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watson.fawkes
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History of the war on drugs
If we're to get a proper start on it in the US, it
was even earlier than that, with the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. See Charles Whitebread's excellent article The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States for more information.
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hissingnoise
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It is indeed a depressing history, made moreso by the lack of any foreseeable major change, even in the long-term.
But psychotropic substances have been viewed (scapegoated, revered and banned periodically) with suspicion by religious and moral leaders since
antiquity.
The thinking was that to experience pleasure one should first earn it. . .
Apparent unearned pleasure could be made to appear to go against "Christ's teachings" and could therefore be viewed as a sin against God.
That Moral Imperative seems to apply as much today as it did then but with much lower visibility.
Signs of progress though, can be found in unlikely places, e.g. Portugal and some other small EU states.
[Edited on 13-7-2009 by hissingnoise]
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Foss_Jeane
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The whole issue is quite complex, with many intersecting interests. You certainly had the left wing notion that these people believe that they know
best how to run your life better than you know for yourself, and that they have a moral imperative to drag you, kicking and screaming, into their
"Promised Land". That would definitely be the case with Woodrow Wilson, on whose watch both the WoD and Prohibition got started, and for William
Jennings Bryan, who was a major supporter in Congress.
The Harrison Act of 1914 was not necessary, since whatever drug problem the US of A had at that time was self-correcting. Drug useage had been on a
steady decline ever since the 1860s. By 1914, there weren't enough druggies and their suppliers to effectively lobby against the Harrison Act.
You had the medical profession, in the guise of its lobby: the American Medical Association (founded: 1847 -- its aims were always political, not
scientific or professional) wanting to drive the competition out of business and to stop the self-medicating. In 1847, a doctor was more likely to
kill you than cure you. People therefore turned to herbalists, homeopaths, folk curers. Maybe they would do some good, and may be they wouldn't, but
you'd be no worse off.
You had economic interests. The aforementioned Harry Anslinger started his anti-marijuana crusade shortly after it was discovered how to turn hemp
fibers into high quality paper. This was very much a threat to the value of the timberland holdings of William Randolf Hearst. Never mind that growing
marijuana for smoking purposes is vastly different than growing for fiber purposes. WRH needed this to stop.
The last phase in the WoD -- making psychedelics illegal -- was done during the time of LBJ and Richard Nixon. The motive wasn't hard to figure: get
back at those hippies who were making their rejection of their elders public. This was payback, pure and simple. Ten years prior, "beatniks" has
discovered LSD and mescaline (legally available, and in the case of LSD, Sandoz gave away freebies) then president Eisenhower did nothing about this.
Being the last real conservative president, he figured that if these beats minded their own business, then it wasn't the government's business.
I don't see this WoD ending any time soon: too much profit in it. These "drug lords" make $Billions. What do they do with it? They invest it in the US
of A. Take away drug profits, and the whole financial structure comes crashing down. It might do so anyway, as it's gotten weaker with every liberal
administration We the People send to Washington.
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JohnWW
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Any self-styled "liberal" administration that purports to restrict the availability of drugs which have either "recreational" uses or which are
otherwise harmless drugs which nevertheless are made to require a prescription, or to criminalize or increase the penalties (other than simply taxing
their sale) for possessing them, is not worthy of the title "liberal". I would call them "Fa$cist". They are the politicians who have sold out to the
big pharmaceutical manufacturers, the tobacco and alcohol companies, the privileged medical clique particularly the AMA, and the Mafia (who receive
and distribute cocaine and heroin smuggled from South America by the CIA to pay for U$ Govt. "black" off-budget programs which thereby escape the the
auditing scrutiny of the GAO and Congre$$), in return for massive bribes to do their legislative and policy bidding, particularly by way of
bankrolling their election campaigns. Make no mistake about it, they view alternative supplies of "restricted" drugs, and alternative drugs (even
herbal remedies) to their prescription drugs and taxed alcohol and tobacco, as "threats to their patches", to be suppressed at all co$ts.
