But Wait! There's More...
I have a couple other "bones to pick" with our so called justice system and the laws we have in place in order to protect us from ourselves.
Now Listen Kids, Drugs Really ARE Bad...
First of all, I want to be clear - I fully support anti-meth laws and agree that it
should be illegal. (Although I
do think the punishment for breaking such laws could maybe be reformed in some way that involves more therapy/rehab/etc as opposed to just dumping people in prison for a couple of years.) That being said, there's no question that speed's some nasty shit, and even though it's a part of my life I know that I don't always want it to be; and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.
There are MANY fairly obvious reasons why crystal meth is horrible - here's a few:
- It causes so much physical, mental, psychological and emotional damage.
- It's way too easy to become addicted to
- It causes people to do crazy things like accidentally leave their babies in their cars (see previous post.)
- Some of the things used to cut meth are chemicals that most of us would worry about getting on our skin accidentally. (Seriously, I've gotten actual chemical burns on the back of my throat/roof of my mouth before just from the drainage that dripped down after snorting a line.)
- Meth tears apart relationships and families.
- It kills your ability to enjoy life without being on it... Nothing (playing guitar, having sex, writing, drawing, painting, cleaning, playing video games, being on the computer, etc) ever seems to be that much fun anymore or seems to be as enjoyable as it was when you were high. This is a long-term effect that although not permanent, can take years before your brain kicks back into gear and you start enjoying all the little things again.
So, I hope it's clear that I don't really think ANYONE would benefit from crystal meth being legal. That's because in the long run (or even in the short run) I don't think anyone really benefits from meth, period.
Of course, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to continue using it for a while longer. Isn't that crazy? My point exactly.
What I AM getting at is that I understand that
most drugs are illegal for a freaking reason. And I'm not just one of those people haphazardly rallying for the legalization of all drugs. I know better.
The Littlest Law That Is Causing One Of The Biggest Problems-
Now, I have to mention this, since it's one of the things that I tend to get the most angry about:
LAWS THAT PREVENT PEOPLE FROM BUYING CLEAN, STERILE SYRINGES DON'T DISCOURAGE DRUG USERS FROM USING! THEY ONLY HELP PROMOTE THE SPREAD OF BLOOD-BORNE PATHOGENS!
Rather than preventing IV drug users from using, the reality is that such laws ultimately contribute to the spreading of blood-borne pathogens like Hepatitis C and HIV.
The fact that many states here in the U.S. still make it illegal to purchase clean and sterile syringes - is not only ridiculous, but also inexcusable. Such laws are examples of very poorly thought out and unfortunate legislation that ultimately do more bad than good. Statutes that mandate syringes can't be purchased without a prescription are similar to parents who try to keep their teenage kids from learning about or accessing birth control in order to discourage them from having sex. How often do you suppose that works? Not often, I suspect.
The Right to "Safe Fix"
Just like teenagers today are encouraged to have "Safe Sex" I think that IV drug users should be able to "Safe Fix." OK - technically there really is no such thing. Shooting dope - whether coke or speed or heroin - is a risky and potentially dangerous act. (However, in this day and age, having sex can be too.) But IV drug users should at least have the option to minimize their risk.
This is definitely a 'hot button' issue for me since I personally contracted Hepatitis C after using someone else's syringe because I didn't have one of my own. Sure, most of the time if I had to use a rig after someone else, I'd clean it out with bleach first (which in theory does work - check out the link on right side of the page.)
But what about the occasions when I was getting high with someone in a place that wasn't a house and where we didn't have easy access to a bottle of bleach? (i.e. in a car, in a restaurant or gas station bathroom, etc)
Well if you're someone desperate to get high (a factor that's increased even more if your fix is heroin and you have the added agony of being dope sick on top of the typical feaning/jonesing/gotta-have-it desperation) then you're probably going to say fuck it and risk it. I did - a couple of times. Sure - I rinsed it out with water first if I could. But I still wanted to get high and was willing in those weak moments to take the risk. And I did it knowing that many of the people in my circle of friends had already been diagnosed with Hep C.
