The Right Name

Commenter ccarino has some very interesting things to say about my post Addiction or Self Medication? I do take exception to one statement made:

Trust me, you need an alternative to opiates.

You might as well say we need an alternative to vitamin C.

The prejudice against opiates is just that. Prejudice.

If you have an endorphin deficiency opiates are indicated (in many cases). We know that such deficiencies may decrease over time for some people (I'm assuming that is your case). We also know that for some the need never goes away. (it may be satisfied by substitutes - hence methadone or marijuana).

So why are we having a drug war? Prejudice. We once had such prejudices against coffee, tobacco, and tomatoes. Eventually experience cleared our heads (the social constructs changed). Now instead of raiding coffee houses we have them on every corner and tax them. No one gives a damn about coffee junkies. You know - the folks who can't get a move on without the first three cups in the morning and 15 more during the day.

So why are heroin junkies so fearsome? We have made it hard for them to get their "3 cups" in the morning. This changes the whole social dynamic.

We saw similar effects in Germany right after WW2. When cigarettes were almost totally unavailable you could buy a sex encounter for one cigarette. Then it became a pack, a carton, finally reverting to the "normal" price - around a case (well for the classier ladies).

By creating a permanent shortage we have re-created the social ills that normally follow a war. i.e. we are in a permanent state of war and post war with all the black market activity and criminality associated with such situations. The "Drug War" is exactly the right name.