Posted by juniper on January 5, 2000, at 0:04:49
In reply to Re: US Wants Web Drug Regulation, posted by Adam on January 4, 2000, at 21:08:12
i took a course on drugs, behavior and society 2 years ago. the professor was straight forward and the class was quite informative because we discussed drugs without attatching a moral value to them. this is not easily done in society as the word drug often has strong connotations attatched to it. regardless of the facts, a politician who ran on the premise of support for some or all of illegal drugs to be legalized would not be well accepted by the public at large. the legality of drugs in our society has little to do with fact, and much to do with politics. according to the national institute on drug abuse, nicotine is more addictive than heroin. tabacco related deaths total more than 400,000 each year in the US alone. alcohol is associated with over 100,000 deaths a year. in 1990 (the last year for which i have the facts in front of my nose) alcohol related traffic accidents killed over 22,000 people, more than homicides.
you don't get these kind-of statistics with other drugs.
studies consistently show that the underground fashion the drug trade assumes kills many more than the drugs themselves. and the deaths caused by a physical reaction to a drug are often because the drug was not pure. unregulated, dealers can, and do, add substances to drugs to stretch the amount and therefore their revenues. taking, or combining, substances when you do not know what is in them can be deadly. i'd argue that many of the deaths attributed to drugs also often occur because of the lack of awareness prevelant in our just-say-no society. in countries where alcohol is a social drink with no age limit, alcoholism is lower. children learn at an early age what constitutes moderate, and safe, drinking. we tell kids no, no, no and when they are 21 hand them a keg. and we tell them nothing of the effects of illegal drugs except that they are bad...but children can see through this. they know that you are not telling the entire story and so they find the other side for themselves.
Quixotically, everyone would be fully informed on the pros and cons of drugs, and if one chose to take them, it would be in a controlled environment with a pure substance.
realistically, i work with juvenile delinquents. obtaining drugs is as easy as buying a candy bar. and in light of the situations that many of these kids are from, drugs suddenly don't seem too bad. i have found that the only way kids will listen to an adult speak about drugs is if this adult is not judgemental and just lets them know the facts, which can be more terrifying than morality, for both illegal and legal drugs.whew....
just some more tinder for the discussion.
poster:juniper
thread:17775
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000101/msgs/18056.html