@finitelifeform
I disagree that, in a perfect world people would not take drugs.
also
I do not yearn for any perfect world concept. cannot get behind it at all! people are not perfect, and no concept of perfect is perfect.
In fact I think that we really have to do our best to oppose people who want to regulate others.
I like some drugs, because I enjoy their effects at the doses and frequency that I use them, and it's great that I can get away with it, without any fear.
When I was younger it was illegal to possess - now nobody gives a damn, and that is a huge improvement.
Reality is not toxic, some people's behavior is, some ideas are. Some parts of nature are toxic, and a lot of manufacturing byproducts are toxic, because of peoples bad ideas, bad concepts, watch out for it. you could easily be infected.
If you do become infected with toxic ideas, you might need to take lsd therapy.
The war on drugs is not just a toxic idea, it is the reality of what we are talking about. I am not referring to a cerebral explanation of reality but the reality in which we share that is influenced by politics, such as drug policy. When you talk about drug harm reduction and when you talk about drugs, that is what you are referring to; the toxic reality that consumes drug consumption and poisons our bond to drugs. It is nothing but toxic and it has been so since the start when people were getting HUGE sentences for possessing personal quantities of cannabis. Whenever you take drugs, most of them at least, you do so assuming the society you live in largely condemns and demonizes them, along with those who use them. That is pretty toxic. You run the risk of being a criminal everytime you take drugs. That is really toxic.
Its okay to admit it. And the more we do, the more closer we bring ourselves to the raw truth of the world we live in instead of trying to deflect responsibility for understanding what is going on like it belongs to someone or something else. And that is the major starting point, and thats just on your own individual level. When you expand out to the world as a whole, the severity of the whole thing is amplified massively. Thats that we are dealing with. Its just another narrative we have subconsciously moved to the back of our minds. A narrative that doesnt work but when its moved to the back of our minds we seek to make excuses for it.
I understand you may have mistaken what I meant. It might be difficult to want to read my essays! I get bored reading them myself! I never implied a perfect world nor does it imply regulating others, not in the way envision that to be; authoritarian.
That being said you need regulation and we regulate each other whatever way you put it. You will never be completely free. Assuming so means you can get away with anything. You can do anything you want. We all know you cant actually do anything you want not least without consequences. Regulation isnt a bad thing, its actually a good thing. Societies that are out of control lack proper frameworks for dealing with the problems within them. Regulation when done right is holding each other accountable and setting rules as to what is acceptable and what is not. If you start injecting heroin in the hallway of our apartment block I will repremand you. That is regulation. We need rules. If we dont have rules we would live in a very dark world. If you do your thing in your own space and dont affect others with your own personal choices, that is okay. Even without government as we know it today, we would still have regulation and rules. All societies throughout history have been regulated and there is structure in place. We never will live in a lawless Pollyana utopia because its not possible. Your mum had rules and set regulations. Your school did the same. As did the workplaces you have been with. Society functions based on these collectively agreed realities. We know what we can and cant do and for the most part, the rules are just.
You have to set standards otherwise you end up with the issues we see rampant around us today when there is no regulation and no accountability at the local level and beyond. Much of the issues revolve around broken frameworks and support infrastructure to accomodate what is a very human very natural thing for us to do. That being said it doesnt matter what you want to believe or envision possible, we will NEVER live in a world where all our very human and very natural things we want to do are not under the scrutiny, regulations and law in our society.
There are those who want a fairytale world and those who want a dystopian world. This is conditioned black and white all or nothing thinking based on polarizing and weaponized political narratives whereby we can only ever have two choices, and neither are usually what we really want. Both sides are scripted to push us away from realistic evidence-based policy, and that is deliberate. The more you can compromise someones awareness of a given situation in society, the less substantial argument and defense they have to challenge it. All you tend to think of is a very limited very superficial if not juvenile idea of what is going on. That serves politicians well because you are distracted and thats one less citizen cognizant of the real issues and unable to posit real solutions.
I completely relate to how it can be misintepreted to seem like it infers something negative and/or detrimental, but that is what drug harm reduction is about - not taking drugs. The end goal IS to not take drugs. As previously stated, this doesnt imply you are FORCED not to take them or will be punished if you dont stop, it simply implies the best solution to reduce harms in society is to not have people taking drugs at all. That is common sense really. "You cant take my drugs away! I want to take drugs!" Yeah, its NOT about that. Its not about coming down on people. Its about reducing harms and from a health and wellbeing perspective, from a medical and scientific perspective, you achieve reduced harms by obviously, reducing drug consumption. That reduction involves an ideal goal of no drugs being consumed.
That is how the system works. At least the drug harm reduction system taking shape today with a focus on aligning its values and mission with drug policy that actually works. If you listen to any expert in this field pushing for better drug policy, they all say the same thing.
