I am on record saying that I think all drugs, including heroin, should not only be decriminalized, but legal. Here is the way I see it. Because of the myriad of factors that comprise the War on Drugs, and the opioid epidemic, this will be quite long and cover a lot of ground. I would like for everyone to read it, but I will not be offended if you don’t.
The War on Drugs is an utter failure. This is not an opinion. This is fact. It is misguided and counter-productive, with devastating consequences. And it ignores laws of human nature, supply and demand, and basic science. The first anti-drug laws in the United States were passed in 1914 – over 100 years ago. And what do we have to show for it? Prisons full of people, a disproportionate amount black and Latino. People overdosing, all too often fatally, in alleys, public rest rooms, and in bedrooms and basements. People needlessly contracting HIV, Hepatitis C, and other transmittable diseases. Increased crime and prostitution. In short, the results from waging a war for 100 years have been utterly disastrous.
What is the goal of this War on Drugs? In 2012, the United Nations issued a statement saying the war’s rationale is to build “a drug-free world – we can do it!†This is foolish. What exactly is “a drug-free worldâ€? Is it one without anesthetics? No epidurals? No pain-killers? No high blood-pressure medicine? No chemotherapy? No aspirin? No alcohol or nicotine? I am trying to be civil. I think one can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But seriously, what bureaucratic lunatic in the UN issued such a statement?
Is the goal to eradicate poppy plants, coca plants, marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms from the face of the earth? Get real! It isn’t going to happen. Is the goal to make everyone on the planet understand that these drugs are bad for you and you shouldn’t do them? Again, wake up! It will never happen. This message is falling on deaf ears. A recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention study showed that over 50% of adults in the US has tried pot.
Humans have been getting high, stoned, drunk and intoxicated for millennia. It is human nature. “That humanity at large will ever be able to dispense with Artificial Paradise seems very unlikely. Most men and women lead lives at the worst, so painful, and at the best, so monotonous, poor and limited, that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is, and always has been, one of the principal appetites of the soul.†Aldous Huxley wrote that back in 1951. I will take it a step further. It is not just human nature. It is animal nature. Getting inebriated occurs throughout the animal kingdom, too, from primates to cats to elephants to birds and to insects. To try to stop this is both futile and short-sighted. Besides, who says these drugs are bad for you? Psychedelic drugs such as LSD, mushrooms and DMT are mind-expanding. The “bad†trips that you read about are mainly overblown and government propaganda. And they are rarely addictive. Other drugs alleviate pain. I could be mistaken, but aren’t all medicines drugs? These medicines are lab-tested, refined, tested again and again and again. They are only approved for use after a panel of experts deems the benefits of the medicine (drug) outweigh the side-effects. But make no mistake: they all have side-effects. And they can be harmful if not taken properly.
Instead of simply trying to keep drugs out of the bodies and minds of people, we need to admit that the approach we have been taking is not working. We need to ask questions. We need to get to the roots of the issues, and not just say, “They are bad for you. Don’t do them or we will lock you up.†We need to ask, “Why do people do drugs? What causes addiction? Can addiction be overcome? If so, how? When I just now asked “What causes addiction?†you probably laughed and said, “Well shit! The drug causes addiction. Any fool know that. If you take this stuff long enough – BOOM! – before you know it, you’re hooked.†That is what most people think. That is what I used to think. That is what has been spoonfed to us since childhood. Well not so fast. Opiates can play a role in addiction. The size of that role is open to debate. But it is by no means the only factor. Many scientists in the field think it is not even the major factor. It all depends on how people’s brains are wired. And why they are wired the way they are.
