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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!fluke!ron
From: ron@fluke.UUCP (Ron Pankiewicz)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Controlled Substances
Message-ID: <719@vax2.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 26-Sep-83 13:36:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax2.719
Posted: Mon Sep 26 13:36:38 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Sep-83 08:56:51 EDT
References: <809@hou5e.UUCP>
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Everett, Wash
Lines: 37

To the extent that (abuse of) drugs tends to make some
people degenerate (physically, not morally) bums, we
all suffer  -at least in an economic sense:  heavy
users suffer declinig productivity on their jobs, so
their employer and fellow employee's are cheated out
of that person's fair contribution; some heavy
users are unable to finance their habit, and so must
resort to prostitution or burglary to buy their fix
(admittedly this problem might be reduced -but not
eliminated- if all drugs were legalized and readily
available on the open market); those that resort to
(other) crimes to support their habit may end up in
prisons...  creating another expense for taxpayers;
long-term users often end up on expensive rehabilitation
programs  -and everyone who pays medical insurance
premiums or taxes for public health services ends
up paying for these programs.  [This is not meant
to a review of Reefer Madness.  Many people can
handle such substances without any problem.  Many
other people have addicition-prone personalities
or even a biological tendancy towards additction to
certain substances.]


Any society is, of course, generally free to adopt
whatever set of rules it wants... and expect to
reap the consequences.  But unless our society
decides that it is going to let all drug users that
become abusers literally rot in the street, we 
all suffer from allowing the free use of drugs.  And even
if they're left to rot in the gutters, we still end up
paying for the cost of cleaning up the ultimate mess...