Category Archives: Social Issues

Legalization of Drugs

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Since my last post has sparked some interesting discussion regarding the legalization of drugs, let’s dig a little deeper. Obviously this is a HUGE issue with many facets and implications. One facet is whether marijuana should be treated the same as “harder” illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Another is legalization (making a particular drug legal to buy) versus decriminalization (leaving the drug technically illegal but making enforcement a very low priority, effectively instructing the authorities to look the other way).

I am far from an expert on the subject and only tonight started reading about it more fully. But a few initial ideas keep popping up as I read:

  1. When people want something, but the government makes it illegal, a black market appears. Ridiculously high prices result from the risk involved, leading to huge profits for the dealers of the banned item and huge incentive for others to become dealers themselves. (see Prohibition)
  2. When a product is bought and sold on the black market, none of the typical mechanisms exist for quality control, safety, or resolution of disputes among suppliers, dealers, and buyers.
  3. Black markets typically produce other types of crime due to their unregulated and off-the-record natures.
  4. As a nation we have spent billions of dollars fighting drugs every year for decades. Yet illegal drugs are still quite common along with their associated problems. Whatever we’re doing isn’t solving the problem. For an interesting look at our failure in the war on drugs, rent 2001 Best Picture nominee Traffic.

Obviously the preceding statements support the idea of loosening restrictions on drugs. However, other facts and theories support their continued prohibition, such as:

  1. Illegal drugs are banned for a reason: they are dangerous. Many argue that marijuana is no more dangerous, or even less so, than alcohol or tobacco, which are obviously legal but heavily regulated. But few would dispute that harder illegal drugs can cause drastic and potentially fatal harm to the human body, that many are extremely addictive, and that they had destroyed countless lives.
  2. Legalization would increase the number of users and some of the associated problems, such as users who drive under the influence, decreased productivity, addiction, and use by minors who might not fully understand the dangers involved.
  3. Even if some or all illegal drugs were legalized, many questions remain regarding the new market for them. Who would be authorized to sell them? Could a user buy them at the corner Kwik-E-Mart, or must he go to a pharmacy or specialized store? Would a doctor’s prescription be required? Why would a doctor write such a prescription? Is there an age requirement for a buyer? A background check? Who manufacturers the drugs? What insurance company would sell liability insurance to the manufacturer of such dangerous substances? Would the drugs be taxed like tobacco and alcohol? If so, how much, and where would that tax revenue go?
  4. There’s obviously a moral question as well. Should the government make it illegal to do things that most people think are wrong? It already does on many different issues, but is that right? What role should a person’s free will play in the debate? Should I have the legal right to damage my body with cocaine if I so choose? What about alcohol or cigarettes, which kill MILLIONS more people than illegal drugs but are legal in America?

If you are interested in further reading, here are some places to start:

In case you’re wondering, I’m not a closet pothead. I despise tobacco and all illegal drugs unless they have some legitimate medical purpose. The only non-medical drugs I use are caffeine (daily) and alcohol (occasionally). I’m just a fan of common sense. If our society is going to create and enforce a law or invest in a program, I want to see a positive return from that investment. I want our society to be as strong and healthy as it possibly can be, including all the different elements of life. If the war on drugs does more harm than good, which I believe it does, then let’s work together and figure out a better plan.

What are your thoughts on this issue? I would take a poll, but I fear the issue is too complex to fit neatly into a single-question poll.

Memorial Day

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On this Memorial Day, I am thankful for all the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms that we all enjoy. If you have ever served in the armed forces or are closely related to someone who has, THANK YOU! We are very, very blessed here in America, and you made a huge contribution.

Grammar Police

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I doubt you’d be surprised to learn that I am a grammar Nazi. Despite its flaws, I love the richness, complexity, and flexibility of the English language. I grow agitated when people misuse it, especially in print. I address some of my pet peeves on my Writing Pet Peeves page, but here are some of the offenders that really get my panties in a bunch:

  • Realtor – There are only two syllables in realtor: real and tor. Many people pronounce it as real-a-tor. Although the three-syllable version does roll better off the tongue, it is incorrect.
  • Plurals with Apostophes – This error is becoming more and more common. In almost every instance I can think of, the correct way to make a word plural is to add -S or -ES to the end of the word. Apostrophes have two purposes: indicating possession (the bed belonging to the dog is the dog’s bed) or indicating contraction (to shorten do not into a single word, replace the missing letter or letters with the apostrophe to form don’t). The plural of brother is NOT brother’s, but brothers. My family is the Boxes, not the Box’s.
  • Y’all – Y’all is a predominantly Southern word that is a plural version of you. Many other languages have singular and plural version of you. English didn’t, so an enterprising person made one up. Y’all is a contraction of you all, which is why the apostrophe replaces the ou. I often see it spelled incorrectly as ya’ll.

Some of you might think I’m crazy, or at least unreasonable, for getting so worked up about grammar and spelling. But I also know that some of you are kindred spirits. What are your biggest grammatical pet peeves?

In the News

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I thought I might comment on a few interesting items from the news this week:

  1. A-Rod. I quit following baseball closely soon after Nolan Ryan retired in 1993 but still have some interest in it. Pitchers intrigue me most with their arsenal of different deliveries, spins, speeds, and locations. If I played, I would want to be a pitcher, a strikeout king. How great it must feel to be able to fool a batter so badly that he gets called out at the plate.
    Anyway, back to A-Rod. As you’ve probably seen, this week he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in the early 2000s, some of his best years. I became a skeptic of baseball players years ago once steroid spectulation started hovering around home-run master Mark McGuire. Since then many players have either been accused or admitted to doping. A-Rod is obviously one of the biggest. Although I’m disappointed that he cheated, I have to admire him for admitting his mistakes and apologizing. He could have followed the lead of many of his predecessors and denied it until the end. I’m also disappointed in the players’ union, who Bud Selig says fought all his efforts to introduce mandatory drug testing for years. I get drug tested for my job. So do many other people. Why can’t they?
  2. Anti-Smoking Bill. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Texas state lawmakers are working on a bill to ban smoking statewide in public buildings, including “restaurants, bars, shopping malls, and sports arenas”, according to the article. I fully support this bill. It would make Texas a healthier and more pleasant place for us non-smokers and would give the smokers another reason to quit. I would also love to see Congress double or triple the cigarette tax and use the money for anti-smoking campaigns and lung cancer research.
  3. Movin’ 107.5 is Gone. When 107.5 first switched from playing smooth jazz to 80s/90s party music, I was devastated. I LOVED The Oasis and thought it offered music that no other radio station in DFW really offered. Movin’ played much of the same music I could find on other stations like 106.1 plus some songs from my junior high and high school days. After mourning a bit, I started listening to Movin’ when the mood hit. Tuesday afternoon, Movin’ abruptly switched to a Spanish-language station to address the large Spanish-speaking market in DFW. All the music people at Movin’ were fired, which angers me and makes me glad I don’t work in the radio business. It would be like Southwest suddenly deciding it was grounding all its 737s, flying A320s instead, and replacing all of us with new dispatchers trained on the A320. In the middle of the day.

Link Between Poverty and Childhood Obesity

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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram posted an interesting article about childhood obesity. I’ve thought for years that fat children were generally fat because they ate too much and/or didn’t exercise enough, just like fat adults. This study found that children who were both fat AND poor generally don’t consume enough calories, which surprised me. The problem is that the food they do eat has such low nutritional value that they aren’t getting enough nutrients for their metabolism to work correctly.