left to the far right, than any Republicrat. At
least you know that this is a candidate that stands for something other than
getting him- or her-self elected. Hey, they did it in Minnesota, and almost
did it with Ross Perot, before the men in black intimidated him into
withdrawing.
HONEST thinkers from the right (e.g. William F. Buckley) to the left have
taken the stand that drugs should be legalized. Who opposes it? Corrupt
politicians, and busybodies who can't learn to mind their own business.
Most recently, the Supreme Court has even gone so far as to
abrogate the 10th amendment, by overthrowing the medicinal marijuana laws of
California, and several other states. In the days of the founding fathers,
this would have been termed "taxation without representation," and by my
reckoning, every Californian would be well within their rights to refrain
from paying federal income taxes.
This just goes to prove that the legitimate, constitutional government of
the United States has been overthrown by these Republicrat scoundrels, and
it's high time we from both the right and the left put aside our differences
and took it back!
Hollis,