----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Sullivan" Subject: Re: Faces of meth images
> Mishka, > The legal and police actions against drugs are the result of petty and > not so petty thievery - burglary, robbery, and assaults against the > general population. Don't mistake political rhetoric for root causes. > We are a very tolerant bunch of people - so long as you don't bother > us. I don't care if the guy next door wants to smoke pot, do meth, or > kill himself. It's OK with me so long as he doesn't try to sell it to > my kids, or blow his house up and damage mine, or ask me to help him > kill himself. You should have the freedom here to reach out all the > way to the tip of your neighbor's nose, but not to hit it. Laws are passed to control the unwashed masses. In the case of drug laws, it has been an unmitigated disaster. Your country experimented with drug laws in the 1920s (colloquially known as "prohibition"). From: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1017&full=1 "Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume; crime increased and became "organized"; the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marijuana, patent medicines, cocaine, and other dangerous substances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition." The entire article is an interesting read, and has tons of citations and references if you care to follow the conclusions back. History is repeating itself, but now the big bad wolf carries a syringe rather than a bottle. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
