Posted by blueboy on August 24, 2007, at 9:34:39
In reply to Re: the low down on Benzos » blueboy, posted by Quintal on August 21, 2007, at 11:43:05
Sorry, Q, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to imply that you were ranting; rather, I meant that, if you wanted to rant, you would be justified in doing so, IMHO. Or to say it another way, I'm more disgusted with some of the silly side-effects of the "War on Drugs" than you are.
Until the middle of the 20th century, most people considered that the US Constitution allowed residents to put anything into their bodies that they wanted. Cocaine and heroin were available from mail order catalogs. When the US decided to discourage marijuana use (I think around 1910-1920, primarily as a racially-based effort to keep blacks and Hispanics under control), it had to do so by imposing a tax scheme.
I'm not against government regulation of drugs, including criminal penalties, but I do think the pendulum has definitely swung a bit too far in the other direction.
> I don't think I was ranting at all. In fact, I think I went to considerable effort to show that "It isn't necessarily the fault of the medical profession." in the passage "in fact I know many agree and are frustrated by the 'War On Drugs' propaganda that restricts their access to useful medicines".
>
> Q
poster:blueboy
thread:777027
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070824/msgs/778284.html