And just who has ENFORCED a WAD? Same people at the Dept. of Homeland Security????
“In sum, an open society has no realistic choice but to concern itself with the harm that people do—not just to others, but to themselves. It has not only a right but a duty to do this. The question is not whether it should exercise this duty, but only how and under what circumstances. With respect to drugs and addiction, the conventional wisdom may have much still to learn—but it is closer to the truth than those who seek to overthrow it.”
Perhaps so, though it’s too bad someone didn’t tell the British about this when they went to war with China over that country’s insistence on enforcing its regulation of opium use against the British Opium traders. It would be like the Columbian cocaine cartels forcing a treaty on the United States that protected “free trade” in their favorite export to the US. One can imagine how we would like it. The Chinese were peeved too, but in no position to prevent the British from keeping China safe for their drug pushers.
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/heroin/opiwar1.htm
All I can say after reading this article is: “Buckle up your motorcycle helmet, fasten your seat belt, and make sure your child is in their child seat.”
And as an aside, we should build no car that cannot exceed 10 mph, so the deaths and injuries from auto collisions will be reduced.
fyi
Let me speak for a moment as a person addicted to drugs. I’m not using them now, and I haven’t used them for a long time, but that doesn’t deny the truth of that first sentence.
Drugs alter the neurochemistry of the user. In that sense, addiction is not the “fault” of the user. However, human beings also have free will and moral conscience. You can be aware of the fact that something has changed in your habits, temperament, and proclivities and still exert control over yourself. Having said that, I willingly gave in to drugs for several years. I’m not proud of the fact.
The writer is confused when he mocks a “heroin virus” coming through the air to infect him. It is the idea that heroin is acceptable which will infect him. If not him, then the idea of acceptable heroin use will influence his children or his spouse. (In fact, this is the story of the current drug epidemic, which started with the idea of “opening your mind” to “new perceptions” through the use of drugs. See Aldous Huxley and Timothy Leary.)
Most people who use drugs won’t get addicted. A large minority will. If our society wants to accept that - we do with alcohol - then we’ll have to deal with the consequences. Shrugging off legalized drugs as no problem at all, though, is another form of foolishness.