I'm lucky that Hepatitis C is all that I contracted and not something worse like HIV. But the main reason myself and others end up in that kind of situation in the first place is because we didn't have clean needles to use; because they were/are hard to come by - period.
Would It Have Mattered?
Could my exposure have been avoided if I'd had the option to simply walk into a pharmacy and purchase a package of new rigs anytime I wanted?
It ABSOLUTELY could have been avoided. I have no doubt in my mind.
Does that mean that I definitely would've avoided exposure to Hep C? Not necessarily. However, it would've been a lot less likely. Not only would my chances of getting infected with Hep C have been lowered if I'd simply had easier access to clean needles on a more frequent basis; Everyone's would have been. Which more than likely would've reduced the number people I knew who were already infected with Hep-C in the first place -- further reducing my own risk of exposure.
But it didn't.
And I did.
And I know that the final blame still rests with me. The fault was no one's but my own. I knew the risk involved but chose to do it anyway. And now I've got to live with the consequences of my decisions.
As does anybody else who chose to use a needle after' I'd used it.
And anyone who said "fuck it" and used that person's needle... and so on and so on....
WTF Is It Going To Take For This To Change?
Why is this STILL a legal issue? People have been using IV drugs recreationally for decades now. So WHY hasn't this been addressed? I think it should be fairly obvious that such statutes haven't had any impact on discouraging actual drug use; and have actually increased the amount of risk IV drug users submit themselves to. So there's an example of the government thinking that it knows what's best for everyone without being informed and botching up the job of trying to protect us from ourselves.
(*P.S. - Please make sure to select your answer to the poll on the right side of this page!*)
Alcohol Is Totally Fine But Keep That Evil, Crazy Pot Away From Me!! -
Ok so I've got this one last thing to bitch about and then I'll wrap it up. I honestly think that it's nothing short of ridiculous that our country considers pot smokers "criminals." And this is not just personal bias speaking here, I'm not a pot smoker. I used to be years ago, and every once in a while (like
maybe once or twice a year) I take a hit or two if I'm in the mood. But to lump people who smoke marijuana in the same category as tweakers, heroin junkies, crackheads and cokeheads just doesn't make sense.
I don't really see any real logic in taxpayers paying thousands of dollars for "potheads" to be in prison for a year or two or three... Seriously,
what is it exactly that people are afraid of when it comes to marijuana? God forbid someone gets stoned and eats an entire bag of Cheetos to themselves ("Oh! The horror!!")
Meanwhile, being drunk - whether you're the life of the party or angry and violent - is perfectly legal?
I don't know about anyone else, but I've had
more than a few nights where after drinking I woke up the next day and was like "Oh God....[insert appropriate expression from below]"
A. Why did I get so mad at [friend/significant other] for NO reason at all?
B. Where am I and where's my ride/car keys/friends?
C. Wait a minute, did me and so and so sleep together?
D. Oh God - I can't believe I slept with (blank)... (did we use protection?)
E. Whose puke is that is that?
F. Oh no! I can't believe I called (blank) at 3 in the morning!
G. Wait a minute, did I DRIVE home?
(You get the idea and probably have your own)
All I'm trying to point out here is that in the dysfunctional family that is "mind-altering substances," marijuana comes off looking like 'the good son' ; whereas alcohol is the troubled teen that keeps getting sent away to military camp and boarding school. And it makes no real sense for us to continue wasting resources like tax dollars and man-hours on the fight against marijuana - when marijuana really looks like a gentle pussycat in comparison to the craziness, recklessness and hazards presented by alcohol. This is an old argument - so I won't keep going on and on with things everyone's already heard a 1000 times before.
I'll just say this: When I was 15 this guy that I knew, Eric Moore died of alcohol poisoning after drinking too much Irish Whiskey on St. Patrick's Day. He was 17 years old.
I have yet to hear about someone overdosing & dying from smoking too much pot.
All right I'll wrap it up.... As always, feel free to comment. I value other people's input and my blog is set up so that anyone - even anonymous users who wish to remain that way - can leave comments.
