113 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
113 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
"The problem."
|
|
Francis W. Porretto
|
|
Date: Sat Apr 08 01:14:06 1989
|
|
|
|
Every pair of eyes, every mind that looks at "the problem" sees some-
|
|
thing different, and I think I have just come to understand why.
|
|
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that some people take drugs. Unless the
|
|
consumption of any psychotropic substance is also included in "the problem,"
|
|
I cannot see how this position can be defended.
|
|
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that some people commit crimes in order to
|
|
get the funds they need to buy the drugs they take. Unless these crimes are
|
|
somehow MORE HEINOUS than identical crimes committed for other reasons,
|
|
I cannot see how this position can be defended.
|
|
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that drug dealers frequently pander to the
|
|
underage and immature, preying on their lack of information about what is
|
|
being offered to them. Unless this variety of child abuse is different in
|
|
some fundamental way from all the other equally heinous and as-frequently-
|
|
lethal varieties of child abuse we know of (cf. Joel Steinberg and the many
|
|
"baby boilings" 1987 and 1988 have brought us), I cannot see how this posi-
|
|
+
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that taking drugs reduces a person's economic
|
|
output. Unless the nation is willing and ready to ban all vacations and ration
|
|
us all to three hours' sleep per night, I cannot see how this position can be
|
|
defended.
|
|
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that the drug user becomes a burden to the
|
|
rest of us in an unfair manner. Unless someone can present a coherent explan-
|
|
ation of how allowing drug abusers to poison themselves burdens the rest of
|
|
us beyond the manner in which allowing ALCOHOL abusers to poison themselves
|
|
does so, I cannot see how this position can be defended.
|
|
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that recourse to drugs shows a lack of respect
|
|
for authority. Unless someone (not KKK) can present a sound case for jailing
|
|
ME -- I have NO respect for authority and will admit it freely to anyone who
|
|
asks -- I cannot see how this position can be defended.
|
|
|
|
What all this parallel structure demonstrates, other than that I remember
|
|
what I learned in 11th grade English, is that each person's view of "the prob-
|
|
lem" is really a reflection of something ELSE, not intrinsic to drug abuse,
|
|
that he dislikes. Sometimes it's just a matter of not being comfortable with
|
|
the divergent styles and preferences of others. Sometimes it's a fear of the
|
|
violence that drug ILLEGALITY has spawned. The act of taking drugs is itself
|
|
+
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that the drug user becomes a burden to the
|
|
rest of us in an unfair manner. Unless someone can present a coherent explan-
|
|
ation of how allowing drug abusers to poison themselves burdens the rest of
|
|
us beyond the manner in which allowing ALCOHOL abusers to poison themselves
|
|
does so, I cannot see how this position can be defended.
|
|
|
|
Some think "the problem" is that recourse to drugs shows a lack of respect
|
|
for authority. Unless someone (not KKK) can present a sound case for jailing
|
|
ME -- I have NO respect for authority and will admit it freely to anyone who
|
|
asks -- I cannot see how this position can be defended.
|
|
|
|
What all this parallel structure demonstrates, other than that I remember
|
|
what I learned in 11th grade English, is that each person's view of "the prob-
|
|
lem" is really a reflection of something ELSE, not intrinsic to drug abuse,
|
|
that he dislikes. Sometimes it's just a matter of not being comfortable with
|
|
the divergent styles and preferences of others. Sometimes it's a fear of the
|
|
violence that drug ILLEGALITY has spawned. The act of taking drugs is itself
|
|
not involved in any of these things.
|
|
-- Fran Porretto #9 --
|
|
|
|
+
|
|
Why drugs were outlawed.
|
|
Francis W. Porretto #9
|
|
Date: Sat Apr 08 23:42:56 1989
|
|
|
|
Rusty, the answer will amaze you. It certainly amazed me when I first
|
|
confronted it. And it took quite awhile before I was willing to believe it,
|
|
so don't feel too bad if you react with incredulity.
|
|
|
|
The late 19th century saw a fantastic surge of Oriental immigrants to
|
|
the U.S. Building the railroads absorbed these people for some time, but
|
|
there came a time when they began to move into "normal" commercial endeavors
|
|
in large numbers. This distressed many other merchants and workers, who were
|
|
unready for the competition and unwilling to put up with it.
|
|
|
|
Opium was long a feature of Oriental culture, and the use of it came here
|
|
with those immigrants. It marked them distinctively, even beyond their racial
|
|
differences from other North Americans. Those who wanted the yellow man out
|
|
of North America thought they were being clever when they decided to attack
|
|
his leisure time activities as a way to make him uncomfortable enough to go.
|
|
|
|
Senator John Harrison was from California, the state which had absorbed
|
|
the largest absolute number of Chinese and Polynesian immigrants. He was won
|
|
to spearhead the drive to outlaw the opiates, for which reason the original +
|
|
federal anti-narcotics law is called the Harrison Narcotics Control Act.
|
|
|
|
Since this took place at the same time as alcohol Prohibition, the Cosa
|
|
Nostra and other underworld organizations decided to exploit the easier, ready-
|
|
made market for liquor in preference to the undeveloped market for narcotics
|
|
(which at that time had only attracted about 110,000 users). After the repeal
|
|
of Prohibition, the mobs turned their attention to narcotics, with results
|
|
we are all suffering today.
|
|
|
|
In short: racism was the original motivation, just as it was with gun
|
|
control. (Anyone here remember the phrase "Niggertown Saturday Night" -- ?)
|
|
After the problem CREATED by these laws had reached a certain size, very few
|
|
people could trace back the origin of the laws nor analyze out why they had
|
|
had those results. They knew what they disliked, but not why it had sprung at
|
|
them out of nowhere in so short a span of time.
|
|
|
|
The market for cocaine was created in a similar fashion, but the story
|
|
is longer, less clear, and some details are disagreed over by the historians.
|
|
I'm doing research on this right now, and I may have more to tell at a later
|
|
date. Stay tuned!
|
|
-- Fran Porretto #9 --
|
|
|