cannabisnews.com: The War on Drugs is Lacking Fundamental Honesty










  The War on Drugs is Lacking Fundamental Honesty

Posted by CN Staff on August 03, 2002 at 08:14:11 PT
By Kathleen Parker 
Source: Tallahassee Democrat  

I hadn't dreamt of Jeannie in a long time, but there she was on "Larry King Live" a few nights ago, discussing her 35-year-old son's death from a heroin overdose. Barbara Eden of the enviable flat tummy has gone from grantor of grown men's wishes to poster girl for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.First the qualifiers and disclaimers: Eden is a lovely woman whose heart is in the right place. She has suffered a tragic loss and wants to help others. She noted repeatedly on King's show that she's no expert and was offering only her own point of view.
Which was wrong in at least one important way.Unwittingly and with anything but malice, people like Eden are part of the drug problem because they treat users like idiots. That is, they tell them that all drugs are equally bad, evil and harmful. From their perspective, smoking a joint is only marginally different than shooting heroin.Any casual user of marijuana - and most people I pass on the street have been downwind from a joint at some point in their lives - knows this is a lie. And there goes credibility. Throw out the bong and the hypodermic needle if you want to, but don't insist that the two are equal instruments of destruction, as Eden did on King's show.Kids, with their overdeveloped baloney-sensors, know it's not true. They know that marijuana may diminish their culinary standards and make them temporarily fascinated by the intricate lives of ants, but they also know that they won't necessarily be shooting heroin by sundown tomorrow.Addicts are addicts; some, like Eden's son, may even become addicted to steroids. But a social user of marijuana is no more likely to start mainlining heroin than a weekend beer drinker is going to start stashing Mad Dog in his lunchbox.There isn't space here to outline all the arguments for and against legalization of some drugs, but it's clear that: drugs are easy to get; the drug subculture thrives in part because it is forbidden and therefore attractive; dollar for dollar, the billions we funnel into this "war" would be better spent on education, prevention and treatment.Would it not be better to control those substances, tax them, limit their availability to minors as we try to do with alcohol, rather than criminalize a huge segment of the population that probably includes many of our neighbors and even our own children?The genie in the bottle is truth, and the truth is that all drugs are not awful, evil or equally harmful. In fact, drugs are often quite a lot of fun, which is why people consume, absorb, smoke, snort or shoot them. But they are also dangerous to varying degrees and can wreak havoc on users, families, friends and communities.Truth is also this: Drug abuse is different from drug use, just as alcoholism is different from the weekend cocktail party. Rather than fight the abuse war from a moral, shame-on-you posture, which doesn't work with any age, we might try a medical model that educates with facts and urges human wisdom.Several years ago, I interviewed Dr. Tom Ferguson, who had just written a book called "The Smoker's Book of Health." Ferguson, now an online health guru -- http://www.fergusonreport.com -- never condoned smoking, but acknowledged that cigarettes did some good things for people, which is why they smoked.Ferguson pointed out that nicotine alters brain chemistry in ways that help improve concentration, attention and performance. Smoking also helps some people suppress anger, anxiety and cope with stress. He began helping smokers quit and/or live healthier lives by granting what they knew to be true, after which he had the credibility to influence them in positive ways.Likewise, according to new research, marijuana helps some people with various psychological disorders, including post-traumatic stress. In a study just published in the British journal Nature, researchers found that the primary active ingredient in marijuana mimics natural molecules that help erase fearful memories, thus averting anxiety and panic attacks.Perhaps the anxiety-reducing effect is why so many people choose to smoke marijuana? So that a better approach to curbing drug abuse, which is what we're allegedly after (right?), might be to acknowledge those benefits. Think of it as an investment in credibility so that potential users tune in to the discussion on consequences that needs to follow.Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)Author: Kathleen ParkerPublished: August 3, 2002Copyright: 2002 Tallahassee DemocratContact: tdedit taldem.comWebsite: http://www.tdo.com/Related Articles:John Stossel Takes on the Drug Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13579.shtmlJust Say No: Government’s War on Drugs Failshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13578.shtml 

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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on August 04, 2002 at 10:24:00 PT:

