tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7578125528475198742.post4133817812909172467..comments2023-05-11T03:06:59.054-07:00Comments on The Well Run Dry: An Inmate's View Of Federal PrisonTH in SoChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00483293929968668475noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7578125528475198742.post-36308068052188388622009-10-13T17:02:39.981-07:002009-10-13T17:02:39.981-07:00Antinomian, your comment illustrates a point of vi...Antinomian, your comment illustrates a point of view held by many in America today. However, I must disagree. The reason why I am against the American war on drugs is not because I think psychoactive drug use should be condoned, but because I think the "War on Drugs" has been turned into a pretext to destroy minority neighborhoods.<br /><br />With the present people in power in America and the present mindset of these people, I am afraid that if 'recreational' drug use was legalized in the United States, those in power would try as hard as possible to get as many minority people hooked as possible. This in turn would also destroy minority communities, making their residents incapable of taking care of themselves, of becoming self-sufficient or of advancing their economic status.<br /><br />There is abundant historical precedent for this fear of mine. Two cases come to mind immediately: the pushing of drugs onto the black community by the CIA as part of the effort to finance the Nicaraguan Contras in the 1980's, and the pushing of opium onto the Chinese population by the British empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Addictive drug use is evil and self-destructive.TH in SoChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483293929968668475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7578125528475198742.post-53601968354870722009-10-11T05:31:13.490-07:002009-10-11T05:31:13.490-07:00One need not travel to China to find indigenous cu...One need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under prosecution of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance global credibility. <br /><br />The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as life is flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. Behold, it’s all good. Canadian Marc Emery sold seeds that enable American farmers to outcompete cartels with superior local herb. He’s being extradited to prison, for doing what government can’t do, reduce U.S. demand for Mexican.<br /><br />Only on the authority of a clause about interstate commerce does the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) reincarnate Al Capone, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Administration fiscal policy burns tax dollars to root out the number-one cash crop in the land, instead of taxing sales. America rejected the plague of prohibition, but it mutated. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment. Father, forgive those who make it their business to know not what they do.<br /><br />Nixon passed the CSA on the assurance that the Schafer Commission would justify criminalizing his enemies, but it didn’t. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA shut down research and pronounced that marijuana has no medical use, period. Drug juries don’t seat bleeding hearts.<br /><br />The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership or an act of Congress to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. John Doe’s free exercise of religious liberty may include entheogen sacraments to mediate communion with his maker.<br /><br />Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction. <br /><br />Common-law must hold that adults are the legal owners of their own bodies. The Founding Fathers undersigned that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Mortal lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.Antinomianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00604354518404421014noreply@blogger.com