The depressing thing about reading Thomas Szasz1 today is that it makes me think as follows: If such an intelligent man can so clearly present the facts of the case and not succeed in changing mainstream minds, what chance do I have as a relative dimwit, a thoroughly "unconnected" dimwit at that? For I am sorry to say that the situation since Szasz's time has gotten worse when it comes to America's drug attitudes, not better. This is obvious given the bizarre reaction of pundits of all stripes to the case of Claire Brosseau, the depressed Canadian who is fighting for her right to assisted suicide.2 Had Szasz been around today, he would surely be pointing out the fact that Claire's morbid activism must be seen in light of drug prohibition, which outlaws all the drugs that could cheer Claire up in a trice! The state first outlaws Claire's right to heal, and now Claire demands that the same state help her to die BECAUSE of the depression that the state thus brought about! Claire should be fighting to end drug prohibition which outlaws her right to heal, not arguing for a new recherché right to have the state help her to die!
The Petpedia website says that "German Shepherds need to have challenging jobs such as searching for drugs." How about searching for prohibitionists instead?
William James claimed that his constitution prevented him from having mystical experiences. The fact is that no one is prevented from having mystical experiences provided that they are willing to use psychoactive substances wisely to attain that end.
In fact, there are times when it is clearly WRONG to deny kids drugs (whatever the law may say). If your child is obsessed with school massacres, he or she is an excellent candidate for using empathogenic meds ASAP -- or do we prefer even school shootings to drug use???
There are no recreational drugs. Even laughing gas has rational uses because it gives us a break from morbid introspection. There are recreational USES of drugs, but the term "recreational" is often used to express our disdain for users who go outside the healthcare system.
People magazine should be fighting for justice on behalf of the thousands of American young people who are dying on the streets because of the drug war.
I'm told that science is completely unbiased today. I guess I'll have to go back and reassess my doubts about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.
The Hindu religion was created thanks to the use of a drug that inspired and elated. It is therefore a crime against religious liberty to outlaw substances that inspire and elate.
Big pharma drugs are designed to be hard to get off. Doctors write glowingly of "beta blockers" for anxiety, for instance, but ignore that fact that such drugs are hard -- and even dangerous -- to get off. We have outlawed all sorts of less dependence-causing alternatives.
Anytime you hear that a psychoactive drug has not been proven to be effective, it's a lie. People can make such claims only by dogmatically ignoring all the glaringly obvious signs of efficacy.
Everyone's biggest concern is the economy? Is nobody concerned that Trump has promised to pardon insurrectionists and get revenge on critics? Is no one concerned that Trump taught Americans to doubt democracy by questioning our election fairness before one single vote was cast?
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