(no subject)
Did you know that The U.S. Government and our media organizations purposefully promote fear of illegal drugs, even though legal drugs cause more damage to people?
The Drug Enforcement Agency has determined that thousands of doctors give prescriptions to addicts and dealers, yet less than 1% of the anti-drug budget goes toward this issue. Meanwhile, people abuse prescription drugs (often mixing pills with alcohol) and go to the emergency room more than people who abuse cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and LSD all combined.
The drug-scare began when Nixon unleashed undercover agents in the seventies with the direct purpose of jailing drug-dealers and drug-users. Television played along with the drama with shows like “Hawaii Five-O” and “The Mob Squad” with strong anti-drug messages. Before Nixon, however, drug abuse was not a primary political issue.
By the time George Bush came to presidency however, drug-abuse was “the gravest domestic threat facing our nation today.” In 1989, George Bush held up a plastic bag with “EVIDENCE” written on it; this was supposed to be bag of crack-cocaine seized by the FDA, when in fact it was purchased by a group of agents from a young crack-dealer who lived in Washington! However, according to Bush, according to the whole nation, it was this kind of “candy” which was “murdering our children.”
Drug abuse has declined considerably in this country, and yet the primary chemical substances which are killing Americans include perfectly legal substances. Cigarettes are a good example. It is more addictive than illegal drugs and kills more people. However, the government doesn’t link drug abuse to death. It links drug abuse to complicated social issues like poverty. If all of the government’s policies favor the wealthy, which is a small fraction of the population, poverty and homelessness don’t make any sense - so how can the media confront the issue? The prevailing argument is that drug addiction causes poverty.
Bill Clinton was the first president since Reagan and Bush to have a liberal drug policy. By his competitors, he was called a weak baby-boomer president, when in fact only a small fraction of the baby-boomers were so-called “flower children,” and even less were actual potheads. During the Clinton Administration, a panic erupted about the use of Rohypnol, which was coined a “rape-drug,” even though tests had determined alcohol as the leading drug associated with rape. When Clinton fought his legal battle against Paula Jones in the late 90’s, even more pressure came upon him to fight this type of drug. Finally, he signed an anti-drug bill which enforced harsher laws against so-called “roofies” so that he could simultaneously win the moral battle against sexual assault and drugs.
I can forgive Bill. I still wish he was my president.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has determined that thousands of doctors give prescriptions to addicts and dealers, yet less than 1% of the anti-drug budget goes toward this issue. Meanwhile, people abuse prescription drugs (often mixing pills with alcohol) and go to the emergency room more than people who abuse cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and LSD all combined.
The drug-scare began when Nixon unleashed undercover agents in the seventies with the direct purpose of jailing drug-dealers and drug-users. Television played along with the drama with shows like “Hawaii Five-O” and “The Mob Squad” with strong anti-drug messages. Before Nixon, however, drug abuse was not a primary political issue.
By the time George Bush came to presidency however, drug-abuse was “the gravest domestic threat facing our nation today.” In 1989, George Bush held up a plastic bag with “EVIDENCE” written on it; this was supposed to be bag of crack-cocaine seized by the FDA, when in fact it was purchased by a group of agents from a young crack-dealer who lived in Washington! However, according to Bush, according to the whole nation, it was this kind of “candy” which was “murdering our children.”
Drug abuse has declined considerably in this country, and yet the primary chemical substances which are killing Americans include perfectly legal substances. Cigarettes are a good example. It is more addictive than illegal drugs and kills more people. However, the government doesn’t link drug abuse to death. It links drug abuse to complicated social issues like poverty. If all of the government’s policies favor the wealthy, which is a small fraction of the population, poverty and homelessness don’t make any sense - so how can the media confront the issue? The prevailing argument is that drug addiction causes poverty.
Bill Clinton was the first president since Reagan and Bush to have a liberal drug policy. By his competitors, he was called a weak baby-boomer president, when in fact only a small fraction of the baby-boomers were so-called “flower children,” and even less were actual potheads. During the Clinton Administration, a panic erupted about the use of Rohypnol, which was coined a “rape-drug,” even though tests had determined alcohol as the leading drug associated with rape. When Clinton fought his legal battle against Paula Jones in the late 90’s, even more pressure came upon him to fight this type of drug. Finally, he signed an anti-drug bill which enforced harsher laws against so-called “roofies” so that he could simultaneously win the moral battle against sexual assault and drugs.
I can forgive Bill. I still wish he was my president.