The ugly truth about the War on Drugs

As a high school student in the late 1960’s, I was exposed to the ‘new’ drug culture. But it was nothing like it would soon be. And it has only gotten worse. Living in the Midwest, we heard of only the occasional overdose and very little of the crime that plays such as large role in the drug culture of today. So when we heard our parents tell us how ‘wrong’ it is to do drugs while we were clearly not experiencing any of the ‘bad’ side effects that were preached to us, how could we possible believe them?

When Nancy Reagan pushed her famous ‘Just Say No’ spiel, we basically laughed at her for being a relic of that generation that only sought to control our lives.

The use of illegal drugs has indeed screwed up countless lives and has affected our society in ways that will never be fully understood.

Kids today who experiment with drugs and feel only the good side effects are just as unlikely to listen when adults extol only the bad that can come from drug use. All the while these same adults are getting through their days on sleeping aids, diet pills, alcohol and caffeine.

The most serious ‘drugs’ of course are the psychoactive class of drugs. These drugs alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. There are of course many reasons why people subject themselves to an altered state of reality, the most often reason cited is ‘because it makes me feel good’. It is quite literally escaping from reality and responsibility. Okay, there are drug users who can still function but these are only temporary situations and they are fooling only themselves by thinking they will not ‘lose it’ someday and destroy the lives of everyone who loves them and themselves.

The biggest threat is becoming physically addicted to them. This is where the damage to society at large really becomes clear. Criminal activity associated with getting the money to support the habit, because maintaining a steady legal income has become out of question, breaks down a society’s foundation in terms of productivity and healthy social interaction. More and more you find yourself doing things you have never before considered just for your own high. Theft and murder goes with the territory, and exacts an extremely heavy toll on society through taxpayer support of law enforcement, prison facilities and personnel, social services to families torn apart, etc.

The government tries to play their part in combating this evil scourge, but they never seem to gain any ground. You hear of the ‘major’ drug bust on some interstate freeway and while everyone pats themselves on the back you just can’t help but know this is only barely scratching the surface of what is still out there undetected. That ‘major’ bust may have been a sacrificial lure to distract police attention away from a much larger load driving right past them as they sit on the side of the road gloating and shaking their head.

Their approach to their ‘Drug War’ is based on the empty and quite foolish presumption that if they keep filling our prisons long enough and often enough with drug users then society will suddenly see the error of their ways and give up using illegal drugs. The futility of this endeavor is so stunningly obvious. If you do what you have always done, you will get what you always got. Perhaps a trite observation for such a serious problem, but truly, their method is not working.

Further proof that the War on Drugs is doomed to fail is our continuing love affair with legal drugs. Americans have become addicted to the idea that all cures for our aches, illnesses, diseases, sleep troubles and unhappiness can be had in the form of a pill. From the seemingly innocent taking of too much ibuprofen or acetaminophen, or even aspirin, to the continued use of sleep and diet aids despite written warnings to take a break from them periodically, to the drinking of alcohol to the point that the abuse of it is a contributing factor in the death of thousands of unsuspecting drivers on our nations roads. Is this Big Pharma’s fault alone?

They have undeniably done their very best to take advantage of this human weakness to want to find a quick cure for their maladies. Pharmaceutical companies have saturated doctors offices with free drug samples and urge doctors to push them off onto their patients. Big Pharma has become a ‘legally recognized drug pusher’. They advertise freely the idea that they are our best friends in their quest to get every American addicted to their latest and greatest breakthrough in medical science. They then bilk the insurance companies dry through their exorbitant prices.

Over the past decade or so Americans have been willing participants in fulfilling Big Pharma’s desire to addict every man, woman and child by sedating children who have behaved as children have behaved throughout time. They cherish their role as saviors to parents desperate for a quick and easy answer as to why their child ‘acts out’ in class, or seems hyperactive at home. They see that in order to mold future generations of drug addicts, they need to start with children. Just as illegal drug pushers do.

The drug addict is exactly the personality-type that Big Pharma covets. And parents too often eagerly accept the medical professions diagnosis that little Johnnie and Samantha have ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I submit that the real problem is the parents lack of patience and understanding in the root causes of their child’s behavior and their lack of effective parenting skills to correct that behavior. Unfortunately, there is no pill to overcome these deficiencies.

These children are most likely demanding more attention from their parents by using the only method they know. And I am not talking about the kind of attention that demands they open their mouths and swallow their pills or else.

Claims of ADHD are greatly exaggerated, having very little, if any, basis in reality. The unfortunate side effects of this miracle cure is brain shrinkage and hallucinations.

It is well documented that the amphetamine component of drugs like Ritalin cause stunted grown and reduced brain size.

A Cult of Pharmacology exists where all drugs are considered good and necessary, regardless of the mountain of evidence showing them to be either dangerous or medically useless.

This country’s health would be greatly improved by shunning the pharmaceutical industry and following the two simplest and most important things you can do for yourself. The two things that have been repeated many times. Exercise and eat right.

The Drug War is destined to fail because too many adults want it to. They don’t want to have to work at happiness. They want a little pill that will force them to feel better about themselves, if only for a little while.