<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body> You know, considering that two of the most dangerous and damaging drugs around are sold on every street corner -- alcohol and cigarettes -- I find all this handwringing about drugs risible. Or should I say, wisible? Not that I condone any drug being made illegal. joanna Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: <blockquote type="cite" cite="mid00bc01c5477a$8ec1e0a0$9e66dc80@WSokolows"> <pre wrap="">Michael: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">Meanwhile, if you don't think drugs are fucking people up, what can I say? </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> RTFM. I said: "So if you believe that drugs are "fucking people" and solutions not excuses are needed (which I happen to believe as well)," As to your argument about "sociologists" - could you be more specific? Who sez what about what drugs? I do not think that anyone would seriously doubt the addictive properties of opiates, but with weed it is very different story. The anti-drug crusaders argue it is addictive because it scares people, but there is no evidence supporting those claims. So what is wrong with questioning fraudulent claims or moral crusaders? In fact I read some interesting sociological argument (do not recall the source) showing that strict prohibition and intolerance of substance abuse can have a negative effect on abuse rates. The argument was that tolerant societies are more likely to develop social norms guiding "safe" use of mind altering substances i.e. telling people how much is too much as well as support networks to help them if the "cross the line." In intolerant societies, you are on your own as soon as you start using it with no social norms to guide you. Oftentimes, people who violate the strict taboo and see that none of the predicted dire consequences happened, develop a false sense of confidence that using the substance is safe. So they are more likely to fall into the crack (no pun intended) and less likely to be helped when they do. Wojtek ___________________________________ <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk">http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk</a> </pre> </blockquote> </body> </html>