Apr 10 2009
Legalize drugs
Leonard Pitts recently wrote an interesting article calling for the legalization of illicit drugs. Finally, the word is getting out there. For too long, the discourse concerning the black market has been dominated by this outdated, Reaganomics view of “Just say no”. Okay, because when you’re stressed that your wife’s yelling at you or a tweaker has a gun to your head nad makes you fork over money so he can get meth, that strategy should work.
He made a point in his column to say how he never did drugs. Well, I shall tip my hand and admit I’m not exactly a choir boy. I’ve done my fait share of experimenting (which is all I ever really saw it as): cannabis, MDMA, and the ever-present LSD. And after experiencing their effects I can say I’m as fine as ever. They were nice chemicial reactons but ultimately a minor distraction.
In fact, they helped me overcome a lot of my mental problems and got me to open up. I had a lot of spiritual epiphanies on acid trips and because the barriers in my mind were broken down, I feel a bit more wiser and more open. I’m not saying it’s a cure-all panacea, but it’s not the most evil thing ever either.
Keep in mind ecstasy was used in marriage counseling to varying degress of success in the 1960s. And that the goverenment did experiments with blotters on unwitting soldiers when the chemical was first synthesized. So take the government’s message of “Drugs are bad, mmkay” with a grain of salt (or crack, for that matter).
The only reason drugs aren’t legal yet is because there’s so much out there controlled by third parties the government hasn’t found out a way to make money off it by taxing it. If they truly cared about your health and safety, why are cigarettes being sold at gas stations? Pretty son we’ll stop to fuel up and say, “Yeah, I’ll take a lottery ticket and give me a dimebag as well.”
Look, people are always going to get fucked up, okay? The human desire for intoxicaton is as strong as the will to survive or hunger pangs. If you dumped all the cocaine and heroin tommorrow in the sea, people would huff and puff until they felt dizzy enough to fall down and laugh. Sometimes life gets incredibly stressful and a church meeting or simple aerobics won’t do. It’s an ugly truth, but we have to face it: people will want to get intoxicated because of how humdrum and awful life is. Why else would you talk to Marco, the drug dealer with a cleft foot that lives in a roach-infested apartment in the hood? Because he’s your friend and a geuenly nice and interesting person? Don’t think so.
Marijuana is so normalized into everyday life its criminality is a mere formality. In the 60s it was the choice status symbol for rebellious hippies; now it’s devoured by bored kids at house parties. For God’s sakes, there’s a whole section of rock movies and comedies devoted to the wacky weed. It’s no longer an atrcoious “crime” or social taboo; it’s really becme more of a “wink wink nudge nudge” thing. Half-Baked is now sold at Wal-Mart. You don’t see comedies about people that are murderers or watch kiddie porn, now do you?
I’m not indifferent to the pain it does cause. I realize some people struggle with it and it’s obviously not 100% healthy for you. But then again, neither is McDonald’s, and nobody’s standing outside their buildings calling for their foreclosure. There are risks associated with it, and I’m not stupid enough to suggest stuff like smack and speed are safe. But we should set up rehab centers for people that need that sort of help.
It’s all dependent on the user and how weak/strong he or she is. Not everybody is susceptible to falling down the pit. Some people can take it. I’ve seen people take one hit of ganja and say, “Eh, it’s not for me.” Simple as that.
Prohibition obviously isn’t working. The War on Drugs is turning out to have a lot of casulaties on both sides. And on an off-note, what is this “War on Drugs” nonsense? It makes me think they’re running secret ops missions on ecstasy pills or throwing hand grenades at bongs. “Damnit, Charlie’s down! The puirple haze got him! Whyyyyyyy?”
Drugs have been around since the beginning of human time. I’m sure there was ancient man hotboxing in a cave somewhere when one of them said, “Dude, do you ever think the Ice Age will end?” and the other got a panic attack thinking about it. So it’s not even a recent epidemic, like some experts will have you think. Ever since we evolved, we developed highly complex technology and stratified societies, all so we could more fucked much easier. Cannabis and coca plants wouldn’t grow naturally if they weren’t meant to be natural stimulants. It’s in our blood to put stuff into our blood.
Anyway, silliness notwithstanding, it’s been proven if you make sometjing illegal or taboo peple will flock to it. How else could you explain the record sales for Staight Outta Compton? Certainly not for the musical quality. This creates an underground ring where people will be forced to associate with criminals and shady characters and risk getting pulled over by law enforcement. All this so they can enjoy Dark Side of the Moon a bit more.
I’m not one of those college potheads with a marijuana leaf t-shirt that holds up protest signs and thinks I’m sticking it to the Man by calling for drug legalization. Those are armchair protestors. To me, there are far more important issues to take care of rather than getting baked and not exactly remembering where my car keys are. Che Guvera was a freedom fighter; the people running head shops in California aren’t.
I just say “Screw it,” legalize ‘em, wait for the system to jack up the prices, and move on to focus on the atrocious conditions women have to put up with in the Middle East. Prohibition should be ended but it’s not at the top of my social ills list. Cheech and Chong are not political martyrs, people.
We saw how outlawing intoxicants worked in the 1920s. People would simply go to speakeasies to acquire their spirit of choice and socialize amongst one another. You had organized crime smuggle it into the country. Once it was allowed, the use shot down and now it doesn’t have quite the stigma it once did. The same will happen with drugs if you legalize them.
It’s essentially a victimless crime. Yeah, it’s tragic that some junkie is selling off all his clothes to get one more fix. But beyond himself, who’s he really harming? As opposed to the message the mainstream media and conservative critics will have you believe, addicts and drug abusers are not harmful people. They are just like you and me: they have hopes, fears, desires, dreams, strengths and shortcomings. If anything, we should treat this as a disease to be rehabilitated, not a crime.
But that won’t fly in America. We are a nation of retribution, not understanding. We prefer swift and violent action, not a carefully thought-out sympathetic approach. Look, are two stoners sitting in their basement together laughing at Scooby-Doo really that threatening? Why don’t we take some of this money fueling a failing campaign and go after the problems that really matter…..a shitty education system, crime running rampant in the streets, corruption in our hallowed halls of government, and our painful and alienating seperation from one another?
All the people ranting against drug use are the same motherfuckers that get hammered on Bud Light at family get-togethers, smoke three packs a day until their lung shrivels up, need a cup of coffee from Starbucks to get that extra jolt in the morning, drink a tall can of Amp to get an energy boost, take an aspirin when they have a headache, and down a bottle of Nyquil when they’re sick.
I hate to break it to you, but these are all *gasp* drugs. By definition, they alter your thinking and biological responses in one way or another. It’s just the cultural context that makes one acceptable and not the other. Instead of looking at the world in legal lenses and doing what you’re told and blindly beleiving in the system, try actually thinking for yourself for once.
The only difference between Tylenol and tabs is police won’t handcuff you if they find Tylenol in your house. Well, that and Tylenol doesn’t make you get re-acquainted with your asshole ex and listen to crappy techno music all night. On second thought, maybe we should keep e illegal….
This is Albert Hoffman, German scientist and founder of LSD. In addition to discovering the chemical properties of acid, he is also credited as being the first person to “totally see music as waves in the walls, man”.