People think addicts are addicts because of the heroin or cocaine or the meth. They ingest these evil drugs into their system and then get hooked. But what about other addicts? Many people are addicted to gambling. Are they snorting poker chips? What about people addicted to shopping? Or video games? Or sex? None of these involve injecting, smoking or snorting anything into your body. Yet these people are still addicts. Alcohol, heroin, cocaine and nicotine do have addictive properties. But not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. I knew a co-worker who only smoked on weekends when he went out for a few drinks. Throughout the rest of the week, he did not smoke. And not everyone who takes opiates becomes an addict. My mother and two of my brothers have all had two back surgeries each. My mother has also had a knee replacement. I have co-workers that have had knee replacements and other major surgeries. Friends, too. They have all been prescribed pain killers, some strong (oxycontin) and some not quite as potent (Vicodin and Percoset). None of them have become addicts. None. There is more to addiction than the drug.
And it ignores laws of human nature, supply and demand, and basic science. The first anti-drug laws in the United States were passed in 1914 – over 100 years ago. And what do we have to show for it? Prisons full of people, a disproportionate amount black and Latino. People overdosing, all too often fatally, in alleys, public rest rooms, and in bedrooms and basements. People needlessly contracting HIV, Hepatitis C, and other transmittable diseases. Increased crime and prostitution. In short, the results from waging a war for 100 years have been utterly disastrous.
“That humanity at large will ever be able to dispense with Artificial Paradise seems very unlikely. Most men and women lead lives at the worst, so painful, and at the best, so monotonous, poor and limited, that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is, and always has been, one of the principal appetites of the soul.†Aldous Huxley wrote that back in 1951. I will take it a step further. It is not just human nature. It is animal nature. Getting inebriated occurs throughout the animal kingdom, too, from primates to cats to elephants to birds and to insects. To try to stop this is both futile and short-sighted. Besides, who says these drugs are bad for you? Psychedelic drugs such as LSD, mushrooms and DMT are mind-expanding. The “bad†trips that you read about are mainly overblown and government propaganda. And they are rarely addictive.
Other drugs alleviate pain. I could be mistaken, but aren’t all medicines drugs? These medicines are lab-tested, refined, tested again and again and again. They are only approved for use after a panel of experts deems the benefits of the medicine (drug) outweigh the side-effects. But make no mistake: they all have side-effects. And they can be harmful if not taken properly.
When I just now asked “What causes addiction?†you probably laughed and said, “Well shit! The drug causes addiction. Any fool know that. If you take this stuff long enough – BOOM! – before you know it, you’re hooked.†That is what most people think. That is what I used to think. That is what has been spoonfed to us since childhood. Well not so fast. Opiates can play a role in addiction. The size of that role is open to debate. But it is by no means the only factor. Many scientists in the field think it is not even the major factor. It all depends on how people’s brains are wired. And why they are wired the way they are.
None of these involve injecting, smoking or snorting anything into your body. Yet these people are still addicts. Alcohol, heroin, cocaine and nicotine do have addictive properties. But not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. I knew a co-worker who only smoked on weekends when he went out for a few drinks. Throughout the rest of the week, he did not smoke. And not everyone who takes opiates becomes an addict. My mother and two of my brothers have all had two back surgeries each. My mother has also had a knee replacement. I have co-workers that have had knee replacements and other major surgeries. Friends, too. They have all been prescribed pain killers, some strong (oxycontin) and some not quite as potent (Vicodin and Percoset). None of them have become addicts. None. There is more to addiction than the drug.
This cage, called Rat Park, included tunnels, exercise wheels, wood shavings, and had multiple rats of both sexes. It was Rat Heaven. Rats in the solitary cages consumed up to 25 milligrams of morphine a day. But the rats in Rat Park consumed less than 5 milligrams a day. Alexander even had a set of rats consume the morphine solution for 57 consecutive days. He then placed them in Rat Park. They had the option of water or water with morphine. The rats twitched for a while (withdrawal symptoms) and then stopped drinking the morphine solution. It is not simply the drug. It is also the environment.