I call it a "whore on drugs", conducted by mostly male political and economic prostitutes in governments.
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kclo4
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This might be of interest, if not whatever
View Profile WWW Email Personal Message (Online)
Illegal Drugs & How They Got That Way - The Videos
Cocaine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrd5xtyfjFw
Opiates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQlk01sxO_E
LSD/Ecstasy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41QldKU1Ndg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxHB49Lkr2Y&feature=relat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv2sB9wb2DM&feature=relat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTRnp2o9F98&feature=relat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndQIAg7NNrQ&feature=relat...
Marijuana .. and Amphetamines I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yqyx0pCIHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx50lhkQcf0&feature=relat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oloobzAU-3Q&feature=relat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKbfXabxddg&feature=relat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVQoz1dFIuE&feature=relat...
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hissingnoise
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The History of the War on Drugs is obviously a work in progress.
What a pity we don't yet, have the final chapter. . .
My children's children's children may get to read it!
Hopefully?
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setback
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The WoD doesn't stop drug use, it only brings it underground. The crime problems, the violence problems, etc. are not caused by the drugs themselves,
they only manifest because of their illegality. Right now there are drug lords in Mexico making BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars off our WoD; they
practically run the country.
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Rich_Insane
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I agree about the liberal problem -- and I'm not Conservative (I'm a Communist). Almost everything gets banned by these so called "liberals" all over
the world.
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hissingnoise
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Here again, we have this curious Atlantic Divide; in Europe, progressive pragmatism is seen as liberal!
The continents seem to be drifting ever further apart in many ways.
And communism now has little meaning here. . .
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Sandmeyer
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To talk about liberal and conservative is pure nonsense, it is obvious that these words have lost their meanings.
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chief
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As long as certain police-departments get thier money for "fighting drugs"
==> they will be interested in having as much substances as possible on the list ...
If they eg. hat to remove marihuana from that list, then they would have a huge loss in busines, and thereby maybe funding ... 
Thats why they forever would blame anything a drug ... and if they could, probably even coffee, sugar, tea etc. .. ...
===============
The other aspect is: "CIA" to some people means: "Cocaine Import Agency" ...
==> ... and as long as they make good money, they don't need no competition, neither from other coke-importers, nor from any manufacturers of
pharmacies or synthetic drugs ...
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quicksilver
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I believe that is the essence of the whole discussion. If money drives an activity & that activity is mind altering and job producing, it will
never be met with reason & rationality.
What's more the DEA is also an intelligence agency. Most people who have worked for the government or been in the Military, know that as fact. No
matter the reasoning; intelligence agencies do not fall from popular pragmatism.
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Sedit
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Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  | It is indeed a depressing history, made moreso by the lack of any foreseeable major change, even in the long-term.
But psychotropic substances have been viewed (scapegoated, revered and banned periodically) with suspicion by religious and moral leaders since
antiquity.
[Edited on 13-7-2009 by hissingnoise] |
Where I normaly don't disagree with post you make this line here is bullshit.
Mind altering substances have almost NEVER been viewed with disrespect by religion but most of the time they where the basis for the formation of the
religion. Maya had magic mushrooms and various DMT containing brews. Egyptions had there meed and somehow cocaine and I feel theres good odds that the
christians stemed from either weed or opium(possibly some strange psychoactive microrganism if you look very close at there writtings) but they wrote
there CRAP to cryptic to make much sence of it ... im sure there more but I can not name them from the top of my head at the moment.
It wasn't until recently that they where even viewed with a negative aspect to them mainly starting in china when they went stupid with opium. Before
that things that altered ones state of mind where considered works of god and opium itself was labled the medicine of the gods.
Looking back,,, the only psychoactive substance I can think of that was considered evil before the war on drugs was ergot during the salem witch
hunts.
