Oooh, that smell ...Okay, first of all, I am an experienced marijuana user. I have been "clean" for about a year now due to financial constraints, not an urge to "clean myself up." I
like marijuana. I have an extensive drug history that includes the use of everything from LSD to Speed. I never used any needles, but I've done pretty much everything else. Now, drugs may not be for everybody, but they are definitely for some people: alcohol and tobacco, for instance.
One thing we know for sure is that the "War on Drugs" is not working. Hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, goes into this program every year and the main thing that happens is that minor drug offenders wind up in jail with ridiculously long sentences -- never mind the fact that minorities wind up taking the brunt of this prejudice. Another thing we know, or should know, is that the purchase of diamonds and the use of gasoline is a far greater investment in funding terrorism than purchasing drugs of any kind is. And besides, terrorists don't grow reefer, they grow poppies, so those ads accusing teenagers who smoke pot of being traitorous are so wildly out of whack it's not even funny. Also, there are no "gateway" drugs. What there are are addictive personalities. I was one of these. I spent time in rehab because the 'rents thought I was all hopped up on marijuana when, in fact, the majority of my usage was with LSD and cocaine.
I guess I don't really have a point here ... oh, yes I do.
If prescription drugs are legal, then all drugs should be prescribed. This segregation of "good drugs" and "bad drugs" is ridiculous. Have you seen the list of side effects for most of those perscription mood stabilizers? That, to me, doesn't sound like a good time. I know for a fact that marijuana doesn't employ anywhere near that range of side-effects, the levels of THC be damned. Neither is marijuana a drug that one develops a physical dependency on. Having been clean for a year, I missed it psychologically, but in no way have I felt "If i don't get high I'm going to die." This same thing cannot be said of tobacco and alcohol. Tobacco is an extremely difficult withdrawal, and severe alcohol addiction can really fuck you up. Hell, who am I kidding? Why don't you coffee drinkers give up the java and tell me how you feel after five days?
You won't do it because you don't look at these "legal" addictions in the same light.
So, enough with the hypocrisy already. Let's peel off the moral evaluation on our guilty pleasures and legalize it. 75% of street crime will instantaneously disappear if we take the legal shroud away from "street drugs." Treat drug addiction for what it is, a health issue, not a criminal act. And, for the rest of us, remember the golden rule: all things in moderation.
