The War on Drug Addicts

I started using methamphetamine in 1964. At this time it was available over the counter. As long as I could get this drug legally I could function as a useful member of society. I didn't have much trouble with the law until I got involved with illegal drugs.

I once had a pipedream of being a big drug dealer. But when I came close to losing my life on account of being involved with drug dealers, and coming very close to being sent to the state prison, I became a realist. I am still chemically dependant. I can maintain myself with ephedrine and I am a useful, productive, tax paying, home owning, and law-abiding member of society.

The trouble is that I am drug dependant.

I live in fear that this government is going to take away my last alternative to illegal drugs, ephedrine. I think that people can live useful lives, and still have their drug of choice, as long as they are not violating anyone else's rights or safety. I don't think they should be driving a school bus, or flying an airplane, or doing security work, or being a brain surgeon. It isn't fair that one group of people (alcoholics) should be allowed to have their drug of choice, which is equally as destructive.

I've used stimulants, sometimes heavily, for 37 years, I am 56 and look and feel 36. Most people believe I'm only in my mid thirties. Show me someone who has been drunk almost every day for 37 years, if they have lived that long. But almost every government is tolerant of alcoholic beverages. People who drink a lot are easy to control because all you really have to do is keep them entertained. People can be controlled with a lot of movies, sporting events, and music, and aren't likely to question government as long as they are entertained.

People lose their lives because of the war on drugs. They love their drugs so much that they are willing to risk their lives for it.

I had very bad hangup on methamphetamine for years, but it wasn't until I got to a point where I had as much money as I needed for it and I could get as much as I wanted, that I could see with the help of God just where it was taking me. It wasn't until then because the trouble I always had getting it always seemed to make it worth all the negative aspects. I had to hit rock bottom on my own.

No matter how many mental hospitals, rehabilitation centers, jails, halfway houses, counselors, and psychologists I experienced I still had to see for myself. There is no way anybody can talk somebody out of using drugs, nor is there any known psychology that can deal with addiction. Prison will only, at best, keep one away from drugs. It will probably make the addict a little tougher to catch next time. I'm not saying it hasn't straitened out some people. But we sure have a lot of repeat offenders whose only real crime is being a drug addict. There is no minority group in this society that is more oppressed than someone who is chemically dependant, especially on something society doesn't approve of.

Anonymous
Minneapolis, MN

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