From the lips of babes

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a45719/gay-mormon-community/

Beating a Dead Horse: The War on Drugs

The war on drugs has always been a hot button issue in the United States. The problem is, one cannot fight a war on inanimate objects. One can only fight a war on people. The war on drugs isn't about drugs, it's a war on the addicts rather than the real issue, the manufactures and the dealers. William F. Buckley wrote a paper declaring the war on drugs dead, this paper will discuss his logic and options that might be viable if the war on drugs is indeed dead.

            In the 1970s, President Nixon declared a war on drugs. This wasn't a violent war in the traditional sense of the word, but a criminal war. He made federal drug control agencies larger and have more power in order to squash the rising drug using population (drugpolicy.org, 2015).  A year later, the very commission Nixon put in place recommended weed was made legal for personal use (drugpolicy.org, 2015). Nixon of course ignored this recommendation and chose to push forward banning all of what is now considered illegal drugs (drugpolicy.org, 2015). The view on personal use weed went back and forth like a pendulum until the 1980s (drugpolicy.org, 2015). By the 1980s and 1990s incarceration for drug charges went from 50,000 to over 400 thousand by 1997 (drugpolicy.org, 2015). This number is the equivalent of a small city’s worth of people serving time for some kind of nonviolent drug charge ranging from possession for personal use to manufacturing of the drugs themselves.

            William F. Buckley wrote a paper in the 1990 declaring the war on drugs dead. This author whole-heartedly agrees with him. Per Buckley’s paper, the US has wasted over 100 billion dollars a year in tax payer money to punish those who have the mental illness that is addiction and those who seek to use that illness against them.  Buckley cites money as a reason to legalize drugs, that if the state were to control the drugs and charge for them, it would put the US into the black as opposed to wasting so much money (Buckley). Buckley goes on further to talk about how crime rates have gone up over 400 percent since the grand war on drugs has started. The article further speaks of legalizing the sale of drugs, which this author disagrees with, citing that the country could make far more money that what it costs to prosecute and lock up those who are caught with only enough drugs to get themselves high (Buckley).

            Instead of keeping the possession of personal use levels illegal, the US should take a page from other first world countries and legalize possession for personal use amounts legal and instead offer options to treat the addiction which is the root of the problem. This would of course require other safety nets to be in place for those fresh from recovery. They would need jobs, housing, food, medical care, and of course steady mental and social support. Those who receive this support would be expected to pay the government back by participating in drug prevention programs and by paying their share of taxes based upon their tax brackets. The Portugal made possession of personal amounts of drugs legal in 2001 and instead started to treat the root of the problem, the addiction itself (Kain, 2011). For such a small country that equated roughly 100 thousand people nationwide (Kain, 2011). If the US were to do that same thing and get the same results that would mean an estimated 200 thousand people would become clean and sober over the course of ten years.

            The US has been fighting a losing war since 1971 thanks to the knee jerk reaction of the political sphere to people experimenting with drugs of various types. This has cost taxpayers more than t it would to treat the problem as a mental illness instead of a criminal one. While drug manufactures, distributors, and sellers should still face the fullest extent of the law, it does no one anyone good, but those who own for profit prisons, to keep those who are addicted to drugs going through the revolving door that is the current penal system. We should instead legalize possession of personal use amounts and offer to treat each person for their addiction and offer to help them get back onto their feet so that they might become productive members of society and pay back into the very system that helped to save their lives.

References

A Brief History of the Drug War. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://www.drugpolicy.org/new-solutions-drug-policy/brief-history-drug-war

Buckley, W. (n.d.). The War on Drugs is Lost. Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://web.archive.org/web/20121116132827id_/http://old.nationalreview.com/12feb96/drug.html

Kain, E. (2011, July 5). Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal. Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/

Struggling

I don't post often, not like I use to at least. A lot of that has to do with the fact I am in Law School and don't have much in the way of time to do as such. Some of it also has to do with the fact that I suffer depression and lately it's been getting worse.

I don't just have depression. I have a depression that never wants to go away once it begins. I lose the will to do anything, even shower and I am a neat freak. I've tried medications, but they don't seem to help like it says they will. I always feel like I'm walking though a haze, a fog that just sits there and I can never seem to walk out of. Once I'm off the meds, the fog goes away but the depression and pain comes back with a vengeance.

People look at me and never seem to understand how I can say I have depression and still function. I have always been able to place a mask over my face that hides all that ails me. Most people don't even realize how bad I feel on the inside because on the outside I make it seem like I am fantastic.

The sad truth is, I'm not. I am miserable. Because of my depression, it never feels like my life is getting any better. Sure, I've got my B.A but I still don't have a job that lets me support myself. I have a car, but the poor thing is 17 years old and nearing 300k in mileage. I've gotten into law school, but because of the depression, I have no will to study and I am starting to fail... badly. Or at least I am in my head.

It just feels like I can never get my head above water. Nothing I do seems to make a difference in my life. I went to college to get a better job and I am still working retail, making barely enough to cover my gas and food. I can't even make rent with how crappy my hours are.

I know people out there have it worse then I do, but it seems like I never get a head. I'm always the one of my friends who has a goal is always reaching for it while those around me just have great things fall into their laps. A friend of mine moved out of state and he landed a job within three weeks of moving and can now afford his own place to live while I had to take out a credit card just to fix my car! Another friend is getting a promotion and buying her first house and she is three years younger then me and I'm turning 27 this year!

