The Main Problem With Drugs Is Their Illegality

Instead of addressing the major sicknesses of our society, we grandstand against drugs. Trying to convince anyone who has taken drugs without negative consequences that they are universally bad falls on deaf ears, and rightfully so.

The main problem with drugs is their illegality, not their chemical reactions. Recreational users know their bodies and minds do not rot in a tornado of addiction.

If we are worried about our bodies, why is there no war on obesity, toxins, pollution, et al.? Why are not toxic polluters, negligent through the addiction of maximizing profits, given the death penalty for their misdeeds?

If one chooses to run from reality, either through drugs or superstition, so be it. When subjugated groups, such as minorities, sell drugs, who can tell them they are wrong for doing so? Are the poor and/or unemployed evil for meeting a demand and in doing so making the money they cannot make in the mainline economy from which they have been excluded?

The tobacco and alcohol producers are not hunted down as killers and destroyers. Nor should be the users or producers of drugs, which differ only in that they are illegal.

I suggest we educate the public about drugs, not feed them hypocritical propaganda. Teach the mainstream effects of drugs, not the extreme consequences. Then allow individuals to exercise their own judgment, as is supposedly guaranteed by the Constitution. Let us strengthen those laws that protect others from users (driving under the influence etc.), but keep the police out of our living rooms.

I do not care if my neighbor wants to drink beer and snort coke while watching a football game, but I do care about a polluted environment and the leader of my country glorifying separatism, and war under the guise of moralism.

MICHAEL HUBBS

Northridge