The Relentless Blogger

This is a message I never thought I would be sending. I am not a drinker, I don't get high, and I don't use street drugs. That will never change because I have no desire to change it. When it comes to mind-altering substances, I have always felt they should ALL be illegal. A few quick snapshots of my history explain that position:

• My father died as a direct result of chronic alcoholism (only six years after he took his first drink) when I was 18 years old. In the years before he died, he had slowly decayed from the strong, proud and wise father he had been to a vicious, malicious and unpredictable tyrant. I was glad when he died; it was the end of my family's nightmare.
• My brother stopped speaking to me for 13 years over a nickel bag of pot. I was livid that he would "endanger" my children by bringing it into my home, and he was "paranoid" that I would do anything to get him "busted". Even now - after nearly two decades - our relationship is chilly and distant. It breaks my heart.
• My sister has spent the last 15 years - the majority of her adult life - trying to beat a heroin addiction that started as an addiction to painkillers following a car accident. She has lost everything more than once - including her three children. As much as I love her, I can't even allow her in my home because I know the temptation is steal to feed her habit is stronger than any emotion she may feel for me.

Alcohol, marijuana and hard street drugs have had a MAJOR influence on my life and my family relationships. For many years, I was firmly opposed to the use of these substances under any circumstances and believed they should be illegal. Like many people, my own experiences (or lack of experience) with these substances determined my position, and I wanted MY position translated into law.

Mom always told me, "we can't legislate morality or common sense," and while I lived by these words in every other aspect of my life, I felt so strongly that I was right to want to legislate away every individual's right to freedom of choice that I didn't think my mother's words of wisdom applied. I mean, my entire life was PROOF of the damage these substances can do, right?

WRONG. What I experienced was horrible and wrong, but if I am really going to base my position on history, I need to examine ALL of history - not just my own. I remained opposed to all mind-altering substances until I moved to Austin several years ago. I had to add a few more "facts" to my personal history:

• My boss was in chemotherapy, and doing very poorly. She was HORRIBLY sick from the chemo-cocktail, and stayed sick for a good week afterwards. She couldn't keep food down and was losing way too much weight. Weak, sick, and starved; someone started giving her a joint to smoke before she took her chemo. It was like a miracle. She took the chemo without getting sick, regained her appetite, and never again had the horrible side-effects she'd experienced up to that point.
• I firmly believed the propaganda about marijuana stunting your brain development or mental growth and creating zombie-like slackers who don't care about anything and lay around - unemployed - sponging off their families. Then I met a very dedicated and competent network administrator for a major ISP who not only oversaw a huge network of servers but also had near-photographic memory. He smoked pot every day.

The sheer NUMBER of people in Austin who get high was a major shock to me. Those I met were completely normal people. They held professional positions; most were leaders in their workplace or community. So if I can't fit these nice folks into my pigeon-hole of "bad druggies," what of my certainty that drugs are bad (mmmkay?) and people who use them are bad? I can't base my position on whether or not an "offender" is nice.

I did some serious research - at last - and listened to the "propaganda" from both sides of the fence. This was the crack that shattered my picture of absolute right and wrong, and brought me to the realization that what is right or wrong FOR ME is a freedom I exercise every day, but it is just that: a freedom of choice. A freedom I wanted to give up on behalf of myself and every other citizen because I disapproved:

{The MUST SEE Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LayaGk0TMDc}

Very enlightening. I now realize that a freedom is a precious thing, and the more we work against each other to remove one right of choice after another. the less we call all call ourselves free. THAT really is the bottom line - not how I feel or what I believe. What grabbed me the hardest was the officer who speaks about the zeal in which he pursued pot smokers as a young cop ... and how much he now regrets having destroyed the lives of thousands of young people over a single joint (sometimes just a single seed).

It's something to REALLY think about and research before we agree to stand still while our rights and freedoms are further restricted. To learn more:

LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)
http://leap.cc
http://www.myspace.com/copssaylegalizedrugs

Marijuana Policy Project
http://www.change.org/marijuanapolicyproject
http://www.myspace.com/marijuanapolicyproject

TEXAS LEGALIZE NOW!!
http://www.myspace.com/legalizeryan

Advocates for Progressive Therapy
www.geocities.com/aptutah
http://www.myspace.com/aptutah

StopTheDrugWar
http://stopthedrugwar.org/
http://www.myspace.com/drcnet

Flex Your Rights
http://www.flexyourrights.org/
http://www.myspace.com/flexyourrights

NORML and the NORML Foundation
(National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws)
http://www.norml.org/
http://www.myspace.com/natlnorml

Texas NORML
http://www.texasnorml.com/
http://www.myspace.com/texasnorml

Americans For Safe Access
http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/
http://www.myspace.com/americansforsafeaccess

Send The Right Message!
http://sendtherightmessage.com/

I'm still a non-drinker, non-smoker and will never use street drugs, but I am now a wiser individual with far greater respect for my rights as well as the rights, needs, well-being and safety of others. Prohibition has never worked, and it isn't working now. I believe it's time we all wise up to what we are doing TO OURSELVES and end the War on Drugs. What else can we possibly accomplish with that $69 BILLION per year?