XPost: nf.general, can.general, can.politics   
   From: the_gowch@yahoo.com   
      
   newfysnapshot wrote:   
   ==>> Drugs are bad for the body as well as for our children and for society in   
   ==>> general.   
      
   		Bullshit.   
      
   		Since you care so much about society's welfare,   
   		why are you not attacking the drug that's responsible   
   		for more grief and hardship than all the illegal   
   		substances put together -- alcohol?   
      
   		It's alcohol that's implicated in the vast majority of   
   		drug-related accidents, crime, child-abuse, economic   
   		harm due to lost production, property damage,   
   		destroyed lives.   
      
   		The ONLY problem associated with illegal mood-altering   
   		substances is that they're illegal, not that they're   
   		harmful in and of themselves.   
      
   		Even the king of illegal drugs, heroin, presents   
   		no particular health or law-enforcement problem,   
   		except that its illegality makes it expensive, meaning   
   		that addicts must engage in crime to get enough money   
   		to feed their habits.  A heroin addict lucky enough to   
   		be rich -- and there are such -- does not rob banks or   
   		mug old ladies or go insane.  He takes his "medicine,"   
   		nods off and harms no one except, perhaps,   
   		himself, if he allows his habit to rob him of ambition   
   		or desire to be productive.   
      
   		It's the fact that some drugs are banned that makes   
   		them so expensive that black markets have grown up to   
   		supply users, and the vast profits to be made from   
   		such trade that sparks the turf wars, gang killings   
   		and collateral damage associated with them, as   
   		well as corruption of public officials, the   
   		overcrowding in our prisons, etc., etc.   
      
   		If all the prohibitions were removed today and   
   		(almost) all drugs made available at the local   
   		pharmacy, the prices would drop dramatically,   
   		the criminal gangs that now thrive by supplying   
   		them would vanish, the turf wars would end and   
   		bullets would stop flying around suburban Toronto   
   		neighbourhoods.   
      
   		Only three popular drugs are inherently dangerous   
   		to those who use them -- methamphetamine and   
   		PCP -- both of which are highly deleterious to the   
   		brain and can, in fact, make people crazy -- and, of   
   		course, alcohol.   
      
   		This cannot be said of cannabis, cocaine, heroin or   
   		any of the "psychedelics" such as LSD, mescaline,   
   		psilocybin ("magic mushrooms") or ecstasy.  Use of   
   		these does not make people insane, or turn to crime   
   		or kill their families.   
      
   		Alcohol, OTOH, does all of the above.   
      
   		As far as kids and drugs are concerned . . .   
   		certainly, kids still in school should be discouraged   
   		from using any substances that can reduce their   
   		desire or ability to learn, but keeping drugs illegal   
   		is contraindicated to that goal.   
      
   		The fact that the prohibitions have created an   
   		insuppressible underground economy maintained   
   		by organized criminals means that there are drug   
   		dealers on every high school campus in North America   
   		and at many elementary schools as well.  Fantasize   
   		all you like about draconian penalties and increased   
   		enforcement, but these are never going to go away.   
      
   		Were substances such as marijuana, cocaine and   
   		psilocybin (current favourites among high schoolers)   
   		available at pharmacies but their sale restricted to   
   		those 18 years and older, there might actually be   
   		less use of these than there is presently, since their   
   		inexpensiveness would reduce the profit margin   
   		and temptation to deal in them.   
      
   		Personally, I would much rather see kids smoking weed   
   		than drinking beer.  It's kids drunk on beer who get   
   		into fights, destroy property, kill themselves in cars   
   		and act obnoxiously.  Marijuana users generally do   
   		none of these, so preferring cannabis use to alcohol   
   		consumption is a true no-brainer.  Don't believe me?   
   		Ask your friendly neighbourhood cop which of the two   
   		groups cause the most trouble.   
      
   		As a society, we have made a serious mistake in   
   		futilely criminalizing some mood-altering substances,   
   		while tolerating the use of the most destructive,   
   		dangerous and soul-killing drug of all -- alcohol.   
      
   		The fact that more than a half-century of trying  to   
   		suppress the use of some substances that are in   
   		wide demand has proved to be not only an utter   
   		failure but has produced harm greater than the use   
   		of these substances in the first place should convince   
   		us that we need a radically different approach to the   
   		issue.   
      
   		The only question remaining is whether we have the   
   		courage to demand that our legislators act rationally   
   		and wipe from the books laws that are not only   
   		unenforceable, but counter-productive.   
      
      
   --   
   Where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also the   
   greatest injustice. - Arcesilaus   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)