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I run Drug Courts in two counties, so I spend quite a bit of time around addicts. FWIW, here are a couple of observations:
1) I would prefer to call marijuana a "slippery-slope drug" as opposed to "gateway" drug. The addicts I see generally start out as somewhat lazy, poor work-ethic, with too much time on their hands. Oftentimes their parent(s) didn't do a very good job of raising them. Lack of supervision leads to teenage drinking, which leads to marijuana use, which then leads to something much harder and more addictive.
2) By the time the person gets to the hard stuff, the rest of their life is in a nosedive. Jobs, education, family, everything gets tossed aside. Life turns into ongoing episodes of sitting on a couch and getting and staying high.
3) Methamphetamine is the most addictive substance we have ever faced as a society. EVERY meth addict I have seen used marijuana before. Same with crackheads, paint huffers, and every other person addicted to narcotics.
4) Smoking marijuana is very detrimental to one's health. Smoking one joint is like smoking an entire carton of Camel non-filters.
5) I never see alcoholics who grew up in a European-style household, wherein kids learned to moderate alcohol consumption by emulating parents.
6) The reason our prisons are full and court dockets are exceedingly long is because of drug crimes.
7) Humans have become addicts since the beginning of time. The Pharisees called Jesus a "winebibber"(and no, he wasn't an addict---this was an ad hominem attack against him to denigrate his message). I would suggest that we will always have addicts. The issue is what exactly our society is willing to tolerate them being addicted to.
8) I would be more than a little surprised if American society ever totally cuts away addicts. Today's progressives attempt to turn government into God (Why show personal responsibility when there's government money to be spent? By the way, if I spend this money for you, will you vote for me?) . I really don't expect to see these same politicians watch addicts lie in a ditch without throwing money at the problem.
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"And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods?"
Thomas Babington Macaulay
"One man with courage makes a majority." Andrew Jackson
"Well Mr. Carpetbagger. We got something in this territory called the Missouri boat ride."
Josey Wales
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