Reply #19: All my life it's been one drug scare or another...

[ret5hd]

the heroin epidemic
the acid epidemic
the ecstacy epidemic
the cocaine epidemic
the marijuana epidemic
the crack epidemic
the pcp epidemic
the meth epidemic
the oxycontin epidemic (well, it turned out rush was responsible for aprox 40% of the nations consumption)
the "inhalents" epidemic

MY GOD! I'm surprised the nation hasn't come to a complete standstill for lack of functionng adults!

yet, by the studies i've seen, drug use (both casual and the oh-not-so-casual) has remained pretty steady throughout those years. There are a percentage of people that are going to experiment, there are a percentage of people that are going to go a little farther than simple experimentation, and there are a percentage, relatively small, that are going to become addicted.

And the numbers are surprisingly (to some) stable across race...about 14% of blacks and 14% of whites regularly use drugs. I wonder why, since racial discrimination has been eliminated in this country (according to some) such a high percentage of blacks compared to whites are in prison on drug charges???

Drug "epidemics" are just another scare tactic our gov't uses to keep us afraid of our neighbors and an excuse to keep certain "undesirables" locked up.