Collateral damage is where the law comes in.
If I drive intoxicated I should be punished, as I've put other people at risk. But if I sit at home intoxicated, then that's no one's business, as the only one at risk is myself. Likewise, if I want to smoke a cigarette and grow a cancer, that is no one's business. But if I give a cigarette to a kid, then I'm pushing a dangerous and addictive substance and putting him at risk - and thus should be punished.
Same principle should apply to all drugs, not just alcohol and tobacco. But instead the government cherry-picks. Blacks get huge sentences for smoking crack, but rich whites get wrist slaps for snorting coke. Drink a beer is okay, but smoke a joint and you go to jail. It's not okay to drink kava, but it *is* okay to flood your body with anti-depressants and to give your kid amphetamines (like Ritalin).
We are very confused and hypocritical about drugs. Interestingly, some of the most vocal "Just Say No" people I know love their booze and nicotine, and routinely fill their system with steroids, amphetamines and god-knows-what. They're raving drug maniacs and they don't even know it. But they're very happy if some ravers get busted for smoking a joint and popping some ecstasy. After all, everyone knows drugs are "bad" and deserve punishment. Except for themselves. |
