The Important Drugs Debate Question That Nobody's Asking

S.J.B.

S.J.B.

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The Important Drugs Debate Question That Nobody's Asking
Max Daly
Vice
November 21st, 2017

There is a question at the heart of the drug debate that often gets forgotten amid all the talk of prohibition vs legalisation. Is the act of getting high, regardless of the law and your health, a good or bad thing?

Both legalisers and prohibitionists say their policies offer the best ways of reducing addiction, harm and death. But the government and most of the general public have consistently rejected the idea of blanket drug legalisation in Britain. This is not necessarily because people think cannabis cafes will take over our high streets or because their kids will suddenly get into crack cocaine. Most people distrust talk of legalisation because they distrust getting high itself – not just because taking illegal drugs entails risks, but because using them to get a buzz is somehow cheating, inauthentic and inherently antisocial.

The arch drug prohibitionist and Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens voiced the feelings of many of his readers when he described drug taking in 2012 as "the purest form of self-indulgence, that severs the link between hard work and reward… making deferred gratification appear a waste of time and a foolish rejection of readily available delight".

After decades spent chasing down drug criminals, one senior drug detective told me earlier this year that he still could not fathom why there is a culture in Britain of people having a good time "only if your mind’s not thinking the way it was born to". He was incredulous that "our society wants to distort its mind so frequently and at such volume that drugs are now one of the biggest commercial markets in the UK".

There is scant mention of how we view drug intoxication in parliamentary discussions, TV debates or reports on drug policy. It’s nowhere to be found in the Home Office’s latest drug strategy. But both Hitchens and the detective touch on an issue that's really holding up a sensible discussion around drug policy.
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^ i think you're referring to his late brother Christopher?

He had his moments, and i enjoyed some of his writing - but his brother Peter is (in my opinion) a right wing clown.

:)
 
spacejunk said:
^ i think you're referring to his late brother Christopher?

He had his moments, and i enjoyed some of his writing - but his brother Peter is (in my opinion) a right wing clown.

:)
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I was...I deleted it as soon as I realized. Thanks for responding kindly.
 
In my personal experience working in the Houses of Parliament, it was a completely unremarkable fact that cocaine and methamphetamine were abused to the nth degree not just by staffers but by MPs and their friends.

But hypocrisy aside, I imagine the reason so many people want to escape reality is because the 'reality' (society) people like Peter Hitchens represent is a form of hell for them. A hell that's only really heaven for a small elite that does well at the expense of everyone else.

Also, fuck the Daily Mail.
 
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