That's not propaganda. It's numbers. Doing drugs = high risk. And it's stupid to take high risks with your body, unless you don't mind dying young.
I've never understood why many 'tech' people are so pro drugs. Why do you need it?
There's some things you don't need to try.
"Why do you need it?"We need to educate people about drugs differently and the justice system needs to stop persecuting users and addicts as if they were burglars, rapists, and killers.
First, we need to put marijuana in the same class as alcohol and cigarettes. A little weed doesn't hurt anyone. Abuse of it does and that's what we need to teach. That marijuana abuse hurts you by taking you away from more important things in life. The drug itself can't really do too much damage. I'd equate it to alcohol use. A beer or two after work won't hurt you and getting drunk occasionally won't either. It's the consequences of abuse that hurt you, not the substance. There are plenty of completely functional successful people who drink beer regularly (not abusively or for escape) and the same goes for smoking a joint.
Then we need to get real with people and let them know what really happens when you use stimulants, opioids, etc. Let them know that the first time is dangerous but that the real negative effect isn't seen until later. Then educate people on the reasons why people use, help them spot the reasons in themselves, and explain the progression from curious one time use to full blown addiction. Lumping them all in as bad and evil is making this problem worse.
Then our justice system needs to provide treatment rather than punishment. The stigma attached to users is so unfair and hurts their chances for recovery. Once you take someone out of society and label them as "bad", "criminal", or "addict" they'll slip into that role and play the part.
I myself am a recovered heroin addict and on the board of the Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization. We're seeing huge progress by doing just what I described here. We're focusing on Will County, Illinois which is just outside of Chicago. We have politicians on board with us and we're doing a ton to change how drug users are treated and how drug education happens. Will County will likely become the model for the test of the country one day. We have a Drug Court program which gives those charged with certain felonies a chance to have their case dropped if they complete a minimum of one year in a treatment program that includes therapy, inpatient, outpatient rehab, then a halfway house and regular weekly, biweekly, and monhthly court appearances (as you move through the program and show progress) along with scheduled and random drug screenings. Participants are in the program for as long as they need to become sober (maximum 4 years I believe) and must attend school if they have no high school equivalency and must get a job which the court helps with. They also strongly encourage participants to attend college but not all do. Failure to complete the program means pleading guilty and being sentenced to the full term of whatever sentence you would have gotten had you not participated. (I do believe there might be a trial before that, I forgot).
We're also doing the education thing I mentioned too and it's working! Every county in Illinois is looking over at us to see how we're beating this thing. It's saving the government boatloads of money to make drug offenders productive citizens rather than letting them waste a prison cell and become burdens on the state.
I'm sorry to rant but whenever I hear someone generalizing drugs and drug users and repeat the misinformation the war on drugs has been letting loose I lose it. The point here is that not all drugs are created equal. Smoking pot should be a choice like smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol. And pretty much everything we were taught about drugs and their users is wrong.
Sorry, but I disagree. Some kids are brought up well, to respect authority, the law and to respect their bodies. Not everyone tries drugs. Blame the parents...
"First, we need to put marijuana in the same class as alcohol and cigarettes. A little weed doesn't hurt anyone."
I'd go for that as long as cigarettes and marijuana are both illegal to use outside your own private property. Breathing in drug addicts smoke is not something the public should have to do. Thankfully we're moving the right direction making smoking tobacco in public places illegal.
I might have used some blunt language but it's true. It doesn't matter how kids are brought up. It's a fact of nature that adolescents are hard wired to rebel against whatever they were taught at home. They test their upbringing and usually come out the other end believing what they were taught to begin with plus or minus a few beliefs but in the middle they almost always try to see what's up for themselves. You'd be surprised how many kids who grew up in wonderful moral families end up abusing or addicted to drugs. The founder of the organization Im part of is a retired Chicago PD officer with a number of degrees in education. He brought his son up in a well off upper-middle class neighborhood with good schools and strong morals. This family might as well have the Brady Bunch. But his son got mixed in with heroin and died after a long struggle with addiction. This was exactly the type of kid you say won't use.
See, that's the big problem. Everyone thinks its a moral failing and they take the attitude that it's the neighbor's kid but never mine until it happens to you. There are so so many families this has happened to and their afraid to warn others for fear of being labelled bad parents who didn't provide a solid moral ethic to pass down to their kid(s).
I am a smoker and I'm happy to admit that others done want to breathe in my second hand smoke. I'll also give you the rule on smoking 15 feet away from buildings is a good one too. But there's a fine line where legislation doesn't need to go. Banning it in public altogether is just ridiculous. We're all adults. We can say something if we want a smoker to leave the middle of the street. I mean cigarettes are legal and public areas are public. Leave the poor smokers alone when they're not bothering you. You can also choose to walk away. I mean, we not do it for 5 minutes at a time. You won't get cancer in those minutes. Please don't take my freedom away from me. What if I don't want your crying child or strong perfume or breast feedi near me? I'm not going to make it illegal because it inconveniences me.
But what really bothered me about that last paragraph was how you called it "drug addict" smoke. Yes, they are addicts technically but using those words in a derogatory way like that just perpetuates the stigma carried by addicts. We aren't sun-humans, bottom feeders, or somehow just some class of undesirables. We're your friends, neighbors, and family and we need help. Most of us are incredibly intelligent and have a lot to offer society if we could just get the help we need. I know how bad the behavior of an addict can be because I am one but all of deserve a chance to get better before being written off.
It's not getting cancer I'm worried about, it's the disgusting smell, making me+my kids cough etc. You may as well go up to people in the street and burp and fart in their face - it's as disgusting.
I know, I lack empathy etc. But I still believe most of it comes down to proper parenting. I don't have all the answers, but I don't believe legalizing more drugs is the way forward.
First, I believe the parlance is recovering addict. If you choose to subscribe to the 12 step method of recovery, you are never fully "recovered" from addiction.
Second, marijuana, alcohol, and cigarettes are all gateway substances. The dangers of these mood altering drugs are self-evident. It seems to me that we should be doing everything possible to educate people before they get hooked, not try and deal with a drug addict after they become addicted.
In any case you're right. We do need to deal with them before getting addicted, not after. It's much cheaper and easier to prevent than anything else. Good education starts with getting real about substances and the process of addiction, not scaring people. The scare method just created a generation that assumes drug users have a moral failing and that's where the stigma comes from. Meanwhile the users are languishing in prison or on the streets not getting the help they need and deserve.
(I'm in the UK so the culture etc may be different).