From: Phil Osborn (philosborn2001@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat May 24 2003 - 15:29:17 MDT
Thought you were going to say something else...
In the late-'80's, one late weekend night while doing
my cabbie thing, I checked out the local jail, only to
be amazed by seeing a local extropian/libertarian
friend emerging with his wife. We said hello, but I
didn't ask for an explanation, as I was a little
embarassed to see them there.
Years later, I was amazed to find, one day, that my
friend had died the week before, of colon cancer. He
had always struck me as the very picture of health,
strength and vigor. I mentioned the jail incident to
someone then, and was informed that because his doctor
would not prescribe adequate pain medication, he had
been buying heroin on the street.
Heroin is, in fact, the drug of choice for that kind
of extreme pain, with the fewest side effects and
lowest actual rate of addiction. A LOT of doctors
went to prison in protest, refusing to stop
prescribing or supplying it to the patients who really
needed it in order to keep functioning or simply not
die in agony.
Recently - the 17th of May - at the local Borders
Books in S. Coast Plaza, Orange County, Allen Bock,
Senior Editor of the Orange County Register, gave a
talk on his book, "Waiting to Inhale," sponsored by
the local "Friends of the Library," as a kickoff of a
new author presentation series. Bock, who is also
author of a number of other topical books from a
libertarian slant gave an excellent presentation,
unfortunately to a small (~30 people) group, mostly
from the "Friends..."
What has struck me in recent years is how completely
the public seems to have bought into the War On Drugs
(WOD) mythology. My feeling is that the typical
American feels like he/she (women were the main
supporters of the prohibition disaster) is on a roll.
The bastards hit us 9/11, and, BY GOD!, we're going to
hit them back until we feel safe and satisfied. So,
forget the Bill of Rights, basic morality, etc. We
are the champions of the world. We'll do whatever we
damned well feel like, here or elsewhere.
There are some signs of hope. As Bock mentioned, a
number of states have followed California's lead and
decriminalized Mariuanna, either medicinally or
entirely. Canada appears to be about to make that
move. Whether this reflects any backlash against the
know-nothing jingoist patriots or is an isolated
outbreak of common sense is open to question.
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