Everything else was considered a gift by the gods to help man come closer to a higher understanding of onesself.
PS:Im not a huge user of drugs never was or never will be but if you have never done ANY mind altering substance then you should never say
anything at all about how bad they are because there is so much information that can be gathered about the nature of reality when you simply alter
your perception of it even if for a short time. Its akin to a colorblind man being able to see in color for a few hours then spending the rest of his
days trying to comprehend what he just witnessed
Knowledge is useless to useless people...
"I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes. The fall of Rome, the fall of Germany — the
fall of the ruling country, the people who think they can do whatever they want without anybody else's consent. I've seen this story
before."~Maynard James Keenan
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chochu3
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I think when hissingnoise said religious and moral leaders, he was talking about christian leaders of our age. I don't think Mayans can be be
considered moral leaders in our times, not that they didn't have influence on there population. And when he said antiquity he could refer to Adam and
Eve who were the worshipers of the true living god, if you believe in the God of the Hebrews then this is the beginning.
\"Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither, like blind led by the blind.\" -
Katha Upanishad
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hissingnoise
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| Quote: | | I think when hissingnoise said religious and moral leaders, he was talking about christian leaders of our age. |
Yes chochu3, you read the post correctly; fear of psychotropics seems to be a Christian phenomenon - many of the ancient beliefs embraced and used
them in their various rites.
Christianity uses alcohol.
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leu
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The War on Drugs was started by the same people that created Prohibition, creating very similar results  People that attempt to legislate morality are responsible for a great deal of misery since they don't understand
the laws of economics or the facts about human behavior  An excellent book on
the history of this charade can be read online at:
http://www.libertary.com/book/drug-crazy
and an Open Office version is attached The latest bank bailout was funded by Mr
Guzman since he was the only one who had the assets that was willing to do it 
Those who fail to study and learn from history are doomed to repeat it 
Cannabis will be legal in California soon since it's the only way left to fund the schools 
Attachment: Drug Crazy by Mike Gray.zip (200kB)
This file has been downloaded 3052 times
Chemistry is our Covalent Bond
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quicksilver
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I have absolutely no proof to back up this idea but I had thought that Rye mold had a great influence on the Dark Ages witch hunts and a variety of
European insanity. Rye mold is a great source for ergotine & while many thought that the mind altering materials were vast in Europe (& I
believe there are quite a few) it's the mold on Rye which would pass unnoticed and give rise to "De3vils" and Witches", etc. An individual gets truly
fearful if he doesn't KNOW he took something that makes the wold upside down. We all remember the Military's experiments with LSD: that's what I
believe happened in that period of European history (unknown to the common man), etc.
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hissingnoise
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Outbreaks of ergotism were pretty horrific. . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotism
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IrC
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I think they drank and ate themselves stupid due to the increasing use of pewter wares considering the cumulative effects of Pb.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
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thereelstory
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you forgot the cia*s involvement
| Quote: Originally posted by setback | The WoD doesn't stop drug use, it only brings it underground. The crime problems, the violence problems, etc. are not caused by the drugs themselves,
they only manifest because of their illegality. Right now there are drug lords in Mexico making BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars off our WoD; they
practically run the country.
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Ephoton
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its been my experiance that these days it has to do with money and thats it.
patents run out when you dont want them anymore.
who makes the money on pihkal when its no longer illegal.
who makes the money from illicit trade in drugs.
were I live they have great feilds of opium they are more scared of loosing contracts
with the major pharm companies than stopping addiction here.
but thats not a historic view just what I see.
e3500 console login: root
bash-2.05#
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quicksilver
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In the US & the EU there is another issue that has not been discussed....The TREATMENT INDUSTRY! Private psychiatric hospitals and Detox centers
all make a Hell of a lot of money! The public places also have their hand out as well.
