By: T-Walker

T-Walker — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:07:26 +0000

I was a heroin addict for many years and I think my input could be useful here. Frankly the fact that the drug addiction rate has remained at the same percentage as it was before the War on Drugs is a huge success story. If you think about it, back in the 1920s there was no or little drug culture. Drugs were not nearly as popularized in the culture then as they are today. Today, we hear about drugs everywhere: it pervades our movies, our music, and to some extent television. Yet we’ve been able to keep drug use at the same rate – amazing really if you consider it.
It’s silly to cite the fact that drug use still exists as evidence that the War on Drugs is a failure. Nobody thinks you could ever make drug use a zero percentage thing. That simply isn’t the point. The point is to keep it low, and that’s so far exactly what we’ve seen.
People say cigarettes are as addictive as heroin. I was addicted to both, so let me make this very clear. The withdrawal from cigarettes is indeed as bad as heroin withdrawal, but the *psychological/emotional* addiction to heroin makes cigarette addiction look like a walk in the park. Cigarettes, after all, don’t really get you that high. As far as heroin goes, well, that’s another story…
People often say: well look at the annual deaths from alcohol and cigarettes – they add up to more than all the illegal drug deaths combined! Well yes…if you ask me that’s yet another success story from the War on Drugs.
Finally, these polls that are taken where people are asked “if drugs were legalized, would you use them??” do not tell you a darn thing about how many people would *actually* use drugs if they were made legal. Of course, nobody thinks “Oh yeah, if heroin were legal I’d definitely jump on that boat!” *Of course* that’s not how addiction works. From someone who was a heroin addict, I can assure you of one single thing: no matter what a poll tells you, when people all of a sudden have legal access to heroin (and yes that WOULD be much easier to get than in today’s drug market – you have to acquire all the right connections to score heroin today…nobody needs connections to buy something from a legal market, and they would feel much safer about doing it), so many people would decide “well maybe i’ll give it a try.” And once you feel that high, that’s all it takes to be addicted for the rest of your life. Near every heroin addict you talk to will agree: It would be near impossible to stop taking heroin if it were available in a legal market system.

By: paul

paul — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:56:21 +0000

A highly enlightened view point like yours is so encouraging to hear.

By: todd

todd — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:38:41 +0000

vary interesting point of view education and propaganda
educate the babies with the truth and understanding of hard work and education
show them what drugs will do by showing them the direction it will take them
when addiction becomes apart of there lives poverty is a strong tool
having nothing wanting everything
only a few will make the wrong choice

Comments on: A Police Officer’s View on Drugs: Part 2

By: T-Walker

By: paul

By: todd