From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<< Also this argument about only weak-minded people is utter crap as well,
anyone
can become a drug addict >>
Come on, Steve, you're in danger of getting a little personal here! There is
such a thing as the "addictive personality", identified a long time ago, and
it's simply not true to say that "anyone" can become addicted to hard drugs.
Especially from what you say, with the West Midlands apparently awash with
illegal substances, heroin seems no more difficult to obtain than alcohol -
but are most people taking advantage of its availability? Of course not. And
I emphasise that I am not just saying complacently that I and my family, and
the people I know, are just "too bright" to go in for this sort of
destructive indulgence: for example, the use of hard drugs among some
otherwise bright musicians is a long-established phenomenon, cf one of the
all-time jazz greats, Charlie Parker.
I know nothing of Walsall, and freely admit I am happy to live in the rural
South West well away from the urban horrors you describe. But I still say
that the deliberate use of damagingly addictive substances is characteristic
of a certain type of person - and in a free society we should let them get on
with the business of destroying themselves, interfering only if their habit
threatens us directly. Many observers comment that drug crime is caused
largely by the illegality and consequent high price of drugs: remove the
crooks from the equation and druggies should no longer get sucked into
committing crimes to feed their habit.
I agree it must be nasty to live alongside the drug culture, but it's a
problem which is exacerbated by oppressive, puritanical laws, and by
government taking advantage of druggies as a "client population" to
facilitate their grabbing more and more sweeping powers to do things to the
rest of us. I don't know what you think of as a "large and growing"
proportion of the population, but perhaps it's a proportion whose
self-destruction would not greatly distress the rest of us.
Last night I enjoyed a couple of pints with a chum of mine, discussing such
things as shooting the Winchester 458 Magnum; I don't feel tempted to start
mainlining vodka... Right now I'm ingesting my first "hit" of caffeine for
the day...
Anthony Harrison
--
I personally think this theory of "addictive personalities" is
the same as the Nazis calling the Jews genetically inferior.
If only weak-minded people with addictive personalities can
get addicted to heroin, then they constitute a large proportion
of the population, so it is academic to argue what characteristics
they have. How do you know you don't have an "addictive personality"?
Your wife? Your kids?
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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