In the 1990's that crap was a major reason for a lot of problems with insurance (which we have today as a result). Overcharging for Tylenol or group
therapy is a standard as well as calling everything from shopping to masturbating a "disease" so that some Treatment Center can bill for it's
eradication.
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Ephoton
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exactly its always about the money it makes me sick.
half of the addiction out there is becouse of the money.
but what does one do but put there head down and do what they think is best.
I think our goverments hurt a lot more people this way than they realise.
e3500 console login: root
bash-2.05#
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quicksilver
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OT but "Unique" story:
Some years back I used to play handball a great deal. I was never that good at racquetball but I loved handball. I had a partner who was a
Psychiatrist. One day we had a long game & I asked him what & why he became a psychiatrist.
He told me that he originally really wanted to be a veterinarian but bombed out of U.C. Davis (on of the best vet schools in the country), so he
become a psychiatrist by default as his folks had pretty well sent him to med school & he needed to make good on their generosity. He also told me
that deep down he never thought of psychiatry as a science (other that neuro-psychiatric research & surgery) as the continuation of the "shotgun"
approach to medication made him very unhappy w/ the profession.
[Edited on 26-4-2010 by quicksilver]
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Mr. Wizard
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Interesting lines of thought. I agree psychiatry is a 'soft science' more akin to alchemy or faith healing. But even astrology eventually led to
astronomy, and alchemy to chemistry.
Drugs of all sorts, from tobacco, alcohol and to the extremes of the illegals are sought out because of the pleasures they bring to the user. Nobody
can deny they feel better after a glass of wine. I don't smoke, but I have taken a puff of a cigar when friends pass them out at the birth of a child.
Even the slight amount of nicotine from a puff and chewing on the cigar will make my head spin. Let's face it, we like it.
Now the conflict comes in forms of money, power, and control. There is money to be made by selling drugs. Some of the great families in England and
the US made fortunes selling chests of opium to China. Other families made fortunes selling liquor during the prohibition era. I won't give the names,
but they are easily available through the web. These names are well known and recognizable. We would be foolish to think people still won't use these
methods to accrete great wealth. When we read the illegal drug trade in the US is greater in value than the output of our biggest corporations, we can
understand why private armies are created to fight for right to control the production, distribution and sale of these products.
Once this pipeline is flowing with the drugs going to the unwashed and foolish, and the cash flowing untaxed and uncontrolled to certain pockets, why
change anything? Would the people getting the cash want drugs legalized? Of course not. Would the man who owns a well in a thirsty hot desert road
want free wells dug along the route?
This underground or black market leads to public corruption and other evils, a subculture of drug dealers and the associated social evils of thefts,
prostitution, and murders. How do we take the illegal money, corruption and social corruption out of drugs without turning our society into a bunch
of sots leaning on walls to stay upright?
It would be nice to think we have enough internal character to limit ourselves to " a little poison' as Goethe ( I wrongly attributed this to Goethe,
but it was Nietzche*) said. Sadly some won't and will lead short meaningless lives. Should the government step in and enforce prohibition and thereby
confirm the drug dealers' monopoly, or should they just enforce actions against that which would endanger public safety, like driving drunk, or
burning trash in your front yard on windy days?
Both sides have downsides. Personal responsibility and common sense are not common commodities, and cannot be legislated or dispensed by government
bureaucrats. People who want drugs can get them now, so we are not keeping them out of the public's hands. The testing of some large metropolitan
cities' sewage water has shown significant amounts of cocaine metabolites. It would be interesting to see a complete survey of the amount of drugs
used by cities throughout the world that have central sewage systems and compute the amount of money spent on drugs. At the bottom of this whole
problem is money and personal responsibility, and evolution.
[Edited on 27-4-2010 by Mr. Wizard]
[Edited on 27-4-2010 by Mr. Wizard]
*A little poison now and then: That makes for agreeable dreams. And much poison in the end, for an agreeable death.
F. Nietzche
[Edited on 27-4-2010 by Mr. Wizard]
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