End The War On Drugs - Chapter 4

Use vs Abuse

EDITOR’S NOTE: A few years ago, I penned a first draft of a short book, “End The War On Drugs” I offer an updated version, in serial form, here on Substack, for my paid subscribers. I will publish a chapter each week.

CHAPTER 1: A Catastrophic Failure
CHAPTER 2: A Brief History
CHAPTER 3: A Society Rooted in Individual Liberty

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Because illegal drugs are, well, illegal, there is a whole lot of misinformation and disinformation out there regarding them.  It's easy to write opinions, papers, studies and such that decry drugs, that talk about how harmful they are, that support the position of continued criminalization, because those who write in the other direction face accusations of disingenuousness and the social pressure and stigma associated with supporting illegal and socially unacceptable behaviors.

It’s also easy to write to conclusions that don’t withstand strict scrutiny or skepticism, because people are conditioned. Conditioned to think that drugs are Bad, to conflate that Bad and Banned, to trust smart people and the government (you can laugh now, but many do), to over-value their personal feelings, and to invest their personal preferences into policies that affect others.

But, tens of millions of Americans alive today have tried pot and millions use it at least occasionally.  I'd bet many who read this have tried it at least once.