With law school, it's like a show off of all the people who are doing far better then I am. There is a woman who is going to law school after working as a paralegal for years and her husband is paying her tuition so she doesn't have to work or take out loans. There is a girl in class who is 21 for god sakes and she has a better job then me and has bought her own car!

I'm 27, never bought a car of my own that wasn't a tow yard rescue, never had a job that paid a living wage, never even lived on my own. It's like life has left me in the gutter to drown and I'm too stupid to realize!

Everyone around me seems like their lives are taking off while I'm just treading water to keep from drowning. I have had friends or at least people I thought were my friends put barely any effort into their lives and suddenly everything falls into place. I push and push and push and it feels like the world just shoves me down and gives me everyone else's sloppy seconds.


The bottom line is, I need help and I need hope and no one seems to want to give it. My fiancé can't, his life is no better then mine these days and my family can't as they are barely making it themselves. I am alone and drowning in this life and no one wants or cares to try to save me.

First week

I've started a new job and walked away from my old one. I've also begun law school and man has it been nuts. I've already been given homework. My first assignment has been a lot harder then I thought. This writing assignment has tough, trying to explain one's own moral view is difficult, let alone trying to convince a trained attorney to take your side.  This assignment isn't easy and I am afraid I am sounding like a babbling idiot given I have no idea how to argue this subject.

Work has been fantastic. I've been making quota left and right and have already gone over the quota which makes me very happy.

just a short prayer...

My job interview is in less than 48 hours. I pray to God I get this job. He knows I need this to get my life on the proper track. I pray his will is in the path of mine and this job is my path in this next stage of my life.

Busy busy busy

I have been a very busy little bee. I am now back in school and working as well. School has made it a bit weird since I have class every day of the week. And I'm still pulling 6 hour shifts. Class is at 11 so I have a couple hours before it to get a bit of work but then after class I have to get my shift done and on Mondays and Tuesdays I have a night class that starts at 430 so fun for me >.<

Talk about your early mornings. I get up for work, then class, then back to work again before going home to eat dinner, study and get some knitting done for my new Etsy store. check it out.

Wewt!!!

Got an Etsy for all the knitting I do! Take a peek!



http://www.etsy.com/shop/SerinsBlackDesigns

Taking a deep breath...

I finally have the room to take a deep breath. For once in my life things seem calm outside of my job.


The BF is starting school and quickly realizing he has to really focus if he wants to pass a class with only 5 weeks of instructions. He seems to be taking it well. He is excited about getting a chance to do something with his life other then work at Wal-mart and play video games.

I didn't get the car. It had a bad battery and they were trying to get me to use a questionable lender to get the loan for the car. I know that the economy sucks but these people are preying on people who have no choice but to go to them out of sheer desperation to get a car for living and they want to milk you for everything you are worth! It's very much not right and the laws should be far more strict. Doesn't help a particular friend has figured out what's going on and has decided to try to talk me out of it. I have enough issues with spending money and NOT freaking out...

Le Sigh

Today has been a Le Sigh day. Woke up with a headache so I stayed in bed for a bit. Next time I regained consciousness it was nearly noon and I had work today. So I did the "Oh crap!" Scramble and headed off for work which as usual when I wake up late or am not feeling well, is a disaster. Got done with work in time to head to the yarn shop and knit a bit. That relaxed me for a while. Then I stopped for food at Denny's and spent time with the ladies there since I am a bit of a regular. It's crazy to think that I am a regular at a Denny's lol, but sadly I am, even if I just stop in for a soda they know me. Once I was done there I headed home and commenced to do my paper work for my job and got onto Facebook where a "Friend" decided that she knew more about my job then I did. Hopefully once she's up at her university I won't have to deal with her pathetic know-it-all shit anymore. It's weird to see how different her and my life have gone in less then a year. As my life has progressed in a more positive way, hers only seems to be getting worse and she seems determined to drag everyone else down with her. She got super pissed that I found someone and have fallen in love and the only prospects she has are her dead beat ex-bfs >.< Just because I have actually tried to make my life better and she hasn't she thinks she has to keep me where I am in life.

I have worked hard to get where I am and I won't let anyone pull me down from it!

Long time, no Post....

It's been a while since I posted and a lot has happened. I've gotten a permanent home, started school, gotten 3 out of 4 wisdom teeth pulled, started the whole dating thing, and I'm still working. This has been a crazy month or so for my health as well. I've spent a total of 2 trips to the ER again. Once for something to do with my chest and another time for a mark on my arm. Both turned out ok and aren't much to worry about. School is pretty nuts already. I'm having to read tons of chapters for school. This week in one class we are discussing women as the victims of crime, particularly in sex crimes and domestic violence...this is just what I need to read about given my past. (I just rolled my eyes). Any way, back to the grind of studying...

Blah

It's been an interesting week that's for sure. Got my teeth cleaned and then I find out I have a root canal on monday >.< Then there was work. 2 plus hours of driving spaced between 3 stores while trying to find things in said store to pull out like they should have been a week ago... I really hate stupid people but this was ridiculous these displays should have been done before I got there. I shouldn't have had to hunt them down and build them on my own! Blah I'm done. I have to go fix someone's laptop....

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