When I flipped on National Geographic last night, as I so often do, a rather disconcerting topic was being discussed: the illegal Heroin/opium trade. NatGeo capitalized mostly on how 90% of today's herion comes out of Afghanistan. I obviously do not condone drug sales, but I found that focus to be a major flaw.
It doesn't really matter where the heroin is coming from! The only reason that Afghanistan is important in this whole scheme is because the high volume of opium products flooding the market is lowering the cost of heroin. The lower cost is attracting buyers. Which, according to National Geographic, is all the Afghani farmers' fault. But it is not the producers' fault that the buyer purchases drugs. Those farmers need to feed their families, and selling processed poppies brings home the bacon. Can we really blame them for the addiction of drug users? I think not, not entirely anyway.
It is your personal choice to do drugs. Unless, of course, someone grabs your arm and forces a needle in. Just because something is available doesn't mean you have to buy it. Not everyone buys OxyClean or Burger King or Advil, those who like the effects of those products on their lives buy them. And I'm sure that eating BK every day is bad for you, and so is popping an Advil every hour. Drugs are not a necessity, but once someone is addicted, then they can be. Especially when the drug of choice is heroin, which I call "the kiss of death" because of its crippling dependency. That is why I do not do drugs: I am aware that they are harmful. There is a plethora of information available that proves this to every literate individual in a developed part of the world, so, in my opinion, drug addiction is the fault of the user, not the producer.
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Of course people want to blame the supplier, but those are usually the people who use or used. I do believe that some fault can be placed with the supplier, but if not 1 supplier, the user will find another, and the pattern will continue unless drugs are outlawed off the face of the planet, and we know that that will never happen. People usually know when a drug is highly addictive, it is within their own discretion to use it or not.
"Prefiero morir parada que vivir la vida en mis rodillas"
It doesn't matter how illegal drugs are, they will always be available. Even in America, where literally every recreational chemical ever thought of or that might be thought of is illegal (via the Analog Act) marijuana is still the number one cash crop and a substantial amount of the world's LSD is made here. People want to get high, and they will. Chemists and smart botanists will come up with new and niftier substances to you high faster than anybody can outlaw them.
Treating drugs as a legal problem is pointless. Believing that the reasons drugs exist is because they can't be "outlawed off the face of the planet," is narrow minded and wrong.
“Existentialism means that no one else can take a bath for you” - Delmore Schwartz
"Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real-estate above principles." - George Jean Nathan
I never said that drugs should be outlawed ...if you wouldve read it more carefully, you wouldve realized that it was a hypothetical scenario, not my belief. Also....stating that someones opinion is wrong, is narrow minded...and wrong.
The point i was making is that the blame should not be placed among the provider.
"Prefiero morir parada que vivir la vida en mis rodillas"
I think you could tell that I think drug addiction is the fault of the individual using the drug, not the producer of the drug or the government.
~Violinstef
I think you could tell that I think drug addiction is the fault of the individual using the drug, not the producer of the drug or the government.
~Violinstef
Drug addiction is mainly the users' fault, but the context with which the drug is presented to him and the culture in which he uses it are also large contributing factors. Addiction is an extremely complex issue that requires much examination.
Had NatGeo done their homework they would find that cheap heroin generally just shifts users to heroin. The actual number or percentage of illegal drug users stays mostly the same, but a larger proportion of them use heroin, and it becomes more popular among first time drug users.
“Existentialism means that no one else can take a bath for you” - Delmore Schwartz
"Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real-estate above principles." - George Jean Nathan
We live in a society where few people take responsibility for his or her own actions. It's always someone else's fault. The drugs will always be there, no matter who provides them.
Addiction is usually a genetic disposition, but that, by no means, takes away the responsibility of the participants.
-Sonja :)