LAID WASTE

I was recently pulled over by police in a neighboring city. Their coercive
decision to search my personal belongings for illegal narcotics (all the
while disrespecting an imaginary Fourth Amendment right) inspired me to
write this. Because proselytizing is ultimately fruitless and big brother is
so efficient at fabricating elaborate myths, I may assume this rant will be
preaching to the choir at best.

America has fanatically waged a war on drugs that is blindly supported by
pseudo-scientific propaganda and misdirected political concern.

As going to war with an inanimate object is clearly illogical, I should
think it is obvious to those with common sense that this is essentially a
genocidal war against a particular group of people and their corresponding
value system.

Of course, this dogmatic battle is strategically presented as an honest
worry about the escalation of the "drug problem" and how it relates to
adolescent usage, poverty and chronic addiction.

Yet, every action taken thus far not only fails to improve existing problems
but makes them worse while simultaneously fattening the wallets of the
judicial elites.

DARE, a poor and biased attempt at brain-washing our youth, has proved
itself an utter failure as statistics observe the number of drug users swell
exponentially. The goal of the program is to instill within students the
mindless compulsion to "Just Say No," an Orwellian approach affording
children a programmed lack of informed decision.

As we are headed towards this Brave New World, our ignorant citizens are
obediently lapping up any nonsense the politicians throw at them. Trading
freedom for a false sense of security (America's recent obsession) has
afforded us with wasted tax dollars, crowded prisons and social/ racial
discrimination.

The economical law of supply and demand (as applied to the drug trade) will
prevail regardless of the parental interest of our government. Let's not
forget our last attempt to disrupt society's love of intoxication. The
prohibition of alcohol during the 1920s created a profiting mafia,
boot-legging and a general increase in organized crime. Deaths during
prohibition increased because there was no monitoring of manufacturing
ingredients or quantities. Likewise, because the FDA doesn't extend its
protection to illegal substances (those being the ones they can't earn money
from), purity is always unknown. Thus, with varied batches of drugs
containing an unknown amount, innumerable adulterants, and a plethora of
contaminants, consumer hazards are further amplified.

With the LD50 of diacetylmorphine being some 10 times lower than that of
acetaminophen, the government has relied on fear mongering to initiate
repulsiveness in its victims by simply mentioning the word "heroin."
Similarly, the marijuana plant is currently scheduled in the U.S. as a drug
having "no medical value," while other countries effectively use it to treat
pain, glaucoma and appetite depression. No one in medical history has ever
died from the direct use of marijuana. Despite the exaggerated dangers, a
dying democracy is trampling on cognitive liberty and trying to protect an
individual from himself.

How ridiculous.

I can assure you all that I am not the only one with such opinions about our
state of affairs.

Running a simple Internet search on the wars on drugs will reveal dozens of
dedicated organizations working to accurately inform the public and help
policy-makers design laws that protect the individual and his or her
inherent freedom.

The doubtful may check my references at www.drugwarfacts.org where the
research is professionally cited.

Human beings have consistently utilized plants to alter their current state
of consciousness as far back as history can record.

It is an intrinsic property of advanced organisms and must be embraced and
understood rather than hated and repressed.

In fact, the role of psychoactive inebriants in civilization has been one of
muse and awe, having profound effects on religious rituals and environmental
respect. I will end with the appropriate words of a dear lecturer named
Terence McKenna: "If the words `life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'
don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the
Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on."