American Blog

Written by Michael Vass

Not long ago I wrote about a product that I felt added to the potential of children and young teens starting a life of drug addiction. This post on the Lollipipe set off a landslide of comments from pro-drug individuals, attacking me on every level. Which was annoying, but also gave me an insight to what we can see in America. And that is scary.

The movement to legalize drug, particularly marijuana, has been on-going for decades now. There are more than a few million people that are actively seeking making drugs a commodity no different than a pack of cigarettes. And they have done huge research to justify what they believe.

I will not do similar research. But I will address why I find legalization of any illegal narcotic drug to be the worst thing America can do. And all of my reasoning is based in fact and experience. Which I believe in this case is far more real and telling than a bunch of stats.

In discussing the Lollipipe I was told several things. That marijuana is not addictive, that it does not have negative effects, that any drug is ok as long as it is not abused, that 30 percent of conservatives and 35% of liberals are in favor of changing the drug laws, that this is a way of life and should be legal, that it will increase government revenues, that only a Republican mouthpiece would be against this issue, and that marijuana – at least -cannot lead kids down a path of drug addiction.

That is a lot to respond to. I will try to deal with all these major questions.

The big thing pro-drug people like to say is that marijuana is not addictive. They present numerous studies from various groups – some credible, some not. They point to the active ingredient of marijuana and note that users are not compelled to use.

Which is a blatant lie. I have seen people give up their lives to keep getting high. They have languished, and faltered. They have lost jobs. Just because they had to get high. Because they could not go without a puff. And I am talking about marijuana.

I don’t care what stat a person pulls, the fact is that I have watched people jones for the next high. People have gotten up at 3am just to get more weed. People have forgone purchases of food and other essential items to get their weed. People have challenged arrest to get their weed. And I bet if you know a pot smoker you have seen at least some of them do the same thing.

I know of people that are “occasional” smokers. They just smoke on weekends. They are “in control” of the addition. But they can’t stop smoking. They like the high too much. The occasion for their smoking is a ritual, or habit, that they follow every week. Many are functional in their jobs, but they will not stop.

There is another group of people who act like this. Alcoholics. They too drink on occasion. They too can maintain jobs. They too are in control. And they are addicts. I see no difference.

Over my 4 decades of life I have lived on each coast of America, and in dozens of cities and towns. In each place I have seen the same kinds of people. Addicts every single one. And they come in every color, age, religion, and income bracket you can imagine.

People say that weed is not dangerous. Which is odd as jails are filled with drug dealers. Morgues are filled with the dead addicts. I recall how a friend of mine was killed in a moderate sized drug purchase. He was shot point blank, through a bullet proof vest. I was 18 at the time. I recall another friend being severely beaten while trying to buy weed, because he looked strange – age 21. I recall several people getting into car accidents because they were high at the time – no different than a drunk.

How can anyone say that drugs are not dangerous? Whether it is direct or indirect, hoards of people are negatively affected by drug use. From death to injury to problems with work – drugs cause problems that detract from life.

But some will say this is only because drugs are illegal. Really? Alcohol is legal and drunk driving still kills and maims people. Being high is no different. And it too causes accidents because of the impaired judgment of the driver. Making weed legal does not resolve that. Nor does making it legal make it any less valuable. An addict will kill to get their next hit. They will fight and steal.

Imagine if weed, as an example was legal. Kids already kill for sneakers and jackets. Imagine something that they could fight over that someone wants more. Something that people are willing to pay more for?

Some say that if it is legal then there is no need to fight or sell it illegally. Really? Imagine that the Government sells weed. It likely will not be Chronic or any other form of massively potent weed that exists today. It would be like apple cider compared to a shot of tequila. The market would still exist, and so would the problems it creates.

Some say that weed does not lead to other drugs. Of course it does. Not as some gateway persay, but as a logical chain of actions. If an addict is capable of taking one drug, why not another. If one drug is as illegal as another why not try it? If the high can be better, different, longer, ect then why not do it?

The mentality that drug use creates allows for substituting any drug. The reasoning is the same, whether it is crack or heroin, or weed. The goal is to be high. They all do so.

In my life I have watched about 1/3 of all the people I grew up with go to jail or die due to drugs. Were it to have been legal I am sure fewer would have gone to jail, but how many more would have died? Either through overdose, accidents, arguments, or other complications.

Better yet, what is the argument for drugs?

I have heard that because people use them it should be legal. So crack and heroin should be for sale too? Which means like cigarettes and alcohol it will be even more available to kids. Yeah that’s a great reason.

I have heard that there is a medical benefit and so it should be legal. Yet how many people die from prescription drugs each year? How many people abuse prescription drugs? Didn’t Michael Jackson just die from years of prescription drug use?

I have heard that you can’t OD from weed. Maybe not. But you can harm your lungs and eventually die from those complications. You can die from acts of stupidity, which is highly associated with weed use. And you can always die from by-products added to weed to make it stronger (which would not end if the Government sold it).

Often I hear how marijuana is compared to alcohol. Except moonshine is not legal nor in demand, and it is more akin to weed especially if it were legal. Moonshine can kill, and weed causes deaths. Alcoholism can crush a life, as can any narcotic that alters the mind. And we want more kids to be able to enjoy that?

As is there are warped people that give drugs to infants. Imagine if it were legal how many more such Youtube possessed idiots might do this same thing? Imagine the potential damage to an unknown number of youth.

And where does legal drugs end? What is the criteria to approve one illegal drug over another? Altering the mind, they all do that. Addiction, they are all addictive. Means of use, several if not all can be smoked. What says that legalization stops at weed. Why not crack, or heroin, or cocaine?

I am told I am just too old to get it. Perhaps. Or perhaps I am old enough to have seen the result over decades of drug use. Perhaps I have seen far too many people die, from various associations with drugs. Perhaps I have been around long enough to have seen far too many productive people stalled or reversing promising lives due to drug use.

The honest fact is that there is no “good” drug. There is nothing that can’t be abused, that won’t cause direct and/or indirect harm to the user. There is no benefit to a career, or home life.

Pro-drug people want to be part of the majority of people. They want to fit in. They want to be vindicated in what they choose to do. Just like pedophiles. But that does not make it so.

Pro-drug people will point to all kinds of examples. I can only point to having grown up in the Bronx, and watching hundreds of lives destroyed by drugs. I can only point to the empty husks of life in L.A., New York, Chicago, D.C., and numerous other places across the country.

Show me a drug user that is a successful businessman. Show me one that is a qualified doctor, or professional and successful in their career. Show me an addict that is more than a waste of life. In 40+ years of life I have yet to meet a single one. Legal or not, that is a statement. One that cannot be refuted by stats. Because no matter how positive the start seems, drug use always consumes and destroys the user.

In my life I have known thousands of drug users, hundreds of drug dealers. I cannot point to a single person who has benefited from that drug use. Not one. No matter the drug.

Why should drugs be made legal? I can’t think of a single reason besides the fact that drug users don’t want to go to jail. And in the end, I think that is the only real reason anyone is pro-drug.

Let the attacks begin. But be assured, you cannot sway a person who has watched the lives of too many destroyed by drug use.