Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 07:21:24 -0500
From: Ris Misner 
To: "§hÿßðmb" 

I put your poetry link on my web page.  Thanks for it.

I was looking at your drug page, and you happen to be wrong about
something:

> The purity of Marijuana has increased over the past 15 years. 
> Marijuana
> has been scientifically grown to produce more potency. But smoking
> Marijuana builds up tolorance for it so you'd have to smoke more and
> more to get the same high. It is also spray with many toxic chemicals 
> for
> increased production. In one joint of weed unsmoked there can be as 
> much
> as 400 differant chemicals. 

Actually, believe it or not, Marijuana has reverse tolerance - the more
of it you use, the less it takes you to "get off" from it.  The reason
for this is that the THC stays in your body pretty much forever (or
until you burn whatever fat cell it was stored in at which point you can
get a "pot flashback")  The build-up of THC makes it take less
additional THC to activate the chemical reaction that causes you to feel
high when smoking pot.

Also: 400 chemicals??  Where do you get that idea?  Marijuana isn't
grocery-store produce, most of it is grown under grow lights in peoples
closets.

If you are going to post your personal rantings about a subject, you
should at least have your facts right.

In response to your argument against the legalization of drugs in the
US, I have to bring up Prohibition. You know, back in the twenties
Alcohol was illegal.  Did that stop anyone from drinking it?  No, it
just made them learn how to hide it better.  Prohibition lead to a great
deal of crime, not only because there was that additional law that
virtually nobody followed, but because alcohol became so expensive that
it became a lucrative underground profession (much like drug dealing is
today)  Most of the famous outlaws from that time period were what would
be called drug dealers today: Al Capone for example was an alcahol
dealer.  Fortunately, the government finally figured out that
illegalizing alcohol, however good their intentions were, not only
caused more problems than it was worth, but misrepresented the people's
wishes.  Democracy is about the people's wishes, remember?  Well there's
a pretty close 50/50 split, probably leaning towards the legalization
side for drugs and the legalization movement is only growing...

> These drugs
> were used to enlighten and to show people that there is much more out 
> there beyond physicality.
> These drugs were used to show people who they were. There were more 
> spiritual purposes for the
> use of drugs than there in this society.

Not everyone is a junky and not everyone is an addict.  This is a common
misconception among the anti-drug-legalization people.  Many people who
use Marijuana or LSD or mushrooms do it for the very reasons you stated
above and they manage to do it without becoming junkies or criminals to
support their habit.

> The use of drugs has been perverted and corrupted along with many 
> other things. We changed
> from using drugs for love to using them out of fear. We lost the 
> control over drugs and now they
> control people.

I agree with you that it has been perverted and corrupted by many, but
not all and that is no reason for the innocent and capable people to
suffer from the idiots' mistakes.  Only the weak allow themselves to be
dominated and controlled by anything other than their own will and
destiny.

Your whole reasoning about why there is a drug problem is pretty bad,
too.  The drug community actual has very few escapists.  The small
percentage of that community which actually fits the description of
"druggy" perhaps falls into the situation you describe about wanting to
escape their problems, but the rest are just having a good time.  If
anyone is looking to escape their problems, it is the government by
pointing the finger at the so called "druggies" and blaming their
problems on a group that doesn't deserve it.

Before I give up on completely on changing your mind, there is a final
argument that must be raised and it has nothing to do with drugs
directly: Why are laws made?  Laws are for the protection of the people
against the smaller portion of which is dangerous.  Theu exist to
protect the good people from the bad.  They are there to make sure you
do not hurt me and I do not hurt you.  There are a growing number of
laws, especially in the US, which are victimless, that is to say if
anyone is hurt by it, it is the perpetrator of the crime.  Well it is
not your job or my government's to tell me what is best for me.  I am an
intelligent adult and capable of making my own decisions, among which is
what things I believe will hurt me and what will not.  If I wished to
rent out my body for sex, for example, that is my decision (and
something I would not do by the way) and it is not your place to tell me
that I'm wrong.  Maybe I would enjoy it!  Maybe it would be best for
everyone - I'd enjoy it, my clients would enjoy it, and I'd make a lot
of money, and I would not be some poor slob in his 40s who has worked
the same job and hated it for 25 years!  It is virtually the same with
drugs: the only person who can be perceived as being hurt by taking
drugs is the user.  And what's with possesion and trafficking???  Nobody
is especially harmed by that, in fact nobody is harmed by that at all,
not even the possessor!  Then there is the argument that people who are
addicted to drugs will steal or commit some other crime in order to
support their habit or because they are under the influence of the
drug...well I have news for you: those other things are already illegal
and being under the influence of alcohol or nocotien is not a mitigating
factor in the commision of any crime and nor should other drugs be, but
driving drunk is a lot more common than driving high and it's more
dangerous.  This style of reasoning sets a dangerous precedant which
must be stopped.  How long before breathing is outlawed in order to
prevent criminals from being able to commit crimes?

The solution to what drug problems there are are not more laws - it is
simply for people to be responsible.  The solution to the government's
problem with the drug war is not to throw more money at it and employ
more strict and militaristic means and it is not to allow more
violations of constitutional rights in the name of the war on drugs, but
it is for the government, at least that of the United States of America,
to have a little more faith in its subjects and let them make decisions
for themselves.  If some crackhead ODs and dies in some back ally, he
has suffered already and at his own hands and probably got what he
deserved.  There is no need for the government to step in because it is
not a dispute between more than one person. 

Sincerely,
Ris Misner

p.s.  Sorry I ranted so long about this stuff, but I happen to have some
strong beliefs about it...And whether you accept my reasoning or not,
the facts I mentioned at the beginning are true and I think you should
update your webpage or at least your personal argument accordingly.

> §hÿßðmb wrote:
> 
> here is the url of my page, to get to my poetry just click on the "my
> poetry' link.
> the page is called "Shys poetry and inner thought"
>  http://geocities.datacellar.net/WestHollywood/Heights/1896
> peace,
>    SF@--{-------