Is there a solution to the lure of the forbidden? Yes- a good deal of the trouble can be traced back to economics- high or low. Face it- people dislike being bossed around by government or churches. And yes- mental betrayals are as bad as any addiction. Anyway, some of those former bootleggers and whatevers were quite lovely people when they started owning bars and restaurants (where I spent a good deal of time in my early childhood) but that was different era. Anyway, I have had to learn there are limits and count myself lucky to figure out my own problems and challenges- piecemeal and imperfectly. One cannot impose on others but there are helps- Al-Anon, for instance, that helped me the most. So last week when a lifelong friend wished I could have saved someone who died young, I realized she still doesn't understand addiction but I let it go- her denial of her own situation is great and it is not helpful to pull another's blanket off.
On Oct 12, 11:26 am, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > The area is riddled with problems we can't solve in full Molly. I'm > sure you must know how squalid it all gets. Rigsy is pointing to how > we seem to fly into non-solutions on the basis of 'despising' the > current generation of 'youth'. Lots of stuff in our homes manages to > get into children, from bleach and disinfectant to racism. This, of > course, is not a reason for adding more. I've seen academic ethnology > (Dunlap et al googles) but it misses much of the plight. What it gets > to some of is the 'exchanges' that go on - sex for drugs as young as 9 > - often for mothers and associated men. It's all a long way from > Chris and I sharing a few beers and experimental chemistry. > 'Models' get flung up without much thinking through - the classic here > is the Dutch "legalisation" - this being no such animal. It's a > limited decriminalisation and not entirely popular. It's better > understood as attitudinal. I'm a fuggy muggy pub adherent and would > like to see cannabis available under licence from them and to treat > the issues under a medical model - but there's a big 'but' in that the > crap behaviour associated with booze and drugs needs much harsher > treatment, including follicle testing for kids in user families. > > I don't think the prohibition mentality helps in anything from > abortion through to most vice - the big issue is how to prevent vice > turning to rackets (our lotteries were once numbers rackets run by > characters like Frank Nitty). Amsterdam politicians come out with > declarations to sweep away the red light district and replace it with > 'a red carpet to their wonderful museums' - but in truth our > governments are not averse to organised crime money and encourage all > sorts of 'off shore' dodges where this money is laundered. > > We need something other than the knee-jerk stuff rigsy outlines as > part of the problem and a better understanding of the 'lack of > harmony'. I saw Noel Gallagher (Oasis) talking persuasively about > this last night. Celebrity is dangled everywhere but the truth is no > jobs and earning capacity. Here our generation's 'self-reliance' and > scorn for those who can't find worn as idlers and losers is very > damaging. Every piece of detailed history I've seen shows these > generational matters are endemic and take much the same form. > Smuggling has a long history around prohibition, taxes (often levied > for wars) or other trade issues. > > On Oct 12, 11:03 am, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I see the biggest barrier to your suggestion, Neil, is the question of > > how to limit access to our kids, who's ability to reason doesn't > > really develop until the early twenties. Most addictive behavior > > begins before then. As it is, the access for them, although illegal, > > isn't hard. Kids in the lowest and highest income families have the > > same risk factors. It is thought that is because neither group is > > given much attention by their families but for different reasons. > > Most of these kids don't find much harmony with life, and the > > percentage of addiction is highest. > > > On Oct 11, 6:35 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I'd like to see decriminalisation and public availability of most of > > > the weaker drugs. I suspect the moral is channeled into looking down > > > on vice instead of the actually more obvious evils like poverty. > > > > On Oct 10, 7:16 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I learned some more about my parent's generation while watching > > > > "Prohibition"- a film by Ken Burns on PBS. A few more pieces to add to > > > > the jigsaw. I can see why they tightened the reins, so to speak. Maybe > > > > this is a factor between generations- sort of a see-saw- regarding > > > > behavior, expectations, mores- but I think it also exisits between > > > > classes and other distinctions within society. > > > > > What do you think? > > > > > Also- what about legalizing marijuana and other soft recreational > > > > drugs and taxing them? Might be at least one boost to the ecomony/ > > > > revenue. If someone wants to over-do anything, they will, so are we > > > > repeating the mistakes of Prohibition? > > > > > Why do you think people have emotional "blind spots"? Trauma or > > > > ignorance...or both?- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text -
