TROUBL

If prohibition has taught us anything, it’s that people are resilient and innovative. It didn’t work in the 1920’s against alcohol, (it diversified the types through homemade breweries) and its not working now against everything else. Since it’s near impossible to stop the flow and use of illegal drugs, we should take a lesson from the more progressive European countries and begin to decriminalize and legalize them.

It’s not an overnight process, but it would begin to resolve the monumental pressure which law enforcement faces and make their efforts more than a moot. Put the political system to work, keep the federal government out of it and allow the states and people to decide what they want to allow in their own backyards.

The federal government should take a page from the various industries deemed unproblematic. Regulate and tax them in the same way as alcohol and cigarettes. The guy in the lab coat behind the pharmacy counter can guarantee that you’re getting exactly what you paid for. Make an efficient use of our tax money and systematically destroy the power structure of the drug trade in the most logical way. This may just make any continuing problems the federal government faces actually manageable. I would much rather see an addict steal from a store shelf than break into someone’s house.

New drugs will continue to emerge. They come in so many forms that it’s ludicrous to attempt to stop their use by force. Creating fear is not enough to sway people.

If person becomes addicted, they should be helped without judgment, not castigated. Isolation is a pathway towards self-destruction. There are a lot of people who choose to abstain from drug use without threats through their own experiences, faiths, teachings or lack of desire. Education and parenting are still the best methods to keep your loved ones safe from harm, so rather than “just saying no,” try learning about what the types of drugs are out there.

Parents: if we’re led to believe that something is dangerous and discover it doesn’t immediately destroy us makes us more likely to find out what other types of fun we’re missing. For example, saying marijuana is a gateway drug, a term made popular by 1980’s anti-drug campaigns, affected experimentation.

In this age of information, should you choose to take something not prescribed by a doctor, first look it up: www.erowid.com is a great website to gather info on the relationship between the human body and psycho-actives. A shift in spending on the war on drugs to universal healthcare would pay for itself.