A little historical perspective is needed, here
First off, here's a publicity still I'd bet Ms. Eden would wish she could have grabbed all the negatives of and burned:http://members.aol.com/smoke15874/private/1st.htmGo to the bottom of the page and look at the left-most picture.Now, after looking at it (sorry, a much larger and clearer pic used to be available from http://www.idreamofjeannie.com, but the sight is still under construction, so it's not available) tell me if you think that what she's smoking out of that hookah was supposed to be tobacco?I mentioned historical perspective. The above question was asked in context with it.In the mid-1960's when cannabis was 'discovered' by white middle class kids, many producers in Hollywood figured here was another item to titillate young (and not-so-young) people's interest. So many pot themes were, either very subtly or very overtly, inserted into many comedy plots.Usually done with a 'wink, wink, nudge, and nudge ‘quality of whether you were’ cool' enough to see the underlying joke. I Dream of Jeannie was not immune to this trend: several episodes showed characters puffing away on hookahs as part of the plot. Need I point out that many people, to this day, still associate hookahs with cannabis? This, despite the rise of 'hookah cafes' in the US where one may smoke fruit flavored tobacco in them. The implication back then was ostensibly obvious: hookahs = drugs. For example, in one episode, in order to distract her reluctant 'master' from deciding to banish her, Jeannie conjures up several distractions...a hammock, a gorgeous woman fanning him with a huge feather fan, another equally lovely woman playing a lyre, and when nothing else seemed to work, she materializes a hookah for him to enjoy. Or perhaps become stoned by smoking it and thus dodge the 24 hour eviction window she was threatened with.This is not the only show where this kind of thing happened with a regular frequency (The (first Addams Family show came closer than any in practically admitting the main characters enjoyed something other than tobacco in the hookah they smoked on several occasions)...and in today’s 'politically correct' environment, these scenes are almost always edited out when shown in syndication. You are not likely to see the unedited versions on Nick at Night, folks; hypocritical Mommy and Daddy who toked when they were young would prefer the DARE officer explain to little Johnny and Suzy about drugs...as no doubt Ms. Eden 
preferred to let someone else do. They don't want their kids turning around after watching the show and asking, "What are they doing?"...as I did so long ago. Thank God my parents didn't try to snow me with BS, though my Mother's answer was a little off as to what 'dope' was. But at least, God rest her soul, she didn't lie to me.Hypocrisy is like a land-mine; you can bury it in your past and forget that it's there, but some day, your own actions or statements will cause you to tread over ground you thought you'd never walk on again, and forgetting about the mine, step on it.As much as I feel sorry for her loss, Ms. Eden has just stepped on that land mine.

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Comment #5 posted by 2Spooky on August 03, 2002 at 14:06:30 PT

I like the show
"I dream of Jeannie" really is classic. Watching it nowadays you can see a lot of pretty cool artistic efforts going on. It is on the Hallmark ChannelIrregardless of her other issues, Ms. Eden was very good in that role, and it is never offensive that she was easy on the eyes, either =b.Perhaps she will overcome her greif and become an advocate for true harm reduction. It is obvious she is being used.
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on August 03, 2002 at 10:09:37 PT

There are smart actors but she's not one of them
I hate to sound politically incorrect but there is a pretty simple explanation for why Barbara Eden excelled at playing a ditzy blonde airhead who lived in a bottle and called her boyfriend Master.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on August 03, 2002 at 10:07:19 PT

I like this.
These stories, are breaking down morter of deciet.Makes it elementary.Note: Truth is the difference.Truth is Our Father.
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on August 03, 2002 at 10:02:47 PT:

Irony
Perhaps the anxiety-reducing effect is why so many people choose to smoke marijuana? So that a better approach to curbing drug abuse, which is what we're allegedly after (right?), might be to acknowledge those benefits. Think of it as an investment in credibility so that potential users tune in to the discussion on consequences that needs to follow.Does anyone else see the irony of this study? For years, the drug warriors have been trying to convince us that the paranioa we feel when we light up is a result of the drug; this study reveals the lie. In fact, paranoia associated with cannabis use is a result of the drug war in which literally hundreds of thousands of police and millions of citizens are literally "after us." So, when someone says to you, "why would you want to smoke that stuff? It makes you paranoid," we can reply, "not according to this study. And of course, in fact, it isn't paranoia if someone really is after you."Put that in your pipe and smoke it, criminalizers.Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by Robbie on August 03, 2002 at 09:32:42 PT

The truly sad fact about Ms. Eden's tragedy
If heroin weren't illegal, he could have easily sought out some help. It's a lot easier to seek out help when, as a consequence of doing so, you're not subject to arrest and imprisonment.She's fighting to produce more outcomes like her son's.
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