It is also very important to understand that addicts are not losers. Morality has absolutely nothing to do with addiction. “But Steve, these addicts are criminals! They are losers! They’re breaking the law. They’re throwing their lives away. And for what?†Well, the only reason they are criminals, is because we have made them criminals. We passed ill-advised laws making it criminal activity to do what they are doing. Why? One has to ask; for some action to be criminal, doesn’t there have to be a victim? If I purchase pot, go into my basement, and smoke it, am I harming anyone? If I drive impaired, that is different. That would be comparable to driving while under the influence of alcohol. But smoking weed in my own basement? Isn’t that like drinking a glass or two of wine on my back porch? Or are these addicts evil? Amoral? Bad people?
The most famous nurse in the history of the world, Florence Nightingale, was a morphine addict. The man who gave us Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Story, Charles Dickens, was also a morphine addict Dickens was a crusader for the homeless, the destitute and orphans. Yet he was an addict. There was a physician named William Halstedt.
He was one of the four physicians who founded John Hopkins Hospital. He made revolutionary advancements in the treatment of breast cancer, greatly reducing the recidivism rate. He made advancements in blood transfusions. He has been called the Father of Modern Surgery. And he did 180 milligrams of morphine every day for decades. Today, we would throw someone like that in prison. Sad. Again, morality has nothing to do with addiction. Addiction is a coping mechanism.
The reason addicts become “losers†is because of the prohibition of these drugs. Having these drugs illegal makes things worse. These drugs are not illegal because they are dangerous. They are dangerous because they are illegal. The illegality of drugs has created a black market for them, one that cannot be controlled. Prohibition of alcohol didn’t work. What makes anyone think that prohibition of marijuana, cocaine or heroin will work? Did I mention that over 50% of adults in the US has tried marijuana?
maintain that these poisonous mixtures killed more than 10,000 people. In one incident alone, in Kansas City, more than 500 people were permanently crippled. The United States federal government was intentionally harming and killing its citizens in a misguided effort to keep them from drinking.
A study was conducted over an 18-month span and results showed that there was a 93% drop in theft, burglary and property crimes. HIV infection rate among drug users was zero. Most importantly, the fatality rate was zero. Zero! There was also a decrease in new users. Many users found permanent employment and housing. 60 Minutes got wind of this and aired a story on this. The US administration took issue with this approach (one can only ask why) and pressured Margaret Thatcher to shut it down. And it was. Addicts went back on the streets, resumed their criminal activities and prostitution, and died. From 1982 to 1995, Dr. Marks treated 450 addicts, and did not have a single drug-related fatality. Six months after being shut down, 20 were dead. 41 were dead within two years.
Switzerland, where they have them, and in Portugal, where all drugs have been decriminalized, this does not appear to be the case. Besides, I would rather be an enabler and let these people live to see another day, and maybe, eventually turn their lives around, than turn my back on these people and let them suffer, and, as shown in Merseyside, die. Remember, addiction is not a reflection on someone’s morality or lack of. These are people. Children. Spouses, Siblings. Parents.
now. Unknown drug dealers selling unknown drugs to unknown consumers in unknown places. Do drug dealers check the IDs of the people they are selling to? Yet legalizing these products, regulating their content, restricting distribution to only licensed vendors, and checking IDs of the consumers is paving the way for bedlam? What am I missing? How is this not better than our current policies?
If we ever want to rehabilitate addicts, then we have to stop locking them up in prison. Incarceration, lock-up rehab facilities, and the like create an atmosphere completely opposite to one that would help the addict. A caring environment should be the cornerstone of any rehab policy, not our current policy of criminalization and incarceration.
Last year, I wrote this rebuttal to someone who resorted to name-calling when speaking about addicts: Tell the four boys whose mother fatally overdosed after being addicted to prescription pain-killers following a medical procedure that their mother was a “clown.†Tell that to the countless addicts who are victims of physical and sexual abuse. Tell that to the addicts who suffer from ADHD, autism and other emotional and personality disorders. And tell the parents who have lost children because of overdose and suicide that their loved ones are “clowns.â€