Over the years, there have been countless arguments made and written for the cessation of the morally repugnant and legally dubious “War on Drugs”. Only intellectually flaccid arguments have been raised against it; yet it prevails, squandering lives and treasure while eroding human rights and debasing the very principles of self-governance. The following is one of those gems you find occasionally that screams for greater exposure and distribution. BW
Pain, Prohibition and Plundering Tinsley Grey Sammons
Why do adult Americans insist that their Government treat them like children?Following shoulder surgery that was a little more than fifty percent successful, I continue using hydrocodone for pain control. If I choose to replentish my supply legally, I must periodically make a thirty-mile round trip in order to get expensive written permission from a de facto agent of the State called, a doctor. A doctor has no way of knowing whether or not a patient’s pain is real . . . and likely does not care, beyond being paid while carefully avoiding outrageous legal consequences. Pain is subjective and personal. Forcibly withholding the means to relieve a person’s pain is morally equivalent to inflicting the pain. It is intrinsically criminal to do so.
The Controlled Substances Act is clearly a contravention of the spirit of the unamendable Unanimous Declaration and the spirit of the Bill of Rights as well.In addition to effective pain control, the hydrocodone I ingest actually makes me feel good, a real perk for a weary 74 year-old retired Geezer with a body worn by decades of labor. But I wouldn’t divulge that to the doctor since self-medicating to feel good is frowned on in America. In fact, I’m convinced that drug manufacturers actually try to take the feelgood out of drugs to discourage individuals from using them recreationally. Hydrocodone sold in America is unnecessarily adulterated with acetaminophen which does nothing more than increase toxicity. So then, from the prohibitionist’s point of view, it’s okay to be disease and pain free but it’s not okay to feel good while you’re doing it. This is considered so important to those who insanely perpetuate the War on Self-medicating and Chemical Self-pleasuring that drug manufacturers are willing to risk a user’s health by needlessly increasing the toxicity of their product(s). Are all the lawyers in America asleep? C’mon guys, initiate those lawsuits before folks wise up and unite in Justice Fellowships, then file Sui Juris, thereby leaving you out of the financial loop.
Why is an adult American – a citizen of what was once considered the most free nation in the world – forced to get permission from an agent of the State to purchase that which ought to be honestly labeled and available on the free market at a reasonably competitive price? Why should an outrageous and unnecessary de facto broker’s fee, along with prohibition costs, be added to the cost of relief?
Cui bono?
Indeed, Who benefits? When subjected to critical thinking, it becomes clear that the ill-considered War on Drugs has degenerated into an institution that does nothing more than provide political distraction and financial fodder for opportunists and parasites on both sides of the law. Frederic’ Bastiat’s term Plunder by Law fits the Drug War quite well.
The Drug War is fueled with exaggerations, sensationalism, half-truths, lies, and unfounded fears. Adult Americans would be wise to muster the resolve to end this dreadful precedent for unlawful government power.
end
Tinsley Grey Sammons, 1936 — bastiatlaw@aol.com is a self-educated individual with an abiding passion for liberty and justice. He served as an enlisted man during the Cold War and retired from his automobile service and repair business in 1998. He describes himself as a very angry, blue-collar-to-the-marrow curmudgeon. He and his wife settled in Gonzales, Louisiana after their home in St. Bernard Parish was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Copyright © 2006 by Tinsley Grey Sammons. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is granted, provided full credit is given
