Drugs have long been part of our culture, many if not all ancient civilizations used them in some way. Hallucinogenic mushrooms, Cacao leaves, the opium poppy, and many other variations. Their use though was usually linked to religious rituals rather than recreation. The use of narcotics is thousands of years old. Todays world is different, drug use has become a scourge of our society. From the illicit use of prescription pills to the ‘street’ drugs sold on street corners, they are everywhere.
Drug use thirty years ago seemed a problem that only infected the the inner cities of our large centers of population. That is no longer the case. I live in a small town in Mississippi, it is in a dry county, and has a church seemingly on every street corner. It is a town where they roll up the sidewalks at 5pm every day. Yet even here drugs are found. Several months ago I was talking to the owner of the local gas station when a young man came in and asked if they sold roses (not the flower kind). A rose only has one use, it is part of a crack pipe.
I spent 6 years working with the homeless in a large shelter, we were literally home to 1,100 souls. I have seen the ravages of drugs on human beings. People in their twenties that look in their fifties, the seizures, and the death. Anyone that thinks there is glamor in drugs is mistaken.
I have decided to run a series of articles on the subject of drug abuse in America and I am very pleased to announce that author Armando Aldazabal has agreed to assist me. Armando is the author of two very successful novels that revolve around drug use, What You Are Turning Me Into and Cocaine Memoirs. Although written as fiction Armando Aldazabal writes with authority on the subject. He has witnessed friends and family sink into the mire, he has witnessed the death of loved ones. Drugs not only effect the addict, but those around him or her.Sure, the war on drugs has been covered by many major news organizations, we however plan on taking the series in a different direction. We will be involving many perspectives, Law Enforcement, Addicts, the medical world, ex members of organized crime, yes we know one or two! In fact I was talking with Andrew DiDonato of Gambino fame recently, and he made a very interesting observation. In his mind America was a safer place when the mob ran the drug business. The mob had ethics, the street gangs of today do not. It is not quite so crazy as it first sounds!
The drug world is an ever changing one, and seems to increase in danger with every year. The unrefined natural drugs have largely been replaced by manufactured varieties. Crack labs are to be found everywhere, the ingredients can be obtained with ease and the manufacturing process, while dangerous, unfortunately is not a complex one.
I do not think that Armando and I can change the world, but if we can save one person then we have been successful. It is also true that the journey of a thousand miles does indeed start with a single step. I am looking forward to this project, and we have some great guests lined up. I am also looking for feedback from readers, if you have ideas or stories to share with us, please do so.
Simon Barrett
1 user commented in " Drugs In America – A BNN Series "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackOne need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to the ongoing open season on hippies, commies, and darkies in the war on drugs. Cops get good performance reviews for shooting fish in a barrel. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance global credibility.
The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as lives are flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. Behold, it’s all good. When Eve ate the apple, she knew a good apple, and an evil prohibition. Canadian Marc Emery is being extradited to prison for selling seeds that American farmers use to reduce U. S. demand for Mexican pot.
The CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) reincarnates Al Capone, endangers homeland security, and throws good money after bad. Fiscal policy burns tax dollars to root out the number-one cash crop in the land, instead of taxing sales. Society rejected the plague of prohibition, but it mutated. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment.
Nixon passed the CSA on the false assurance that the Schafer Commission would later justify criminalizing his enemies, but he underestimated Schafer’s integrity. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA shut down research, and pronounced that marijuana has no medical use. Former U.K. chief drugs advisor Prof. Nutt was sacked for revealing that non-smoked cannabis intake is scientifically healthy.
The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership or an act of Congress to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. God’s children’s free exercise of religious liberty may include entheogen sacraments to mediate communion with their maker.
Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.
Common-law holds that adults are the legal owners of their own bodies. The Founding Fathers undersigned that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Mortal lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration. Liberty is prerequisite for tracking drug-use intentions and outcomes.
Leave A Reply