What Will It Take?
Glenn Reynolds asks: what will it take to end no knock raids on non-violent drug users and dealers?
This is an e-mail I sent him in reply to his question (revised and extended):
I note that the scientific consensus is coming to the conclusion that addiction is a made up idea. i.e. "addiction" is superstition.
We are acting like a South Pacific tribe enforcing tribal taboos. Buying protection against the drug demon with the lives of innocents. All gussied up to look like science. "Addiction" is science. Cargo cult science.
So what will it take to end the war on this phantom menace? The evils of these raids must be pointed out and the fact that it is useless, because the medical science behind the idea of "addiction" is a total crock.
Wars kill people. If they do some good we accept that. If they do no good Americans are wise enough to desist. At this point in time Americans still think they are buying protection from "addiction" with these deaths.
So the short answer is: the raids will end when we understand "addiction" is superstition.
Simon
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2 comments:
11 26 06
Hello M. Simon:
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. Glad to know your daughter danced in the performance. The theatre is absolutely stunningly beautiful! Must've been nice to see a performance there! I cannot wait to see the pictures!
Regarding the statements on addiction, although I think the War on Drugs is a hoax, I am not sure that addiction is. If it isn't real, what do you think keeps people attached to crack or heroin or even cigarettes?
For some drugs, I think that the addictive index is sufficiently lower than the good that the drug can do (e.g. marijuana) so they should be okay. What is your take?
I know you have written a lot of articles on the topic, so if you don't wanna reinvent the wheel can you refer me to some links explaining how you define addiction?
Thanks a bunch and thanks for keeping me on the email list. You always have such cool tidbits!
Lastly, I have realized that the Middle East issue is too complex and that coupled to my ignorance means that I will look at your articles but keep my mouth shut on things that I don't know much about:)
Mahndisa,
The idea of "addiction" is that taking drugs makes you want drugs. This is in fact a description of habituation which is a physiological process. We know how to fix that with a process called detox. Once you are detoxed why is there still for some a craving for drugs? The "addiction" folks have no science to explain that.
My idea is simpler. People in chronic pain chronically take pain relievers. The pain can be from such things as PTSD, bi-polar, etc. Thus, only when the underlying condition is fixed will the craving for drugs cease.
Please read this bit on the History of Addiction for the whole story.
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