I consider myself extremely fortunate to have grown up in a loving family on Long Island. I have a Sister and two wonderful Parents. I had a normal childhood and there was nothing traumatizing that affected me in a negative way. Any choices I made were my decisions and were not because of some deep, underlying issue.
When I turned 15 I was having the time of my life smoking pot, drinking beers and hanging out with my friends every night, what more could a kid want? Eventually cutting classes and poor grades caught up with me and I had no choice but to drop out of High School. Back then my priorities were not what they should have been and I didn’t understand the value of education, plus with all the crazy things I was experiencing in school, I really wasn’t learning anything anyway. Eventually I did go back and earn a High School Diploma but this is all part of a different story. I just wanted to point out that a kid doesn’t have to have some past trauma or a horrible home life to start experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Often it’s merely because of peer-pressure and curiosity.
What was exciting for me back then was the thrill of getting away with something that I shouldn’t be doing; whether it was cutting class, ditching school or driving around town in someone’s car, (long before I actually had a driver’s license) I had fun doing things that I was told I wasn’t old enough to do. Smoking pot and drinking were the ultimate thrills because not only were they things that I shouldn’t be doing, they were illegal! I considered it a challenge, and an accomplishment not to get caught. In retrospect I realize that I really didn’t get away with too much of anything. Somehow my parents always found out whenever I tried to do something wrong. Sometimes they would catch me the first time I would do it (whatever it was). Other times they knew before I even attempted to do the thing! I guess you can call it a parent’s intuition.
The law says that a person under the age of 21 cannot drink alcohol. Not only is it illegal for an adult to serve alcohol to a minor, it’s illegal for the minor to drink it at all! How can a civilized, advanced country like America say that an 18 year old, who can vote for public officials, fight in wars to protect our country (or push the agenda of bureaucrats) and even join the police force to help uphold our laws, is not allowed to drink alcohol (FOR THREE MORE YEARS!)? Does that make sense? I certainly understand the logic of these laws but do laws like this actually “protect” anyone, or do they just create an exciting challange?
The restrictions American Law puts on drugs and alcohol seem somewhat ridiculous to me. Did America learn anything from prohibition? During prohibition organized crime took over the flow of alcohol in this country and people were going blind and dying from the low-grade alcohol that was flooding the speak-easy’s. Criminal organizations were prospering because this multi-million dollar industry was handed to them on a silver platter. If you take away something that people enjoy, they are going to find another way to get it. Plus, restricting the act obviously creates an underground market for criminals to provide these things to satisfy public demand. The day after prohibition was abolished, the criminals who were supplying the public with alcohol (such as the illustrious Kennedy family) were instantly out of business. If they legalized drugs in America the same thing would happen. The cheap, dangerous street drugs such as crack, crystal meth and crank, which are often made with fillers and even toxic chemicals, would cease to exist. All the crime which stems from the illegal drug market would decrease exponentially. Control would be back in the government’s hands and the gangs and criminals would instantly be out of business. (Of course the government would probably put age restrictions on the drugs anyway so punks and gangs would still be able to supply the drugs to schools). The answer is education, not restriction.
Many kids in this country start experimenting with alcohol at an early age. When they finally do turn 21 they go out and celebrate at the bar with their friends simply because they are finally allowed to, it’s practically a rite of passage. If alcohol wasn’t restricted to begin with, would that 21 year old be just starting his (or her) party life at that age? In many other countries, where there is no age restriction on alcohol, people are more concerned with their future at the age of 21. They already had their experience with alcohol and are over it by then, or simply have no interest in it because it’s been there all along. Of course there are plenty of twenty-something’s going out drinking in those countries but I feel that many of them have a more responsible attitude about it. Since the drinking age in New York was changed to 21, many people consider younger persons “minors.” Many children these days don’t leave their parents homes until well after their 21st birthday. There seems to be a conflict here. On one hand the laws are conveying the message that people come of age at the age of 18, and on the other hand they say that you aren’t really an adult until you turn 21. When a young person is told that they are not mature, they often find ways of proving that they are mature by doing things that they are not old enough to do. I suppose it makes them feel more grown up and in control of their own lives.
I'm sorry if this post is a little confusing and if I strayed from the topic of addiction. The underlying message here is that many people get a thrill from getting away with something that they shouldn’t be doing. Many drug addicts start out as children just trying to feel more grown up. What scares me is that today’s teenagers don't want to do what their parents did, they want their own secret thing. If their parents smoked pot when they were young, there's no big thrill for them to do it too. Currently the big taboo’s are heroin, meth, cheese, the list goes on and on. The problem is that these drugs are hardcore and almost always lead to serious drug abuse and addiction. If the government was truly concerned about the safety and well being of its citizens, they would stop funding this ridiculous, artificial “war on drugs” and take control of the situation. The only reason I can think of for the government not taking control of the drug market is that there must be more profit and/or benefits in keeping them illegal. Plus the programs that are getting this funding (wherever they are?) want to keep getting it so it's not in their best interest to rid the world of drugs. It really makes me wonder who is at the top of the food chain of the drug world.
Remember, a population addicted to drugs is easy to control. People aren’t concerned with political or social issues when they are anxious to get home and kick back in front of the TV with their favorite drug, beer, wine, illicit pills, pharmaceuticals… you get the idea.
This is my last post about drugs and addiction for a little while but please feel free to comment on this, or any other post at any time.
Thanks for reading.
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